Words of wisdom for every emerging artist from PLANET's Matty Took. I wanted to start a conversation about the reality of following your dreams in the music industry in Australia. We want young artists to understand these challenges a little better & know they are not alone in the struggle.
Your bio states that you had several years of trial and error in your songcrafting. What was the defining moment you found your rhythm and were happy about what you were producing?
I feel like every band or musician starting off doesn't really know what “their sound is” or know what their vibe as a musician is when starting off. Especially when they throw themselves in the deep end at a younger age, without any ‘behind the scenes’ work and no label behind them. This was us, as we just started playing straight away.
We’ve all played in a few different bands in our time so hundreds of songs have come in and out. Our defining moment was probably about 3 years ago when we started PLANET. We rebranded and wrote a big bunch of new songs when our drummer went overseas. Due to 3 months of no shows, we took our time to my studio instead. Another moment was the tweak we did with this new EP. We decided to drop some of the more ambient vocal FX from the production and cleaned up some of the sounds. I had to take my time from playing acoustic guitar to electric guitar, which brought a larger sound to the works even though we dropped a band member. It also changed the way that we recorded and played - had to think about our parts a bit more instead of just recording a ‘wall of sound’.
When did you first reach out to people in the industry for support or advice?
We were lucky enough to have a lot of friends in the same boat as us in Sydney. We could compare experiences, good and bad, and work a bit from that. As for support in the ‘industry’, we haven't really had any major support at all - until about a year ago when were picked up by a booking agency.
I feel like as a band just starting out, management isn't too important, as it is good to know the business side of it yourself.
Do you feel that support in the industry was easy to find and reach out for once you had gotten to this point?
Not really. I feel like we haven't gotten to ‘that point’ yet. It’s hard to reach out for support, anyone in the industry should be reaching out to you - that’s how you know that they actually like your tunes. Luckily we’ve picked up a few great people on our team in the last year.
It seems that you like to handle most aspects of your career path independently, tell me a bit about how you got to the point of getting your music listened to and who was your biggest mentor or supporter?
Having a grasp and an idea of how the business side of music works is really important. We did this through a lot of trial and error, playing shows and constantly writing new tunes. Family and friends have supported us non-stop through it all, which is great as lots of people around us are in full time jobs and are studying full-time.
What are the biggest career changes you have noticed since being picked up for rotation on JJJ?
Nothing at all! We haven't been picked up for rotation… “Aching Dream” has been played 3 times and counting… We are all casually working in bars and bottle shops at the moment. I do feel that JJJ play is vital when touring in Australia outside of your home town.
Now that you have been getting more exposure & growing your audience, what is the next big goal you are working towards collectively?
We are working for a clean release of this already mixed and mastered EP and an album in a year or so from now. Also want our next interstate gigs to keep on growing in size. A tour overseas is on our list as well.
If you are a fan of original music in Australia, it is so important to support our young talent. See a live show, buy a band shirt, pay for their music and get on board with their social pages sharing their content so you can help them connect with new fans.
Find PLANET on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Soundcloud, or Spotify
Check out PLANET’s new release ‘Aching Dream’, stye have recently received airplay at home on Triple J and internationally on RadioXMUK. Get around these guys!
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