Aussie Musos Reminisce About Their First ‘We Made It’ Moment

Rubens

Coming from someone who currently has exactly zero charting songs and whose trophy cabinet is completely void of an ARIA Award (or you know, an award), the fact that people release songs that cop more than six listens is impressive in itself.

However, for Alison Wonderland, 360 and The Rubens, releasing a song with as little as six listens would probably be the most depressing experience in existence, as they’re more accustom to spins in the thousands (or millions for certain songs).

But this wasn’t always the case. We hit them up to find out when exactly they knew they’d ~made it~ in the industry. Why? Because they’re currently acting as mentors to 16 musicians alongside 5SOS for the EXTRA® Support Acts program (you can head to their YouTube channel to vote for your fave), so it felt appropriate.

Have a peruse of the success stories below:

Alison Wonderland

When did you know/what made you realize you’d made it in the industry?

“I still don’t feel like I have but the moment I do feel like I have made it is the moment I become complacent and lazy. I constantly set my goals higher and higher and I think that’s what helps me to keep moving forward. I never take an opportunity for granted.”

Are there any steps you took to help establish yourself within the industry?

“I took risks and pushed myself. I stopped caring what other people thought. The way to grow in this industry is to work hard and be yourself.”

How will you assist your winning support act to ‘make it’ in the industry? (i.e. through exposure/mentoring)

Be there for there for them if they ever have any questions. I think its really important to give real answers when people ask you about the industry and advice that has helped you in the past. I wish when I was starting out I had people to answer my questions.”

Check out the four artists Alison is supporting below:

Yomi Twice
Oh Boy feat. Tashka
Godlands x Sophiegrophy
Anh feat. Jamie Lane

The Rubens

When did you know/what made you realize you’d made it in the industry?

“Quitting our jobs to do music full time was pretty special. That being said, we quit because we had no free time anymore, not because we could afford it. We were still sleeping in bunk beds at our parents’ house so ‘made it’ probably isn’t the correct term.”

Are there any steps you took to help establish yourself within the industry?

“I don’t think we consciously did anything to establish ourselves, but looking back I think we were lucky to have made the right decisions at the right time. In the beginning, we just wanted to write music and play in front of as many people as possible so that was our focus.”

How will you assist your winning support act to ‘make it’ in the industry? (i.e. through exposure/mentoring)

“We’d of course love to help them [the winning acts] in any way we can; advice, exposure, a support slot at a show of ours, couches to sleep on. Having come up through the industry ourselves we know how helpful a good leg up can be.”

Have a listen to the artists The Rubens are supporting below:

Verge Collection
The Southern River Band
Rackett
Pirra

360

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeqwQOalcEw/?taken-by=3ree6ixty

When did you know/what made you realize you’d made it in the industry?

“There are a few moments that really stand out to me that to this day make me go, “holy fuck!!!” When I released ‘Falling & Flying‘, that’s when everything changed. I went from barely getting by with money and then music turning into my actual career.. absolutely blessed. We released seven singles, each song got high rotation on all major radio Australia-wide and the craziest part is each song went a minimum of gold.

I think I’ve been given something like 16 plaques for those songs. Having three of those songs go multiple platinum and the other four all going gold blew my mind and still does. Looking at the plaques today is a constant inspiration and reminder of what can be achieved with the right belief and hard work. The album itself also sat in the top 50 on the ARIA charts for one year straight and ended up going double platinum as well, I don’t want to sound like I’m blowing smoke up my own ass but nobody was doing those types of numbers.

Are there any steps you took to help establish yourself within the industry?

For me, it was the music. With ‘Falling & Flying’, I wanted to make an album that no one had ever heard when it comes to hip-hop in Australia. Mixing genres and having pop, electro, dance etc scattered all over the album is something that made the album what it was. At the time it was daunting, I was battling with my mind for ages because I knew that the album was going to alienate a lot of people. Hip-hop purists would hate it and I’d lose a lot of fans and potentially flop miserably.

How will you assist your winning support act to ‘make it’ in the industry? (i.e. through exposure/mentoring)

 I’ll mentor them and try to help guide them in any way that I can. I think the best way to help guide someone still finding their feet is to remind them to always stay true to themselves and do what they want to do.

The only opinion that matters about your music and what you’re doing is yours. Go hard. If shit starts popping off don’t let the glamour and glitz blind you. Stay grounded and humble or you’ll lose your way 100%. I always use my platform to promote up-and-comers with talent so I’ll 100% help out however I can – this is gonna be exciting.

Peruse the artists 360 is supporting below:

Skrub
Kwasi
Cooper
Chevy Levett

While we can all remember 5SOS’ big break (cheers Louis Tomlinson), you can get around their chosen artists too:  The Deep BlueTaylor PayneBradley Stone, Ivey.

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