In Sydney next week, Great Southern Nights returns with a taster of what to expect at the its full-scale event across New South Wales next March.
Great Southern Nights – a NSW Government initiative – will showcase a host of Australia's finest and emerging music talent at several inner-west Sydney and Western Sydney venues (16-25 November).One of the acts taking to the stage will be death metal titans Thy Art Is Murder at Marrickville Bowl Club. "I feel the arts are underrepresented in our culture, therefore through our politics," says the band's guitarist Andy Marsh.
"There were some broad strokes of support through COVID, but it wasn't particularly targeted or well-informed. It was well-intentioned, sure. Money. But for the wrong people and without a lot of scrutiny.
"That being said, you don't want to be ungrateful for the support you do get, so we're very stoked about this upcoming performance and what we can do with it."
What's great about the Great Southern Nights initiative is the diversity of genres. It's not geared toward one sound or scene, but has a mixture of Aboriginal artists, singer-songwriters, hip hop and of course, death metal.
To be one of the featured artists among such a diverse line-up isn't, Andy says, necessarily a new thing for TAIM. "For sure, on this scale to have some direct government support, which is interesting – Music NSW has been really good to us.
"Because it's run from state to state, you don't find support is equal or consistent. For instance, during COVID you had to have a letter of support from a member of the music council of the state where the first performance was going to happen, in order for immigration to allow people to come in with special permissions."
Notably, then-problematically, TAIM's drummer, Jesse Beahler, is from the US. "We went to Music Queensland, and they said, 'We don't care about death metal, no'. I'm not even kidding," Andy finishes with an incredulous chuckle.
"This guy just said, 'I don't like what you do and we're not going to support it,' so we ended up putting on a show in Sydney specifically for the purposes of immigration, because Music NSW said 'We love Thy Art Is Murder, we'll endorse you for Jesse to have a visa to come into the country.
"It's not uncommon for us to get some sort of support – I like to think we've developed, over the years, a great reputation for being a band of integrity, good organisation, obviously reasonably well-known and will put on a good show. That being said, that support isn't consistent across the country."
Something like Great Southern Nights, then, offers a band like TAIM a beneficial platform in a way they've not previously experienced.
"Were it a different platform, maybe it would be more beneficial for the wider stigma surrounding heavy music. The tickets are up for sale for whoever wants to buy them, which will probably be our fans, and we don't seem to have too much of an issue reaching our fans domestically or abroad.
"But being able to perform for a wider audience, that's not really for the government to facilitate, we get a bit of that action in Australia playing in festivals.
"I'm not sure what it will facilitate. Hopefully we’ll get some people to Marrickville to see a death metal show!"
Of course, TAIM's appearance comes off the back of the release of their sixth studio album, 'Godlike', which dropped back in September.
Considering the reception to the release, which demonstrates a natural progression for the band that explored new sonic areas, Andy is unsure how it might influence the band's delivery at Great Southern Nights.
"It's obviously been super-well received – of note, it is our first [global] independent release – so I like to think it's been reasonably well received here and abroad.
"We've got this experience of how to perform to larger numbers; the dynamic between audience and performer does change. How you feel about the performance remains unchanged, but how you attempt to deliver it is.
"Marrickville Bowls Club is only, like, 300 capacity, so it's going to be exciting, visceral, in your face, and we do think about things like that, how to tailor a performance for the size of the venue."
Thy Art Is Murder play Marrickville Bowling Club (Sydney) as part of Great Southern Nights 25 November.
Great Southern Nights 2023 Taster Series Featured Tour Dates
Thu 16 Nov - Beccy Cole @ Riverside Theatre (Parramatta)Fri 17 Nov - Alex The Astronaut @ Waywards (Newtown)
Sat 18 Nov - Dami Im @ Q Theatre (Penrith)* limited tickets remain
Sat 18 Nov - Isabella Manfredi @ The Great Club (Marrickville)
Sat 18 Nov - Tasman Keith @ The Crown Hotel (Parramatta)* free show
Wed 22 Nov - The Temper Trap @ The Factory Theatre (Marrickville)
Fri 24 Nov - Thelma Plum @ Joan Sutherland PAC (Penrith)
Sat 25 Nov - Thy Art Is Murder @ Marrickville Bowling Club (Marrickville)
Sat 25 Nov - 3% @ The Crown Hotel (Parramatta)* free show
Sat 25 Nov - 4ESydney Festival @ Warrick Lane Precinct and Main Street (Blacktown)
