"It's a bit of a sucker punch" laments Darlinghurst's Cassie Leopold. "It's taken us 2 years of patience, perseverance and planning to build to a moment when we could finally release our debut album. All those plans have now been thrown into disarray due to yet another lockdown almost 18 months into this pandemic. It's frustrating beyond belief; not just for us or our label, but for every artist who's just trying to navigate their careers and livelihoods only to see the ground shift beneath our collective feet again"
Echoes Darlinghurst's Matt Darvidis, "On one hand we're thrilled beyond measure with the success we've had at radio on our first six songs [a #5, a #4 and no less than 4 #1 radio chart hits!]. But anyone who knows anything about this business knows the importance live touring is to building a base not to mention the income that's generated"
"Like countless other artist support teams, our management, agent and label have worked hard to get us - this brand-new band - gigs and tours only having to expend the same amount of time and energy cancelling the very same gigs. For a new band to survive we need to be able to tour to not only build up a fan base, but to also put food on the table. These last 18 months have been surreal. It seems we're like geese flying south for the winter on one wing. You just end up going round in circles"
This palpable frustration stems from the news Friday that the all-but-sold-out 40th Annual Gympie Music Muster has been cancelled due to the latest Covid lockdowns.
Both the band and label Helium Records had spent 6 months meticulously building a release plan around the Gympie Muster.
Darlinghurst's Jason Resch said "Our launch plans were shaping nicely and Oz Bayldon and his Gympie team not only embraced Darlinghurst wholeheartedly but our plans as well. We were scheduled to play on eight separate occasions over the 4 days; three of those the first time we would get to play as a 6-piece electric - plus there was a whole bunch of other activity that was gonna unfold over the Gympie weekend."
"The frustration we feel's not just about us; the pain the Gympie team must be going through right now would be devastating. Our hearts go out to Oz and his dedicated team who stage Gympie every year for the last 39 years in order to raise funds for local charities"
And some fighting words from Darlinghurst's Pagan Newman, "In spite of these ongoing setbacks we have no choice but to regroup and move on to a Plan B. We've put too much of our heart and soul into this album to just throw our hands up. Darlinghurst don't give up easy!!"
Final words go to Helium's Mark Pope, "I began working in the music industry 42 years ago and have so ever since. Like countless others I've dedicated my life to promoting Australian artists on both a national and international stage. In my first 5 years, a common refrain from family and friends was 'When are you gonna get a real job?', like what I was doing was somehow not quite legitimate."
"42 years on I still get this sense from the powers to be at times that what we in the music industry do is anything but legitimate?! The Australian music industry's always been built on the principal foundation of self-reliance, and so here we go again!"
Darlinghurst's 7th single, a scorching duet between Pagan and Shannon Noll will be released to streaming platforms on 6 August and to radio on 24 August. You can check out the You Stopped Making Sense magic yourself
here.
Darlinghurst's self-titled debut album will be released on Helium through MGM Distribution on Friday, 24 September and can be pre-ordered now from
here.
Darlinghurst Live
5 September | The Mill, Echuca VIC
16 September | Lizotte's Newcastle NSW
17 September | Centro, Wollongong NSW
30 September to 1 October | Savannah Music Festival, Mareeba QLD
2 October | Deni Ute Muster, Deniliquin NSW
9 October | Bush To Bay Festival, Hervey Bay QLD
28 October | Vinnies Drive, Southport QLD
29 October | Lefty's Old Time Hall, Brisbane QLD
12 to 14 November | Groundwater Festival, Gold Coast QLD
25 November | Tourist Hotel, Queanbeyan NSW
27 November | Rose Cottage, Canberra ACT
21 January | West Leagues Club, Tamworth NSW
