Music Journalism - Post-visit

TASK 1 - ARTIST INTERVIEW

Molly Meldrum conducted hundreds of artist interviews during his time on Countdown. Fans and artists alike adored him for his casual, friendly and playful interviewing style, which helped everybody feel at ease. Being interviewed can be very nerve-wracking, so if you can make your guest feel as comfortable as you can, they’re probably going to be relaxed enough to give the best answers possible.

Choose one band or artist from the Australian Music Vault and listen to some of their songs. Imagine you are going to be interviewing them for your music TV show.

What you would like to know about this band? Make a list of 5 of things you would like to find out. For example, you might like to know how the band formed, what inspires their sound, why they dress in a certain way, or something about any important issues they talk about through their songs / lyrics.

Turn those five interest points into questions. You need to ensure that you ask open questions – open questions have infinite answers, not simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Steer away from “How long have you...” or “Do you like...” style questions. Listen to the answers. Sometimes the interviewee will answer with something very interesting that you haven’t thought of and maybe you want to know more about. This will need a follow-up question. Follow up questions help to draw out that interesting content. At the very least you can say “Tell me more!”

Once you have five questions ready, you can set up and interview with a friend pretending to be the artist, or make up some answers yourself.

TASK 2 - MAKING A MUSIC PODCAST

Write a 200 – 300 word music review, or use the review from the Pre-Visit Task 1 - Writing a Music Review.

How can we share this review? There are some fantastic websites and magazines dedicated to music news and reviews, however a medium that is becoming more popular for sharing these types of stories is the Podcast. Podcasts are an exciting and innovative way to share ideas because they are low-cost, easy to distribute, and anyone can do it!

As a class, collate all the reviews you have written and plan how you will turn these into a podcast. You might want to order the songs by release date (chronologically), or group them together by genre. Once the plan is in place you can start recording!

What you will need:

• A computer
• Software you can record audio with, such as Garageband, Audacity, ACID or ProTools
• A microphone you can connect to the computer either directly (USB) or via an audio interface
• A quiet space to record in

Process:

• In pairs, take turns recording your review into the audio software. One member of the pair should be the reader, and the other the engineer, then switch over.
• Render the audio files and collate them all into one master recording. 
• In between each review, you could insert an excerpt from the track that is being reviewed.
• Come up with a title for your podcast and add in an introduction.
• Render and share the final podcast with your friends – see if they agree with your opinions!

Now try a music podcast about another aspect of music. Perhaps you could talk in detail about a song you like, or explain a musical concept. Perhaps you’ve been to a performance you could review, or you could look into the history of a musician or genre of music. 

Here are some examples to listen to:

• Song Exploder – a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode is produced and edited by host and creator Hrishikesh Hirway in Los Angeles – Courtney Barnett or Chet Faker episodes
• The Hoist on SYN FM – SYN’s all Australian music show – Sunnyside episode
• For more music podcasts check out the Australian Audio Guide.

If you’re interested in finding out more about radio or podcasting, please check out SYN Media’s SCHOOLS ON AIR program. This program includes online resources for students and teachers to support radio making and you could have your own radio show on SYN.

TASK 3 - EXTENDED RESPONSE

Advanced

The Australian Music Vault provides you with a lot of information about the history of Australian music. Gathering information from visiting the Vault and from online sources, draw a timeline of Australian contemporary music from the 1960s to today.

For each decade, write a short piece that outlines the following:

• Most popular genres
  • What inspired bands or artists to play in these styles?
• Most successful artists/bands
  • What was it about them that made them so popular?
• What was the cultural impact?
  • Were certain trends started in fashion or dance?
  • Did they make political statements?
  • Did they pave the way for cultural change?
• Once you have completed the timeline, you will have a solid understanding of the history of Australian contemporary music. Write a conclusion that includes:
  • What artists or bands you think had the biggest impact on Australian culture?
  • What era best encapsulates the "Australian sound"?

Timetoast is a good place to start to create an online timeline.

TASK 4 – Six O’Clock Rock Module from the National Film and Sound Archive

The National Film and Sound Archive contains over 2.3 million items of Australian film, radio, television and sound. It is also home to fantastic digital learning resources around these areas. Check out their unit focussing on the ABC program Six O’Clock Rock. There are many classroom activities around this clip and the module can be found here.

Six O’Clock Rock began in 1959 and ran until 1962. It was the ABC’s (and Australia’s) first music program aimed at teenagers and was the precursor to Countdown. It was hosted by Johnny O’Keefe and his band.

Other learning resources from the NFSA can be found here.

Victorian Curriculum Links: