Who's organising this? The Edge is really special. Wish there were more places like it around Australia. Queensland really seems to have a lot of well placed funding for the arts/music.

Everett True, though? I've never really noticed him say anything positive or, you know, that constructive. Not cogent enough. Is this modelled on Sound Summit?

Some brothers who love Australasia music and don't care about money.

The Pike brothers?

Nice. I thought the concept sounded bogus until I read that Ian Rogers, Tom Hall and Andrew Stafford are involved. All of them are people with information to impart that might actually be useful, rather than the usual indie/industry platitudes.

Everett True will be the comic relief. Maybe he's good at making balloon animals too.

I read Ian Rogers as Tim Rogers and was a bit wtf for a moment.

Queensland really seems to have a lot of well placed funding for the arts/music.

Q Music have been very proactive and supportive of the music side of things for the last 15 years. Brisbane City Council seems to be on the ball, too.

black wasp! said:

Is this modelled on Sound Summit?

think it's modelled on In The City

what exactly would i learn from attending this conference?

i'd rather all this energy be directed towards putting on a great one-day festival of sorts of interesting music & acts.

i can't be bothered to hear another wanker tell me ''how it is''.

but cynicism aside........... there's a library close-by with a ballin' collection of books. i read 'slow learner' there once. it was ok. C+

Hey guys. I'm a co-organiser of this event, and I'm curating the music & media panel (full program here. Thanks for your interest and support.

I agree with onlysaid's comments below - I've been to a few conferences, and found it disappointing when the panelists speak down to attendees, or when they're more interested in lecturing than having a conversation. Like the other UnConventions that have taken place around the world (in the UK, Mumbai, Netherlands, Spain etc), our event will operate under the assumption that attendees have just as much to offer as the panelists.

Essentially we're about bringing together like-minded people who currently work within Brisbane's indie music scene to offer advice, support and opportunities to those wishing to get involved in the industry, whether that's as a musician, a label owner, a promoter, a community radio announcer or a journalist like myself.

And, unlike most music conventions, it's only $20 for 2 days. If I lived in Brisbane I'd go.

Me too!

The panel is lacking a rep from brisbane's street level drug dealing fraternity.

I that's who Ian Rogers was representing. My mistake.

(disclaimer: Ian Rogers is NOT a drug dealer. He only deals in addictive musical mayhem and health damaging sub bass frequencies)

thought

Maybe, but he'll always be Ian On to me.

I like to think of Ian as 'Big Dog'.

My panel is going to be the sort of thing I've always wanted to see at a music conference: a sound artist who likes drag racing, the guy who introduced Courtney to Kurt, the guy who wrote Pig City, a professor of popular music studies, the girl from Screamfeeder and Qmusic and a local guy that goes to 3 shows a week + runs a studio + runs a label + plays in 2 bands and all of them have sit around and talk about music as music...and they're not allowed to talk about money, careers or business.

At the end I may tell a few stories about Iron On.

Frankie, I took drugs once. Didn't like it.

...and they're not allowed to talk about money, careers or business.

applause

...and they're not allowed to talk about money, careers or business.

I would drop a tewnny on this out of curiosity.

there's a library close-by with a ballin' collection of books. i read 'slow learner' there once. it
was ok. C+

Great use of the word ''ballin'''. B+

Did anyone go to this?

I didn't.

I did hear a rumour that Paul Curtis lost his shit at one of the sessions and asked himself out loud why he goes to ''grassroots'' things that are never grassroots.

This has not been confirmed by a second source, so this is quite bad journalism and should be taken as such.

Q Music have been very proactive and supportive of the music side of things for the last 15 years. Brisbane City Council seems to be on the ball, too.

That's easily the most positive thing I've heard anyone say about Q Music.
Not sure BBC would know what the ball was, let alone know how to get on it.

Then again, I have been referred to as cynical. From time to time.

Hmm. That should probably BCC. Not BBC.
The BBC have their own ball and don't need anyone else's.

Just watched some videos on http://www.unconventionbrisbane.com/

Ian's panel may not have been about money or careers but the rest of the convention seemed to be the same old shit.

fuck. my. ass.

i just looked at those clips and couldn't bring myself to play any of them. i don't even know what the ''same old shit'' is that happens at these conferences. ignorance is bliss.

