52-573: Mushroom Group is the largest independent music and entertainment company in Australia. It comprises more than two dozen companies. It has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland with over 200 employees. The Mushroom Group was founded in 1972 in Melbourne by a 20-year-old Michael Gudinski with the formation of Mushroom Records , followed shortly afterwards with the addition of Mushroom Music Publishing and Premier Artists booking agency in 1973. In 1978,
104-493: A toxicology report revealed that he had died of mixed drug use , with 12 drugs including cocaine , oxycodone and morphine present in his body. The report additionally revealed that he had heart disease , cirrhosis , and had suffered recent vertebral compression fractures . The opening caption of the Bruce Springsteen video for his song " I'll See You In My Dreams " reads: "In Memory of Michael Gudinski". The video
156-744: A Mercury award". The title "An Awesome Wave" was taken from the Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho . On 11 January 2014, the band announced that Sainsbury had decided to leave the group, and that they remained friends. In early June 2014, alt-J announced a 2014 tour to take place in North America over October and November. The 23-day tour started in Vancouver, B.C., on 14 October and ended in Washington, D.C., on 19 November. On 9 June 2014, they announced their second album This Is All Yours , that
208-479: A few. The year afterwards, Ivy League Records (home to Cloud Control, The Rubens, Josh Pyke and Alpine) joined the fold. 2006 saw the opening of an international label arm, Liberator Music , with a roster that includes Phoenix, Bloc Party, Dizzee Rascal, Tiesto, Local Natives and Chvrches . In 2010, party promoter I Oh You launched his I Oh You record label through Mushroom. Some of the inaugural label signees were Bleeding Knees Club, DZ Deathrays and Snakataktal. In
260-720: A minor headlining tour around the United Kingdom and Ireland in October of that year. The band have featured regularly on summer festivals, including Latitude , Bestival , Reading and Leeds , T in the Park , Green Man , Pukkelpop , and Lowlands . They also did concert tour in the United States in December 2012 and performed at the Laneway Festival tour in Australia. In November 2012
312-566: A music show for ABC TV which was developed out of an online production called The State of Music, which was created to help Australian musicians during the COVID-19 lockdown. He was also behind the Music from the Home Front concert, which was organised in nine days, so that artists could perform in the concert on ANZAC Day 2020. A "larger-than-life figure", Gudinski was often referred to as
364-488: A new division called Mushroom Music in July 2024. The labels Liberation Records, Ivy League Records, Bloodlines, Liberator Music, Soothsayer and 100s + 1000s were consolidated into Mushroom Music. Mushroom Connect, a talent management and partnerships agency, was also launched that month. The company has a number of divisions and subsidiaries: Michael Gudinski Michael Solomon Gudinski AM (22 August 1952 – 2 March 2021)
416-532: A wish by Gudinski. Gudinski received several awards for his work in the Australian entertainment industry. In 1992 he was awarded an ARIA Award for Special Achievement (as well as Mushroom Records), while in 2013 he was acknowledged as the inaugural ARIA Industry Icon . At the 1998 APRA Music Awards he received the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music. Gudinski also received
468-483: Is a "rap heavy do-over" of the previous year's record. On 16 September 2021, the band announced their first single since 2018, titled "U&ME", would be released 22 September 2021. The single's release coincided with the announcement of their fourth album, The Dream , which was released 11 February 2022. Alt-J performed "Buffalo" along with Mountain Man for the 2011 film Silver Linings Playbook . In February 2013
520-519: Is a reference to Natalie Portman 's character in the film Léon: The Professional . "Fitzpleasure" is the retelling of Hubert Selby Jr. 's short story "Tralala", published in Last Exit to Brooklyn . The story follows a prostitute named Tralala who dies after being gang-raped and raped with a broom, as in the lyrics "dead in the middle / of a c-o-double-m-o-n" and "in your snatch fits pleasure / broom shaped pleasure." In 2012, alt-J's debut album won
572-525: Is written in reference to Gerda Taro and her role as a war photographer during the Spanish Civil War as well as her relationship to Robert Capa . The song describes the details of Capa's death ("A violent wrench grips mass / Rips light, tears limbs like rags") and imagines Taro's complementary emotions. The visuals in a fan made music video by YouTube user David Dean Burkhart are taken from Godfrey Reggio's experimental film Powaqqatsi . " Matilda "
