Return to Rimshot Music Homepage (Written for the "
Sounds Australian " journal, December 2000, published by the Australian Music
Centre).
Rimshot Music is our down - home, organically - grown, desk - top music publishing
business formed specifically for the reproduction & distribution of the works
of Nigel Westlake. I take care of the books & business & my partner Nigel
writes the music. Our decision to maintain independent control of the Westlake
catalogue is the result of many years of accumulated collaboration & experience
in the music business, resulting in my becoming Nigel's manager, agent & more
recently, "publisher".
In the late nineteen seventies, in between playing clarinet for legit gigs with
orchestras & film sessions, Nigel wanted to explore alternative forms of music
making. He expressed a desire to form a band that would play the music he was
writing at the time. Being from a non - music background myself, but having an
involvement in the women's movement, & on the tail end of the Whitlam era,
my response was "GET A Grant" which we did, albeit a tiny one. Five thousand dollars
to form, rehearse & tour a 7 piece band!! Hard to imagine really how it was
done on such a pittance, but such was the optimism of the founding members of
the somewhat infamous "MAGIC PUDDIN' BAND"
This group developed quite a cult following performing original compositions which
could best be described as "electro-acoustic fusion". We hired halls for concerts
& did our own publicity rather than perform in pubs & clubs.
From this position, Nigel fostered his interest in composition & I, in my
role as manager of the band accumulated a knowledge of the general workings of
the music business.
After 4 seasons of performances & tours over a three year period from 1980
- 1983 we were ready to move on, however the Puddin' Band gave Nigel's writing
just enough exposure for him to be offered his first commissions in circus, radio
& theatre. Following selection for the first ever course in film music at
Australian Film & Television School (with Bill Motzing), he started to work
in film & T.V. He maintained his profile as a clarinettist throughout this
period, studying overseas & returning to join the Australia Ensemble as resident
clarinettist. By this time his energies were equally divided between playing & writing.
As his composing profile started to gain momentum, we had our first experience
with a real live publisher. With the promise of dramatically increased royalty
revenue, record deals, ongoing support & promotion, Nigel had no hesitation
signing on the dotted line. This particular publisher was not in the business
of print music, (which is often the norm in the film & pop industry) & unfortunately didn't come good with any of his other promises, so when the contract
lapsed we went our separate ways.
During this time the Australian Music Centre began reproducing & distributing
Nigel's concert print music, paying us the standard 10% or 15% of sales. After
receiving a couple of cheques for $100 or so, we were prompted to do our sums
& consequently decided to take control of the reproduction & distribution
of the catalogue, small as it was at the time. The AMC gave us their blessing
& indicated they would like to see more composer's taking control of their
works in such a way. We hired a new photocopier, bought a binding machine, covers
& paper, put together a catalogue with price list & we were ready to roll!
Ten years on we are now sending out orders for print music every week, many of
which come from the AMC & also directly from overseas.
Percussion works are the most popular, in particular the marimba quartet "Omphalo
Centric Lecture" which seems to have become standard repertoire for many percussion
ensembles. We have literally sold hundreds of scores & parts for "Omphalo".
We also hire out the orchestral materials for symphonic works, enabling us to
keep track of performances.
All the orders come to us without promotion or publicity, simply on the reputation
of the work. One of the main sources of interest is from the educational sector.
We get some nice feedback from teachers saying that their students really like
to study Nigel's compositions.
We have recently had most of the catalogue typeset into Finale. Our web site &
I-net shop has had an unbelievable number of "hits" so we are pleased that information
regarding Nigel's work is so easily accessible throughout the world, & offers
the option of buying c.d.'s directly & scores by ordering via email or fax.
As the years roll by & Nigel's catalogue continues to grow, we look forward
to distributing his ever growing list of concert works works to ensembles & students all over the globe.