Aspiring South West songwriters hone skills with industry’s best in songwriting and music production workshops

Aspiring musicians and songwriters had the special opportunity to hone their skills and exchange ideas with some of the industry’s best in a recent songwriting hub in Busselton. The Esplanade Hotel set the scene for a day of workshops and Q&A panels in the second of APRA AMCOS and the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Music Office’s The Regional Sessions, a locally-themed event series dedicated to the art, craft and connection of songwriting. More than 40 people attended the full-day program of keynote speeches, a songwriter panel and small group workshops on Friday March 10. Queensland-born folk artist Darren Hanlon, known for his solo work and his stint with The Simpletons, served as the keynote speaker and workshop mentor, giving attendees valuable insight into his career and craft. During his speech, Hanlon spoke of his love of travelling and his life as a touring singer-songwriter. “I love it,” he said. “I love travelling. “The travelling and all those things from my life feed into the songwriting.” Hanlon was joined by Elise Reitze-Swensen, multi-instrumentalist and one half of electronic duo Feels, emerging artist Adrian Dzvuke, Noongar Wongi rapper Joshua Eggington (aka Flewnt), Perth-based folk singer-songwriter Helen Shanahan and beat-maker and lyricist Blake Rhodes. Boyanup woman Taelor Pelusey attended the workshops and walked away with even more insight and knowledge in songwriting and being able to reach new heights even while based in a regional town. “I loved hearing Adrian (Dzvuke) talk about the importance of being true to yourself and your style, and not writing to be like anyone because you’re never going to know what people are into at any given time — so don’t bother catering to that,” she said. “The fact that I also don’t have to do it all myself, but I also don’t need to be in a big city with heaps of musicians around me is such a gamechanger. “I can hire people, I can do stuff online. “Everything feels so much more attainable than it used to be. “I wish I could have had workshops with all the mentors, but I’m still so excited by what I got out of it.”