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#1732876443528624-861: The JC Williamson Award in 2009, and at the 2013 Music Victoria Awards was inducted into the awards' Hall of Fame, forty years after he founded Mushroom Records. In the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours , Gudinski was made a Member of the Order of Australia for "service to the entertainment industry", the promotion of Australian music and service to the community. Alt-J Alt-J (stylised as alt-J , real name Δ ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds . Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwil Sainsbury (guitar/bass). Their debut album An Awesome Wave
676-471: The triangle -shaped symbol Δ (the capital Greek letter delta ). The band often makes references to triangles (for example, the song " Tesselate " mentions "triangles are my favourite shape", and they make triangle symbols with their fingers during concerts ), which they say is just due to it being a visually appealing shape. "Alt-J" comes from the key sequence used to generate the symbol Δ on an Apple Mac computer: Alt + J . The cover art of
728-548: The "father of the Australian music industry". Gudinski was a highly visible public figure throughout his career and is considered to be the only Australian record company executive whose name was known by the general public. In 2023 a documentary about his life and career was released, Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story . Aaron Glenane portrayed Gudinski in the 2016 television miniseries Molly . Gudinski and his wife Sue had two children: daughter Kate , whom Gudinski signed to Liberation Music in mid-2004, and son Matt. Gudinski
780-653: The British Mercury Prize. alt-J were also nominated for three Brit Awards (British Breakthrough Act, British Album of the Year and British Group of the Year). An Awesome Wave was announced as BBC Radio 6 Music Album of the Year 2012. Three of the tracks from this album gained entry into the Australian 2012 Triple J Hottest 100 , with " Something Good " at number 81, " Tessellate " at number 64, and " Breezeblocks " coming third overall. In 2013, An Awesome Wave won Album of
832-490: The Consolidated Rock artist agency with Michael Browning, managing artists including Chain and Healing Force. The pair later founded the short-lived music magazine Daily Planet . Gudinski and fellow music agent Ray Evans formed Mushroom Records in late 1972. The company's first album was a triple-LP live recording of the 1973 Sunbury Festival . In its first few years Mushroom released albums and singles by some of
884-689: The Group expanded to include The Harbour Agency, a Sydney-based booking agency which was Mushroom's first foray into the city. As of 2013, Mushroom has an office in Sydney with over 100 employees across all subsidiaries. 1979 saw the launch of Mushroom's flagship touring company, The Frontier Touring Company . Its inaugural tours were UK Squeeze and The Police in 1980. It has now grown to become Australasia's biggest tour promoter. Frontier celebrated their 500th tour in 2010 with Tom Jones . In 1983, Mushroom launched Australian Touring Merchandise (ATM) which went on to become
936-706: The Pine " is used to begin and end the first season of Unreal released in 2015. " Fitzpleasure " was featured in the background of the 2015 film Sisters and in the main trailer for the video game Battleborn released in 2016. In 2015, their song " Something Good " was featured in the second episode of Life Is Strange . In 2016, their song " Left Hand Free " was featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain America: Civil War . In 2018, their songs " Tessellate " and " In Cold Blood " are
988-604: The Premier Artists/Harbour Agency group, Gudinski became the major player on the Australian east coast booking circuit, and enjoyed a virtual monopoly on rock music bookings in Melbourne for much of the 1970s. In partnership with others (including Frank Stivala, Philip Jacobsen and Ian James), he diversified his business interests to include most sections of the music industry including venues, concert promoting, merchandise, publishing and recording. In 1988, Gudinski co-founded Melodian Records with Ian Meldrum . In
1040-504: The band announced they would be composing the soundtrack for Toby Jones ' new film Leave to Remain . On August 7, 2008, Fitzpleasure was featured on the closing credits of Weeds . Season 8, episode 6. Their song " Every Other Freckle " was featured on the Netflix show Lovesick , in the season 1 episode "Cressida", in 2014. In 2014, their song " Tessellate " was featured on Sons of Anarchy , episode 5, season 6. The song " Hunger of
1092-447: The band released an online video game, whose soundtrack was their single "3WW," as well as announcing in May 2017 that they would be playing a five-date UK tour at seaside venues, starting on 4 September 2017. On 24 May 2017 alt-J released " Adeline ", the third single from Relaxer . The album was released shortly afterwards, on 2 June 2017. " Deadcrush ", the fourth single from the album,
