Trust us: journalists are about as sick of writing sad stories about Sydney’s music scene as you are of reading them. We are sick of poring over the lockout laws for another year, or noting the sad collapse of yet another venue, or decrying the opportunities that young musicians on the up have at their disposal.
And, believe it or not, politicians feel the same way. Just spend 20 minutes in conversation with Councillor Jess Scully, and you quickly realise that there are those out there in positions of governmental power that are as well aware of the rumour that Sydney is just one big, soulless rat race as the rest of us are; that there are indeed pollies who know intimately the problems that our local musicians are facing.
“There’s a really negative tendency to talk down to Sydney,” Scully says. “Particularly after the lockout laws, and everything we have experienced in the last two, three, four, five years.”
But Scully also has the unique benefit of perspective. Far from being a career politician, the Councillor has a background in arts publishing and political journalism, and so is not so quick to begin eulogising our city, or its burgeoning music scene.
“One of the benefits of getting a little bit older is realising that conversations like the one we are having at the moment happen all the time. People have been talking about losing venues and all of this sort of stuff for a really long time. But the scene really does continue. There are still lots of great talents, and there are still lots of great venues, and still lots of great events.”
For that reason, Scully believes strongly in maintaining a positive – and yet stridently down to earth – attitude. “We have to talk our music scene up, while of course being realistic of the big challenges that we face. Things have gotten quite difficult for people to run a venue, or to organise a performance space. But it’s like that old saying, ‘The stories of demise are premature.’ It always feels like that.”
To that end, Scully sees the path forward as requiring a juggling of the maintenance of old venues and the cultivation of new ones. She does not believe Sydney has anything to gain by closing the lid on the past, and branding some of our older spaces as dead and gone, but neither does she think we need to settle in for a bout of navel gazing. Balance, as in all things, is the key here.
“It’s really important to foster new spaces, of course – it’s important to provide new incentives for people, so that they are creating new spaces for emerging musicians. But we have to look after the old spaces as well.”
Ultimately, Scully thinks we all need to work to the best of our abilities to make incremental, grass root changes towards acceptance of the arts, and the embracing of our musicians. And while she understands that a lot of power falls into the hands of politicians, and those at the very top of the pile, she also believes ardently in the capabilities we all have when it comes to changing the conversation. Because that, after all, is what these discussions about our music scene are – a conversation; one big melting pot of speakers and listeners.
“It is a story, that’s the thing. But if we tell the story too much, it gives people the feeling of like, ‘Oh, I won’t bother checking out what is going on this weekend, because nothing is on.’ It’s really important if we want to have a live music scene that we focus on the positives.”
