It's true that we leave footprints wherever we go, whether they be the outlines of your feet in the sand, your digital footprint or a trail of broken hearts and memories. Band-manager-and-everything-else Lisa Ariganello may have started out in America, but she's weaved in exotic locations across Asia and Australia into her life story and has ended up in the Melbourne live music scene, writing her way across continents. And just as she has left a trail of music reviews and blog posts as she's travelled, Lisa has cleverly named her business Trail of Ink, and now works with some of Melbourne's best know roots, gypsy and folk acts like Rapskallion, Rosie Burgess and Jungal, as well as many others.
Paper-Deer had a chat to the world traveller about being a manager and how the Melbourne music scene compares to the rest of the world.
What job title do you go by?
Like most people in this industry, I tend to wear many hats. Job titles I use most often are artist manager, publicist, booking agent, tour planner, friend, roadie, therapist and sometimes merch bitch.
If you have to explain what exactly it is you do in the music industry in a nutshell, what would you say?
Well, those job titles listed above pretty much sum it up. But the gist of it is: I manage bands, organise gigs, tours, and publicity campaigns, review gigs occasionally, and work for festivals, too!
You’re originally from California and have travelled all about the world. What do you think of the Melbourne music scene compared to other scenes in the world?
Yeah that’s right, I’m Canadian slash Californian. A mixed breed. I moved to Melbourne mainly for the music scene. To me, Melbourne has always been known as a cultural hub – a melting pot of musicians and artists. I think the music scene in Melbourne is very supportive in its own way. Musicians, managers, publicists, agents come together (for the most part) and support each other’s musical paths. It’s less competitive than trying to “make it big” in Canada or the US, where there’s so much competition and a fraction of the bands out there actually have their music heard. From my experience, independent musicians in Melbourne have a lot more opportunities, support and resources to get their music out there because the community is smaller and less competitive.
How did you fall into management, publicity and journalism?
I pretty much just started off as a fanatical lover of music from a young age, which led to me running off as a teen following bands and festivals around the US much to my parents’ dismay! After studying journalism, I started reviewing gigs and interviewing artists for local music magazines – mostly to score free tickets and CDs – and that led into helping musician friends get gigs and planning tours in places like Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.
I find a common problem that faces people who work on the business side of the industry is this inability to just do one thing – we all seem to have a dozen business ventures and projects. Why do you think we all fall into this trap?
Tell me about it! Multi-tasking has become my middle name. I think that there are so many different areas of the non-artist side of the music industry and they are all closely linked. Managing bands leads to booking gigs, which leads to publicity, and so on. It just seems natural to pick up other projects that are closely related. I don’t mind it, actually. I’ve learned so much by working with different musicians, bands, venues and festivals. It’s all about expanding your skill set now because it can be tough to “make a living” in this industry.
Where did the name Trail of Ink for your business come about?
Trail of Ink was actually the original name for my blog when I was living in Asia. I wanted to have a place to publish my random little thoughts and titbits on life. The meaning of the name just came to me. I wanted to use the concept of travelling and writing, and leaving a little meaningful path of words and thoughts behind me as I pass through countries and encounter different cultures and people. The ink trail seemed appropriate, and that became Trail of Ink.
Name some of the bands that you work with for Trail of Ink?
I am so grateful to work with some fabulous musicians, including: Rapskallion, Rosie Burgess, Jungal and El Moth & The Turbo Rads. Occasionally I work with Saritah, CC The Cat, Dub Dub Goose, and others.
What is the most rewarding thing about being a band manager, and what’s the most shit?
The most rewarding thing is definitely being able to be a part of something that I really love. I am really passionate about all of the bands that I work with, and am a huge fan of their music. It’s great knowing that I can somewhat help these artists along their path and can be supportive of their musical dream. The most shit? Would most likely be the fact that I don’t even play a damn instrument so I’m forced to remain offstage.
Any advice for budding music industry kids who are interested in starting their own businesses?
I say just go for it. There are so many musicians in Melbourne who are looking for help from managers, publicists and booking agents. We could build an army of industry kids in this town. The first step is to find a band that you really care about and genuinely love their music, and then think of how your skills could be used to support their art. Music business networking meetings and industry-supported workshops are often good places to learn more about the business and offer great opportunities to schmooze with local musos and industry peeps. Networking is key!
Funniest thing to have happened to you while working in the music industry?
Some of my most hilarious moments were when I travelled around Australia and New Zealand managing Canadian singer-songwriter, Faye Blais. We lived in little a red van called Ruby and slept in the back amongst all of her guitars and amps, and our clothes. During our trip to New Zealand with Melbourne band The April Maze, we rocked up to a venue, only to find out that the venue had been shut down in some sort of sketchy mafia scandal and there were mysterious spray painted messages on the front of the building. The owner apparently had a reputation for spontaneously shutting the doors and not telling anyone, and unfortunately our gig was supposed to start in an hour. So we wandered outside the venue trying to figure out what was going on because no one would let us in, yet we could see the staff members through the window. No explanation. We decided to go drink wine in a park instead and make up rap songs in various English dialects about the mysteries of the venue owner. It’s these random moments where you can only laugh at the fact that even though we had flown across the ocean to do an international tour, it wasn’t always going to be peachy and perfect. Weird shit exists everywhere in this industry!
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By Paige X. Cho