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#17328764435281144-600: The band were announced as the winners of the Mercury Prize for their album. Besides the prize-money, the band saw an increase in their profile resulting in An Awesome Wave reaching 13 in the UK album chart. The band would later describe the event as "life-changing, there was a sense of [being] imposters, that the band had somehow got this far without not being a real band, we're just guys from Leeds who muddled through it and magicked
1196-841: The band's debut album An Awesome Wave shows an overhead view of the largest river delta in the world, where the Ganges River meets the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh . Alt-J were previously known as "Daljit Dhaliwal" and then "Films", but were later forced to change to "alt-J" because an American band called " The Films " already existed. alt-J (∆) were formed when Gwilym (Gwil) Sainsbury (guitar/bass), Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Augustus (Gus) Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals) and Thomas Stuart (Thom Sonny) Green (drums) met at University of Leeds in 2007. Unger-Hamilton (younger brother of Ferdy, head of A&R for Polydor Records ) studied English ,
1248-440: The band's sound was heavily influenced by unusual instrument choices, including drummer Thom Green's decision not to use cymbals. Andrew told Sound on Sound , "The only slightly cymbal-like thing he uses is the back end of a saucepan, which he uses for the hi-hat". The album's drums were recorded first, followed by bass guitar and other instruments. Green's drumming was always recorded to a click track because Andrew wanted it to have
1300-476: The band's third album would be titled Relaxer and was scheduled for release on 2 June 2017. On 6 March 2017 alt-J released " 3WW ", which features lead singer Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice , as a digital single and announced dates for the Relaxer Tour in support of the album. Three weeks later, on 29 March, they released " In Cold Blood ", the second single from Relaxer . In anticipation of their third album,
1352-556: The death of their drummer, Taylor Hawkins , in Geelong, Victoria , the band dedicated their signature song " Everlong " to Gudinski. On 24 March, a Gudinski memorial concert was held at Rod Laver Arena . It featured performances by artists including Kylie Minogue , Ed Sheeran , Jimmy Barnes and Paul Kelly , with appearances from artists around Australia and the world. It was live-streamed on Mushroom Group's YouTube channel and ABC Radio. Minogue and Sheeran performed together, fulfilling
1404-563: The early 1990s Gudinski sold 49% of Mushroom to News Ltd , who had owned Australia's largest record label, Festival Records since 1961. He sold his remaining 51% share to News in 1999 for a reported A$ 60 million, claiming that the sale was a protest against the changes to Australia's parallel record importation regulations. In November 2005, shortly after the sale of Festival Mushroom's recording division to Warner Music Australia , Gudinski purchased Festival's publishing division for an undisclosed sum. In 2020, Gudinski created The Sound ,
1456-495: The largest music merchandise producer and distributor in the country. It merged with Love Police in 2010 to create Love Police ATM, which remains part of the Mushroom Group. After a massively successful period in the mid-‘80s, especially through Mushroom Records act Kylie Minogue , Mushroom launched Mushroom Distribution Services which distributed their own product alongside a catalogue which included Flying Nun amongst others. In
1508-459: The likes of Hall & Oates , Tom Jones, Elvis Costello and Alicia Keys . Michael Gudinski's son Matt got his start in the family business in 2002 with the launch of his Illusive Sounds label imprint and touring company at the age of 18. Illusive's label has distributed Bliss N Eso , Owl Eyes , Clubfeet , Stonefield , Diafrix and Lowrider, while their touring division has brought out AlunaGeorge , Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson to name just
1560-477: The massive success of Skyhooks , whose debut album Living in the 70's became the biggest-selling Australian LP ever released up to that time. In 1977 Gudinski opened the music venue Bombay Bicycle Club in Bourke Street, Melbourne, soon moving it to Sydney Road Brunswick and renaming it Bombay Rock . This became one of the premier music venues of Australian and international rock bands in Melbourne. Gudinski
1612-480: The most significant Australian rock acts of the period, including Madder Lake , MacKenzie Theory , Matt Taylor , Ayers Rock , and the Dingoes . Mushroom struggled to survive for its first two years, hampered by lack of airplay on commercial radio, and the company reportedly came close to folding on several occasions. But the label was dramatically pushed to the forefront of the Australian music scene in early 1975 with
