The Australian Music Prize

Tue 10th Feb, 2009 in Features

The 2008 Australian Music Prize (Amp) list of nine short-listed artists was announced during a press conference at the iconic St. Kilda Festival on Sunday February 8.

The Amp is a four year old organisation that awards an artist or group with a prize of $30,000 in recognition of their outstanding creativity of an original recording that has been released within that year, courtesy of the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA). An additional prize of $15,000 will also be awarded to one artist In Recognition of Outstanding Potential.

The unique thing about the Amp panel of judges, which is made up of a slew of music industry experts, is that they consider any Australian artist of all genres, style, label affiliations or none, level of public recognition, album sales, and the like. Meaning that no matter who you are or what you sound like, as long as you’ve released an album within the running year, you’re eligible for the award.

And in proof of that, the list of 2008 nominees represent a wide range of musical styles and genres, with everything from electronic to indie rock and from punk to blues. Mingling together at the Novotel Hotel this past Sunday for the official announcement were Shortlist nominees from Cut Copy, Beaches, Ross McLennan, and Eddy Current Suppression Ring, all equally thrilled and honoured to be on the list.

As Prize Director Tracy Grimson read out the names, oohs and awes echoed throughout the room. ‘It’s great to see a real range of styles and artists in this year’s Shortlist,’ Grimson noted. ‘In fact the only thing they’ve really got in common is that they’re all highly creative, quality releases.’

‘It’s a pretty broad range of acts and music,’ said Dan Whitford of Cut Copy. ‘So it really just comes down to the quality of music…and I think everyone on this list will have respect for whoever makes it.’

The Amp team decided to let one cat out of the bag earlier last week and announced that Cut Copy was not only on the list, but would also be DJing on the last day of the legendary St. Kilda Festival.

As a lead Australian group who has experienced huge recognition and respect overseas with the ultra synth pop album In Ghost Colours, it was exciting to see that Cut Copy’s name was on the list. Having Sydney’s electronic superduo The Presets right next to them on the list for their album Apocalypso, seemed to be no surprise either. But according to Whitford, it’s not about the competition at all.

‘Just because we both write music that has a dance sensibility to it, we kind of get lumped together. But I think that their paths are pretty different to ours and it’s really nice that we can both fit on this list.’

The eclectic mix of styles and genres on this year’s Amp Shortlist proves that the Australian music is definitely on an artistic high and there’s no shortage of creative talent. From bluesman C.W Stoneking to heavy metal rockers, The Drones, Australian musicians are covering all ends of the musical spectrum.

The girls from psychedelic jam group Beaches seemed to be ecstatic and simultaneously shocked to see their debut, self-titled album on the top nine. When asked if they have won any awards before, they jokingly said, ‘Does it look like it?’ followed by laughter as they continued to sip their beers. Their highly acclaimed first album brought them instant recognition in 2008, with a whole run of festival appearances at Big Day Out, Meredith Music Festival, St. Jerome’s Laneway, and ATP in Mt. Buller.

‘There’s a lot of amazing stuff happening right now, it’s quite eclectic. I think the last few years of the Australian music scene has been really good,’ said Beaches guitarist and vocalist, Ali McCann.

Whitford added in, ‘I think the world is sort of taking notice now. When we’re overseas, we’re constantly getting asked about the Australian music scene.’

But winning the Amp award means so much more on local turf. Not only are artists given a monetary award, but also an overall sense of respect and credit is received from the Australian music community. For all of the hard work that goes into recording an album, sometimes credit is given where credit is due.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s lead vocalist, Brendan Suppression feels, ‘It’s really great being acknowledged for some of the hard work. Winning would be great, but other than that, just being acknowledged is something special.’

And what would they do with the money? These artists seem to be pretty hush-hush about talking about their plans if they win.

‘I don’t want to get my hopes up. So if we win, we’ll talk about it then,’ joked Suppression. While former Snout frontman turned solo melodramatic singer-songwriter Ross MacLennan said quickly, ‘I can’t talk about that! I’m a bit superstitious.’

Following the press conference, the crowd moved down to the main stage on the beach for the Cut Copy DJs set. The public announcement was made by on of the Amp judges, Deborah Conway – a legendary Australian musician and St. Kilda local – and Jane Gazzo. Despite the windy weather and hazy sky, the Cut Copy DJ set went off without a hitch. Mixing tracks from MGMT to the Steve Miller Band, Tim Hoey and Whitford used their quick DJ skills to get the crowd moving and bouncing around in the dusty St. Kilda sand.

For most of these artists, it seems to be an honour just to make the top nine. But we’ll see who really takes the cake on March 13, when the final winner of the Australian Music Prize is announced live in Sydney.

Of the more than 200 artists who submitted their 2008 album releases to be considered for the 2008 AMP award, the nine Shortlist nominees are:

The Presets – Apocalypso
Beaches – Beaches
The Drones – Havilah
Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
CW Stoneking – Jungle Blues
Jack Ladder – Love Is Gone
Tom Cooney – Presque Vu
Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Primary Colours
Ross McLennan – Sympathy For the New World

Photo Credits: Lilli Waters