Expect more music content from the ABC in 2019

Documentaries about Michael Hutchence and Midnight Oil, and a series based around the ABC’s recording studio.

These are some of the music projects on the ABC-TV 2019 slate, as announced at a launch at its Southbank, Melbourne, offices yesterday, hosted by Michael Rowland and Virginia Trioli.

Richard Lowenstein’s Mystify (Ghost Pictures) which looked at the rise and fall of INXS’s Hutchence through archival footage and interviews with friends and bandmates, finds a home at the ABC after its premiere last year.

In death, as in life, Hutchence was a complex character – an ultimate strutting rock god but with a subversive streak which saw him yearn for underground acceptance.

His accident sometime before his death which made him lose his sense of smell and taste, led to him making some bizarre decisions.

The Oils documentary Backburning (Beyond Entertainment & Blink TV production) takes a non-compromising look at a band which had a strong vision of what Australia should stand for.

40 years later it is interesting to see how their vision shaped today’s Australia cutting through the influence of media and big business of the country’s self-image.

The Recording Studio (Fremantle Media) allows Joe and Josephine Public to enter the broadcaster’s recording studio and express themselves through their work with musicians, producers and engineers.

What’s compelling about the series is that it’s not about cutting a demo or becoming noticed as the back scene creatives push to get the best out of the amateur.

The recordings are motivated by something deeper and more personal, which makes for uplifting viewing.

Other music events on the grid are triple j’s Hottest 100 triple j’s One Night Stand, Aus Music Month, Australia Day concert and events and NAIDOC week.