The woman who brought metal and hardcore punk to Canberra during COVID
Sarah O’Malley (second from the right)
Think Canberra is boring and lacking a cool night scene? Sarah O’Malley is cofounder of an events business that is bringing greater diversity to the capital.
Sarah O’Malley started Burntout Bookings in August 2021. Her business partner, Aaron Johnson, joined a few weeks later, and this gave them the chance to target multiple cities under one brand name. O’Malley focuses on running the gigs in Canberra and the surrounding areas, while Johnson works in Port Macquarie. Both assist with tours, and one-off shows in other capital cities, including Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. They also target different genres: metal, hardcore, punk and indie are primarily under O’Malley, while Aaron looks after jazz, funk and indie.
O’Malley strives to make gigs more accessible for the performers and the attendees. ‘I was really frustrated with the music scene in Australia and internationally, just the lack of gender diversity in live music,’ she said.
They started off with some bad luck - the day before their first gig, Canberra’s second lockdown was announced. They used this as an opportunity to introduce their company through a lockdown livestream. Three artists from Victoria, three from New South Wales and three from the ACT participated. O’Malley described it as a good way to expand their audience. ‘It was quite small at the time; we’d only just started.’
Burntout Bookings is a DIY events and promotions business, meaning they’re independent and n. Not linked to any other large-scale promoters. The entire process is managed by Burntout Bookings.
Gaining traction in Canberra
“I started being a bit more confident in what I was doing, so I started looking into doing shows in Melbourne and doing more shows across Canberra in general.”
O’Malley arrived in Canberra at the start of 2021 and hasn’t looked back. ‘The music scene in Canberra was surprising in a delightful way - I attended my first Canberra gig within two weeks of moving down at Sideway and saw a great night of local bands. I was quickly impressed with the skill of Canberra musicians and kept attending gigs across town at a whole bunch of venues, seeing what banda nd what genres existed in town,’ she said.
O’Malley was put forward for a residency with The Front in Lyneham. That has now turned into her being the venue booker, teaming up with The Front to put on a gig every Friday. ‘When Burntout started, we relied heavily on doing shows at The Front, Gang Gang Café and the Basement. Occasionally the Polo as well, who gave us a residency in May 2022. So every Friday in May of 2022, we got to run a gig there, and they gave us funding for that. I started being a bit more confident in what I was doing, so I started looking into doing shows in Melbourne and doing more shows across Canberra,’ she said.
International Women’s Day
For International Women’s Day this year Burntout Bookings put on a mini festival. The largest turnout for any Burntout event, they donated some of the proceeds towards Girls Rock! Canberra, resulting in two fully paid campers spots becoming available. Girls Rock! is a community arts organization working to increase the participation of gender-diverse young people in music.
‘I've been a fan of Girls Rock! for a few years now. I grew up in Sydney so I volunteered at Girls Rock! Sydney a few years ago. It's a program that I really would've loved to have gone to myself when I was younger. Having grown up in a working-class family, I know what it's like to not have the money to afford nice things and have to say no to big opportunities like Girls Rock!. So when it came to International Women's Day, it was a case of wanting to help someone in a similar position. I wanna make sure that as many women as possible are coming to support each other and that we're supporting women in the community.’
At the time of the event, Share the Dignity Australia was having a period drive. ‘We encouraged all our patrons to bring a goody bag of period items with them’. By the end of the event, they had nearly two boxes full of items that we they donate to Share The Dignity as well as CAMHS.
O’Malley was the recipient of a 2022 YWCA Canberra Great Ydeas Grant, provided by The Joyful Business Club. ‘The grant was significant as it helped us fund our 2023 IWD event, ‘CBR GRRRLS To The Front,’ said O’Malley. ‘Thanks to the grant, we were able to pay our artists fairly. We were also grateful for the support of YWCA Canberra and The Joyful Business Club in helping us promote the event.’
Educational stalls were also present. ‘We tried to make it a solid mix of like if you were a woman who needed support or you got a friend who needed support, then you've got those resources available. We had Women’s legal centre ACT there, as well as Toora Women, Signal Creative, Good Omens Goodeze and a few local bands selling their merch, too.’
Diversity and accessibility in the industry
O’Malley has a clear aim to create spaces for gender-diverse individuals to perform. ‘I think it's been a long time overdue. I've been really frustrated with watching the lack of diversity in the community and especially the live scene. When we started Burntout, we wanted gender diversity to be the main thing we focused on. We're a little guy. We can easily do it, and we can show the big guys how easily it can be done. And hopefully, as we start getting more traction, it can pressure national tours to be more considerate with their lineups.’
“We’re a little guy. We can easily do it, and we can show the big guys how easily it can be done”
O’Malley grew up with a deaf father, so accessible events are close to her heart. Burntout Bookings ran an event called One for All earlier in 2021 in Braddon, which was accessible friendly. The event was held in the courtyard outside Sancho’s Dirty Laundry, with no steps, flat surfaces, accessible bathrooms, open air with masks and hand sanitiser available at many points in the venue and plenty of seating. Through funding from You are Here, O’Malley hired an Auslan interpreter. ‘I would absolutely love to have one at all my shows, but financially it's not quite viable at the moment. It cost us nearly $900 for a three-hour show which we were able to cover thanks to the funding.'
Burntout Bookings is a progressive events and booking agency wanting to give everyone an equal chance at making it in this competitive industry.
