Melbourne electro musician/producer Mo*Louieexplains how her Music Works grant led to new collaborations and an overseas performance opportunity.
What did your Music Works grant support you to do?
A year after finishing my degree at Collarts, I wanted to do a project that would develop more of my production, recording and mixing skills in the real world, so I applied for the Music Works grant to mix, master and promote three new singles, with mentorship with producer/engineer Becki Whitton. I wanted the opportunity to craft my singles with guidance, support and knowledge from a reputable mixing and recording engineer. I worked closely with Becki, primarily out of Carriage Studios in Collingwood, to build my knowledge and skills in order to build my confidence to produce, record and mix for other people on my own when I finished the mentorship.
What did you learn from the experience?
I learnt so much from this experience and have been given so many opportunities because of it. My main takeaways were the importance of having a trusted and supportive team that is gender diverse, particularly in the production, mixing and engineering sector. Women and non-binary people only make up 5-10% of the industry, so it was really important to me that the team I had in this area were majority women, non-binary and queer producers and engineers.
I also found it important to have a solid timeline for the project and have a contingency plan, as I did not anticipate getting the opportunity to go overseas during the project and this threw my timeline out.
Having Becki as a mentor during this project was an invaluable part in my development as a producer and engineer. I gained new mixing skills that I now use in my work, tips and tricks for recording vocals, and an insight into being a full-time producer and engineer. I also developed new production skills, collaborating with other producers who were involved in the project - Andrew Huhtanen McEwan, Dirty Versachi, Moses Carr and Lilith Lane.
Tell us about your overseas experience.
I submitted my work-in-progress tracks that I was developing as part of the grant for a scholarship from Collarts to travel to Mannheim, Germany to take part in the International Songwriter Week at Popakademie. During this week, we wrote songs in small teams and were mentored by esteemed international songwriters (Michelle Leonard, Matt Rad and Greg Taro to name a few). The songs were then recorded, produced and pitched to A&R representatives from numerous record labels and established artists. After the writing trip was done, I travelled around the Netherlands and Germany, landing my first international performance in Berlin (SchwuZ Queer Club) alongside other performers in the realm of burlesque, drag and performance art. I performed Hold You, one of the singles that was in development for the Music Works grant.
Where can we find your new singles?
You can find them in all major streaming platforms, and music videos on YouTube. The Spotify links for the three singles are: Single 1: Signs, Single 2: Hold You and Single 3: Touch Me
What’s next for you?
At the beginning of 2024 I made the decision to become a full-time producer, recording and mix engineer, particularly focused on vocal engineering/production. This was my goal at the completion of the Music Works grant project. I’m already underway recording and mixing new music this year for artists Adam Noviello, SAMMY FROM HELL, Hayley Crymble and my own music.
I plan to release a Mo*Louie EP this year, made up of songs that I have written with producers and songwriters I met on my trip to Germany, plus one of the singles that I worked on as part of the grant that did not develop into a release. I plan on working with a lot more artists in the songwriting, production, sound recording realm. I’m excited to collaborate with new people and my existing team. My main goal this year is to record/track a full band at Rolling Stock Recording Rooms in Collingwood.
Mo.Louie was supported by Music Works in 2022. The current round of Music Works grants closes on 18 April 2024.