BIGSOUND 2019 Artist Focus: upsidedownhead

Answered by: Ross James

Give us a short description of your music: Dark, left, electronic dance music. Hopefully it's something that you can dance to, but then you are unsure how that happened.

Which acts are on your must-see list at BIGSOUND? Fergus James, Luboku, Milan Ring, murmurmur, Lucy Peach, Party Dozen, Raj Mahal, yergurl, Mickey Kojak.

Why should people come and see you among the many amazing bands at BIGSOUND? I guess, we try to do electronic music live. Live drums, vocals, FX, looping. We've set up the show so there's flexibility and ability to jam on ideas. We try to interpret the songs in a live setting, rather than just playing back a recording.

What music trends do you think are dominating right now, and do you have any predictions for the coming year? Man, rock is back in a big way. Australian garage bands seem to be dominating a lot of the focus. I feel we are about to see a changing of the guard in Australian hip hop. In electronic music, it's hard to say as it's always so eclectic.

In your career to date, what have been the key watershed moments? Playing BIGSOUND! Well, I signed an Australian record deal to a dream label (Liberation) and publishing to Mushroom, which has always been a lifelong goal. I've had the amazing opportunity to play some great shows with HONNE, Thandi Phoenix, Luboku, Mansionair. It's all good, I guess.

What industry lessons would you like to take away from the BIGSOUND conference? Tough, I think I'd love to understand more about the distribution of royalties from streaming services. I feel like we still can't see enough of how it all works in the back end.

What do you identify as the most pressing issue impacting the Australian music industry at present? There's a few I see and they are social issues. Impact of negative social media on artists, mental health, learning how to cope with success and failure. I feel like there's not enough focus on any of this.

What is the best bit of advice you've been given to prepare for your time at BIGSOUND? Enjoy it, hang out, see as much stuff as you can. Don't be shy or too self-deprecating (Australians).

When and where is your BIGSOUND showcase? 4 Sep, Woolly Mammoth, 10pm; 5 Sep, The Flying Cock, 10.30pm.