Yahoo Lifestyle Aussie band’s act proves massive point
Australian artists are moving away from large record labels and forming unique relationships with fans through social media to gain huge followings.
The new trend is seeing Australian emerging artists become social media experts, using TikTok videos and Instagram reels to win over audiences as international artists dominate Aussie charts.
Bogan funk band from Melbourne, Playlunch, shot up on social media in 2023 following the release of their hit Soupe Opera, which sampled the classic French stop motion TV show from the 90s.
Formed in Melbourne’s east, Playlunch weaves funk and disco influences with Australian culture references, from former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ infamous “get on the beers” comment to Corey Worthington’s “I’ll say sorry but I won’t take my glasses off” interview.
Frontman Liam Bell plays guitar, produces music, co-manages the band and works a string of jobs on the side to pay the bills, all while running the band’s social media.
The 26-year-old said needing emerging artists to be social media experts is “such a big ask” and can be a “hassle”, admitting he previously resented the expectation.
“Being a good performer and just writing and playing music as well as you can is a hard enough endeavour, without having to add to it to be able to become a marketing expert — that’s such a big ask of artists these days,” Bell said.
However he said the ability to control the band’s image is liberating and has been a great way to connect with their audience.
Recalling a tour of the East Coast back in April, Bell said concert goers had dressed up after catching on to their house colour themed outfits (synonymous with athletics days in Aussie schools), referenced in their song Athletics Day and in videos posted to social media.
“They were so excited to see us – they were lined up, they were wearing costumes … they’re proper fans,” he said.
The content Playlunch posts ranges from clips from their shows and music videos to candid chats, including one from November where Bell gave a shout out to a fan who handed out detention slips at one of their gigs.
The slips were scrawled with “detention for outfits being too cool”, “unrealistically funky”, and “landlord gave an eviction” – the latter a reference to their song No Hat No Play.
“We didn’t need a record label to help us get this … this pure relationship between a fan and an artist,” Bell said.
“It is truly liberating for artists, if you can make it work, to be in an age where you can do it all yourself and you can be as authentic as you are willing to dare to let yourself be without having any sort of idiot music industry executive saying they know any better, trying to cookie cut you and cut you off at the edges to fit you into some mould of what they think is going to succeed.
“There’s just so much other stuff that is so much more real that people have found on social media.”
Bell said he previously told himself using social media is “just what we have to do to build an audience, and eventually … we (will) have that audience and we don’t need to have that same pressure anymore”.
“But eventually you realise ‘Oh, the reason things are going well is because we’re putting this much work into social media’. You don’t get off the train,” he said.
Q Music and Big Sound chief executive Kris Stewart said it’s “hard to deny” the need for new artists to use social media is “a pain in the a**”, but on the flip side a strong social media presence could give artists more agency over their image and help them get signed to a label.
“For some artists it’s a positive, but obviously not for all artists because it expects you to be a lot better at more things than you probably expected to be to start your music career,” Mr Stewart said.
“It’s sort of a move away from a tower of large labels, and certainly in Australia the ability for large labels to make a big investment in artists like they do.”
He said it’s also a good way for people to “stumble upon” new artists, as algorithms on streaming services aren’t “there to surprise us”, but rather feed people with music and artists they already enjoy, making it difficult for emerging artists to break out.
Indie-pop trio The Stamps have also made social media part of their regular routine, with band member Scarlett Graham admitting they spend “a lot of time” creating content to market themselves while having a bit of fun along the way.
“I think that if you have control of your social media … you’re able to attract an audience that is likely going to stick around if you are who you are,” Graham said.
“If you’re able to control it yourself, then you’re able to capture the attention of people who absolutely like you for who you are, which I think is nice because then you get people who really do like you, listen and support you.”
Having recently signed with the ABC, Bell urged other artists to put their best foot forward and learn how to use editing software.
“It will be the best thing you ever do,” Bell said.
“It will be a steep learning curve, and it will suck in the beginning, but once you’re good at this, it will just be completely invaluable to your success these days.”
Playlunch are expected to drop new music in February 2025, while The Stamps recently dropped their new single Slow Burn.
