VINYL TAP - Inside the Music Industry

Paddy Donovan is a true music stalwart in Melbourne and in Australia..and I don't use that term loosely or if at all these days. He has worked in the creative industries, in media and in government throughout his 25 year career. He has played both a 'master and servant' role for the domestic music industry. I first met Paddy when he was the Head Music Writer at The Age Newspaper in Melbourne a couple of decades ago. This was a time when reviews- good or bad- meant something to the artist community and the industry at large. He has championed many Australian acts over the years and he has done so with integrity and class. As the inaugural CEO of Music Victoria, the state music peak body, he kicked off his tenure there with amassing five thousand memberships in quick-fire time. He then went on to affect major changes for the wider music industry with the support of the Victorian government, most of which you'll hear about throughout the course of this interview. One of his proudest moments, however, was establishing and producing the Music Victoria Awards to incredible success for 16 long years. In 2026, Paddy has done a complete full circle and now finds himself as the CEO of the Melbourne Press Club, an organisation that advocates for, advises and encourages journalists from all sides of the media spectrum. And do not think for one minute that he is going to abandon his love for and relationship with music. The man has plans and ideas for days!

Andrew Klippel has been and still is one of Australia's most successful artist managers and music executives. As the son of the late, world acclaimed sculptor Robert Klippel, 'art' runs through his veins. He began his music career as a Pop Artist in the early 90's, but soon realised that his real passion and purpose was in producing, A&R and Artist Development. He launched his own label 'Engine Room' in the year 2000 with his high school buddy James Packer and another local A&R luminaire in Todd Wagstaff and it wasn't long before they became a local and international power-house. For those young enough to remember, The Vines, The Veronica's and Holly Valance (his first 3 signings) had immediate international success. His renaissance, so to speak, began is 2015 when he and his now wife Rebecca launched 'Ourness', a totally independent operation that has seem him bounce back in to the spotlight. As he has achieved in previous years and incarnations, Klippel's aim was to discover domestic acts that he could take to the world. His first two signings, the wonderful Genesis Owusu and the critically lauded Royal Otis have made a major splash both here and OS. It'd be fair to say that not only does Andrew have an innate ability to identify great talent, but he also has an uncanny knack for signing and developing artists that compete on the world stage. What makes him tick and what is the secret behind his incredible success?

Dave Giannis is arguably The Godfather of Punk, Metal and Rock music executives in the country, He began his journey playing in various hardcore bands some 30 years again his native hometown of Adelaide before his career took a 360 degree turn and he found himself backstage instead of front of stage.Through a combination of luck (being in the right place at the right time) and sheer hard work and passion, he landed a job at Shock Records before literally being poached to run the prestigious Epitaph Records- home to everyone from The Offspring and Tom Waits amongst many other heavyweight and pioneering punk and hard rock bands. Today, he sill is the main man for Epitaph as well as representing the likes of Fat Wreck Chords and Sumerian Records, all under his relatively fresh Diamond Creative Services umbrella company. His experience and expertise is in Project Management, overssseing marketing, press, radio and DSP play listing , as well as touring. And when he's not sleeping he still finds the time to manage one of this county's best up and coming bands in MUDRAT (definitely worth checking out).He also is an owner and Director of ARTIST FIRST- one of this country's leading merchandising operations, a duty he shares with his go-getter wife in Caz Worsley. In the new episode of Vinyl Tap, we get an interesting helicopter view of the hardcore scene in this country and why Dave is still as excited as ever about our ever changing industry and the music he represents.

I first met Guven Ylimaz when he was running one of the coolest live boutique agency’s in Australia - VITA- around 2015. They were home -and in parts still are- home to acts like Peking Duk, Winston Surfshirt, BUG WETT, Club Angel, Skin On Skin and Milan ring amongst many others. Guv was the cool kid on the block and, arguably still is. Then in 2023- in a crazy post-Covid word- Matt Gudinski came knocking and the Mushroom Booking Agency was born. I would have love to have been a fly on the wall for that meeting! From the outside looking in, it felt like a pairing of two different minds, but one with one singular goal in mind- to keep developing young, off kilter cutting edge Australian artists for the world. Some may work, some won’t of course but the alignment was real. In this new episode of Vinyl Tap, we learn about what makes Guven and MBA different to their contemporaries and , more importantly, what makes Guv a different proposition to what others are offering in this exciting but tumultuous live music landscape. What’s his plan? Why on earth is he a Rammstein fan!?? 

