The outspoken singer and songwriter has given the local industry another epic serve for its failure to 鈥渉ype鈥 cutting-edge homegrown artists who are killing it overseas, unless they are 鈥渢oppermost of the poppermost鈥.
Lee said international tastemakers and music fans are backing our alternative artists 鈥 including Amyl and the Sniffers, Ecca Vandal and Radio Free Alice 鈥 even as they struggle for mainstream attention at home.
He cited the example of singer-songwriter and rapper Ecca Vandal, who he had been turned onto by Red Hot Chili Peppers legend Flea, and is currently recording at New York鈥檚 legendary Electric Lady Studios with Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker.
鈥淭his artist has got some international momentum going on, right? I鈥檓 not hearing people in the Australian music industry talking about it, and it really highlights for me how this is such an ongoing issue, where Aussie artists that don鈥檛 fit the pop mainstream kind of get discovered by overseas audiences and overseas parts of the industry, and Australia doesn鈥檛 get behind it,鈥 he said.
Lee said Amyl and the Sniffers, who slayed at Coachella this year and have been tapped by AC/DC to open on their stadium tour in November, built its audience overseas first before 鈥淎ustralia really paid attention鈥.
The singer also mentioned Radio Free Alice, Party Dozen and Quivers as emerging artists stirring buzz internationally while barely rating a mention on local radio and music blogs or in industry circles.
He said one of the big problems for homegrown artists was Triple J is was now a 鈥渃ommercial music radio station鈥 rather than champions of the next big thing.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 fine, they can be that, but we don鈥檛 have a KCRW in LA or BBC Radio 6 in the UK that actually celebrate things that are cutting edge, (and) not just because they might have the next No. 1 hit,鈥 he said.
鈥淲e only know what to do with things that are going for the toppermost of the poppermost.鈥
Lee has been on a mission to call out what鈥檚 wrong with the Australian music industry as it struggles to turn local audiences onto underground artists and scenes.
He warned our culture would lose its edge if it didn鈥檛 start backing new artists or forced them 鈥渢o go pop鈥, the default position of the major record labels.
The Awake Is The New Sleep star said he was a victim of this 鈥減op鈥 mindset in his early career when he was considered an alternative artist before breaking into the mainstream charts.
鈥淲e stand at constant risk of losing our most radical and interesting artists unless they go pop, and I felt that in my own career,鈥 he said.
鈥淚鈥檓 not saying I was like so avant-garde, but I didn鈥檛 have a hit until my fourth record. (And) the support that got me there all came internationally.
鈥淎ustralia needs a pathway where we can get behind artists that actually offer alternatives and aren鈥檛 designed to be funnelled into the top 10.鈥
ARIA announced drastic changes to the charts this week which will boot off songs and albums that are more than two years old in an attempt to flush more new Aussie music into the top 50.