Across the Pond - Australian drummers overseas with Sarah Galdes, Ruth Nitkiewicz and Serra Petale.
By Nat Grant. First published in Drumscene Magazine in 2017
By Nat Grant. First published in Drumscene Magazine in 2017
Sarah Galdes - photo by Steve Chan
Across the Pond
Nat Grant
Many Australian musicians travel overseas to play and to grow their pool of influences, contacts, and experiences. Going OS for a short or extended time can be a right of passage of sorts – to broaden artistic horizons and test the waters with a totally unknown audience base. These audiences can be kinder, or crueler, than the ones at home - and being a smaller fish in a bigger pond can be both daunting and liberating. Depending on where you go and the type of music you play there can be different opportunities to perform, tour, and work as a band or session musician.
Australian born drummers Sarah Galdes, Ruth Nitkiewicz and Serra Petale are all currently living and playing overseas. Here they share their experiences and weigh up some of the differences between Oz and OS.
Sarah Galdes
Melbournian Sarah Galdes moved to New York a year ago and is currently living in Brooklyn. She’s involved in a wide variety of projects ranging from classical tabla concerts to African drum circles, rock/jazz/pop performances, and electro indie gigs.
“Prior to moving to New York, I had played gigs and undertaken extensive study here and had already fallen in love with the high energy of the city and its inhabitants,” she says. “I had also met a delightful American who I am now married to, and who shares the New York dream as well.”
In Australia Sarah toured, recorded and gigged with bands including Blackchords, The Tiger & Me, Bat Country, and Goodbye Enemy Airship. At the moment in addition to playing drums she is also working a lot on recording and producing. “I really like recording music because you get to experiment with so many different tonal colours and effects” she says.
Sarah didn’t have a large network in New York to start with but soon found plenty of opportunities to play: “When I first arrived I didn't know very many musicians, so I spent a lot of time going out and trying to meet people at gigs, in addition to trying to connect to the community online,” she says. “Within a month I went from playing in zero projects to five! So many people come to New York for creative pursuits that it's very easy to find people to play with. There are tons of music opportunities here, and so many things to be inspired by.”
“Another thing I thoroughly appreciate” she says “is the convenience of being a drummer here. I've been playing shows for a little while now and I still haven’t had the need to have my own drum kit, let alone a car. Most venues have a supplied backline and most musicians have a rehearsal space that they share with other bands.”
She’s also noticed a difference in audience behaviour: “I've found audiences to be less shy and more interactive here. If an audience is feeling the performance, you'll definitely know it.”
The larger population in US cities makes touring a different experience, also. Sarah has found that touring in the US is a lot more viable, “meaning that bands have more opportunities to develop audiences and setup sustainable touring networks because there are more venues, bands and just generally more people around.”
“The thing that surprised me most about living in New York is how many lucrative employment paths you can take to supplement your artistic and creative pursuits. Many musicians I know are involved in things I had never really considered before, such as real estate and dog walking. Sometimes even both!”
Ruth Nitkiewicz
Ruth Nitkiewicz
Ruth Nitkiewicz (Bonfire Nights, Yassassin) hails from Brisbane and has been living in London for the past six years. “I originally moved over here with my partner,” she says: “we play in Bonfire Nights together. We felt that our music had a natural home in the UK as it's quite dark, moody and atmospheric. We also wanted to explore and travel more, so we upped sticks and made London our home.”
Ruth has found that a larger population can mean bigger audiences and more cities to perform in more regularly: “…but you are a little fish in a big pond, so you will be up against loads of other artists and performers,” she says: “In my experience as an Australian musician in the UK, you are sharing space not only with local artists, of which there are many, but with bands and musicians from all over the world that also want to perform here. It can be competitive, but there are heaps of opportunities for everyone, no matter what style of music you play. There are dozens of gigs each night all over London and that's just one city in the UK. Sometimes last year I was playing up to three gigs a week across the city, and it never felt like we had exhausted our audience.”
Like Sarah, Ruth took the plunge and moved OS without a large or established network, but soon found her feet and plenty of opportunities to perform: “for a new artist trying to get their foot in the door, it can be a little daunting at first but soon you navigate your way around the scene, just like you would at home” she says. “We had a bunch of gigs in London when we first arrived, but they had been organised from back in Australia. The real challenge was the follow-up, so we emailed a bunch of promoters and booking agents. It was hard as I really dislike 'cold calling' anyone, but as we had no contacts we had to start from scratch. Then we landed the opening slot for Sons & Daughters and their UK tour, which was awesome as I was a big fan of theirs back in Australia. We contacted the band's management and their booking agency, they checked out our music and liked us and invited us to open for the band on their UK tour. It was a great opportunity as it put us in contact with promoters, label A&R and management. It was a great leap forward for us.”
Ruth says that audience numbers can vary more from city to city than from continent to continent: “In Brisbane, it was really hard to get people out on a weeknight; you were better off trying to play on the weekend if you wanted a decent audience. In Melbourne, people are out all nights of the week, very much like London … I guess there are bigger populations in the UK, so there are higher chances of playing to bigger audiences.”
When asked about differences in pay for gigs between the two countries Ruth says: “This one is quite tricky as the pay can be pretty rubbish no matter where you play. As a local band or a support act in Australia, the money wasn't great to start with, but that's no different to the UK. Once you get to know promoters and bring in a bigger audience, the pay improves … I've been fortunate to form friendships with a few promoters in London who have looked after my bands well. And having management and a booking agent makes the pay a lot better, as they are better negotiators and can demand higher fees. In my experience, I've also found the pay is better in Europe. Venues and promoters there really look after their bands; they pay good money, and provide accommodation and meals.”
