We interviewed Steph Lees of "Pear & the Awkward Orchestra" about the release of her debut album “Smocks!” People of the world, meet Smocks!, the highly anticipated debut album release from Brisbane's folk-pop darlings, pear & the awkward orchestra. The album moves between sweet, luscious alt-folk in let's hide & it's dark all the way through to first single & pop anthem Oh Katrina & a slight punk/indie pop vibe with second single Bigger Than You. Quirky, emotive & surprising, this album was a year in the making & marks this Aussie songstress's move to the international stage. Who Is Pear & The Awkward Orchestra? Pear & the awkward orchestra is my solo project. It is quirky, juicy folk/pop featuring my original compositions, which I perform with the support of a five-piece band of some of Brisbane’s best musicians. I have been performing as pear with my awkward orchestra for about five years. The band currently includes double bass, vibraphone, two electric guitars, drum kit & four backing vocals, as well as my lead vocals. Members of my band can also be found in: Laneous & the Family Yah, Hannah Macklin & the Maxwells, Banawurun, Kooii, Kafka & the Kelly Gang. I have a strong environmentally sustainable ethos to the project, creating handmade merchandise out of recycled and up-cycled materials & printing flyers and posters on recycled paper. My two EPs have been presented with a series of handmade covers, any printed covers have been produced with recycled cardboard using vegie/soy ink. The upcoming album will be no different in that respect. We also car-pool to shows and offset our carbon when flying. Recording & Production This album was a very different one for me, I really took my time in selecting the songs (always two more than you need, or in my case four – sometimes songs don’t transfer to recordings very well); recording & choosing instrumentation carefully & most unusually of all, working with several talented arrangers to bring the songs new highlights, which was amazing. I also added a lot of extra vocal parts, mainly my own, on this recording, to add texture & warmth, which is something I used to do more with previous projects and hadn’t explored very much with pear thus far. The recording stage took about eleven months from the first stages of sitting with the songs to getting them down, so it’s great to get it out there! Artwork & Printing A local Brisbane artist, Holly Leonardson of pannikin designs, is creating the artwork for the album packaging. She has a beautiful style which really complements the sound I am going for with this album. Once she has painted the images, graphic designer Claire Renton will digitize them and together we will work out how to achieve the packaging I would like – it is always a little bit too complicated! I will get the discs & packaging printed with recycled card and vegetable-based ink. I recognize the difficulty of capturing the attention of the general public with CD packaging when downloading is so fast and efficient. For me there is something very precious about the physical product & that is part of the reason for my effort-intensive handmade offerings, as well as really using the packaging as another opportunity to reach out and connect. Promotion & Distribution I am going to do a bit of the promotion myself (radio); there is definitely a time to hire a publicist, I believe that is when you can really maximize their skills with some strong momentum–this album is that time for me & I will be working with the talented folks at Mucho Bravado. The album will be distributed worldwide through a very friendly Sydney label, Creative Vibes, who are very supportive of my growth as an artist. As an independent self-managed artist thus far, distribution while maintaining my independence is the ideal situation. While I released the single through Bi

-Get an ABN. If you don’t have an ABN, anyone paying you royalties legally has to withhold 46.5% of royalty payments to be paid to the taxation office. -Keep thorough records of all money going in and out. Keep a record of every expensive you can possibly claim on music business (e.g. coffee with your manager). -Start a new bank account to only be used for your “music business”. Make sure all your music business transactions go through that account so you have a record of everything in one place. -Get your head around GST. IF your business turnover is more than $75,000 you need to register for GST. Being GST registered means you must charge GST on your invoices, and submit a quarterly Business Activity Statement 9BAS) statement. However if you have a small turn over it may be possible to only lodge your BAS quarterly. In your BAS statement you report all sales/expenses and the associated GST paid/collected for each. -Always put a bit of money aside for income tax & GST. Ideally use a separate account to hold this money. -Register your songs with APRA to make sure you get paid when your song is played in public (e.g. at a club). If you are GST registered, make sure you let them know. -Find out what tax benefits there are for musicians. Here are a few examples- “Special Professional Income Averaging Offset” This allows musicians to average their income over 4 years and pay tax on that, instead of paying heaps one year and nothing the next. “Entrepreneurs Tax Offset (ETO)” If you are making a profit, but its under $50,000, you may be eligible for the ETO. The ETO means a 25% reduction on the tax you have to pay. -Get professional advice from an accountant Handy Links: -Brian Tucker (Arts Accountants)- www.briantuckercpa.org -Money Penny (Entertainment Accountants)- www.moneypenny.com.au -Australian Taxation Office- www.ato.gov.au -Australian Company Information- www.asic.gov.au -Australian Performing Rights Association- www.apra–amcos.com.au About the Author: Austep Music provides CD replication, offset printing, and promotion resources for the Australian Music Industry. A key player in the Green Music Movement, Austep Music specialises in eco-friendly card CD packaging, and is a founding partner of the Australian Green Music Coalition. All Austep CD packaging is printed with 70% recycled card and vegetable based ink, at no extra cost. Industry Newsletter- Subscribe to the monthly Austep Music newsletter and stay up-to-date with industry news, music marketing tips, upcoming grants, gig openings, & other opportunities. Written by Austep Music Sunday, 21 August 2011