Australian music lovers, mark your calendars – because #AusmusicTshirtDay is set to fall on Friday, 20 November!
Proudly brought to you by Support Act, triple j and ARIA, this second edition comes after Ausmusic T-Shirt Day was specially brought forward earlier this year to raise funds for struggling artists. As Support Act puts it, Ausmusic T-Shirt Day is “a massive nation-wide celebration of Australian music that reminds us how lucky we are to have such a strong local music scene, with many highly talented and successful artists across all genres of music.”
So whip out your favourite band merch or place an order – because if there’s any time that the music and arts industries need us, it’s now. As a result of the 2020 pandemic, musicians around the globe (let alone Australia) have had their livelihood stripped from them, their income wiped out and their careers put on hold.
Live performances and tours account for a large portion of musicians’ incomes, which means artists are doing it tough more than ever before. With live gigs being off the cards for most of the nation, the best way to support your favourite bands is by purchasing their music or merchandise. I, for one, have had music help me through the hardships of lockdown – making it only fitting to give back.
From there, all you have to do to take part in #AusMusicTshirtDay is to post a photo in your Ausmusic T-shirt to your social media, using the hashtag #ausmusictshirtday and tags @supportact, @triplej, @aria_official! In partnership with the Australia Council, Isol-Aid will also be curating a special livestream program on Ausmusic T-Shirt Day. (Artists and times will be announced in the coming weeks.)
If you’re buying yourself some new merch, this is your 2-week grace period. Be sure to also check out their Merch Partners page and purchase shirts from 24Hundred, LovePoliceATM, Band T-Shirts, Sound Merch, Space Mirror and Warner Music Australia, all of whom will be donating a percentage of sales to the campaign.
There’s also the option to make an individual donation, or sign up and set up a team fundraising page through their brand new website! Funds raised go towards Support Act’s services, with requests for Crisis Relief having increased by 883% since the pandemic began, and calls to the Support Act Wellbeing Helpline having increased by 52%.
If you feel like repping some homegrown Perth bands and artists, check out our picks below!