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1664-461: The one Michael Gudinski has worked most closely with. Artists signed to the label include The Temper Trap , Dan Sultan , Adalita and Vance Joy . Also in 1999, Mushroom Marketing launched and has provided music services for the likes of Coca-Cola , Telstra and McDonald's . In 2001, Roundhouse Entertainment launched with their inaugural A Day On The Green concert, which has become an iconic festival series in Australian wineries and has featured
1716-516: The opening and ending respectively of the anime Ingress , based on the AR game created for Niantic : Ingress . In 2019, their songs " Breezeblocks " and " In Cold Blood " were featured on the Netflix series Daybreak , episodes 5 and 10 respectively. In 2020, their song " Left Hand Free " was featured in the Netflix series Outer Banks . Also in 2020, " In Cold Blood " was in the Netflix film, Extraction . In 2022, their song " Breezeblocks "
1768-436: The other three Fine Art . According to Newman, "I basically went to art school to start a band." In their second year of studies, Newman showed Sainsbury some of his own songs and the pair began recording on GarageBand in their hall rooms with Sainsbury acting as producer. The band's sound arose in part from living in student accommodation, where noise had to be kept to a minimum, as well as limited access to instruments. At
1820-649: The party, Matt Gudinski was announced as the new Executive Director of the Group alongside his father and CEO Michael. In the same year, Mushroom acquired the Australian distribution rights for PIAS Entertainment Group and Intellitix technology. The year was capped off by the announcement that Future Entertainment joined Mushroom, which makes it currently the largest 100% Australian owned festival entity by virtue of ticket sales. In March 2017, Mushroom Group appointed Chris Maund as Chief Operating Officer for its labels and publishing divisions. In July 2017, Mushroom Group launched Mushroom Creative House. The 100s + 1000s label
1872-524: The precision of electronic drums. Their debut album was released on 28 May 2012 in the UK, Europe, and Australia, and on 18 September 2012 in North America via Canvasback Music. The album received some favourable reviews and was described as a "captivating blend of insatiable grooves and profound poignancy". It received a score of 4.8/10 on Pitchfork . alt-J supported Wild Beasts in April 2012 and played
1924-436: The same period, Michael Gudinski also created Michael Gudinski Management which signed Jimmy Barnes as its flagship artist. 1995 marked the beginning of Mushroom Records expansion into the UK with the opening of a London office. In the same year, Mushroom Pictures was introduced as the Group's film arm. Productions include Chopper , Wolf Creek and the highly acclaimed Great Australian Albums television series. 1998
1976-462: The same year he was also listed in the #1 position in the AMID Power 50, a list of the top 50 most influential people in the Australian music industry. In 2013, Mushroom Group celebrated its 40th anniversary with an event at Thousand Pound Bend featuring performances by Alt-J , British India , City Calm Down , Clubfeet , Owl Eyes , Snakadaktal , The Rubens , Vance Joy , and World's End Press. At
2028-407: The same year, Matt Gudinski and booking agent Brett Murrihy formed a third Group booking agency called Artist Voice. Shortly afterwards, Mushroom launched another merchandise arm named Drawing Board, which provided creative services for artists. In 2012, Michael Gudinski was honoured by his home city of Melbourne and named Melburnian of the Year for Mushroom's contribution to the local music scene. In
2080-568: The time, Green used a very limited drum kit, Unger-Hamilton a cheap keyboard, and Newman an acoustic guitar. After graduating, the band moved to Cambridge where they spent several months working on their music before signing a deal with Infectious Music in December 2011. Their self-titled 4-track demo EP, ∆ , was recorded with producer Charlie Andrew in London and featured the tracks " Breezeblocks ", "Hand-Made", "Matilda", and " Tessellate ". A 7" single containing " Bloodflood " and "Tessellate"
2132-555: Was also the godfather of Jimmy Barnes ' daughter, Mahalia Barnes . Gudinski was a life-long supporter of the St Kilda Football Club , and once served as their vice president. On 2 March 2021, Gudinski died during his sleep at his home in Melbourne, at the age of 68. A private funeral held in Melbourne was attended by numerous celebrity performers including Kylie Minogue , Ed Sheeran , Dannii Minogue , Jimmy Barnes , Paul Kelly and Archie Roach . On 28 October 2021,
