Recorded live at The Soundbox, Arts Centre Melbourne, for Always Live Festival, this episode features Yamatji and Gumbaynggirr vocalist and songwriter, Emma Donovan. Growing up in a musical family, Emma first appeared on the stage with her renowned family band, the Donovans. She's since collaborated with artists such as Paul Kelly, the Black Arm Band, the Teskey Brothers, Paul Grabowsky, Spinifex Gum, the late Uncle Archie Roach and Aunty Ruby Hunter and The Putbacks.

Recently, she was the executive producer for the award winning documentary, Wash My Soul in the Rivers Flow and appeared on PlaySchool, but in 2024, she's set to release her debut solo album 'Til My Song is Done'.

Clare Bowditch is an award winning vocalist, business woman, mentor, mother, actress, broadcaster, podcaster and author. Claire has won the coveted ARIA Award for Best Female for her music, the Rolling Stone Woman of the Year Award for her contribution to Australian culture, and has been nominated for a Logie Award for her role as Rosanna on popular television show Offspring. Her very first book, entitled “Your Own Kind Of Girl” won the 2020 Australian Book Industry Award for “New Writer of The Year”. As a songwriter and musician she has toured with artists such as Leonard Cohen, Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, Gotye and John Butler, to name just a few. In August 2020, she released an Audible Original audio book entitled “Tame Your Inner Critic” which has remained at the top of the Audible Charts since the day of release. Recorded live at The Soundbox, as part of Always Live Festival, Chelsea and Clare chat about songwriting, body image, burnout and much more.

Zoe Hauptmann is one of Australia’s most in demand session musician’s who has recorded and performed with some of Australia’s most iconic artists including Paul Kelly, Neil Finn, Kate Ceberano and Peter Garrett. She has recorded on over 80 albums, has toured internationally and has twice a finalist in the National Live Music Awards for “Australia’s best bassist”.

Zoe is also the Artistic Director of SIMA, Sydneys’ Improvised Music Association that presents a year round program of events as well as the Sydney International Women's Jazz Festival. In 2018 she won the Creative Leadership Award at the Australian Women in Music Awards.

In this conversation, recorded shortly after the Women’s Jazz festival, I asked Zoe to tell us what she makes a great bandleader, how to negotiate performance fees, how she chooses what projects to work on and much more.

Our guest today was just 16 when she took her first job as a roadie with AC/DC in 1974. I’m talking to the first female roadie, the incredible, Tana Douglas.

Since her first role in the live sector as a roadie, Tana has worked as a sound engineer, a lighting designer and logistics manager. she’s worked with acts such as Suzie Quatro, Status Quo, INXS and Elton John and has over 30 years of touring experience across three continents. Currently based in LA, Tana recently released her first book, the memoir titled Loud.

In this conversation we talk to Tana about inclusion and gender diversity in the live sector, taking care of mental health on the road, and how audiences and the touring industry have changed over the last three decades.

Always Live will present the Control podcast live at the Sound Box Monday 27 November. Hosted by artist/producer Chelsea Wilson, the session will feature two incredible Australian artists in conversation, Emma Donovan and Clare Bowditch. Housed in the Arts Centre Melbourne forecourt, the Soundbox Control session will comprise two back to back Control episodes recorded in front of a live audience. Soundbox Sessions are free, no booking required.

Jasmine Moseley is the Executive Director of the Australian Art Orchestra. A classically trained instrumentalist, Jasmine moved into arts management post music study, and has since worked for organizations such as Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Public Theatre in NYC,  the Australian Ballet and Monash University Performing Arts Centre. In this conversation I ask Jasmine about the duel management structure of the Art Orchestra and where she thinks art music sits in Australia. We also cover arts management practice - I ask how Jasmine approaches providing feedback and securing partnerships and how she approaches developing commissions.

Professor Cat Hope is an award winning composer, sound artist, writer, performer, songwriter, artistic director and noise artist. Her work explores low frequency sound, drone, noise, glissandi and the use of graphic scores and alternative music notation. She is the director of Decibel New Music Ensemble, founder of the Low Tone Orchestra and the Australian Bass Orchestra and is a performer in noise duos such as Super Luminum and Candied Limbs. Currently based in Melbourne Cat is a Professor of Music at Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash University. In this conversation we ask Cat about graphic scores, her use of drones in composition, the role universities play in establishing the canon of popular music and much more.

