The 2004 APRA Awards -Australian Songwriters Shine

Mon 17th May, 2004 in Features

The APRA Awards honour the achievements of Australian songwriters, composers and publishers. They are an extension of what APRA (the Australasian Performing Rights Association) does for its 37,000 members, in that it collects royalties for them, finds new income streams for them through new technology (such as telephone ringtones), and protects their copyright.

Normally a Sydney event, the Awards move to Melbourne this year after eight years. It will be held on May 24 at the Regent Theatre to 450 guests.  Unlike the ARIAs, the APRAs are not a glitzy million-dollar production that is televised across the nation. As a result, they are more relaxed. With no inhibiting TV cameras, the acceptance speeches tend to be more irreverent, and host, comic Jonathan Biggins, is gleefully more nasty. “We’re not subject to the whims of commercial TV, so the APRA awards do have more of a party feel,” agrees the awards’ executive producer Sally Howland. “But they are considered very important by the writers and composers, who are often the unsung heroes of the music industry. The APRA awards are about celebrating the value and integrity of the song. Let’s face it, if it wasn’t for the song, we would not have a music industry.”

Cam Muncey of Jet, one of the acts nominated, says, “The fact that our song was chosen by our song-writing peers is the greatest honour.” Adds fellow nominee in the same category, John Butler, “I really respect many songwriters in this country. It’s kinda cool that the independent bands like The Waifs and us are in there as well. It only shows that the mainstream has a wide taste, and they’ll embrace stuff if they get the chance to hear it in the first place.”

The APRAs are one of three awards events held annually by APRA, the others being the classical and film & TV Awards. The APRA Awards are considered so important that bands will reschedule their overseas tours to attend, often flying in on the day. Screen composer David Hirschfelder (Shine, Sliding Doors, Elizabeth) once wrote a piece of music especially for it.

Each of the numbers nominated in the Song Of The Year category are performed on the night. Often they are given a totally different interpretation. Among past highs have been 28 Days’ rap-metal take of AC/DC’s heavy metal anthem “Back In Black”, and Kylie Minogue’s version of good friend Nick Cave’s dramatic ballad “Into Your Arms”. Former LRB members (Glenn) Shorrock, (Graham) Goble and (Beeb) Birtles’s rendition of Alex Lloyd’s “Amazing” was considered so, well, amazing, that they included it in their live set. Last year, Kasey Chambers teamed with singer songwriter Shane Nicholson for a poignant folk-country rendition of Silverchair’s “The Greatest View”.

This year, nominated for Song Of The Year are John Butler Trio’s “Zebra”, Delta Goodrem’s “Innocent Eyes”, Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”, Silverchair’s “Across the Night” and The Waifs’ “Lighthouse”.

John Butler Trio’s “Zebra” was the first single off his remarkable “Sunrise Over Sea” and was a hit on both the pop and indie charts. Many Butler fans were surprised he’d come up with a song like that — none more so than Butler himself. “I had the riff in my head for a year,” Butler explains. “One day at rehearsals I tried it with the band, and it just exploded. So, damn, that meant I had to write words for it! At that time, my baby daughter Banjo would take 45 minutes to go to sleep. I’d jiggle her to sleep to a reggae beat, and that’s how ‘Zebra’ emerged!”

Although Butler is best known as a guitarist, performer and producer, he reveals that he started out as a songwriter. “I was 16, and writing was a great way to express emotions. My first song was questioning the pain and suffering in the world. I’m not saying it was a great song, but writing came naturally to me. In fact the first piece I learned on the guitar was one of mine, because I never learned any covers.”

In the mid-70s, Garth Porter was keyboard player and main songwriter of Australia’s biggest pop band, Sherbet. They notched up a series of hits including “Summer Love”, “Silvery Moon”, “Slipstream” and their biggest hit, “Howzat!” which reached #2 in the UK and cracked the US charts. This year, Porter has been nominated three times in the country field as co-writer of two songs with Lee Kernaghan (“Something in the Water”, “Way It Is”) and on Sara Storer’s “Raining on the Plains” which includes words by her farmer brother Doug Storer. 

After his pop days, Porter turned to country music to develop his writing, and produced some top names in that field. “Country songs teach you fundamentals like the importance of a strong theme and keeping things simple.” Of his nomination, he says, “It’s great to be recognised,” but adds, “I set myself high standards. When you take that step beyond what you’d normally write, it gives you a real buzz. That self-satisfaction extends beyond whether that song wins any awards.”

Porter wrote his first song aged 10. He too started to pen songs “because I thought figuring out someone else’s song was too hard. It was probably a terrible song, but it came to me naturally. Writing is a big part of what I do now.  I work hard and often at it. I’ve got about 500 songs registered, which I don’t think anyone else in this country can match.”

Performing at this year’s awards are John Butler Trio, The Cat Empire, Amiel, Magic Dirt, and team ups between Troy Cassar-Daley and Shane Howard, and jazz player Guy Strazzullo (whose song “Mandela” is nominated in the jazz section) is doing a duet with classical guitarist Slava Grigoryan. Other categories include most performed Australian, dance, country, jazz and foreign work. Despite rumours, the recipient of the highly coveted Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music remains a secret until the night.