BENDIGO band Four Lions has scored a music publishing deal that could potentially showcase their music to a wider audience.
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The deal with Ink Music, who is a part of Universal Music Publishing, means Four Lions’ songs could pop up in television, films or commercial.
Lead singer Shann Lions said the music publishing deal allowed the band to have creative control over what they record.
“A record label deal would mean the label pays for the promotion and recording and they have the rights and ownership,” Shann said.
“This type of deal see rights split between songwriter, recording artist and publisher.”
The new deal is part of a whirlwind six months for Four Lions who released their debut album in October.
For Shann, the album came after almost a decade away from music.
“I had eight years off music before Four Lions but I had a need to write again,” he said.
“I banged out an album in six weeks, found some excellent local musicians and recorded it at a studio near Hanging Rock.
“I have sort of sold my soul and do cover gigs and corporate shows most weekends to fund Four Lions.”
Four Lions release music through label Verse Chorus Verse, which is owned and managed by Shann.
As well as lead singer and guitarist, he acts as manager and publicity agent for the band, which is now heard on dozens of community radio stations across Australia.
“We are in rotations from Arnhem Land to Tasmania on community radio stations,” Shann said.
“We have been able to link up with government organisation called AMRAP (Australian Music Radio Airtime Project) that don’t want to see community stations die out.
“As an old (music) dog, I had to get back into it. If you’re a musician, you should never give it up or want to give it up.
“It doesn't matter if you’re playing covers, writing songs or playing music with your kids, you should never give it up. It’s therapeutic as much as anything else.”
Shann is in the process of writing the band’s second album with a number of songs set to be recorded.
He is determined that this album have a “realness” in the recording with the session set to be live takes.
“It’s almost written. I’ve got six great songs and thrown 40 in the bin. I want to really better and evolve the band,” he said.
“We are hoping to record fully analog on to tape like a live performance. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. People rely too much on technology and it gets get fastidious relying on technology. I’d rather have passion and good takes. We don’t want overproduced stuff.
“It’s got to have that feel that seems real, that sound like Neil Young, Tom Petty, Ryan Adams had.”
Shann’s Four Lions solo show will play at 6pm in Bath Lane as part of the Bendigo Street Festival on Saturday.
The full band can next be seen on Saturday, January 30 at Gold Dust Lounge.