Contemporary music artists are using music markets to showcase their performances, with great music export results. For the Medics, a band from Cairns in far northern Queensland, performing at BIGSOUND 2009 in Brisbane, and the inaugural Australian World Music Expo, led in turn to exposure at the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM), and an invitation to perform at the Virada Cultural Festival in San Paulo, Brazil.
The Medics performed at APAM's closing ceremony in February 2014.
Earlier in the week of APAM their manager, Leanne de Souza, had pitched 'The Painted Ladies', a collaborative project that will see the current generation of contemporary Indigenous Australian performers interpret The Loners, Australia's first black protest album. The project's exposure at APAM has been a key driver for the project, now in development for major arts festival performances in the next twelve months.
The Medics took out top honours at the 2012 National Indigenous Music Awards with wins for Album of the Year and Song of the Year for and were crowned Best New Talent at the 2013 Rollingstone Awards.
Also during APAM the Medics' lead singer Kahl Wallace and drummer Jhindu Lawrie met Brazilian delegate Mr Augusto Pena Schmidt, who had travelled with DFAT's support from San Paulo to represent Virada Cultural.
There was little lead time, and an experienced promoter with deep knowledge, experience and connections in the South American market was critical to the tour's success. Entrepreneur Frank Madrid of FAMA Artist Services stepped in and brought The Medics on board the 'Sounds of Australia' delegation along with band Jackson Firebird and a cabaret show, The Glory Box.
The tour wowed audiences in San Paulo - gathering new fans in Brazil and filling the Australian fans with pride. The band's social media efforts are heightening both awareness and demand for The Medics on their return to Australia in mid 2014.
Following The Medics' international debut at Virada Cultural, they are working on a five-year market development plan, including plans for extensive touring of South America in 2016.
