GEARED and UnConvention 2011 panelist, Screamfeeder member and solo artist KELLIE LLOYD talk about sustaining and surviving the chaos that is the music biz.

GEARED: How did you first get involved with UnConvention, Kellie?

KELLIE LLOYD: I was on a panel last year – Music And Culture. I was quite outspoken because I was talking about the institutionalisation of rock & roll and things like that. It’s confusing for me; I work at Q Music and I deliver workshops – I didn’t grow up with that type of stuff available to me and I don’t know how I would have felt about it when I was younger, but being in that position where I’m the person on the other side of it … I really enjoy it. I think it’s really worthwhile. After the panel, I was interviewed by the organisers of the global event – they must have thought “she can talk – let’s pick her! [laughs]”

G: Your panel this year is called Sustaining The Chaos...

KL: I know – I think it’s a contradiction in terms. I like the idea of it; it’s very true if you think about it. Rock & roll is chaos – it’s a pretty chaotic lifestyle and onstage, rock & roll is chaotic. It’s really hard to maintain a lifestyle that’s chaotic and to bring out the best of your art.

I’ve been a touring artist for a really long time. You’re living away from home a lot when you’re travelling – it’s chaotic to you, the people you live with and the people who surround you. A lot of my friends are in nationally-touring bands and we’ve had big conversations about how we do what we do and how we maintain sanity, because touring is crazy and we get home and it’s all normal. It’s very hard and then you have to go back to your ‘regular’ life, working in a full-time job – you get stuck in that routine, but then you’re an artist and you’re a bit crazy. I think about that a lot and I think it’s a very worthy conversation to talk about how people maintain chaos in the ‘normal’ world.

G: Are you also going to discuss the less ‘chaotic’ side of things in the music biz?

KL: I guess what it really comes down to is finding out who these people are and what type of person does those things. Someone like Dom Miller [ex-Rocketsmiths] – a musician who played for a while and did quite well, then stopped and turned to management; he’s now working trying to fulfil someone else’s artistic dream and desire. What kind of person does that take and what type of skills do you need to be a manager?

What makes a really great producer, for example, is somebody who can coax a great performance from someone. You need to be a real people person, be able to work out how to get into someone’s head and make them feel comfortable. A manager needs a lot of different skills: they need to be a good business person; they need to be able to be an arsehole to people who have to be arseholes; they need to be really close to people they work with and because they are employed, they need to deliver what that band needs. You need to spend a lot of time with people – that’s why mentoring is really important.