I met Lindy Morrison in Sydney in 2013 during my two-year music business diploma at TAFE. Lindy taught copyright, and I remember her as a passionate and dedicated teacher. Lindy was an inspiration to me, I loved her outspokenness and she demonstrated that it was possible to have a well-rounded and successful career in music (she’s a professional drummer), law and social work.
Lindy has always been a great source of advice when I’ve had questions about the next steps in my career. She encouraged me, and others, to keep learning and working to succeed in the music industry. I’ve been working in music copyright for ten years now, and I don’t think it would have been possible if I hadn’t met Lindy Morrison.
Lindy Morrison’s career is impressive, and many interviews, articles and books¹ have already been devoted to her work, but if you haven’t yet heard of Lindy Morrison, here’s a brief summary of her career:
→ 1972 : Joins the Aboriginal Legal Service as an Aboriginal Field Officer
→ 1978 : Joins Australian punk band Zero
→ 1980 : Becomes the drummer in the band the Go-Betweens
→ 1982 : Joins the band Tuff Monks with Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard, Robert Forster and and Grant McLennan
→ 1993-2022 : Elected artist representative on the PPCA Board (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia Limited)
→ 1998 – 2021: National welfare coordinator at Support Act, an Australian charity providing support to musicians and music professionals
→ 2000-2019 : Lecturer at TAFE, Sydney Australia
¹ “My Rock ‘N’ Roll Friend” (Tracey Thorn; 2021)
Stéphanie Becker
© Lindy Morrison
S.B : You are an accomplished, multi-award-winning musician, why did you decide to teach copyright?
L.M: Primarily I took to teaching because I needed the cash. After I had a child I found it impossible to continue touring. I had to get work and teaching was an option. However I did choose to teach Copyright, a subject I love as I love case law and statutes and feel strongly about protecting artists rights as I knew nothing about them when I started in music and consequently made mistakes.
S.B: What motivates your work in the social field?
L.M: I feel strongly about people who have not had advantages or fall on hard times and believe there should be services for them to enable equity.
S.B: Do you think musicians can make a change regarding political, social or climate issues?
L.M: No.
S.B: Which career has been the most challenging for you? Musician? Teacher? Politician / Activist?
L.M: Every career was challenging. All had problems and issues at some time.
S.B: What advice would you give to someone wanting to start a career in the music industry?
L.M: Stay in there. Seniority is actually a thing.
S.B: Are there any new Australian bands you’d recommend?
L.M: Lunar Dirt Brisbane
S.B: Your favourite lyrics:
L.M: Robert Forster from The Go-Betweens: “He’s so cold you can skate on his skin” ² & “Sometimes I think I need two heads” ³.
² From the song “Stop Before You Say It” (Forster, 1980)
³ From the song “I Need Two Heads” (Forster & McLennan,1980)