Watson, Chugg Shine At Fuse Festival

Manager John Watson and concert promoter Michael Chugg were among those delivering keynote speeches at the Fuse Festival in Adelaide, Australia, Feb. 16-18.

Watson, who handles Silverchair and Missy Higgins, had six points for aspiring musicians to consider. They included “be fascinating, never be boring” and “define what success is from the start, and ensure every decision you make lead you to that.”

Chugg’s look back on his 40-year career had delegates rolling in the aisles, but had serious moments as well.

One was the lack of Australian commercial radio support for new Aussie acts.

The other was the need of the music biz here to seriously look at setting up another peak body to look after the interests of all sectors of the biz, unlike ARIA, which concerns itself with the recording sector.

Other speakers from the live sector included Terry McBride of the Nettwerk Music Group, Jon Mcildowie of UK’s MAMA Group, Gregg Donovan (Airborne), Bill Cullen (Paul Kelly, Sarah Blasko), Catherine Haridy (Eskimo Joe), Evan Davis (Village Sounds agency), Geoff Trio (Code One Entertainment), Marshall Cullen (Foghorn Group), Phil Stevens (John Butler Trio, Waifs) and Scott Mesiti of Festival of the Sun and local rep of Sonicbids.