Country Creatives

Episode 014: How to have difficult conversations in business

Listen in to sharpen up your communication skills in less than 60 minutes with Country Creatives!If you struggle with asking your clients 'what is your budget?'. If you find it hard to put boundaries in when they ask you 'for just a little change', if you find your ego in the drivers seat when a client doesn't like the work you deliver, or when a project simply all goes a bit awry and you need to pick up the pieces pronto, then this episode is for you.  Using real life situations from their own creative careers, Reece and Caleb unpack communication fails and troubleshoot how to ensure better outcomes as well as sharing their key strategies and scripts for all too common pitfalls when navigation the client/creative relationship.  

Episode 013: Conflux Bendigo Highlights

Over two days in September 2022, creative trailblazers converged for Conflux Bendigo. It was full of thought provoking conversations, inspirational performance, enlightening workshops and purposeful connection. There were panel discussions, masterclasses, practitioner presentations, group forums, lively debates, Q&As, workshops, networking, performance, installations and Caleb and Reece were right in the thick of it as artistic contributors as well as audience members.   Tune in as Country Creatives take you inside their Conflux Bendigo experience and recap the thoughts and ideas that resonated with them, the performances that moved them deeply and the people they met who inspired them.  In between all the action Reece and Caleb also managed to grab some microphones and speak to a bunch of the creative folk about what Conflux Bendigo meant to them and what they hoped would grow from this fantastic creative gathering.  

Episode 012. Toby Benador

In this live podcast recording from Conflux Bendigo (A Creative Industries gathering that took place on September 9 & 10, 2022), Caleb and Reece speak with Toby Benador in the pop up studio just after a presentation Toby had given on cultivating strong partnerships.  Toby Benador is a neurodiverse, genderqueer, POC who has successfully made a name for themselves as an independent gallery owner, project manager, and curator in the Urban Art sector for over 15 years. Throughout their extensive time spent involved in the industry, Toby has opened and run several notable galleries and businesses all with a driving force to showcase and support emerging and established artists. 
 
In this chat, Caleb and Reece get the lowdown on how Just Another Agency came to be back in 2010, the type of work that the agency undertakes including large-scale, multi-artist creative projects, what kind of artists and clients Toby likes to work with and most importantly how, with some humanity, empathy and radical collaboration, this work can thrive in an incredibly fun and fulfilling way.

Episode 011: Louise Terra

Louise Terra is the epitome of a multi-facitated creative.  She is an electronic music producer, songwriter and performer, tertiary educator, festival programmer and community cultural development artist. As a solo artist or as a member of bands such as Sugar Fed Leopards and Sawtooth she has appeared at iconic events such as Woodford Folk Fest, Reservoir Stomp, Melbourne Int'l Comedy Festival and Adelaide Fringe and more. 
In this episode of Country Creatives Caleb and Aimee speak to Louise about her pathway to electronic music and VR collaborations, the challenges and approaches for creating work such as her current VR live shoot when you don't have an audience present and Louise presents a future vision for the music industry that is Artist led!  
It's another rich, inspiring episode so settle in for a listen now.

Episode 010: David Gagliardi

What happens when you let the ideas guide the way? For composer and artistic director David Gagliardi, guest of Country Creatives 10th episode, the answer is EVERYTHING!  Using his immersive performance work 'Everybody Goes To Heaven in the Clothes They Died In' as a vibrant example, David illustrates his process for allowing ideas to emerge and be explored with much needed time and space.  David also brings some great grant writing tips on how to get the funding you need to support the making of ambitious projects as well as his thoughts on assembling a creative team to really take on the journey with you.  Listen now for the inspiration you need to show up to your creative work.

Episode 009. Ben Watts

Delivering a veritable masterclass in how to live and thrive as a regionally based creative, is this weeks guest Ben Watts. Ben who lives and works in Swan Hill, Victoria is a Motion FX expert who has created stunning work with major film, tv and advertising companies across the world including Pixar and Disney to Nike and Playstation. Caleb and Reece have their minds blown by Ben's insights and experience on how to build this kind of fast paced creative tech career without any tertiary studies. They discover what skills other than the technical are absolutely integral in order to get hired, and what opportunities the future of motion fx and similar technology hold (Spoiler alert- it’s HUGE) Strap in for a truly fascinating chat!

Episode 008: Snippet #3. NFTs, the Blockchain and opportunities for creatives

Non Fungible Tokens, the Metaverse, Blockchains and Discord servers?!   If this all feels like a foreign language to you, then this week's episode of Country Creatives Podcast is necessary listening.  Caleb and Reece take a condensed look at the fundamentals of what NFTs are, how they work and most importantly why should creatives even care? Get up to speed with the future, tune in right here, right now.

Episode 007. Lauren Starr

Bendigo Visual Artist Lauren Starr is the special guest on this episode of Country Creatives.  Lauren discusses how Bendigo has influenced her art and the creative goldmine that she has found in embracing her shadow side.   There is also some great insight into how Lauren has struck a fantastic balance between artist and day job until she is ready to make the flip to full-time and she also gives Reece and Caleb the scoop on what creative adventures lie just on the horizon.

Episode 006: Snippet#2 - The Why.

It's a short sharp snippet episode on Country Creatives today that still manages to pack a lot of punch.....Uncover your WHY!
Using their current 'why' as starting points, Caleb and Reece get into the finer details of why your why matters and where to start with discovering your own why and applying it to your creative business.
 
 

Episode 005: Pick a Project

Get the inside scoop on a couple of creative projects that Reece and Caleb have been working on recently.  They explore how they got the gigs, why the projects have been so satisfying, potential obstacles and challenges and more.  They also give some insight to when joining a committee might  be a great career move and they explore the fine art of delivering a feedback sandwich!