Parlour is a company bringing artists and music fans together by helping to organise gigs in your lounge. Kirsten Johnstone speaks to co-founder Matt Walters.
Parlour gigs in the backyard Photo: supplied
While live gigs are an essential part of any music lover’s life, and can even be transcendent experiences, they can also be irritating. The volume is too high, someone just spilt a beer on you, there’s a tall dude standing in your way, there’s someone else filming it on their phone and then checking facebook incessantly, people having a good ol’ yarn while your favourite artist is singing their heart out…
Parlour is a company taking music back to the most intimate of settings - your living room. They’re not the only ones doing this, and it’s not a new idea. Concerts in well-to-do people’s parlours or salons were thriving in the 19th century.
“We’re just reminding people that performances can happen anywhere, and we’re also reminding people to support artists and pay them well, so those artists can be around for another album cycle” says Parlour co-founder Matt Walters.
Matt Walters Photo: supplied
“Parlour basically allows artists to connect with super fans, and turn those super fans into promoters that sell tickets and crowdfund gigs at their houses. So we tour artists all around Australia, and New Zealand, through people’s homes.”
If you volunteer to be a host, you’ll be sent a Parlour starter kit, with tips for how to make your house concert one to remember. You’ll sell tickets to your friends and family via facebook, and if you don’t sell enough, you can open it up to the public and Parlour will put it on their gig guide. When the time comes, you’re encouraged to create an atmosphere - fairy lights, bunting, and lamps go a long way. Set up a green-room for the artist, and they’ll arrive two hours before the gig to get settled in. You introduce them, and the gig is good to go.
“The whole point of being a host is that you’re introducing your friends to this artist that you love, and doing it in a really special and supportive way, so we give them as much support and treat them like royalty really, because they are really amazing people.” says Walters.
The company is into their third year now, and has facilitated over 1000 gigs, clocking in about 40 or 50 a week over these summer months. They launched in New Zealand last year, which Matt says has been slow but is now picking up. It’s a way to make a musician’s career more financially stable, as well as creating networks and video content for the artist.
Melody Pool parlour gig Photo: supplied
As with most great start-ups, the idea for Parlour was borne out of frustration. Walters was a singer-songwriter, touring around Australia, the U.S. and Europe. He had fans, but not enough to fill the 200 capacity venues he was playing, and the venue gigs weren’t financially sustainable - he’d only walk away with around 25% of the door takings. So he started playing house concerts out of necessity, to fill in the dates between official gigs. Not only did he get most of the money, but “there was a sort of hospitality and sense of community that I wasn’t getting from venue shows, and I became quite hooked.”
He describes most of the artists on their books as “working class, blue-collar musicians” who want to go out and work, sometimes doing four or five in a weekend. One of the most booked acts, and an early adopter of Parlour is Jordie Lane, a country/folk artist who has said that these gigs “restore your faith in humanity.” He's currently booking NZ parlour gigs for February.
While acoustic acts are Parlour’s bread and butter, they’re pushing for more electronic and hip-hop acts, and even have a few stand-up comedians on their books now too.
“I went to one recently and I loved it. It was so different to a comedy show - first of all there was no microphone, so this guy was just standing in front of 30-40 people - but there’s something about that exchange that’s really ancient.”
