Leading Australian artists, Amy Taylor and Tones & I, delivered candid addresses retracing their journeys to fame and outlining the challenges women artists face, at a music industry gathering in Brisbane this week.
Both took to the stage to deliver keynote speeches at Bigsound, the southern hemisphere’s biggest music industry gathering, in which Taylor said she had to become “hard”, while Tones & I said she “was proudly the worst artist to manage”.
In her address Taylor, who is the lead singer of punk bank Amyl and the Sniffers, confessed to the crowd that it was “super different” for her to be speaking.
“I don’t think I’ve ever written an essay,” she admitted.
Amy Taylor reflected on her journey in the music industry at the annual Bigsound event. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Antonia O’Flaherty)
But she had her audience captivated and at times, roaring with laughter, in an address that was equally reflective of the challenges women, and women artists, face.
She recalled her first 19 years living in Mullumbimby, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, before moving to Melbourne.
“All I wanted to do was be a little terror and just kind of like, rip around the town and just, I don’t know, explore the world.”
Eventually forming a band with guitarist Dec Martens, drummer Bryce Wilson and bassist Gus Romer, she spoke about the joy and challenges of starting out, when “money was super secondary”.
“We were all always going through growing pains as well. I want to say that tall poppy culture in Australia is f***ing real,” she said.
“I always have felt ashamed of things that we’re doing well, so what I tried to do is just overcompensate by being as proud as I can.”
Amyl and the Sniffers play to a massive crowd at Splendour In The Grass.
The band’s success has included three ARIA awards, performing on main stages in festivals, and touring around the world.
Taylor then delved into the challenges for women in the music industry and broader society.
“I’ve experienced crap from all different things, before music, after music,” she said.
“I’ve had people grope me when I worked at Coles, when I worked at IGA. I’ve had it all. I’ve seen it all, and I’ve seen worse as well that I don’t want to get into today, but that shapes women, and it shapes all different kinds of people.”
She said she had been sexually assaulted at her own shows.
“You do cop it, and you cop a lot, and I do think there’s an imbalance of judgement that happens as well, like being in a band of three men and being surrounded by men,” she said.
“Even for us at our shows, we still get people getting sexually assaulted, which is a place that I’ve tried to create our own little world, which is safe from that, but I can’t even do that.”
She said she felt that as a woman, she has had to become “hard” despite not wanting to.
“I believe that I have to be hard, and I do have to be hard in music for the same reason, because I’m judged so much, I’ve had so much criticism,” she said.
“I’m not going to falter at it, because I know that they’re wrong.”
Amy Taylor was a keynote speaker at Bigsound 2024. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Antonia O’Flaherty)
Taylor wrapped up by lamenting the negative narrative around the future of the music industry arguing, “maybe it’s not dying, maybe it’s just changing” before offering words of support to Australian artists.
“Big ups to bogan Aussie chicks, and big up to anyone giving it a crack. You can endure, way more than you think you can,” she said.
“Life is a meaningless playground, and you just should enjoy it.”
Shock of success leaves Tones & I ‘stuck in depression’
Earlier in the week Tones & I (Toni Watson) spoke about her rise from busking in Byron Bay to becoming Australia’s first female artist to hit 3 billion streams on Spotify.
Tones & I chats with host Myf Warhust at Bigsound 2024. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Antonia O’Flaherty)
Before her hit Dance Monkey, Watson was busking at Bigsound 2018, then the song took off and she was asked back as a keynote speaker — virtually — during the pandemic.
“I thought so now I have to be some profound example, because a song or two popped off,” she said.
“Well, truth be known, I was stuck in depression from the shock of the change, and I will not go into online hate, but we all see it.”
But standing as the keynote speaker this year, she reflected that her journey was a testament to her hard work and being a “creative businesswoman”.
“I stand here today as an artist that cannot be managed, I’m proudly the worst artist to manage,” she said.
“I don’t take no for an answer. I’m tough as nails.
“I have 20 weird ideas a day. I do everything in my own way, which usually involves a lot more work for everyone, but a better outcome.”
In five years Watson has now surpassed 12 billion streams, won multiple awards, topped charts around the world and is touring sold-out shows.
Watson said she was not “blinded by the fact that Dance Monkey is the reason” for a lot of those numbers.
“I just want to be able to keep moving forward as an artist with new music,” she said.
Watson said her new album Beautifully Ordinary, which is set for release in August, had given her an opportunity to open up.
“Even if it’s vague, to just take the first step to actually talk about who Tones was before she was a busker,” she said.
“But getting to a point where I can maybe help other people by saying these things that maybe went through the same thing, which is something I’ve never thought about because I was too scared of judgement, so I didn’t speak up.”
She also offered some advice to aspiring artists, urging them to remember “confidence isn’t optional in this industry”.
“It’s necessary, do it humbly, but move with intention, move with passion and love in the relationships you make, the favours you give, the community you raise up around you,” she said.
“I have done many things to be proud of in the past five years, but the thing I have built that will always be the best part of my professional life is the community and the family that I have fostered.”
