Mackay musicians bare the costs of lack of recording facilities in the region

A gap in a regional Queensland music scene is drawing artists from the region. But what’s bringing them back?

Tropical State of Mind will use their Regional Arts Development Fund grant to record their debut EP. Photo: Cherrie Hughes.

Jasmine Morton has lived and breathed Mackay’s music scene, gracing local stages with her five-piece funk rock outfit Tropical State of Mind for the past four years.

But like many local bands, Ms Morton’s will have to leave the region to record her music, driving 12 hours to Byron Bay.

“If there was somewhere around Mackay we would definitely use that studio,” she said.

“The ones we have looked into have been a little bit too small for a band, not with a proper drum kit and the rooms dividing that to be able to capture the sound.”

Local blues roots and country talents Matt Tandy and Heath Milner both left the region to record their music with most websites directing them either to Townsville or Brisbane recording studios.

Mackay local Matt Tandy recorded his debut EP 'Bannister Street' in a Brisbane studio. Photo: Luke Lay

And it doesn’t just come down to a lack of recording spaces.

“A producer is quite a big deal as well,” Ms Morton said.

“We have been looking to work with someone who understands our vibe of music, experience.”

It’s common practice among regional musicians to often pay out of their own pocket to travel to music hotspots in search of either a good producer or an ideal recording studio, but lecturer in popular music at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Dr Ben Green said this does not have to be the case.

“If anywhere there is a place that has some infrastructure for music in Central Queensland it’s Mackay and there are venues to perform at as well,” Dr Green, who has done papers on the regional Qld music scene, said.

The Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music Building in Mackay has the potential to provide local artists with a recording space.

He pointed out that Mackay is home to the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music which is open to local artists and could cater for a music community instead of them paying hundreds in travel expenses.

But without some of the key “heroes” of the music industry, Dr Green said regional music scenes like in Mackay risked losing their potential.

“The useful way to see music is as an ecosystem and there’s many different parts within that ecosystem that ultimately support the whole,” he said.

“So, you’ve got the artists, you’ve got the recording studios, you’ve got the venues, of course the consumers and the audience, you’ve got the local governments and other authorities that are involved.

“These various parties will sometimes be at odds with each other or sometimes working with each other but their overall goal is to have a healthy and sustainable ecosystem that has all the diverse parts.”

Music Producer and Program Coordinator for Music at the Sunshine Coast University, Lachlan Goold believes a scene can form around just one “good producer” and there’s no reason why a city like Mackay couldn’t get a piece of the pie.

Lachlan Goold, known as Magoo, is a two-time ARIA award-winning producer who has recorded for bands like Midnight Oil, Regurgitator and POwder Finger. Photo: Luke Henry

“Mackay is a regional area and it is difficult to learn the skills,” he said.

“I’d say a studio that has some kind of mobile capacity where it could service not just Mackay but surrounding areas because space is a lot more affordable and finding a space where you can make a lot of noise and not disturb the neighbours is a lot easier.”

It was thanks to a Regional Arts Development Fund from the Regional Council that allowed Ms Morton and her band to record in the first place.

But while most of that will be spent in a Byron Bay recording studio, she plans to spend the remaining money to launch her EP in Mackay with other local musicians.

“I know a few musicians that have left to go down towards Brisbane in that way to kind of hope that they have more opportunities,” she said.

“But from my experience a lot of them come back whether that’s to play at the festival that they love that was their first.

“I think a lot of them leave but there’s something that draws them back in.”