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2184-546: Was an Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry . Born and raised in Melbourne, Gudinski formed the highly successful Australian record company Mushroom Records in 1972 through which he signed several generations of Australian musicians and performers ranging from MacKenzie Theory , Skyhooks , The Choirboys , Kylie Minogue , and New Zealand's Split Enz to newer artists such as Eskimo Joe , Evermore and others. Gudinski
2236-425: Was an especially significant year for the Group, when Mushroom Records celebrated its 25th anniversary with a record-breaking concert at Melbourne's MCG. In the same year, the catalogue was bought by Warner Music for an undisclosed sum. A year afterwards, Mushroom launched its first post-Mushroom Records label, Liberation Music . Since the sale of Mushroom Records, Liberation has become the flagship Mushroom label and
2288-518: Was considered to be "one of the most significant and powerful players" in the Australian music landscape. Gudinski was born in Caulfield , a suburb of Melbourne , Victoria , to Jewish Russian immigrants Kuba and Nina Gudinski, who had arrived in Australia in 1948. He was educated at Mount Scopus College and Melbourne High School . In his teenage years, Gudinski began promoting dance hall events around Melbourne. In 1970, Gudinski established
2340-403: Was convinced to sign expatriate New Zealand band Split Enz , who had recently relocated to Australia. Although they had only moderate success for the first few years, Split Enz scored huge success in 1980 with the release of their album True Colours and the hit single " I Got You ", which marked the emergence of Neil Finn . Through his ownership of Consolidated Rock, which later evolved into
2392-612: Was featured on the Pilot Episode of Hulu series Tell me Lies . In 2023, a portion of their song " Hunger of the Pine " was featured in the announcement trailer for Hello Games 's video game Light No Fire . In December 2023, an instrumental version of their song " Adeline " was featured in the trailer for the Netflix film " Society of the Snow ". Alt-J has been noted for their post-modern lyrics in their songs that highlight historic events and pop-culture subjects. The song "Taro"
2444-435: Was launched in May 2020, followed by Reclusive Records the month after. In March 2021, Michael Gudinski died at his home in Melbourne, at the age of 68. The following month, Matt Gudinksi assumed the role of CEO of Mushroom Group. In July 2023, Mushroom Group launched Mushroom Booking Agency. As part of a major restructure of Mushroom Group, the company's recording, publishing and neighbouring rights functions were merged into
2496-413: Was released by Loud and Quiet in October 2011. Their first 2012 release for Infectious Music was the triangle-shaped 10" " Matilda "/" Fitzpleasure ". It was followed by " Breezeblocks " which preceded their first album. An Awesome Wave was also produced by Charlie Andrew and compiled at Iguana Studios, Brixton , where the band recorded tracks during the studio's spare time. Andrew said that
2548-557: Was released in May 2012 in Europe, and in September 2012 in the United States, and won the 2012 British Mercury Prize . Sainsbury left the band in early 2014. Their second album, This Is All Yours , was released on 22 September 2014 and went straight to number one in the United Kingdom. In February 2022 the band released their fourth studio album The Dream . The band's actual name is
2600-461: Was released on 12 July and was featured as a soundtrack in the FIFA 18 game. Fifth single "Pleader" arrived on 15 September 2017. Several tracks from Relaxer have since been remixed by a diverse array of artists. Relaxer was nominated for the 2017 Mercury Prize and received 4.5/10 on Pitchfork . On 28 September 2018 an alternative version of Relaxer was released. The album, titled Reduxer ,
2652-560: Was released on 22 September 2014. This Is All Yours went straight to Number 1 on the UK's Official Albums Chart. It received a score of 4.0/10 from Pitchfork . alt-J headlined the September 2015 edition of Boston Calling Music Festival. As a replacement for Sainsbury, Cameron Knight became a supporting member for alt-J's live shows. On 3 March 2017 alt-J began teasing their third studio album on their social media accounts with an audio clip captioned "00110011 01110111 01110111" (Binary code for "3ww"). Stereogum reported later that day that
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#17328764435282704-518: Was released on 3 March 2021, the day after Gudinski's death. Shortly after his death, Triple J 's programme Hack (in addition to Double J 's Zan Rowe ) paid tribute to Gudinski, discussing his contributions to the Australian music industry. Australian Story also dedicated a segment towards him. Sheeran dedicated his song " Visiting Hours " to Gudinski as a tribute, and he performed it at his memorial service. On 4 March 2022, during American rock band Foo Fighters ’ final Australian concert before
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