NSW Govt partners with Live Music Office to launch festivals in Western Sydney

Image: 2015’s MTV Beats & Eats festival at Parramatta Park

The NSW Government is working with Australia’s Live Music Office as part of its $7.5 million investment in Western Sydney arts and culture in the next four years.

Announced today, the Live Music Office is coordinating a series of multi-venue live music events in the region, including a number of micro festivals, as part of its Live and Local model.

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for the Arts Troy Grant said these events mark an investment in Western Sydney artists with $150,000 committed for events set to take place over the next two years.

“The events will be coordinated by industry organisation the Live Music Office using its Live and Local model for a four-hour, multi-venue live music event in local communities,” he said.

“With a strong youth focus, the festivals will provide employment and opportunities for Western Sydney-based musicians to celebrate their local communities and raise their profiles.”

Notable Australian artists who hail from Western Sydney include hip hop artist L-FRESH The LION, Billboard 200 chart topper 5 Seconds of Summer, ARIA Award winning heavy-alt band Northlane, ARIA Country #1 duo Baylou and ARIA Award nominees Thy Art Is Murder. 

Live Music Office Policy Director John Wardle told TMN the Government had planned to invest in live music development in Western Sydney as a part of the Create in NSW: NSW Arts and Cultural Policy Framework.

"To support this priority, funding has been committed by the NSW Government to create more opportunities for musicians in Western Sydney, to meet areas of identified need, and support Local Government Areas with less arts infrastructure and/or Arts NSW support," Wardle said.

"Under the Live and Local Western Sydney Strategic Initiative, the Live Music Office will manage ’Live and Local’ micro-festivals in partnership with Western Sydney Councils who will be able to access not only funding from the State Government but also specialist music industry guidance through the Live Music Office to present the series of small precinct live music events over the next two years."

Speaking to TMN, Damian Cunningham, Live Music Office Director ofA udience and Sector Development, said: "The Live Music Office has not only developed the model and associated resources, but also worked to deliver a series of these events in recent years."

The work of Live Music Office’s Live and Local model dates back to 2014. It was behind the launches of Sydney Fringe Festival in Surry Hills in 2014 and in Erskineville in 2015, and free festival Kings Cross Ignite: Heat The Street, which was hosted during ARIA Week in November of 2014. Funding for the aforementioned events was sourced across local government as well as the music and hospitality sector.

"The Live and Local event model was originally developed with part funding from the City of Sydney as a recommendation of the Live Music and Performance taskforce," Cunningham added.

In November last year the State Government’s agency for the New South Wales tourism and major events sectors, Destination NSW, helped fund the inaugural MTV Beats & Eats festival at Parramatta Park. The line-up featured a range of international and national artists including Pia Mia, Dawin, Savage, Havana Brown. 

Crucially, with the State’s Deputy Premier and Minister for the Arts’ investment in grassroots events and artist development, the future of Sydney’s live music scene is looking promising, despite the City’s ongoing struggles as a result of the lockout laws.

The Live Music Office will be seeking expressions of interest from Western Sydney councils and communities in July to stage Live and Local events.