Aussie music stars like Sam Fischer are killing it in LA, where he made his American TV debut from his toilet
Sam Fischer is one of many Australian music stars who have made it in the US. Now, he has made his American TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel while singing in his bathroom at home.
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After Sam Fischer got dropped from his record deal, he felt broken.
The Australian singer and songwriter had spent a few years hustling hard trying to make it in Los Angeles and the last thing he wanted to do was come home and admit defeat.
He scored some work as a delivery driver for an Australian pie shop and at night would haunt every club or bar in town he knew was a hang for the movers and shakers of the global music capital.
If he happened to meet a producer or songwriter or talent scout, Fischer would buy them a drink, get their details and then hit them up for a meeting the next day.
While he constantly battled anxiety and lied to his family back home about how things were going, the hard work and self-belief paid off last year when he decided to independently release This City, a song inspired by that town full of lonely and frustrated dreamers.
He recently made his American TV debut while singing the song on Jimmy Kimmel from his private home while in self-isolation where he sang in his bathroom.
“After going through so much to get a deal and to work on my songs, I was so broken when I got dropped and wanted to come home to Australia,” he said.
“But I always believed I could do it, so I bottled up the anxiety and the failure and decided to throw caution to the wind, to keep making music.”
The happy ending of his tale is, of course, ironic. All those drinks and all those meetings had fashioned one degree of separation from just enough influential people to create the kind of viral success which had every major label in the US hitting up his Insta DMs last year.
His drinking buddy, Scottish charttopper Lewis Capaldi, kicked things off when he shared the song to his fans and invited Fischer to be his opening act on last year’s American summer tour.
Meghan Trainor, a friend of a friend and a songwriter who had shared a similar story of discovery and breakthrough to the Australian artist, also put This City out to her fanbase.
And the opportunities to co-write with other artists also bloomed with Fischer striking creative partnerships with Elle King and Niall Horan asking him to tour with him next year.
A fellow Australian working in LA, Jon Hume, heard the promise of Fischer’s songs and signed him to his label, a joint venture with Sony, to release the song back home.
Hume and his wife Karen relocated to Los Angeles about three years ago to expand his opportunities as a songwriter and producer, joining a burgeoning community of Australian and New Zealand artists and creators making waves in LA.
He had a big calling card in his back pocket. The former singer of 2000s pop rock sibling trio Evermore had co-written Be Alright with Dean Lewis, a song which not only charted around the world but has emphatically eclipsed that magic milestone of more than one billion streams.
Hume said it took about six months to find his people.
“LA is definitely a culture shock and the city is so disconnected so there are a whole series of bubbles of groups of people who work together,” he said.
“It does take time and a bit of luck to find your people. It took me a few evenings of BBQs chilling out with my neighbour to discover he was Josh Gudwin, who has worked with Justin Bieber for years and co-produced the Purpose album which I think is the most amazing pop record.”
Hume has been busy in the past couple of years signing not only Fischer but rising Australian indie pop artist Kira Puru, writing with Luke Hemmings from 5 Seconds of Summer and Dean Lewis, penning new tracks with American pop star Bebe Rexha and writing and producing with electronic duo Sofi Tukker. He shared a Grammy nomination with them for their Treehouse album last year.
Perhaps the most famous Australian artist and writer in LA in Sia.
At the inaugural Global APRA Music Awards held in Los Angeles in February, after presenting her “uncle” Colin Hay with the Distinguished Services Award, she was bestowed with a phenomenal nine trophies recognising her songs which had made The 1,000,000,000 list.
They included her own hits The Greatest, Chandelier, Alive and Cheap Thrills and her work as the composer of Katy Perry’ Chained to the Rhythm and Rihanna’s Diamonds.
Also picking up multiple trophies for that honour was hitmaker Sarah Aarons, now one of the most sought-after writers in the world.
Her credit features on the smash hits Stay by Zedd and Alessia Cara, The Middle by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey and already this year her name is on Halsey’s Manic record, Childish Gambino’s surprise album 3.15.20 and the new Justin Timberlake and SZA single The Other Side.
Also joining APRA’s honour roll of billionaire streamers in recent months were pop prince Troye Sivan and one of his collaborators, 26-year-old composer and producer Alex Hope.
Hope has also made her mark on LA’s studio scene, working recently with Alanis Morissette on her upcoming album and achieving writing and producer credits on songs recorded by Selena Gomez, Alec Benjamin, Tegan and Sara and Carly Rae Jepsen.
One of Australia’s most revered musicmakers M-Phazes, highly sought after for his beats and hip hop production, is also now based in California.
Phazes was responsible for developing the talent of teen new soul sensation Ruel and won a Grammy for his work on Eminem’s Bad Guy.
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While Aarons and Hope prefer to work behind the scenes, a handful of young alternative pop artists including Mallrat and Allday have relocated to LA to immerse themselves in the creative energies of the city for their own artist projects.
“I love the way Sia puts out her own music and writes for other people. That’s what I want to do. I would also love some Grammys and to work with Kanye, and just be a better songwriter and producer,” she told The Industry Observer last year.
While he has long been based in the City of Angels, Luke Steele has been joined by his Empire of the Sun partner Nick Littlemore, who has bounced around Sydney, London and New York for the past decade.
They are currently working on the next Empire record as Littlemore also releases his new side project Vlossom with Cloud Control singer Alister Wright, which started in Bondi and was finished in LA. They released their debut EP My Friend last week and already have enough material for at least one album.
“Up until now, I would say yes to almost every (writing) session I could walk into – except hip hop sessions because they are a nightmare. But if I meet someone who’s talented, I generally try to get in the room with them,” Littlemore said.
Originally published as Aussie music stars like Sam Fischer are killing it in LA, where he made his American TV debut from his toilet