June 7 – 11 ETTALONG BEACH NSW Proudly supported by ASC wishes to acknowledge the Darkinyung people who are the Traditional Custodians of the land upon which this event is taking place. We pay our respect to Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all indigenous people joining us at ASC this year. Message from the Founder Welcome to the 2018 Australian Songwriters Conference. To think it almost didn’t happen! How do I begin to say “Thank you” to everyone who has made ASC2018 possible? I have to begin with a huge shout out to the group of ASCers who rallied together to make sure ASC2018 would go ahead this year, most especially Elizabeth Usher, Renee Jonas, Terri Rowe, Mary Harrison, Tiffany Gow and Christine Kerr - you are my heroes! Thank you for going above and beyond to get the crowd funding campaign up and running, and for supporting and assisting me all the way through the past few months of event preparation. To everyone who supported the crowd funding campaign and helped to make it a success – thank you so much for believing in this event and funding our campaign. Finally, thank you to the amazing industry professionals, particularly the ‘Core’ Faculty members, for being so incredibly generous and supportive by turning up every year, sharing your time, knowledge and wisdom and being so incredibly humble and easy to work with. This year couldn’t have happened without you all, so I thank you and appreciate you more than words can say. ASC also wouldn’t be possible without the support of our wonderful partners. Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort always makes us welcome and assist in more ways than you can possibly imagine. My thanks especially to Jerry Altavilla and Alex Quinn. Macron Music supplies our PA system and keyboard for the sessions and showcases and has done so since 2008. Many thanks to Anthony Ursino for his continued support. The Grove Studios supplies our on-site studio and my thanks particularly to Jack Nigro and his team for all they do to help attendees in the on-site studio over the course of the event. We once again welcome Grammy Award-winning songwriter and International songwriting teacher, Alan Roy Scott, to our shores as he leads the co-writing workshops and helps us to make our songs even better through his Song Surgery sessions. I am thrilled that this year’s ‘newbie’ speakers are Country Music star Gina Jeffreys and hit Country Songwriter and Producer, Rod McCormack. They will join our fabulous Faculty of speakers, mentors and workshop presenters in sharing their knowledge and wisdom with us all. As always, our program is jam-packed, so pace yourself! We have more workshops than ever, this year, and even more topics relevant to the craft and business of songwriting, so strap yourself in, keep your notebooks handy, and enjoy the ride that is your 2018 Australian Songwriters Conference. - Lisa & the ASC Team Lisa Butler Terri Rowe Tiffany Gow Josh White Mason Headford ASC Founder Executive Assistant Event Assistant Event Assistant Event Assistant 2 ASC2018 Event Program (Please note that whilst every effort will be made to maintain this program, it is subject to change.) THURSDAY 7th TIME ACTIVITY ROOM 3.00pm – 7.45 Registration Paradiso Room 8.00– 9.30 Opening Ceremony & Song Contest Awards Paradiso Room 9.30 - 10.30 Founder’s Soiree – Networking and Jam Gusto FRIDAY 8th TIME ACTIVITY ROOM 7.45 - 9.00 Breakfast Hafa’s 8.00 - 9.00 Registration/Information Desk open Paradiso Room 9.00 – 11.00 Alan Roy Scott: Group Co-writing Session Paradiso Room 11.05 - 12.30 Jack Nigro: Demo Workshop (in the Studio) Blue Room 12.30 - Late On-Site Studio courtesy of The Grove Studios Blue Room 12.30 - 1.30 Lunch Break Hafa’s 1.30 - 2.30 Caroline McKnight: APRA Services Paradiso Room Hillsong Music Publishing – Nathan Eshman Paradiso Room 2.30 – 3.30 DT Talent Management – Diana Torossian Bi Bi’s Bar Song Pitching TBA On-Site Studio 3.45 – 4.45 Anthony Snape: Building a Successful Indie Career Paradiso Room 3.45 – 4.45 DT Talent Management – Diana Torossian Bi Bi’s Bar Song Pitching TBA Bi Bi’s Bar 5.00 – 6.30 Fly On The Wall: Alan Roy Scott, Anthony Snape & Gina Jeffreys Paradiso Room 6.30 - 8.30 Dinner Break Gusto 8.30 – 10.30 Attendee Showcase (Open Audience - All welcome) Paradiso Room 3 SATURDAY 9th TIME ACTIVITY ROOM 7.45 - 9.00 Breakfast Hafa’s 9.00 – 11.00 Alan Roy Scott: Group Co-writing Session Paradiso Room 10.00 - Late On-Site Studio courtesy of The Grove Studios Blue Room 11.15 – 12.15 Gina Jeffreys: Writing in the Country Genre Paradiso Room 12.30 – 1.30 Lunch Break + Group Photo Shoot (Wear your ASC T-Shirt!) Hafa’s 1.30 - 2.30 Rod McCormack: Co-Writing/Writing with a Producer Paradiso Room 2.45 – 3.45 Matt Donlevy: Publishing Paradiso Room 4.00 – 5.00 Diana Torossian & Colleen Zulian: Artist/Writer Management Paradiso Room : Lessons Learned: How to get to the next 5.00 – 6.30 Barb & Adrian Hannan Paradiso Room level and become a career songwriter 6.30 – 8.30 Dinner Break Gusto 7.30 – 8.30 Cooking Vinyl Australia / Frankdon Music - Matt Donlevy Bibi’s Bar Song Pitching 8.30 – 10.30 Attendee Showcase (Open Audience - All welcome) Paradiso Room SUNDAY 10th TIME ACTIVITY ROOM 7.45 - 9.00 Breakfast Hafa’s 9.00 - 10.00 Keys to Unlock a Career in Music (Pt 1) Paradiso Room Workshop Connie Kis Andersen: 10.00 - Late On-Site Studio courtesy of The Grove Studios Blue Room 10.15 – 11.15 Paradiso Room Workshop Doreen Van Bree: Vocal Workshop 11.30 – 12.30 Paradiso Room Workshop Christine Kerr: Beating Writers Block Hafa’s + 12.30 - 2.30 Lunch + Attendee Showcase on outdoor market stage Outdoor Stage 1.30 – 2.30 Cooking Vinyl Australia / Frankdon Music - Matt Donlevy Paradiso Room Song Pitching 2.30 – 3.30 Alan Roy Scott: Song Surgery (Group A) Paradiso Room Workshops Katrena Friel: Business School for Songwriters (Group B) BiBi’s Bar 3.45 – 4.45 : Keys to Unlock a Career in Music (Pt 2) Paradiso Room Workshop Connie Kis Andersen 5.00 – 6.00 Alan Roy Scott: Song Surgery (Group B) Paradiso Room Workshops Katrena Friel: Business School for Songwriters (Group A) BiBi’s Bar 6.30 - 8.30 Dinner Break Gusto 8.30 – 10.30 Attendee Showcase (Open Audience - All welcome) Paradiso Room 4 MONDAY 11th TIME ACTIVITY ROOM REMINDER: All Luggage to Resort Office before first session this morning. 7.45 - 9.00 Breakfast Hafa’s 9.00 – 11.00 Alan Roy Scott: Group Co-writing Session Paradiso Room 9.00am – 2.00 On-Site Studio courtesy of The Grove Studios Blue Room Lisa Butler: ASC Moving Forward – A Conversation. Plus Final 11.00 – 12.00 Paradiso Room Announcements & Acknowledgements. My Song Pitching Choices PUBLISHER TIME ROOM SONG My ASC Connections Name Phone Email 5 Seminar & Workshop Descriptions Co-Writing Workshops Alan Roy Scott Over the course of the 4 days of the conference, Alan will lead daily co-writing sessions and activities that teach the critical aspects of “hit” songwriting including song structure, melody craft, chord contrasts, lyrical forms & the importance of titles and rhymes. Song Surgery Alan Roy Scott As well as leading the daily co-writing sessions at ASC2018, Alan will also run his popular “Song Surgery” sessions where detailed “live” evaluations and suggested revisions will be offered on the spot to attendees, aimed at improving your existing songs. Home Recording and Mixing/Mastering Jack Nigro An important part of being a professional songwriter is the demo recording process. This is something that can be an affordable and simple process you can do from your home. Join audio engineer Jack Nigro in the On-Site Studio as he takes you through some simple techniques and tricks you can use in your home recording set up to get the best sonic results for your demos and home recordings. These tips and tricks can significantly enhance your songs potential when pitching to the industry. This 1.5 hour workshop is broken into 5 parts: Setting Up Your Home Studio Fundamental recording do’s and dont’s Introduction to audio tools Creating a simple mix Mastering and file formats. Beating Writer’s Block Christine M Kerr It’s the fear of every writer, that inexplicable obstruction to our creative flow; writer’s block. In this session, Christine Kerr will share the processes that have helped her to complete several national and international song challenges (50 Songs In 50 Days etc) and more recently, win the Adult Contemporary category of the UK Songwriting Contest. If you regularly suffer with writer’s block – or you are concerned about it happening to you, this session is a must. 6 Business School for Songwriters Katrena Friel Discover why artists struggle in business. Find out your personal strengths and challenges on how to take your business to the next level. We want songwriters to learn that business is creative while getting the latest thinking in branding, social media, marketing, business process and systems, event management, strategic partnerships, sales, pricing and mindset. You will work through a real live example for your own business and your unique business opportunities, tactics and behaviours in your specific marketplace. The idea is to give you a great learning experience, so you respect business and steer away from the starving artist mentality of the past. A FREE Business Coaching Session is offered after the session so you can determine if you are on the right track to commercial success and what areas you need to be focusing on this year.