Xylo Aria is an artist, producer and the founder of Music Production for Women. Named in the Top 50 East London Innovators of 2020 and the Top 100 She Said So Alt Power List, Xylo is committed to improving the gender disparity in Music Production through positive action. This includes providing women with an encouraging and safe learning space, facilitating and creating educational content with women in mind as well as increasing visibility of female role models for the next generation.

In addition to her work with MPW, Xylo is also a Director and Treasurer for the Music Producers and Engineers’ Guild of Australia. In this conversion we chat about the women in production statistics, the MPW programs and how Xylo approaches managing a business whilst maintaining her own creative practice.

Susan Cotchin, is the Managing Director of Good Neighbour working to collect neighbouring rights on behalf of artists. Originally working for PAMRA in the UK, she set up International royalties rescue in London, collecting unpaid royalties from around the world for artists such as Rhianna, Beyonce, Crowded House and many more. In this conversation, we hear about Susan’s journey from a child entertainer, to an educator, to the foremost Australian expert in Neighbouring rights, to establishing a new venture with the late Michael Gudinkci at Mushroom Group.

With a strong background in finance, Lynne Small started her career at Mushroom Festival Records. But for the past few decades she has worked across both ARIA - the Australian Recording Industry Association and PPCA, The Phonographic Performance Company of Australia. In this conversation I ask Lynne how Australian artists can achieve chart positions in the ARIA charts, how albums and singles get nominations for the ARIA Awards and how streams and downloads are counted towards the charts. We also talk about the Radio Fair Play campaign, the current record industry lobby movement to change the government mandated caps on fees radio pays to recording copyright owners, and much more.

Powerhouse music executive Beth Appleton has unparalleled success as a leader and global music strategist. Named in the Top 100 Billboard Most Powerful Music Executives and recipient of Music Ally’s Outstanding Achievement Award, she is a 2023 nominee for the Australian Women in Music Leadership Award.

Appleton’s previous roles include General Manager Australasia at Warner Music Australia (2018-2021), Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Warner Music Group in the UK (2014-2018); Director of Marketing Warner Music Australia (2011-2013); Director of Digital at Universal Music Group in the UK (2007-2010); and Head of Digital and Business Development at V2 Music in the UK (2003-2007). She’s worked with artists such as Kylie, Ed Sheeran, Michael Buble, Major Lazer and many more. Recently she was the CEO of Jaxta, Australia-headquartered music database company. In this conversation, Beth chats us through the Fix the Mix report, shares her tips for negotiating business deals effectively, and what she learned from her time as Director of Digital for Universal Music.

In this episode we speak to artist manager Jess Keeley.

Starting her career as a broadcaster for triple j, Jess moved into the label side of the industry, working in publicity and record label marketing. After working as International Marketing Manager with Warner Music in London she launched a career in artist management looking after clients such as Shania Twain, MARINA and Arcade Fire. Now based in Sydney, Jess established management company Music She Wrote, focusing on building sustainable international careers for Australian talent including Jaguar Jonze.

In this conversation I chat to Jess about risk taking, the importance of branding and social media, how she approaches strategic planning and goal setting with her artists much more.

Mojo Ruiz de Luzuriaga, known professionally as Mo'Ju, is an ARIA nominated Australian musician and songwriter. Across four solo albums their thought-provoking lyrics have explored their Filipino and Wurrendjeri heritage, the glorification of wealth and fame, spirituality, political change, and the human condition. Their recent release Oro, Plata Mata is a nominee for The Australian Music Prize.

Recorded just as their new album Oro Plata Mata was about to land, we spoke about the concept behind the record, their thoughts on authenticity and how they feel about their award winning song ‘Native Tongue’.

Amara Primero is an award winning screen composer and the CEO and Founder of Primerchord Production Music.

Originally from Perth, Amara studied classical music at the western Australian academy of performing arts before moving to Sydney and working in the contemporary scene as a session musicia and educator. Breaking into the world of screen composition she has worked for major networks such as Channel 7, SBS, Channel 10, ABC, streaming giants such as Prime and for Reese Witherspoon's company Hello Sunshine. Establishing her own company Primerchord Music Production based in Sydney and LA, Amara now leads a team of over 20 composers, creating library music, film scores and music for productions across the world. Winner of Best Original Music at the 2019 Los Angeles Cinematography Awards, she recently became an ambassador for APRA AMCOS.

