Rants
Adelaide soundguy lives up to tired stereotype, regrets it immediately, apologises.
As reported at themusic.com.au and on social media, a sound tech at Adelaide’s The Gov managed to insult a female band member with a sexist comment last Friday, moments before she was to take the stage. Reportedly asking ‘How’s the glass ceiling going for you?’ of said band member, the sound tech was consequently flayed…
Read MoreDuncan Fry – Don’t Diddle With Bo
Duncan Fry – Don’t Diddle With Bo I was working quite regularly with a band – let’s call them the Defects. One Friday their gig was cancelled about half an hour before I was due to get in the truck and head off to the load in. While I sat there wondering whether I would…
Read MoreMackie gets Thumped
Gearbox Review: Mackie Thump 12A By Jason Allen. Mackie’s low-end, stalwart plastic powered box range, the Thump Series, have been given an update. Sporting a new 1300W amp, there are four new top boxes and a sub, the 12A, 15A, 12BST, 15BST and 18S respectively. The ‘BST’ models include Bluetooth streaming and control, which comes…
Read MoreBiz Talk – Forget Failure, Fink Fortune!
Regulars – Biz Talk Forget Failure, Fink Fortune! After last months depressing rant I had many sympathetic calls and messages but that wasn’t the motivator behind chronicling my $1.5 million loss on the College dream. Indeed the article must have been noticed, because in the old snail mail came an envelope with a good old…
Read MoreListen Here – The Bleeding Obvious
REGULARS If you’re at a show and the mix is clearly up a certain creek without a paddle, are you someone who finally says “enough!” and storms the FOH position, or do you suffer in silence? Listen Here – The Bleeding Obvious By Andy Stewart. Last Saturday night I went to a gig straight after…
Read MoreTech Tools: It’s not about you – Attitude
Tech Tools It’s not about you – Attitude By Simon Byrne. Recently one of my regular clients made the observation that I seem to place great importance on the attitude of my crew. I asked “What do you mean?” She responded with “you seem to hire staff with a can do, polite and friendly approach…
Read MoreComment: If I Don’t Have This Product will I Die?
Tech Tools If I Don’t Have This Product will I Die? The live production industry is capital intensive and significant ongoing investment is required to stay current. It is complicated by the fact that most people in the business are there because they love it. That means the decision to buy the latest gear is…
Read MoreBiz Talk: Sliced or Dazzled? Get slowly baked in a dud franchise
REGULARS Sliced or Dazzled? Get slowly baked in a dud franchise By Julius Grafton. Dominos Pizza is in trouble with its investors who loved that the stock hit $80 a share and now cry as the stock is falling under $40. Led by a charismatic CEO, Dominos painted a pretty picture of rising profits and…
Read MoreDuncan Fry – Sounds Like Teen Spirit Pt 2 – Sounds more like a Can of Worms!
Sounds Like Teen Spirit Pt 2 – Sounds more like a Can of Worms! Computers creating music, computers driving cars. Houston, we have a problem. Duncan Fry. Regular readers of this column (Who they? Ed) may remember that last month’s edition discussed the imminent commercial appearance of a new musical phenomenon – the computer generated…
Read MoreTech Tidal Wave. Strap yourself in, the surge has started
Singapore has commenced its autonomous taxi trial this week. A startup called nuTonomy got the jump on Google, Uber, Apple, Tesla and Mercedes Benz who all desperately want to own the self driving car ‘space’. Uber didn’t exist in Australia three years ago and is now the largest ‘taxi’ transport entity there, but it lost…
Read MoreMasters of nothing. How to lose a lazy billion
Biz Talk, By Julius Grafton About fifteen years ago McDonalds brought a US concept restaurant to Sydney called Boston Market. They built nine stand-alone restaurants and quickly discovered Aussies like their roast dinners different to Americans. What? No roast LAMB? What kind of place is this? They also had a revelation that costs here are…
Read MoreGoing for broke. Guide to Bankruptcy
By Julius Grafton Somehow I found myself talking to a couple of friends who are recently bankrupt. One just filed, the other was recently discharged. I thought their experiences were worth sharing. “I went home and told my wife my business was collapsing”, Andrew* said. “Her first reaction was ‘oh my God, we’ll lose the…
Read More