CHANGES will bring together a contemporary music summit and live music program to create discussions surrounding music, tech, talks and ideas, with the summit taking place at the Abbotsford Convent and the showcase at a variety of venues.
The summit is a joint effort between The Push, Yarra City Council, Music Victoria and more, and will be taking place on Wednesday, 3rd July and Thursday, 4th July.
At the start of the month, they announced their mammoth lineup of speakers who will be part of the TALKS portion of the summit, as well as their dynamic roster of live artists who will be part of the live music showcase.
With such a massive lineup of speakers, panellists and innovators from right across the industry, we put it to them to see who their must see acts at this year’s CHANGES are.
Viv Mellish
Viv is a co-founder of Aussie based digital distribution and artist services company, GYROstream. She is currently the Head of Marketing & Promotions at GyroSTREAM. Her picks:
“So. Many. Good. Bands. Candy, Chitra, Cry Club, Evangeline, Memphis LK, P-UniQue, Ruby Gill, These New South Whales, Tiana Khasi.”
Felix Preval
Felix is the Artistic Director of Darwin Festival. He’s been working on the event in a curatorial capacity since 2016. He has over a decade of experience working for arts festivals in Australia, New Zealand, the UKA and USA. Top of his list are:
“Loose Tooth, Mojo Juju, Alice Skye, Miss Blanks, Elizabeth and Sarah Mary Chadwick – but there are so many more I’m dying to see live.”
Nkechi Anele
Nkechi is the co-creator of The Pin, a content hub which explores race, identity and culture from bi-racial and bi-cultural experiences. When she’s not working on The Pin, she’s hosting Roots ‘N’ All on triple j and fronting Melbourne band Saskwatch. Her picks in alphabetical order are:
“Ajak Kwai, Alice Skye, Braille Face, Chitra, Danika Smith, Digital Africa, Drmngnow, Emily South, Huntly, Mojo Juju, So.Crates, These New South Wales, Tiana Khasi.”
Leigh Treweek
Leigh is the jack of all trades – he’s currently the director of Handshake Management, the owner and publisher of The Music and a founder of Street Press Australia. His picks are:
“Cry Club, Ryan Downey, Miss Blanks, Hexdebt, U-Bahn, Denise Le Menice and the absolutely cannot miss is Mojo Juju.”
Sose Fuamoli
Sose is a freelance music journalist, editor, radio host and publicist. She’s long been a champion of diversifying Australia’s music culture, while also profiling some of the world’s biggest artists and festivals in the United States and Europe. She co-hosts The Scenario on Kiss FM with Michelle Grace Hunder. She says:
“Go fall in love with Ryan Downey at the Old Bar, Kwasi at the Night Cat. Swing by Tiana Khasi’s set at The Evelyn and don’t forget to stop by the Bad Apples showcase and show Lady Lash some love too at the Shady Lady!”
Justin Tam
Justin is a Hong-Kong Australian writer, musician and game designer. He is a co-founder of art collective Eternal Dragonz, has released two EP’s under his moniker V Kim, and last year released his debut record Skyline Death under his moniker Tzekin. His pick:
“Alice Skye. I’m a softie.”
Simona Castricum
Simona is a musician, designer, architecture academic and radio host. She is both an educator and PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, her work exploring gender non-conforming and queer intersections in architecture, the city and public space. Top of her list are:
“Dark Water, DRMNGNOW, Elizabeth, Evelyn Ida Morris, HEXDEBT, Huntly, Makeda, V.”
Shaad D’Souza
Shaad is a writer, editor and critic. He is currently The FADER’s Australian News Editor. His previous writing credits include work on music, art and culture for Pitchfork, The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Billboard, i-D and more. His picks:
“Good Morning, Sarah Mary Chadwick, Alice Skye, Miss Blanks, Gordon Koang.”
Shelley Liu
Shelley is a co-founder and director of Valve Sounds. Shelley is also a booking agent at Vita Music Group where she looks after artists such as Milan Ring, Baro, UV boi, Rainbow Chan and more. Top of her list are:
“Good Morning, Mojo Juju, Jordan Dennis, Savage The Girl + many more!”
–
Check out the full list of speakers and artists, and more information here.
