Make or Break

Following two Sydney Jazz bands, and how Jazz has influenced their outlook on the Sydney Jazz scene. As we dive into their day-to-day lives, and creative influences, we discover their personal connection to the genre and how their different upbringings have shaped their own unique sound.

Alice, a girl in her late teenage years, lives in an isolated bush-land in Australia with her father. Faced with the reality of growing up, she is asked to think about the larger world and where she fits in from there. Upset and distressed Alice regresses into a fantasy land she created as a child to escape from the hardships and decisions surrounding her future. Through her journey, she uses the wisdom of her younger self to move forward into the next stage of her life. Alice comes to the realization that she doesn't need to leave her childhood behind in order to mature, grow and learn.

Traversing through Sydney’s music scene is Liam Whelan, and it is clear that he has a strong passion for performing. However the audience sharing this same passion and enthusiasm for live music is never guaranteed, and the monetary incentive can often times be very low. It can also be disheartening to have to perform cover songs to keep the audience's attention when you have a range of your own music that you would also like to perform. But does this affect him enough to stop doing what he loves? Is the pursuit to be creative and write and perform music worth it when the rewards can be so small? Do the high points of sharing music with a passionate audience outweigh the lows of performing to a pub of disinterested patrons?