Ruth’s experiences of touring in the UK and Europe have been similar to Sarah’s in the US: “There are more cities over a smaller area, so economically it's more viable for smaller bands. Also, being in the UK has made it easier to tour other areas like North America and Europe, just because of its close proximity. Australia, on the other hand, is really geographically isolated. Even touring within Australia is tough - most cities you have to fly to, which is expensive. You can drive - but it's a really long drive between destinations. It's still possible to tour overseas with Australia as your base, but you need a team to help organise it for you. And the costs are huge, so you need the promise of good pay or a grant.”
“But Australian bands have been making a go of it for ages; they have to work harder and travel further than everyone else (except maybe New Zealand!), so it's in our blood. Driving in the car for 12 hours is nothing to us.”
Serra Petale - photo by Linn Koch Emmery
Serra Petale
Serra Petale (Kid Wave, PURS) is a pop and indie drummer from Perth and has been living in London for the past seven years. “I needed to push myself more in terms of creativity and seeing what opportunities were out there” she says. “I guess it was either going to be LA, New York or London. Since I had a British passport, London was the obvious choice.”
At the moment Serra is playing as a session drummer for a number of UK bands and is loving the variety this brings: “…it’s great as I get to play all styles of music which means I can always add to my repertoire of playing ... I’m set to do a few shows with a band called The Admiral Sire Cloudesley Shovell who play absolute classic rock. I’ve been doing a lot of pop and indie for the last few years with Kid Wave, so it’s been great to step outside my comfort zone.”
Serra has found more performance opportunities since moving to the UK: “Living somewhere like London has definitely provided me with countless opportunities to not only gig as much as I want with my own band Purs, but to play with a range of different bands with different styles … Because there are so many bands coming through all the time I would say it definitely gives you more platforms and quick access to tour domestically and internationally. In saying that you’re also competing with a load of other bands for the same spot as well.”
When it comes to audiences, Serra says: “I’ve had good and bad experiences in both hemispheres. They always say that the London crowd can be a tough one. Probably because we are so inundated with bands to see every night of the week, so it becomes the norm to see a signed or unsigned group play their hearts out at your local venue. It does make you raise your game though.” Having said that, “Australian audiences were some of the nicest and most comfortable ones I’ve played to.”
Comparing pay for gigs in the two countries Serra says “I think the ethos is about the same when it comes to this. The more people want to come and see you/ the better you can negotiate, the more you’ll get. Of course there are a lot of promoters and agents on both sides taking advantage of new bands wanting exposure. It must become a universal etiquette to pay people for their time and the art that they make.”
Touring can be different and more spontaneous when another country is a manageable drive or train ride away. Serra adds to the consensus on this: “Touring is a lot easier when you’re based in the UK from an expense and time point of view … I’ve done shows in Wales or out of London and have been able to drive back home the same night for a nice early morning arrival. You can be a little more spontaneous as well, as being in such close proximity to other countries means you can jump on a cheap flight, play a festival in the Netherlands and come back the next day. As Australia is so far away, you need more planning and consideration to travel due the expense of staying away from home so much. But of course, you get more opportunities to tour Australia, which is an absolute dream for most international bands.
Bring on that 17 hour Qantas flight!”
Serra Petale (Kid Wave, PURS) is a pop and indie drummer from Perth and has been living in London for the past seven years. “I needed to push myself more in terms of creativity and seeing what opportunities were out there” she says. “I guess it was either going to be LA, New York or London. Since I had a British passport, London was the obvious choice.”
At the moment Serra is playing as a session drummer for a number of UK bands and is loving the variety this brings: “…it’s great as I get to play all styles of music which means I can always add to my repertoire of playing ... I’m set to do a few shows with a band called The Admiral Sire Cloudesley Shovell who play absolute classic rock. I’ve been doing a lot of pop and indie for the last few years with Kid Wave, so it’s been great to step outside my comfort zone.”
Serra has found more performance opportunities since moving to the UK: “Living somewhere like London has definitely provided me with countless opportunities to not only gig as much as I want with my own band Purs, but to play with a range of different bands with different styles … Because there are so many bands coming through all the time I would say it definitely gives you more platforms and quick access to tour domestically and internationally. In saying that you’re also competing with a load of other bands for the same spot as well.”
When it comes to audiences, Serra says: “I’ve had good and bad experiences in both hemispheres. They always say that the London crowd can be a tough one. Probably because we are so inundated with bands to see every night of the week, so it becomes the norm to see a signed or unsigned group play their hearts out at your local venue. It does make you raise your game though.” Having said that, “Australian audiences were some of the nicest and most comfortable ones I’ve played to.”
Comparing pay for gigs in the two countries Serra says “I think the ethos is about the same when it comes to this. The more people want to come and see you/ the better you can negotiate, the more you’ll get. Of course there are a lot of promoters and agents on both sides taking advantage of new bands wanting exposure. It must become a universal etiquette to pay people for their time and the art that they make.”
Touring can be different and more spontaneous when another country is a manageable drive or train ride away. Serra adds to the consensus on this: “Touring is a lot easier when you’re based in the UK from an expense and time point of view … I’ve done shows in Wales or out of London and have been able to drive back home the same night for a nice early morning arrival. You can be a little more spontaneous as well, as being in such close proximity to other countries means you can jump on a cheap flight, play a festival in the Netherlands and come back the next day. As Australia is so far away, you need more planning and consideration to travel due the expense of staying away from home so much. But of course, you get more opportunities to tour Australia, which is an absolute dream for most international bands.
Bring on that 17 hour Qantas flight!”
