Get With The Program

For the last three years Graham “Asho” Ashton has been the Executive Programmer of BIGSOUND, and much of the event's significant growth in this time is due to his astute planning of the content and direction of both the conference and showcase segments of the annual industry get-together.

This year will be Asho's second last go at the prestigious position – AIR General Manager Nick O'Byrne will be his assistant in 2013 before taking the reins in 2014 – but this hasn't meant that he's any less invested in making the most of his tenure, nor any less excited when things go according to plan.

“The conference sold out early this year, even though we had three-hundred more tickets than last year because we're doing panels over at Cloudland, which added a couple of hundred more capacity,” he enthuses. “That was exciting. Now the BIGSOUND Live tickets are flying, which was good because I've been nervous about that – we went from eight to twelve stages – and having the added genre diversity this year will be interesting.

“[The extra diversity] changed everything. I think in the last couple of years I was just looking for the sixty-to-eighty most worthy artists, regardless of genre, but this year we tried to diversify. It came from the idea of doing country music first, and I thought, 'If we're doing that, you've got to make sure that there's a place for the heavy sounds, and the hip hop sounds, and the world music' and all that. So that changed the whole process really.

“Heaps of great acts missed out as well: six-hundred and eighty rejection letters went out this year, and of that I reckon easily a couple of hundred were very worthy and only missed out for reasons that are impossible to explain – it's so intangible and subjective. But it just shows how much good music we've got in Australia.”

BIGSOUND 2011 was lauded as a massive success by all involved – in both content and profile – so it must have been a massive task to try and better that and take the next step.

“The showcase for me is first and foremost, so ever since I've been involved my theory has always been if you get the music right the rest will follow. I looked back recently at last year's showcasing artists, and it was a pretty mighty looking list last year! Although it looks that way a bit because those artists are a year further along in their careers as well. You're kind of working within a framework of who applies as well. So the thing I wanted to do was stretch the international side of it – stick with what we've been doing with the Kiwis and the Canadians, and we've got a couple of interesting UK bands playing as well this year – and next year I want to extend that a bit more and have maybe twenty international bands. Outside of that it's the genre stuff that's exciting me – there's the world music stage and a couple of things that I think are dynamite and a bit different than anything we've done before.”

When programming both facets of BIGSOUND Ashton has 'outcomes' in mind: tangible results down the track that can be traced directly back to the conference, which may be traditional signings or the formation of new partnerships in many guises.

“Definitely! You invite various international delegates to come out based on bands that they like – that's my favourite part of the whole business these days,” he admits. “Hooking up other people and seeing them go is better than record sales or sold-out shows, and that's a big part of the BIGSOUND job. It's about the bands and the people first, and then I shape the program after that.”

And although current music industry trends and developments are always going to play a part in the keynotes and panels of the BIGSOUND conference, in Ashton's mind these aren't the most important facets.

“My theory on that is a little bit the opposite – we do have panels which focus on what's relevant in the music industry, but to be honest I find that stuff a bit boring. I think everyone's thinking about it all the time, and every other music conference all over the world that's all they fucking talk about. I've always wanted to make a bit of a point of difference with BIGSOUND, where it was more about inspiration than education and a bit irreverent, and very focused on the creative side of music. My whole goal is I want everybody to walk away from BIGSOUND each year re-energised as to why they've committed their life to music, and I don't think sitting there worrying about royalty income from streaming and all of the potentially negative parts of the music industry that are in our face every day of our lives is a positive thing to be talking about. I'd rather contemplate how to make great records, what do you do to stand out and be an important artist and those type of discussions – that's what I'm trying to do anyway.”