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New music scene hits the beaten track Cassie White and Brigid Andersen

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Updated August 03, 2010 10:35:00

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Australian acts were some of the top-billing performers at this year's Splendour In The Grass and they say in a lagging local music industry, life on the road is what keeps them afloat.

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British India have enjoyed a fairly rapid rise to fame and say the turnout at their Splendour set on Friday was one of their biggest to date.

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But singer Declan Melia told ABC News Online bands need to work their hearts out to establish themselves in the music scene. "When British India started in about 2006 - about the time of Jet, The Vines and The Mess Hall - there were a lot of bands in Melbourne and you really have to play your heart out to get noticed, especially us because we were quite young and we weren't actually very good," he said.

Franklin to decide future within the week PHOTO: British India belts out a tune at Splendour In The

Grass. RELATED STORY: Record crowds at Splendour

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"What we did have was a lot of energy, so it's really ingrained in us when we play to give it everything we've got; it's almost second nature to us now." He says these days it is the constant touring that is really the bread-and-butter for musicians, rather than album sales.

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"With the record industry in such dire straits, bands have to look at new ways to make money," he said. PHOTO: Festival-goers at the Splendour in the Grass arts and

"At the moment, when the industry is in such a state of retraction, playing live is definitely the breadwinner for Australian bands, so you can't afford to be average live."

music festival at Woodford, north of Brisbane, watch British India perform at the ampitheatre stage on July 30, 2010. (Cassie White: ABC News)

Melia says he thinks guitar bands, in particular, need to spend more time in the touring van and less in the recording studio. "I think the idea of these bands that release an album every three years and do two tours and are like, 'we have to get off tour to write a record' - I think those days have passed," he said. "The record industry can't support that kind of schedule. You have to be in people's faces all the time. People's attention spans are pathetic."

PHOTO: A man sits on someone's shoulders in the mosh pit

during British India on day one of Splendour in the Grass. July 30, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

Crowd pleaser Dan Sultan, another Australian artist known for highGenerated with www.html-to-pdf.net

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energy performances on stage, says fans can tell when bands aren't giving it their all. "It's got so much to do with the crowd for me. The crowd can be really sensitive and if you've got a bad sound and you look like you're not enjoying yourself then people really pick up on that," he said. Melbourne-based Midnight Juggernauts are also no strangers to the touring circuit. Like many local artists, they chose to go down the independent road rather than signing up to a big label.

PHOTO: Campers set up on day one of Splendour in the

Grass in Woodford, south-east Queensland, with blue skies above on July 30, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

The Juggernauts toured Europe, the UK and the United States, before flying in for their Splendour gig and to kick off their Australian tour. Frontman Vince Vendetta says when the electro/dance-inspired act first started out, it was hard to convince Australian audiences to take a chance on something other than classic Aussie pub rock. "In the beginning it was difficult for us; we had to organise a lot of our own shows because venues wouldn't give us a gig," he said.

PHOTO: Jinja Safari open Splendour In The Grass at Woodford on July 30, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

"Most of our own first shows were just parties we'd put on and slowly we built up a bit of a fan base. That helped get radio programmers and festival programmers on side." These days drummer Daniel Stricker says dance and electro-type sounds have become so popular in Australia, home crowds are now the band's biggest. "That kind of big dance and electro sound has become the modern day AC/DC. Bands like The Presets have become the mainstream, so it's changed," he said.

PHOTO: Festival-goers walk towards the stages at Splendour

in the Grass in Woodford, south-east Queensland, on July 30, 2010. (Brigid Andersen) (Brigid Andersen: ABC News)

British India's Melia says he is proud of the way his rock outfit has established themselves as a top live act. "We've never had a record label, we've never had a huge movement to surge us forward, we've always just had the grassroots," he said. "I really don't feel we've had things like media really pushing us, we haven't had the red carpet rolled out as far as record sales go; it's been a pretty wholesome rise." Sultan too says he has worked hard to achieve the level of success he has had in recent years and admits he regularly has to pinch himself.

PHOTO: Temper Trap singer Dougy Mandagi has a rock star

moment on stage at Splendour In The Grass on July 30, 2010. (Cassie White: ABC News)

"I think everybody who reaches some success in whatever they do works at it for a very long time, and I think the overnight [success] thing has to do when other people realise it," he said. "It's just something I've always done and had in my life. "I think if you go long enough and far enough, one day you're 26 and playing a great bill and part of a good scene and you've just got to keep going."

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PHOTO: A Splendour goer lies on an air mattress with a

stuffed elmo doll and a sign asking for drugs on August 1,

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On the road

2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

And despite being away from friends and family, life on the road isn't all late nights and trashed hotel rooms. Melia says British India make a point of looking after themselves while touring. "There's been a real trend in recent music journalism for bands to say, 'oh touring on the road is so unglamorous, it's so disgusting, we're like four sweaty dudes in a van'," he said. "I think we've always kind of made the decision to spend a bit more money to be comfortable.

PHOTO: Aussie rocker Dan Sultan gets into it at the GW

McLennan tent at Splendour In The Grass on Friday July 20, 2010. (Cassie White: ABC News)

"We stay in fairly nice hotels and we eat well. It's better for the performance for us to be comfortable and well rested instead of being grotty kids just come out of the van." Topics: music, arts-and-entertainment, events, carnivals-and-festivals, industry, music-industry, australia

First posted August 03, 2010 10:19:00

Contact Cassie White PHOTO: A giant inflatable hand sits under a blue sky at

Splendour in the Grass on July 30, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

PHOTO: Pepa of Jinja Safari enjoys their opening set at

Splendour in the Grass on July 30, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

PHOTO: Fans arrive on day one of Splendour in the Grass at

Woodford, north of Brisbane, on July 30, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

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PHOTO: The Scissor Sisters turn it on at the Splendour in the

Grass arts and music festival at Woodford, north of Brisbane, on July 30, 2010. (Cassie White: ABC News)

PHOTO: Campers take a break during Splendour in the Grass on Sunday August 1, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

PHOTO: British India plays a hot set at SPlendour in the Grass on July 30, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

PHOTO: A Splendour visitor gets a henna tattoo on July 31, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

PHOTO: Andrew Szekeres of Midnight Juggernauts performs

at Splendour In The Grass on July 31, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

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PHOTO: Four colourful Splendour goers pose for the camera on August 1, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

PHOTO: Angus and Julia Stone perform at the Splendour in

the Grass arts and music festival at Woodford, north of Brisbane, on July 30, 2010. (Dustin Weier: User submitted)

PHOTO: Richard Ashcroft and The United Nations of Sound

perform on stage during the Splendour in the Grass music festival at Woodford, north of Brisbane, on August 1, 2010. (Mark Metcalfe: Getty Images)

PHOTO: Crowds sit on the hill at the amphitheatre on at

Splendour in the Grass on August 1, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

PHOTO: Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons performs on

stage during day three of the Splendour in the Grass music festival at Woodfordia on August 1, 2010. (Mark Metcalfe: Getty Images)

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PHOTO: An archer shoots balloons at Splendour in the Grass on August 1, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

PHOTO: The Mess Hall deliver some loud live music to the

crowd at Splendour In The Grass on August 1, 2010. (Brigid Andersen: ABC)

PHOTO: One happy punter keeps dry in sweltering conditions

at Splendour In The Grass, dressed completely in terry towelling, on July 31, 2010. (Cassie White: ABC News) GALLERY: Splendour in the Grass MAP: Australia