6 Reasons Why The Australian Music Industry Is Currently The Worst In The World

4. Silverchair A nd Triple J, Hipsters Elite

In 1994, there was a huge band competition involving a major indie radio station called Triple J and a public broadcasting network called SBS. At the time it was the biggest thing going in the whole industry as there was not many outlets for the locals to get the funding and support they need to make it on the world stage. So every band and their dog (or groupies) sent in a demo, my band included. Now take note of what time period this was all taking place in. The months following Kurt Cobains death. BAM! And suddenly we get the winners, Silverchair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZD982yrmx4 I believe they had it won the second the execs got an eyeful of Daniel John's cloned Kurt features and recycled sound, no one else stood a chance. I won't say our band was better than them (it was on every level), but taking us out of the equation, I can name 10 bands from just my city alone back then who were way more talented, had much better and more original sounding songs (even within the grunge genre) and actually had something to offer, something more visionary. They didn't just send in "Nevermind part 02, Nirvana Down Under" or any equivalent. They actually sent in real music, written by them, from their heads and their hearts. But we all know what happened. But I am not putting the blame on Silverchair's shoulders, don't get me wrong (although part of me wants to), they were just at the right place at the right time. It's just where the decline of the Australian way of music seemingly began to free flow from this period. You see, Triple J was an Indie radio station. Although they were national by that point, they were still regarded as the quintessential underground station for anything and anyone in regards to the LOCAL Australian music scene and its inhabitants and it was quite effective at promoting the local live scene for each respectable city. But then came the success of Silverchair. And once that took off, Triple J all of a sudden became "hip". And you were not only uncool if you did not listen to it, but you were unAustralian because it meant you didn't support the local music scene. I actually had someone say that to my face (I kept my restraint). And credit to JJJ, they milked it dry until they were on top. They became everything they always said they would never be, a mainstream radio station. And the worst part is that to this day, they still market themselves as the "underground" alternative station when it's so abundantly clear that they are anything but. All they play is just the same old recycled garbage. And the local artists they do play so they can claim they are still underground, well I have been performing on the Australian live scene for 20 years now (I started young) in various forms from muso to roadie as I mentioned earlier, and I have not heard of ANY OF THESE BANDS OR MUSICIANS.

It's like they just walk down the street, picked up the nearest busker, threw him in one of those cheap, do it yourself cd booths that I can never find and recorded something for after the ad break. And apart from one or two very RARE exceptions, that once famous competition that rocketed Silverchair to stardom that eventually became known as Triple J's Unearthed has become a running joke and is just another X Factor style outlet to find the next army of clones.