The WAM festival has begun and over this weekend there are hundreds of events celebrating our local Western Australian music scene.
Last night the WAM Awards saw the best in the business honoured and one of the highest accolades is being inducted into the industry’s Hall of Fame. Local band The Stems were honoured, the band who formed in 1983 went on to have international success with their power pop sound.
The other inductee into the Hall of Fame was someone who is maybe not known publicly, but is a powerhouse inside the industry. Dixie Battersby is a publicist who has worked in the Perth music scene for decades and is a passionate supporter of local and Australian bands.
As EMI’s representative in the west she looks after the biggest acts passing through our city. From Paul McCartney to Robbie Williams and Bruce Springsteen, Dixie is the person who guides them through the local media and looks after them when they come to play in Perth. If you want an interview with Troye Sivan – Dixie will set it up for you, she’s the one who invites you to lunch with Tina Arena.
A few years ago Robbie William was returning to Australia for the first time in eight years. His private jet arrived on the runway in Perth. As he got off the plane Robbie saw Dixie Battersby waiting at terminal. He enthusiastically greeted and hugged Battersby, loudly calling out her name “Dixie!” The big stars remember her, no matter how many years since they last graced our shores.
While she looks after the biggest names in the business, she’s one of the biggest champions of up and coming new talent, always encouraging radio stations to play new bands, and getting journalists to come and see new talent as it emerges.
OUTinPerth chatted to Dixie Battersby about her Hall of Fame induction.
How does it feel to be named as one the 2018 inductees into the WAM Hall of Fame?
I’m really honoured. It’s a lot to live up to, and I think there’s a few people who should maybe be inducted before me, but I’ll take it. I’m really honoured, but also in shock.
When did you first start working in the WA music scene?
I managed a record shop in the last seventies, and a lot of local bands hung around. The most obvious one being The Triffids, so I knew Dave McComb really well. I was always trying to get their music played and get people to pay attention to them. It was in an arcade called Dimples Arcade, just up from His Majesty’s Theatre.
Then I went to EMI in 1983 . I’m technically still there because now I contract them. In 2013 my full time employment ended but a week later they got me back as a contractor.
. How do you maintain your cool?
I don’t know, I’m not unphased by it. When you’re standing next to Paul McCartney or Brian Wilson, I mean I’m a massive fan. Those guys wrote some of the greatest songs in recorded history, but I’m definitely nervous.
Last week I was driving Paul Kelly around, and I’ve loved him since the very beginning – all those years ago, and obviously I’ve gotten to know him over the years, but I still get a bit starstruck. I certainly let them know I’m a fan, I’m not blaise about it. If anyone says they are they are lying. If you’re having a conversation with Paul McCartney and say it’s “no big deal to me” – you are lying. You’re just trying to look cool and that’s bullshit.
Russell Morris is someone who I was obsessed with when I was about fourteen. He was a big star in Australia and all the girls loved him and The Real Thing. I used to write him letters and I was in his fan club. Now I have him as a friend and he rang me and congratulated me the other day. I’ve never told him he was a hero of my childhood, and he never wrote back.
I’ve had some really cool experiences. There are people I’ve worked for for years like Paul Kelly and Missy Higgins , you don’t become entwined in their lives, but you send each other texts now and again.
What have you learned about musicians over the course of your career?
They can be complex characters, but they’re like all of us. You meet people on their bad days, and you meet them on your good days. If its one of their bad days you just stand clear a bit, or do some other work, or turn up the radio. They are all passionate about what they do, I don’t take anything personally.
How do you gauge the health of local music scene at the moment.
I think it’s really healthy, but people need to start going out a bit more to gigs. Whether its something local or international. Of course there are acts on the stratosphere like Bruce Springsteen or Pink that sells out in two seconds, but we need to support the other acts.
Perth fans seem to wait until the band is about to go on stage before buying tickets and that’s making promoters worried about bringing things to Perth. Even for local bands they can do really good marketing but people might not turn up. The local industry is health in that there’s loads of amazing talent.
I don’t have the answers but people need to go out and see local music more.
Head to WAMfest to find out all the events occurring during the festival.
Graeme Watson
