The Partae chats to Melbourne Music Publicist, Journo and radio all rounder Sose Fuamoli of Beehive PR

We recently sat down with Music Journalist, Radio Host & PR extraordinaire Sose Fuamoli who took us on a magical mystery tour of how things started for Sose and a glimpse of what a typical weeks activities consist of for a very busy and intriguing woman.

Sose is a Music Publicist for Melbourne / Sydney based Beehive PR.  With Sammie Anschau at the helm and a strong team of music publicist veterans –  Beehive PR is an Australian independent music PR company that represents bands & artists across different genres with enthusiasm, industry know how and a proven ability to get the right story across to the right people.

I’m based in Melbourne at the moment, I’ll celebrate two years in this wonderful city this October! I moved over here from Adelaide (like many of us do) and while I love my hometown, the music scene and culture in Melbourne is definitely something all its own. Working in music has been great here and there is always a show happening each night of the week, somewhere. There are so many artists grinding and making their own platforms to get their art out there; the diversity within many of the different music communities is also vibrant, which makes working in them such a joy.

I’ve been working in the music industry for almost ten years now, predominantly as a music writer and editor. When I was a teenager though, I got my first taste of community radio in volunteering at Territory FM in Darwin when I was in high school, helping produce a weekly program. I was at uni in Adelaide when I first started writing about bands, and writing for bands; I’ve always loved music and grew up with a lot of musicians and performers around me, so in many ways it felt like a natural path. There were plenty of street press and online opportunities to write about records and live shows back then, so I feel lucky to have cut my teeth on the scene back then. Music PR is the newest venture, one that I kind of bucked for a few years, when opportunities to be involved in that side of the industry presented themselves. Beehive PR is an agency I’d already struck up a good relationship with when I was an editor of a publication, and I liked the way the team works with talent from the ground up. That’s something I’ve always liked being involved in.

Again, radio came kind of randomly; there was a very large gap between my Darwin community radio days and then coming on board at KissFm here in Melbourne! One of my best friends and dear colleagues, Michelle Grace Hunder, asked if I’d be interested in joining her hip-hop show, at that point called Back to The Future, because we both love hip-hop and we have great discussions about the genre daily. I said of course, and then in late 2017, we rebranded it as The Scenario. In 2018, I took on a fill-in role at triple j, filling in for the wonderful Al Newstead on Music News for a few months; a great learning experience that I’ve taken with me into my other radio projects since.

When it comes to Play On Radio, this is the new baby; I co-program music for this newly launched station with another great friend and colleague (and former housemate) Gemma Bastiani, who wanted to fuse her love for music and football together and provide a new radio platform for other fans to hear new voices on air. We’re literally a week into our first broadcasts and it’s going great guns at the moment; who wouldn’t want to play their favourite new tunes and talk that talk on radio?

Radio helps my role at Beehive because I’ve been able to learn more about how programming works and in that, I’ve been able to apply that knowledge to the artists I work with. It’s not just about sending your music in and expecting airplay; there’s levels to this!

I think, because the climate we’re in professionally, keeps changing, we can’t afford to be complacent. I used to think differently when I was younger and greener, but definitely not now. I’ve always been keen to learn more about how I can build my own skillset and help others. Working in a creative space, it’s the perfect environment to evolve and expand on those things.

For me, there’s a lot of writing and concept development involved, which is good because I really like both those things. There’s a lot of emails, a lot of conversations with the client in making sure we’re doing the best to represent them and their music. That’s probably the constant, just checking in and making sure it’s all trucking along as it should be. It sounds monotonous, but there’s always new music coming through to listen to, so I find a big part of the job is keeping your ears open – you never know who you could be working with next!

Completing my first few campaigns that have secured some really good results was a strong highlight; radio play can seem like an insignificant thing but when you’ve come from the ‘other side’ – aka being the person pitched to – and you land these things off the bat, it really boosts your confidence. Also just seeing some of the artists we’ve worked with go on and elevate, go on to big things, has been great. Watching a band like the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets just take off last year internationally, was awesome. Proof in the pudding of hard work paying off in the best way!

Stick with it, that’s probably the best piece of knowledge I could give. It’s not an easy job by any means, and it feels very much like a 24/365 commitment at some points of the year when it gets busy, but it’s worth it for the results at the end. Also, striking good relationships with media, artists and those you work direct with is one of the most important parts of the role – we’re all in it together, as cliche as it sounds, and we want to see our talent win.

A bit of a mixed bag at the moment, a lot of revisiting too! My current go-to playlist includes some Running Touch, RHYE, Ella Mai, Bon Iver, The National, Kehlani, Anderson .Paak, James Blake, Daniel Caesar, Broken Social Scene, FKA twigs, Gang of Youths and Laura Jean.

There are a few projects I’m in the early stages of working on that I’m keeping mum on for now, but I’m hoping to keep on working with some incredible acts through the year. It’s a big endorphin hit when you see them win. I also want to get to more shows this year, different shows as well. Outside of music, I plan to establish a better, regulated sleep pattern and take a break more than once a year.

I enjoy travelling when I get a good few weeks off at the end of the year, it’s a good excuse to force yourself to switch off. When I want to switch off on a weeknight though, I’m usually binge watching something on YouTube or Netflix. At the moment it’s Gordon Ramsay cooking videos and Leah Remini’s show about Scientology. I’m also trying to get back into tackling books; I love reading but never usually have the time to commit to a text for a period of time at the moment. Music is never that far away though; my partner is a musician and a lot of our friends are also musicians or involved in some way, so there’s always a show or some kind of hang to do with it on the cards.

If you’re in Adelaide though, make your first stop on Gouger St be Ying Chow for an amazing feed, then head to the Metro on Grote St for some pints. Up the East End, can’t go past my old locals – The Exeter and the Cranka – Midnight Spaghetti upstairs at the Cranka (Crown & Anchor Hotel) is also yum. Bistro Blackwood on Rundle St if you’re after something  a bit more high end, or Golden Boy on East Terrace if you’re with a big group. Can’t go wrong.