Mary Mihelakos is a true Music Stalwart in the Australian Music Scene. Whilst she has been predominately Melbourne based, her tentacles stretch far and wide. She began her music career at 3RRR Melbourne as a fresh faced 14 year old volunteer- not for the money, but for the love. She has worked in all facets of the business- management, radio, journalism and as a venue promoter. She has also been to thousands of shows and I mean 'thousands'!!! No one will or should argue with me on this! in 2020, she was inducted into the Music Victoria Hall Of Fame, and for good reason. Mary was the founder and inspiration behind the SXSW Aussie BBQ, even using her own credit card to fund the event and propel it for years. She opened up doors for many acts off shore, but she also single-handedly shone a light on our domestic music scene for a long time. In this new episode of Vinyl Tap, we travel through Mary's journey as both a true fan and as a self-less pioneer and trail blazer for Australian Music. Needless to say, her stories are real, funny and inspirational.

This week's special guest Roger Field is definitely no stranger when it comes to the Major Concert landscape. His expertise has and still covers all gamuts of the touring industry- ticketing, venue management, festival production and major concert promotion of course. He served as CEO of Live Nation Australia from 2014 to 2020 before was tasked with the premium role of President for Live Nation Asia Pacific. This speaks for itself. In 2024 however, and arguably at his prime, Roger did an an about-turn that no one saw coming and resigned from the Company. Today he runs his own business, the aptly titled 'Further Afield', which is a business designed to assist and help new enterprises that need sound advice in helping to navigate through the many layers and nuances of the Entertainment Industry. So why the change? Why leave the perceived comfort of working with the likes of Harry Styles, Pink, Adele and Bruno Mars amongst many, many others to go out alone? Is there more to his story or is it simply a case of personal re-invention in an ever-changing industry climate. Lets hear what Roger has to say and let me tell you, there are no mincing of words.

It's almost a case of 'whatever happened to...' with my first guest on Season 5 in 2026. His name is Daniel Merriweather, arguably, one of this country's greatest ever soul singers, producers and writers. His career has certainly had it's fair share of up's and down's , high's and low's but in 2026 he continues to strive to produce real, uncompromising and ground-breaking music. He has tasted bona fide chart and commercial success both in Australia and abroad and has rubbed creative shoulders with the likes of uber producer Mark Ronson, the incredible and late Amy Winehouse and the juggernaut that is Adele. He has also had some interesting encounters with such luminaries as JZ , Beyonce and Clive Davis, but then also some questionable encounters including one with disgraced artist and so-called entrepreneur P. Diddy. He knows what it's like to play the 'industry game' through his stints living and working in LA, New York and London and his story is as much about survival than it is about the trials and tribulations of navigating your way through the dog-eat-dog jungle of the urban music business. In his first interview in quite a while, we get to hear his stories and what continues to drive him in 2026.

What a time to be alive in the music industry in 2025, particularly if you're one of the people charged with keeping the live music scene alive and prospering. As Managing Director of MusicNSW, Joe Muller has it all before him. And he's up for it and all about it! Joe comes from credible and respected music stock having had over 15 years of experience with in the industry as a festival curator, creative producer, venue programmer, artist manager, label owner and as an artist himself. In this weeks episode of Vinyl Tap, we get the lowdown on what is happening in the NSW music scene and why Joe is hell-bent on creating regional eco-systems to support the many artists that live outside of the big smoke. On top of this, Joe is a vocal and passionate advocate of grass roots music and artist development in the evolvement of our great industry.

On last week's episode of Vinyl Tap, I spoke to Asian Music Industry legend Sandy Monteiro, this week it's his business partners turn.Allan Klepfisz is not from the Music Industry per se. He is an entrepreneur by nature, having worked in the restaurant and textile industries, but he has always had a penchant for tech. His new Music Tech baby Fenix 360 aims to change the e-commerce landscape for creatives from all industries, particularly musicians. In this week's new episode of Vinyl Tap, we get Allan's fresh perspective of the music industry and also why he believes Fenix 360 will make a difference in the highly competitive world of Music Tech and in the artist community itself. This man is not mucking around!