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WHO SAYS BUSINESS AND CULTURE DON’T MIX?

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However, everyone knows you need more than just talent and a good track record to thrive in the biz. Luckily this is one young artist who has his head screwed on right and is not afraid to embrace the business side of the industry. A passionate believer in marketing, Adam even thinks of himself as a ‘brand’ - a ploy he hopes will help him follow through on his plan to make a sustainable living from the industry.

“I’ve had a plan from the outset,” says Adam. “My ultimate goal would be to make a sustainable living in the entertainment industry. The music business is like running any normal business - there’s daily activities that need to take place and when you reach a certain milestone you move on to the next one and then the next one. We’re always looking at expanding into different markets with different projects but it all comes back to the Adam James brand.”

With most young artists desperate to find management or labels that will take over the responsibility for their career, Adam is happy to put himself firmly in the driver’s seat when it comes to his music and, what’s more, it seems to be paying off.

“In this day and age you can get access to fees for service and that’s the direction I’ve taken,” says Adam. “When I’ve needed good people on board I’ve paid for it. However the dynamic of that relationship is now starting to change as we now both need each other. The secret is to surround yourself with good people who are well connected and share your vision. You’ve also got to think outside the box and diversify your product by looking at what is it you have to offer and how you can make a living from that. Along with studying my songwriting I read widely, particularly within the context of human behaviour and understanding why it is that we do the things we do. I read a lot of business books so I can equip myself with the right knowledge to get the right job done properly.”

Despite his level headed business approach, Adam is still an artist with passion, much of which comes from his family and his cultural heritage.

“Country music, I believe, is all about the storytelling and I have a lot of experience of listening to that genre. Being Indigenous makes you work harder as you know it’s not going to be an easy road for you but having said that the stories I sing about and write about can be relative to anyone – they’re not necessarily just for an Indigenous audience.”

Like a lot of Indigenous families Adam says he grew up with country music so it was only natural that this was where his musical passions would take him.

“My family got me started in country particularly my parents, my father was more of a country bluegrass and blues/jazz man, whereas my mother was more into pop country like Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. But they both came together on artists like Archie Roach and Kev Carmody. Guitar was my first love but I guess I also had this burning desire inside of me to sing. Being Indigenous we didn’t have access to the latest record collections and even television was a luxury when we were growing up so we listened to a lot of radio. I wanted to go into that fascinating world of imagination and creativity and that continues to inspire me.”

Adam says his heritage also makes him feel responsible to continue to inspire other young artists in their communities and also to change the stereotypes often associated with Indigenous men in particular.

“Winning the awards, especially the Deadly award, has been a sort of confirmation for me that I’m doing the right thing and it inspires me to keep pressing ahead and working hard. There’s also a great deal of responsibility now to keep going and to keep telling our stories and discussing our culture.

I get an absolute massive high when I get to do shows out in rural communities and work in capacity building through music to inspire people. Recently I was in Murray Bridge and I had this four or five year old young black fella come up to me. He was blown away by the music and just had to talk to me about guitars and get an autograph and all that. Then he started telling me about how he and his father played guitar together all the time – that’s the beauty of music it brings people together in Indigenous communities. Since the Northern Territory intervention there has been this one brush that Indigenous males are tarred with – they’re associated with domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse – so to see something like this young fella bonding with his father over music is something that’s really special. There’s a lot of that in Indigenous communities and I’d love to keep pushing that sense of togetherness that comes through music and start changing the stereotype.”

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