“What I do is I teach them a repertoire that is a bit out of their comfort zone and we do some of my old songs from Rebecca’s Empire. A lot of them are metal heads and I’m getting them to play Paul Kelly and other Australian songs. At first they’re hesitant – I mean some of them are serious metal heads – but when we go on the road they love it. They excel. They’re incredible. I suppose I’m a mentor, but it’s an industry based course. I’m teaching them the reality, what it’s like, that you have to be diverse if you want to survive in the industry. Even in successful bands, it’s not going to happen overnight and it’s not going to last forever.”
The course is called Tour With Rebecca Barnard, and the singer’s main goal is to secure lasting jobs for her students. She’s promoting music less as a hobby, and more as a career path. Like all creative professions, flexibility is key to making a living in the music industry.
“If you’re a diverse musician you can get session work,” says Barnard. “The rehearsal I just did, the bass player is Ben Franz who is currently on tour with The Waifs. He does jazz gigs, country gigs, he’s a very gifted musician and can cross all styles. If you want to make a living – which is what I do too in singing jazz and rock or whatever – if you want to stay in work, you have to be diverse. A lot of these metal heads are really incredible guitar players – technically they’re brilliant – so I’m just getting them to use their techniques in a different way.”
Barnard has been acquainting her students with songs from the Australian scene circa mid-‘90s, and it’s hard to ignore how much the music industry has changed since then, which comes with its share of ups and down.
“It’s totally changed the world we live in,” says Barnard. “Change is inevitable, but there’s something about this Internet world – it’s bringing people together, but it’s very isolating. People don’t need people. They don’t need human contact as much. But the thing that I find really positive about young musicians is that there’s so many girls now that can play instruments. When I was at school, if there was a female drummer it would have made the front page of the bloody paper. For years girls had to deal with that idea of ‘sex sells’, but now they’re doing stuff that’s musical and not having to rely on looks or work with record companies moulding them into a profile.”
The course gives Barnard’s students an invaluable opportunity to learn the ins and outs of touring. And she’s even learning something herself. “I love doing it, I’ll say that much. I love working with younger people and it’s really, really rewarding, but mate I’ll tell you what it’s shown me – how fucking hard teachers work. Oh my god. The amount of work that they do that they don’t get paid for is unbelievable.”
BY THOMAS BRAND
