Nik Hamby

I released "The Sun Sets" on 31 December and then "You Draw Blood" on January 21. "The Sun Sets" has been played on 5 Triple Z in South Australia and both songs have been receiving airplay on Brisbane's 4ZZZ. A great start to the New Year!  "You Draw Blood" has been performed regularly in open mics around Brisbane, since about June. I also played it my Live and Local spot at Banshees in October. Every performance has created strong positive reactions from all sorts of crowds, so I decided to enter the song into the ASA Songwriting Contest 2023 (along with "She Calls Me Back - The Mountain" and "No Place to Go").  Let's see what happens. Stevie T from Radio Logan played "Burn" the other Monday night.  The man has good taste - that song was a finalist in the 2020 ASA Contest!   

So much happened this year, it's hard to keep track of everything.  The last couple of months blurred together a bit, so you might have noticed there was no monthly update since October.   There were a couple of open mics at new-to-me venues in November.  Brewski in Brisane and a cafe in Tin Can Bay.  In total, I performed at 42 open mic events through the year. That tally included several visits to The Triffid (owned by former Powderfinger bassist, John Collins), the Tin Can Bay café and a morning busking stint at Byron Bay.  “My main motivation for attending open mic events is to get reactions to how I’m performing - as well as responses to the songs themselves”.  Although this year’s focus was on performing, another two songs were released. “Christmas Morning” came out in late November and “The Sun Sets” in late December. "Christmas Morning" received airplay in Shepparton, soon after release! Stevie T from Radio Logan played other tracks a few times during his Songwrit

What an awesome month!  It began with a full set at the Victory Hotel, as part of the Brisbane Solo Performer Comp. The month held lots of open mics - and a full show! I was included in Banshee's Live and Local October concert as a paid artist! I played with two bands - Unsound Advice and Northern Lights. The three of us fit together so well and it was a great night with lots of interactions and new friends.  I even got to wear my own merch! Each of my 34 releases have been made under my Bandit Dogs Records label - so that was our starting point for merch. We commissioned a friend to produce some artwork and he did great work!  At this stage there are only stickers available via this site but who knows what else might happen!  I was recently talking with a producer in UK and he asked for one of my songs, as a project. After a listen he was keen to re-produce the song in a couple of ways and see how it came out. He was inspired to do all the work cos he liked the song so much

So much happened in September! There was another night at The Triffid with a few other open mic opportunities throughout the month.  Having direct audience feedback for my songs is awesome. I was featured in the arts segment of our local paper - which was a buzz, particularly seeing such a huge pic of me performing! (Rebecca was quite chuffed also, cos she took the photo). AMPED Light Industry Music Project ran a songwriting workshop near Nambour.  I was invited to participate and was really glad I did.  It was a great day with lots of insights from songwriter Andrea Kirwin.  There was plenty of mechanical information from an APRA representative - and the main speaker was Dr Andy Ward (a major label songwriter).   He presented an overview of the very top songwriters from the past two years and analysed how their songs were constructed, focusing on the verse/chorus relationship.  He mentioned seven titles and used five songs as particular examples during his discusion. I came away think

I had a great start to August off the back of the last day of July, when I played a few songs at West End Archive Brewery.  Just two days into the new month and I finally got to play at The Triffid! A night at the Beer Garden and playing a couple of songs was awesome. (You probably know the the iconic venue is owned by Powderfingers' bass player, John Collins).  The Campfire Sessions are run by Danny Widdicombe - and there was a lot of chatting. I'll definitely go again. Great place and people. After leaving The Triffid, I headed to Banshees for a drink and a chat with the guys there, discussing merchandise for my spot in the mid-October Live and Local show. Tim and Al were great suggesting what might work for a start-up merch line.  I had a few more nights out through August. My plan to continue performing and perfecting my songs takes time but really encourages me through the regular feedback from the audience. Onward!

July. What a great month. There’s been more photos, more videos, more comments and more live music!  The month kicked off with a couple of open mics around Brisbane. I decided to try and perform at these limited sets at least once a week. I ended up doing two sets a week - or nine shows through July. Lots of cheering, clapping and encouraging responses.  I've developed a new perspective on performing. I'm sticking with the songs I really like and am familiar with.  (Even though I write the songs, some fade a bit over time).  The latest song "You Draw Blood" is a crowd favourite.  I just need to get the production finished and release it officially.  My new business card has been a great addition. Folks at the shows are keen on the photo update and the QR code on the back, which links directly to this website/blog.  I finally subscribed to 4ZZZ radio after doing a tour through the station and meeting a few of the staff and DJs. The whole place felt more like a communit