This episode features twice ARIA-Nominated neo-romantic pianist and composer, Nat Barstch.

As a recording artist she has release albums on both ABC Jazz and ABC classic labels. As a chamber music composer, Nat has been commissioned to write pieces for Inventi Ensemble, Plexus Collective, Solstice Trio and many more. Nat has been awarded the 2021 Merlyn Myer Commission, the 2020 Catherine Mary Sullivan scholarship, 2020 Classical:NEXT Artistic Associate fellowship, and the Melbourne Prize for Music Development Award to name a few. As a mental health advocate, Nat has undertaken research exploring the two-way link between mental health and creativity.

In this conversation we ask Nat about developing her latest album Forever and No Time At All, how she approaches composing commissions, the differences between the classical and jazz music scenes and how we can all support better mental health in the music industry.

In this episode we speak to Musician, speaker, writer and disability advocate Eliza Hull. She is currently working on her fifth studio record, due for release in 2023.

As an audio producer Eliza developed the ‘We’ve Got This’ series about parenting with disability for Radio National and ABC LIFE which was developed into a book “We’ve Got This - Stories by Disabled Parents”. She recently released her first children’s book “come over to my house” Co-written by bestselling author Sally Rippin.

She was awarded the Music Victoria ‘Amplify’ award, the APRA mentorship for women in music, the National Leadership Award from the Australia Council and Arts Access Australia and the Diversity in Music Award from the Women in Music Awards.

In this conversation we ask Eliza about representation and her advocacy work, her new album project, showcasing at South by Southwest, moving into the literature space and much more.

A much loved broadcaster and author based in Melbourne, Jacinta Parsons currently hosts Afternoons on ABC 774, delivering a mix of art, culture and ideas. Prior to afternoons Jacinta presented Melbourne 774 Breakfast and the Friday Revue and also worked behind the scenes as Music Director for Double j and the ABC Local radio network. She has released two books, her memoir Unseen: The secret life of chronic illness and her new book ‘ a question of age’.. She is an ambassador for the Crohn’s and Colitis Association of Australia and is also a board director of Melbourne disability theatre company, Rollercoaster.

In this conversation I ask Jacinta about ageism in the music industry, her career in broadcasting, her writing process, and the time that Kylie Minogue called her on live radio, and much much more.

Monica Lim is a pianist, composer, sound designer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and board director,

Born in Malaysia and then migrating to Australia in her teens, Monica Lim has produced work for theatre, contemporary dance, installations and film, as well as solo and ensemble instrumental pieces.  ​

Based in Melbourne, her work has been presented at international symposiums such as the International symposium of Electronic art and The International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Monica is currently undertaking postgraduate research at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne in gesture-led composition and new technologies.

​Monica is co-founder of Project Eleven, a philanthropic initiative which supports the contemporary arts and serves on the boards of the Melbourne Recital Centre, Substation and Liquid Architecture as well as the Member's Council for Musica Viva.

This episode features the award winning Yorta Yorta soprano, artistic director, broadcaster, composer and educator Deborah Cheetham. For more than 25 years Deborah has been a leader and pioneer in the Australian arts sector, creating change in the music industry landscape and advocating for First Nations representation. 

A graduate of the NSW Conservatorium of Music with an international career as a soprano vocalist, she established her own organization Short Black Opera in 2009,  a national not-for-profit opera company devoted to the development of Indigenous singers.

Appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia, Deborah was recently presented with the Lifetime achievement award at the Women in Music Awards.

Mindy Meng Wang is a Chinese/Australian composer and virtuoso Guzheng musician.

Her music transcends genres and her work is part of a significant movement of Chinese musicians redefining and reinvigorating musical traditions. A born collaborator she has worked with artists such as Gorillaz, Regurgitator, Paul Grabowsky, the Australian Art Orchestra, Claire Edwards and many more.

In this conversation I ask Mindy about the history of the Guzheng; her time in the UK and why she moved to Australia. We also talk about motherhood and music and her latest solo album “Phoenix Rising”.