Chugg Entertainment Partners With Homebake

It seems that Australia’s top-ranked music promoter, Michael Chugg, is keeping himself very busy lately.

Fresh from the announcements that Splendour In The Grass promoters Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco had bought into Falls Festival, and promoter Paul Dainty had partnered with ex-Big Day Out boss Vivian Lees, fellow promoter Michael Chugg seems keen to get in on the action with the recent announcement of moving into A&R with a new business partnership.

In the wake of the A&R Worldwide/Chugg Entertainment partnership, and branching out into new genre territory with the announcement of bringing an new Dance music festival to Australia, Chugg today has more moving and shaking to announce.

The promoters for Homebake, IMC and Village Sounds, have today announced a new partnership with Chugg Entertainment that will make them co-promoters for the annual music festival

A press statement issued today said that the newly forged alliance “is effective immediately and will see this new configuration of Australian music industry stalwarts forge forward with the 2012 event, and then ongoing for years to come.”

Joe Segreto of IMC said of the partnership, “We’re thrilled to welcome one of Australia’s most prominent, respected (and loud) promoters, Michael Chugg and the Chugg Entertainment team to Homebake – exciting times.”

“I am so excited about this,” says Chugg of his new collaboration. “With all the amazing homegrown talent in this country, Homebake has always been at the forefront of celebrating the incredible Australian and New Zealand music on offer.”

“Right now in the live market our local acts are doing as strong business, in some cases even better, than some international acts – so it’s a great time to get involved.  There is so much love for this festival and we just can’t wait.”

Aside from New Wave icons Blondie coming out to headline, justifying the new ‘Global Edition’ tag for Homebake 2012, the festival lineup is exclusively promoting Australian artists, a good thing considering an overall distinct lack of presence from Aussie bands in other major festivals’ lineups.

Starting from its beginnings in Byron Bay in 1996, Homebake celebrates its 18th birthday next year and the new partnership will certainly help ring in the celebrations. The two promotors have worked together previously on charity events like 2005′s Wave Aid, 2007′s Live Earth and the Sound Relief concert two years later.

The recent announcement of this year’s lineup for Homebake features a suitably eclectic mix of musicians to go with the Comedy and Arts features of the live event.

In addition to headliners Blondie (who this morning announced an additional Australia-wide tour), there’s the homecoming of musical comedian Tim Minchin,  legendary rock act The Saints, Aussie hip-hop icons Hilltop Hoods and Something For Kate – who are about to unleash their first album in six years, the highly anticipated Leave Your Soul To Science.

That’s before even getting to the genre-hopping success that is Kimbra (whose Frankenweenie soundtrack contribution yesterday leaked online), as well as Angus Stone and Julia Stone – playing separately – Perth rock band Birds of Tokyo, Tim Rogers and his funk friends The Bamboos, the newly internationally-signed San Cisco, plus fellow US signees Husky and whole whole host more for the 2012 bill (full lineup, dates and details here).