There’s a compelling new cover of INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart featuring Amy Shark and Budjerah doing the rounds on Youtube at the moment, but around half a minute in, things start to go awry: the set falls down, the orchestra’s music flutters to the ground, the sound goes out and the lighting goes dark.
In fact, it’s a clever mock-up by Mushroom Creative House, and Jimmy Barnes soon appears pointing out the crucial role industry charity Support Act plays in getting the music industry the help it needs to keep the music going, whether it’s back-up singers and musicians, stage managers or lighting designers.
The INXS cover and clip is promoting the annual Ausmusic T-shirt Day, which this year carries the slogan, ‘In music, every little bit matters’.
“It’s not just the people you see on stage who make the music, it’s all the people behind the scenes as well, specifically crew and all the other music workers whether they work in the record company or management or comms and marketing. It takes the proverbial village to make the music happen,” says Clive Miller, CEO of Support Act.
“It’s a much more nuanced message this year, talking about why we do Ausmusic T-shirt Day, and how important it is to raise money for Support Act so it can provide the services it does to people across the industry when they’re in need.”
Running this year on Thursday November 30, Ausmusic T-shirt Day is a day of fun and awareness held during Ausmusic Month to celebrate Australian music and raise urgently needed funds for Support Act, which provides short term financial relief and mental health and wellbeing support for musicians, managers, crew and music workers across all genres of music.
It’s a straightforward concept: simply wear a t-shirt celebrating your favourite local band or musician and make a donation to Support Act or form a fundraising team. So far, more than 445 fundraisers and 124 teams have registered, including APRA AMCOS, ASM Global and of course Alberts. There are also a number of premium t-shirts designed specifically for the day for purchase for $50, with 100% of the proceeds going towards Support Act with the help of local merchandising company Love Police and Gildan Brands; while AAMI has agreed to match up to $40,000 worth of donations.
Ausmusic T-shirt Day was first supported by ARIA in 2015 to help promote artists and encourage people to buy and wear Ausmusic t-shirts one day each year, also recognising the role merchandise plays as an important revenue stream. Triple J soon came on board with a crucial and ongoing on-air campaign; while Support Act initiated donations and fundraising, the amount growing exponentially from a few thousand dollars to $637,000 in 2022.
“Our ambition is for it to continue to grow to follow a similar trajectory to Dry July or Movember,” says Clive, noting that Support Act has partnered with various national venues and businesses who are adding $1 to each ticket sold to gigs in November to help the cause, while the Mushroom 50 Live concert, celebrating 50 years of the Mushroom Group on November 26, is donating $2 from every ticket sold.
Crucially, Ausmusic T-shirt Day raises funds to support the vital role Support Act plays in providing a safe and thriving music industry for all. Its key programs including crisis relief (short term financial support, funeral support and tax help); a free mobile wellbeing helpline including dedicated First Nations and LGBTQIA+ counsellors; First Nations programs; psychological safety in the workplace support; and training and mental health support.
This year alone, Support Act has provided crisis relief to 930 people through grants of $2.3 million; provided 1500 counselling hours to 950 callers and worked with 130 businesses to ensure minimum standards for psychological safety in the workplace are being met.
“Support Act helped cover funeral costs for my ex-husband who was well-known in the industry,” says Karen Skillen. “The process was easy and everyone I spoke to or dealt with was so helpful… I can’t thank Support Act enough for this assistance.”
Another industry worker who made use of the Support Act wellbeing helpline notes: “I found my counsellor to be a great listener, but also had a lot of insight to share guided by his own experience. It’s been great having him as a part of my care team as I’m working towards making a recovery from a severe episode of anxiety and depression.”
