A few weeks ago I got a call from Sunset Events asking if I could cover an event launch for them, as their usual guy was unavailable. Was no problemo, especially after they explained what the launch was for. So it was off to the swanky surrounds of Perth’s Hilton franchise to learn a little bit more about what was swimming in my head as ‘the new South By Southwest’.

The launch included a live performance by Modular’s successors to Wolfmother, Tame Impala (or the Dee Dee Dums if you’re living in 2006), and a live cross over to London so Richard Kingsmill and Tommy Ramone among others could endorse the festival. A few hiccups with the cross left Tame Impala playing a little bit longer than they’d planned, and me with a bit of extra time to take some snaps. So check out the media release below, punctuated with photos of Tame Impala in an extended jam session.

“The world is about to get a little closer – welcome to One Movement Festival Perth.

One Movement Festival Perth is an international music event based in Perth, Western Australia and focused on the Australian and Australasian music market in a global context. From October 16-18 2009 Perth will truly become the centre of the global music industry.

The festival will unite industry professionals from the music, media and technology sectors, whilst creating new platforms to deal with the future of our multi-faceted music community for artists, industry and fans alike.

A core element of the One Movement Festival will be artist-based, showcasing the greatest new global talent set for the international stage. The global stage in the heart of downtown Perth will include the industry’s key decision-makers, along with artists and fans – Artist-Industry-Fan-United.

One Movement Festival Perth represents the combined expertise of some of the world’s finest operators in the music business – A&R Worldwide, Sunset Events and Chugg Entertainment. And it is all made possible with the crucial support of Eventscorp.

A&R Worldwide are the team behind the successful MUSEXPO brand, with major conferences in both London and Los Angeles. Now Perth completes the picture, with the group covering three major global markets: America, UK/Europe and Australasia.

Sunset Events indentified a major opportunity in hosting a wolrd-class music industry conference and showcasing event for the southern hemisphere.

With all key stakeholders in place, One Movement has a strong foundation from which to fill the void in the southern hemisphere of a premier event of this nature, akin to similar high-profile events in both the US and Europe.

The Asia, Australasia, and Pacific Rim territories are key markets of growth and opportunity for the music industry and One Movement Festival Perth’s vision will to be to make Perth the epicentre of the industry for the duration of the three day festival. One Movement fulfils a clear opportunity that has been pressing for some time, to launch such an event in the Australasian region.

Whether you are coming from China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Eastern Europe, within Australia or any other part of the globe, this will be a red-letter event for the artist, industry and fans alike. One Movement is about positive change.

Of the inception of One Movement, Chugg Entertainment’s Michael Chugg says: “One Movement Festival Perth is long overdue and gives the music business worldwide a massive opportunity to gather and exchange ideas on all facets of the changing face of our industry, including: the booming live scene, IT and telcos, recording, digital music and copyright. This festival will give the Australian and Asian-Pacific music industries a platorm for inter-action and bonding like never before.

“One Movement will give the Oz industry the chance to learn more about our Asian neighbours and they about us; something very dear to my heart and important to our country’s position as a major part of the worldwide industry in future years. I’m very proud to have played a small part in this bold move.”

A&R Worldwide’s Sat Bisla adds: “We are excited to be working with the legendary Michael Chugg, Sunset Events and Eventscorp as part of a global events that will unite artists, fans and industry together through their common passion for music. One Movement Festival Perth will bring the local, national and international communities together for the purpose of experiencing the creme de la creme of live music, discovering new creative and business solutions and opportunities for a fast-changing wolrdwide music industry, as well as interacting with fans who support our common passion for all things music.”

Perth is the centre of the earth, figuratively speaking, and over the past decade has exploded to the forefront of the Australian music scene.

The city has bred many of the country’s current leading acts, from Eskimo Joe to John Butler Trio, Snowman, Little Birdy, Bob Evans, Birds of Tokyo, The Panics, The Waifs, The Sleepy Jackson, End of Fashion, Jebediah, Gyroscope and many more. These acts have all experienced national success and are making massive progress into the international market.

“Perth has been changing before our eyes,” Sunset Events’ David Chitty says of the festival’s home base. “The past couple of years have seen a rapid transformation from the parochial city of old into a high developed and sophisticated city, with an arts scene to match. One Movement has the capability of solidifying this positive change, in seducing international attention through music with an event that is of importance to the entire global industry.

“In short, One Movement can reposition the way Perth is perceived culturally both here, interstate and internationally.”

There has never been a better time or place from which to launch a major international music industry event. One Movement Festival Perth will bring the world together through music.

Together we can face the challenged of the future and take on pressing global issues with clear, co-operative solutions. There is one common thread that is universal and knows no borders, and that is music. Together we are One Movement.”