Top international songwriters hit Sydney for SongHubs

APRA AMCOS is playing musical matchmaker in Sydney this week by bringing together big name international songwriters and top local talents. The SongHubs Trans-Tasman songwriting camp kicked off yesterday at Forbes Street Studios and has been curated by Auckland-based producer and long-time Manic Street Preachers collaborator Greg Haver.

Credit: APRA AMCOS/Belinda Dipalo

On the international front, Haver is joined by superproducer Mike Elizondo, co-writer of hits including Eminem’s The Real Slim Shady, 50 Cent’s In Da Club and Carrie Underwood’s Cowboy Casanova. Elizondo’s diverse talents have also seen him work with Jay Z, Maroon 5, Fiona Apple, Pink, Eric Clapton and Kimbra among others.

Grammy Award winner Emily Warren (The Chainsmokers, Shawn Mendes, 5 Seconds of Summer) and James Newman (Little Mix, Calvin Harris, Rudimental) round out the exceptional group of global hitmakers in Sydney this week.

Over three days, they are writing new music with an eclectic line-up of APRA AMCOS members including Guy Sebastian, Hayley Mary (The Jezabels), L-FRESH The LION, Lionel Towers (Gypsy & the Cat), Vince Harder, Theia, Morgan Bain and Just A Gent.

The Trans-Tasman SongHubs camp follows a successful week-long event in Auckland where Haver, Elizondo, Williams and Newman created music with more than 10 New Zealand songwriters and Melbourne’s Ecca Vandal.

Launched in 2013, SongHubs has already helped to establish on-going creative partnerships between Australian and international songwriters, producers and performers, and resulted in commercial releases for the likes of Troye Sivan, Client Liaison, Tkay Maidza, Nicole Millar, Guy Sebastian, SAFIA and Reece Mastin.

“Through SongHubs, Australian writers are connecting with international markets in completely new ways,” said Milly Petriella, APRA AMCOS Director of Member Relations.

“They are building strong, collaborative relationships that extend way beyond the time they spend together at the writing camp.”

To date, SongHubs writing camps have taken place in India, USA, UK, Indonesia, Canada, Sweden, Germany, Greece and New Zealand, and over 350 new works have been created.

SongHubs is an APRA AMCOS initiative supported by the Federal Government. A new partnership with the Victorian Government has just been announced which will see additional SongHubs camps take place in Victoria over the next three years as part of the Connect and Create program. More information can be found here.