Thirsty Merc frontman found the American music dream is a lot like backpacking
THEY enjoyed top 20 hits and sold-out gigs in Australia but when Thirsty Merc frontman Rai Thistlethwayte went to Los Angeles, the reality was ‘terrifying’
Music
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SLEEPING on mate’s couches, doing $50 gigs in piano bars, trawling the internet for money-saving food tips — the life of a musician chasing the American dream bears a striking similarity to the backpacker existence.
Rai Thistlethwayte, liking thousands before him, encountered the stark reality of pursuing a music career in the world’s most lucrative market when he set off for Los Angeles almost four years ago after when his band Thirsty Merc split with their record company.
The pop rock radio-friendly band had sold more than 200,000 albums and singles in Australia when they decided to take a break to explore other music opportunities.
While all his friends were settling down to families and mortgages after their expatriate adventures, Thistlethwayte, then 31, packed one bag and bought a ticket to LA.
“I had got used to a comfortable life in Sydney and had never lived overseas like a lot of my mates had because I had been given this great opportunity to make original music with some of my best friends and tour that for years,” he said.
“I wanted to do the travel thing but combine that with music.
“I didn’t think it was going to be as terrifying as it was; you are just haemorrhaging your savings and every Australian musician or actor over there has probably gone through that.
“I have literally been living out of this backpack for the last three and a half years.”
Thistlethwayte and his band mates reconnected last year to do an acoustic tour of Australia and found themselves enjoying their new DIY reality.
The 20 Good Reasons band then launched a Pledge Music campaign to raise funds to make another record Shifting Gears.
Fans who had loved hits including In The Summertime and Someday Someday rallied and Thirsty Merc reached their goal — believed to be around $50,000 — in just two days.
Australian music enthusiasts have embraced the opportunity to support their favourite artists via crowd funding with Kate Miller-Heidke and Eskimo Joe among dozens of acts who have bankrolled their recent albums with the help of fans.
“I think the public started to realise there was a lot of manipulation going on with labels charging too much for CDs, holding releases back, stories of payola and those kind of things and wanted to support artists who wanted to retain creative control and maybe not make as much money from selling albums,” Thistlethwayte said.
“I slept on the studio floor for three weeks to keep costs down and that was cool.”
The band have just kicked off a 41-date tour of Australia which will put them back in front of the people who supported their comeback with the Shifting Gears album released earlier this month.
Lugging their own gear, sharing hotel rooms and the long drives as they make their way from Geelong to Darwin and Rooty Hill to Geraldton now has a romanticism about it as the band remain fiercely committed to their independent status.
“I’m going to keep doing this. Maybe I will check out London next,” he said.
For all dates on The Good Life tour: thirstymerc.com
Originally published as Thirsty Merc frontman found the American music dream is a lot like backpacking
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