What happens when you put a bunch of musicians in a room and give them a day to write something new? A new documentary from APRA AMCOS, SongHubs: A Story on Collaboration, digs into that question by following some of the standout songwriting sessions held over the past 11 years.
The doco, released to mark the 100th SongHubs session, brings together artists from across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and further afield, including Alice Ivy, AR/CO, Bic Runga, Chris Tamwoy, Jordan Rakei, Josh Fountain (BENEE) and Telenova, to explore how creative chemistry sparks under pressure.
For Tokoroa-born Jordan Rakei, a SongHubs session in London helped shape his critically acclaimed album The Loop. “The Loop was a massive collaboration album,” he explains. “That was actually inspired by my time with the cross-collaboration with APRA AMCOS and SongHubs. I can’t really do a solo album anymore, I just love collaborating.”
Angeline Armstrong of Telenova looks back on the band’s formation at a 2019 SongHubs session with a bit of sliding-doors wonder: “It’s really funny to think about what if we weren’t put in a room together or I just wasn’t free the day that we were going to be doing a session and then I met up with someone else. I’m so glad that we did because I’m so proud of the music that we make.”
Alice Ivy describes the process as a kind of creative swap meet.“I feel like (with) collaboration you’re putting your best skills to the table and the other person in the room or the other people in the room are putting their best skills to the table. You are making something so big and so special… and you can take those skills away and you can utilise them and use that in your practice in future years.”
Since 2013, SongHubs has brought together over 2,000 songwriters in more than 30 cities, helping create over 6,000 songs with names like Briggs, CHAII, Courtney Barnett, G Flip, Sarah Aarons and Troye Sivan.
SongHubs: A Story on Collaboration is streaming now at apraamcos.com.au/songhubs.
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