These conferences, what a silly talkfest.

Be a good band. Work hard. Do it for the music. That's all the advice anyone needs. I'd prefer to hear Bob Lefsetz crap on about his ski trips with Irving Azoff and Don Henley.

Hahahaha

Be a good brand. Work herd. Do it to the music.

The history of German sociology in 3 minutes. Where Dee Dee Ramone got his hair cut. Getting your hair cut by Urge Overkill. House shows. What to do in a home studio if the drummer quits mid-song. How Brisbane isn't a global hotspot for music business. The speed of illegal bill postering. The institutionalisation of rock music. Small town vibes. Music as a way of making it through the day. It was a mess.

I didn't see a lot of the other panels because I was working. Lawrence English told some good stories and his advice was pretty good bang on.

Can you confirm or deny Paul Curtis losing his shit?
I love hearing stories about Paul Curtis losing his shit. As Ben Hick once said, he's an angry, angry, small man.

No, I wasn't in that one. Pretty sure this is a beat up - no one mentioned it to me. I like Paul and would have liked to have had him on my panel discussing his hair - which is amazing at the moment. I don't know why I didn't think to do that.

I like Paul and would have liked to have had him on my panel discussing his hair

You really are in to this 'organise a formal event and make it feel just like friends hanging out in your lounge room' thing, aren't you?

Paul was on the music & media panel, which I moderated. He didn't lose his shit at any stage. He just went off on a few tangents about online music consumption, which I welcomed. We recorded all of the panels in full - I'll link to that particular footage later when it's up this week.

In whole, the weekend went well. We sold 120ish tickets all up, and attendance at all of the panels hovered at around 100 people - except for Ian's panel, wherein the audience dropped off a bit. I don't understand that, as that panel was always going to be the highlight (for me). Lots of props to The Edge for their great venue.

Our audience generally skewed younger, as expected, so much of the information/advice imparted by the panelists was directed toward those looking to enter the Brisbane indie scene. Our main goal was to bring together like-minded people, though, and I think we achieved that.

Some blogger reactions here:

http://musicforthelaundromat.com/2010/06/14/unconvention-wrap-up-day-1/

http://parallel-lines-slow-decline.blogspot.com/2010/06/idle-thoughts-on-unconvention-brisbane.html

Ian No Anchor's awesome five-point summary of the weekend: http://ambrosechapeldestroysyou.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-cant-taste-this-gin-put-some-more-in.html

And another blog round-up. http://plusonebrisbane.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/unconvention-sunday-rundown/

my two bits here

http://everetttrue2.blogspot.com/2010/06/unconvention-brisbane-2010.html

Thank God for panels. Am I right Ev?

Um. No. Not even vaguely.

Can I call you Ev?

i was there the whole weekend. paul curtis did not lose his shit - just long, entertaining tangents and provided some good counter-points to any questions asked. i like him, he's a good sort.

day 1 was a snooze-fest for me. i fell asleep for about 10 seconds during one of the talks. i hope the annoying, pestering photographer didn't catch that one. lawrence however did pick it up a little offering some sage advice

day 2 was good! i liked andrew's panel more than i thought i would have. ian's was entertaining all the same. i'm surprised and relieved Ev didn't mention Daniel Johnston once. way show restraint, mate!

i just read that back again. lawrence english did not offer me some sage advice on sleeping through a boring talk about ''music as a product''. he probably would have if i had asked him but alas i did not. (too shy) (not a big-shot)

also might add: simon homer is total old school roll-up-yr-sleeves charm.

Gosh, between this and the ''Bam'' festival, our sleepy little town is really being put on the map.

paul curtis did not lose his shit

Well, I'm fucking disappointed. I've seen it happen a couple of times and it's amazing. he's a scary man when riled up. The fact he doesn't seem dangerous makes him scarier. You become certain he's holding back something truly fearsome.

I thought it was grand. Seems like some are confusing it as simply being for musicians, when it was more than that. It was more about the community. I went in wary of pontificating panellist, but found it laid back and fairly informative. Everett and Paul Curtis were great.

Soz, ''pontificating panellists''.