Meet The Real Songwriter's Of Melbourne 

On cold and wet Sunday afternoon, struggling to find parking due to a dog show, I made my way to Fitzroy's The Workers Club for a great musical cause. I had been invited by my new friend Jena Marino to attend her event with the intention that I would write about it. This opportunity I couldn't miss, even taking work off to be present. I have been following Jena's initiative 'The Real Songwriters Of Melbourne' (RSOM) for sometime now and absolutely love the work they are doing. Described by  its Founder and Editor Jena as “a Melbourne music initiative designed to give artists the opportunity to share their story and their music. Whether it be a feature profile on our website, an episode on our web series Real Songwriters TV, or in one of our live shows called Real Songwriters Live, RSOM always puts the best interests of the musicians at heart.”

Melbourne is a musical city, with music gigs running every night. Giving a backbone to the countless new acts trying to share their music to the masses. We are basically spoilt for choice. However those not selling out venues such as Festival Hall or Margaret Court Arena, have to try to convince crowds to leave Netflix and come down to support live music. This is the one of the biggest challenge that independent acts can have. But with the support of such initiative as  RSOM, acts can have a platform to showcase their talents and touch a wider audience that embraces music at it's core. Platforms like this help spread the word that there is so much music out there to be discovered if you can be bothered to look for it. RSOM shares the same main goals that I try to portray with this blog. It is so important that we support our local music scene, go out to the little pubs and bars, and experience the untapped talent.

So on this semi stormy afternoon at The Workers Club, I was out in full music mode. I was excited that I would be on the door list and was ready to take it all in. I had listened to a few songs of each of the 3 bands playing, so I had a vibe already. But an act can be so different live, so had my ears peeled. The turn out was minimal, as a Sunday arvo is a hard time to sell and the weather didn't help.The Workers Club isn't exactly Wembley Stadium, so there was enough of a supportive crowd to give the acts some loving. It was nice actually, it had a chilled atmosphere. The idea of the night was to be a showcase, featuring acts that have worked with RSOM. They were all different in their styles, so there was plenty of variety.

Photo by Andy Matsinos

Mo Louie was first to take the stage with her fiery red locks. A big voice, which is evenly matched by her big personality. She reminded me of Adele, not the voice or looks, but the way she sings all proper and serious but between songs is kinda awkward and playful. To the point of missing her cue, due to forgetting the words to her own song that she wrote all the lyrics to. For me it just adds to the experience, you get to be wowed by the voice and get a free giggle here and there. Mo Louie smashes out a range of Jazz/Soul pop songs with lots of power, a real treat. Her cover of Chet Faker's 'To Me' was a nice touch and gave me a chance to sing along, as I didn't know the words to her other beauties. She finished her set off with a tribute to someone she was close to, who had just past away overseas. Making all my hairs stand up. I love Mo Louie's style, going in and out of classic styles but still keeping it current. I only wish she had a full band to build her songs up, giving it more power

Photo by Thomas Overend (Worth A Shot Productions) 

New to Melbourne, Connor Ross brought his guitar and loop pedal to the stage and a presence that was graceful. Starting off with a few soft folky songs with a blues twist, Ross then used his loop to create a new edge to his music. Stating that if he taps his guitar, making a drum sound and loops it, he doesn't have to pay for a drummer. Ross's voice is strong and his songwriting is clever. Singing about moving to new cities and his time back home by the country and ocean. I love  Connor Ross's style, he is warm and inviting, offering his stories   with a influences of Jazz and Blues. Perfect for a rainy day to warm your soul.

Photo by Bri Hammond 

And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, on came Napier with so much sass! Bringing back that 60's rock n roll groove, Napier brought it home with plenty of energy and the crowd ate it all up.  The  lead singers style and swag reminded me of Johnny Cash, so when they did a Cash cover I thought I was teleported back in time. But his voice was a stand out, similar to Jordi Davidson's voice from San Cisco but with an added growl and guts when he needed to shout it out. As a band they work really well together and you can tell they love preforming live, bringing so much rock n roll to the table but still creating catchy radio ready songs. I was really impressed with these lads and can't wait to see where they go in the future.

Jena and her team should be extremely proud of their work with promoting local bands. They are giving them a platform where they can get discovered by music lovers that they might not be able to reach from their own social media platforms. RSOM cares about their work and I hope that they keep going with their amazing work, as it's so important. Look forward to seeing where each band and RSOM go in the future. 

