Get ready for icons Tarana Burke of the #MeToo movement and savage punk, Henry Rollins to make this year’s BIGSOUND 2021 the most memorable one yet.
The biggest music industry gathering of the southern hemisphere BIGSOUND is rocking our world particularly hard this year for their big 21st birthday happening 7-9 September, with a program that will enhance the future of the music industry for the better of everyone.
Retaining its top tier title as the biggest industry event that celebrates new music in our humble half of the equator, BIGSOUND 2021 will also continue to unapologetically address the most pressing issues affecting music today.
BIGSOUND is nothing close to bashful when it comes to discussing the important, the taboo, the sometimes uncomfortable and difficult subjects that inevitably encapsulate the music industry at large.
And to prove this, they have scored powerful and inspirational keynote conversations hosted by #MeToo founder Tarana Burke complimented by punk rock legends, actor, DJ, spoken word poet, author Henry Rollins to kickstart the gathering (with more to be announced in the near future).
Burke’s latest project is etched in a book collaborated with Brené Brown; You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability,
Shame, Resilience and the Black Experience. It offers a unique perspective from the globally renowned #MeToo movement with a wise depiction of the intersection of sexual violence and racial justice.
The Time‘s 2017 Person of the Year and 100 Most Influential People of 2018 Tarana Burke stated:
“I’m looking forward to sharing my story at BIGSOUND in what has been a 25-year journey laying the groundwork for a movement that amplifies the voices of millions of survivors and addresses issues of respect, dignity, and power dynamics in schools, workplaces, communities, and politics.”
This year’s BIGSOUND will follow in the footsteps of the last conference of powerful keynote speakers and panellists.
Previous panellists included Pitchfork editor Jessica Hopper’s memorable speech which posed the question: “why do women feel like they don’t belong here?”
Other notable speakers included Tina Arena’s compelling 2017 discussion about the bias of gender to Moju’s 2019 discussion on racism and bullying.
The captivating keynotes will be live from the USA and will be exclusive to BIGSOUND guests, giving them the exclusive opportunity to dive headfirst into the brilliant minds of these deeply regarded icons.
Guests will have the opportunity to ask such figures the burning questions they’ve been dying to ask them, to collaboratively engaging with the matters at hand.
In addition to all of this, BIGSOUND is also bringing in a very exciting First Nations-hosted edition of the biennial youth conference this year named BLAKSOUND.
BLAKSOUND will be presented by Queensland’s only Indigenous youth arts organisation, Digi Youth Arts (DYA) and QMusic.
On 6 September, the whole event will be kick-starting with Little BLAKSOUND co-curators Sycco, Jem Cassar-Daley, DOBBY and Loki Liddle who will all be mentored by Alethea Beetson, BIGSOUND First Nations producer and programmer.
Beetson will utilise her expertise to elevate, celebrate and represent the inherently important voices and perspectives of current and emerging First Nations artists and industry workers.
What is Little BLAKSOUND? An array of theory and practical activities through thought-provoking panel discussions and hands-on workshops – inviting members of the music industry to listen, encourage and explore how the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and artistic leaders can be pioneers at the forefront of industry conversations:
“Indigenous young people are so incredibly important as they are the youngest generation of the oldest surviving cultures in the world. Little BLAKSOUND provides a much-needed space for them to share their vision of the future, connect and demand change within the music industry,” Beetson established.
BIGSOUND 2021 enlists a dream team at the forefront of such progressive and critical change.
In addition to Alethea Beetson, they have; Conference Programmer Tom Larkin, Conference Programming Advisor Sosefina Fuamoli, Festival Programmers Ruby-Jean McCabe and Dom Miller, and Accessibility Consultant Dina Bassile.
Newly-appointed CEO of QMusic, Kris Stewart, stated that BIGSOUND 2021 will provide an exciting and much-needed opportunity for the music community to unite together, after a tumultuous period for the industry:
“This year, we have the incredible chance to reconnect, recharge and experience the magic of discovering new music with one another again – friends, colleagues, and music-obsessed strangers – who, for too long, have been separated by geographical borders,” said Kris.
And honouring the two keynote speakers Burke and Rollins, Stewart nicely commented:
