WAMFest 2017 Reveal New Coordinators And Key Dates

The re-branded WAMFest 2016 was a stellar success, with record-breaking attendances seeing over 14,500 music lovers filling 26 music venues, with more than 160 acts playing (even in transformed spaces and backyards).

The wonderful folks at WAM (West Australian Music) are busy planning the 2017 event, today unveiling new coordinators as well as revealing key dates and how artist and the music industry can get involved with this year's event, which took out the prestigious Australian Live Music Event Of The Year (Metro) category at the national The AU Awards.

With the welcoming of new WAMFest coordinators, WAM offers a big thank you to Greg Sanders for his hard work as WAMFest Coordinator for the past three years; his work has been instrumental in reinventing WAMFest.

L-R: WAMFest Coordinators Mark Neal & Skinny

With big boots to fill, WAM are now excited to welcome Mark Neal and Simon ‘Skinny’ O’Leary as the new WAMFest Coordinators, promising to provide a festival that will knock your socks clean off.

Simon ‘Skinny’ O’Leary is the festival director of the all-ages music festival HyperFest for the City of Swan. Skinny has previously worked at Country Arts WA, Black Swan State Theatre Company and various other festivals, and has toured and tour managed acts throughout regional WA and Australia.

Skinny’s band, Sail On! Sail On!, have just self-released their debut album and completed their third jaunt around the country’s stickiest floors. “I’m incredibly excited to be joining the WAMily working on WAMFest with Mark over the next few years,” Skinny says.

"We’re lucky to be taking the reigns from Greg Sanders, who achieved some awesome things as WAMFest Coordinator and has given us a running start to build from."

Perth music stalwart Mark Neal is the brains behind bookings, management, production, media and publicity house Blue Grey Pink, supporting up and coming WA talent. Mark manages and plays guitar for alt poppers The Disappointed and fronts indie rockers Odlaw.

He has worked at X-Press, HyperFest, UpBeat events, WAMFest and contributes at RTRFM. Mark has worked with WAM as both site manager and festival assistant under the previous WAMFest coordinator, and has been the go to tour manager for the WAM Wheatbelt Touring Circuit. "WAM have been monumental in my career so far," he says.

"If it wasn’t for Nigel [Bird] and his regional programmes, I probably wouldn’t have been able to find a place in this business. Working under Greg for the last three years has been enjoyable, as he brought new life to an old dog and I look forward to now moving on to new tricks."

WAMFest 2016

With new coordinators now in place and big ideas brewing, get set for an even more impressive celebration of WA music in 2017. WAM can’t reveal too much yet, but can sneak out a number of opportunities and some of the key dates to fill your diary and ready yourself for good times with.

Whether advancing your music career with the highly applauded music conference WAMCon, soaking up the incredible tunes coming out of this state at many of the free and ticketed events or showcasing your wears, you’d best plan for the best WAMFest:

• WAMFest Showcases - 2-5 November
• WAMAwards - 2 November
• WAMCon - 3-4 November

WAM are now calling for all talented folk who want to help set WA alight with the sound of superfine music. They're seeking stellar acts, Kiss My WAMi CD song submissions, promoters, venues and more to a) take advantage of the incredible opportunities to advance your career that WAMFest 2017 will provide and b) ensure this year’s WAMFest once again has people extolling it to be the 'the best ever!'.

WAM are also currently seeking all movers and shakers in the contemporary music scene to showcase at WAMFest’s many events, from free public events like the Saturday Spectacular and Block Party, to industry-focused showcases and ticketed events across the weekend.

Artists

Venues

Promoters