Welcoming WOLF IN A SUIT 

Since starting my blog I have been exposed to the world of writing. I've always followed mediums that write about music, world events or entertainment, but never tried to actually come up with content and get people to read it. I'm still stumbling through it, finding different ways to increase my audience and trying to have content that is lively and appealing. It's harder than I thought and something you have to stick at to achieve your goals. One of the ways I have been able to learn different techniques is by researching other blogger, writing about the same type of stuff. Seeing how they post to their social media platforms and how their audience responds. I've also reached out and been reached out to, by other bloggers. This have given me a chance to connect to others doing a similar thing and ask questions to help me grow.

Recently I was contacted through Instagram by a music and entertainment blog called Wolf In A Suit. The message complimented my blog which gave me the warm and fuzzies. After a few messages we decided to complete a collaboration. We thought a little Q&A would be cool, to ask the other 10 questions about their blog. It was great to see another's perspective on how they go about writing, gathering content, reaching their audience and what they thought was the future of their blog.

Wolf In A Suit (WIAS) is a solo project based out of Texas, U.S.A, that mostly covers music based content from interviews to reviews. From time to time other topic will be covered such as film/TV/fashion to give variety. The writing style is like mine, non formal, conversational and from the perspective of the writer. This, in my opinion, makes for an easy and enjoyable read. The acts that are reviewed are of great quality and I have discovered plenty of new music by reading this blog. WIAS has a larger following than my blog, so it is great to connect with someone that is where I want to be with my work. WIAS includes interviews with artists that are featured, something that I would love to incorporate into my work. Check it out here-

http://wolfinasuit.com/

Overall this was a great experience and I hope we collaborate again in the near future check out the full interview below.

1. Explain what your blog is all about; from your audience to your main goal

My blog is about music but also about other topics like cinema, fashion, television and simply because music influences and is influenced by everything. My audience would be anyone and everyone that enjoys music but also likes to read other things. And my main goal is to become a blog were people go to discover, to learn, to entertain themselves and to just enjoy the ride that hopefully my blog will be.

2. Tell us about your background, and how it has helped you write in this medium

I studied communications but have always feel a connection to music, a certain inexplicable love for it that just attracts me in a unknown level. Plus I used to be in band while in high school and my early college years and have always had an incline to writing.

3. Explain why you haven't just stuck with music as your only topic to write about

I love music but I feel it connects with other topic, it influences them and is influenced by many things. That's why I write about cinema, fashion, television, etc. Music draws inspiration from everything in the world, lyrics can be created from a great movie, an attire in a store can become the look of the next great front man and so on.

4. Where do you see Wolf In A Suit heading in the future? Could it become your job or will it most likely be a hobby based project?

It is unknown where it will be in the future, I do see it as expanding and reaching more people and connecting with more musicians and becoming a place where people can discover and connect with musicians.
I do hope it becomes my job along with another project I am working on (a record label). That would be the perfect full time job, I would be working all the time and not complain, because music is a magical thing.

5. What advice would you give other bloggers who have just started out or are thinking on entering the platform?

Focus on writing more than anything else, the audience will come but only if your content is worth a while. Investigate, do research, go out there, travel, listen to music, do anything that can become inspiration and just flow with that. If there is something you want to specialize on, learn about it, there are so many tools for knowledge online that you can become close to an expert if just take the time to learn.

6. In regards to building a fan base, getting your blog to the widest audience and coming up with content; What steps to you take? What social media tool is most productive? What gets most the attention? What tricks increase views?

Right now I am still figuring it out, I test different steps, different ways, and check out the analytics (great tool) daily, but so far it's always different. I guess I will start seeing more of a steady source later on, right now it's just the beginning.

The tricks I use, I guess could be: Edit the images to make them stand out, create things beyond the writing (like adding videos, creating playlists, etc).

7. What is the local music scene like in your city?

In my city it's actually pretty bad because they still found their own personality, many try to copy or go with what's popular. I would love for them to take their talent and truly make it theirs and show that. I have hope that that will happen.

8. Do you think music connects with people better one on one ( through earphones alone) or in a crowd at a live show?

It all depends, sometimes you just truly want to be one with the music and I get that when I am just listening to music with my headphones on. But there are times you want to feel the energy the song has and that in my opinion can truly be felt in a live concert because everyone is feeling the energy and it just enhances the experience.

9. You you hope to pursue a career in the creative industry?

Actually yeah, I am working on starting a record label, it's still on the baby phase but little by little it's getting there. And also I would love to continue writing about music, doing interviews, and in the future doing live interviews, concerts, etc.

10. What is your thoughts on how people access music these days, eg Spotify, YouTube, Itunes, physical CDs?

As long as they listen to music, it's good in my book. I use all of that and some other websites and applications just to keep myself discovering music.