Celebrate Aussie Music with Chris Hemsworth and Mushroom Creative House

Music charity, Support Act, has announced two of Australia’s favourite faces, Chris Hemsworth and Jessica Mauboy, have joined the stellar line-up of Ambassadors for its annual Ausmusic T-Shirt Day fundraiser on Friday 18 November.

The pair will join the 30 faces of Australian music, screen and stage who have already put their weight behind the day, including Darren Hayes, Casey Donovan, Kylie Minogue, The 046, Andrea Lam, Ball Park Music, Beccy Cole, Bodyjar, Cat Hope, Catherine Alcorn, Charm of Finches, Claire Edwardes, Clint Stanaway, Cub Sport, Dave Gleeson, Devy, Ella Hooper, James Reyne, Jane Gazzo, John Coutis, John Williamson, Ladybeard, Kristal West, Mitch Tambo, Ocean Grove, Rob Mills, Siobhan Stagg, Tania Doko, Teeny Tiny Stevies and Urthboy.

Both Chris and Jess are new additions to the marketing campaign, which launched last week and was concepted and produced by Mushroom Creative House, asking music-lovers to put their hands up for Ausmusic and support the cause by wearing an Ausmusic T-Shirt and making a donation to Support Act. 

They will feature in the campaign’s Community Service Announcements, running across TV and social media channels from next week.

Other famous faces that make an appearance in the campaign include Alex Dyson, Dale Ryder, Fitzy, Mitch Tambo, Montaigne, Mo’Ju, The Temper Trap’s Dougy Mandagi and social media stars Dom Littrich (The Inspired Unemployed), Swag on the Beat and Tom Cardy, with music by The Chats.

Clive MIller, CEO of Support Act, explains: “Chris Hemsworth has always been a big supporter of Australian Music, wearing a Teskey Brothers T-shirt in this year’s campaign, so to have someone of his standing alongside such an incredible artist as Jess Mauboy, really takes our fundraiser and awareness of music workers in need to the next level.”

Jess Tarpey, COO for Mushroom Creative House, adds: “The Mushroom Group has always fostered an incredibly close relationship with Support Act, which is why we were delighted to take on this project pro bono. Following the last few tricky years, it has never been more important to support the health and welfare of workers in the music industry. We loved pulling together such a broad range of talent for such a great cause.”

She spoke to LBB about just what it was about this charity that meant so much to her and her team.

LBB> What is it that makes you so passionate about supporting the Australian music industry?

Jess> Mushroom Creative House is part of the Mushroom Group, the legacy of the late, great Michael Gudinski, and putting artists front and centre has always been a huge part of what Michael stood for, and what the business continues to stand for today. We have a long-standing partnership with Support Act, who are there to help musicians, managers, crew and music workers in times of crisis. They help through financial assistance, mental health support or access to the Wellbeing Helpline, all of which are critical for an industry where one third of its members earn an income under $30k per annum, so well below the poverty line, and where many music workers experience up to 10 times the rate of moderate-to-severe anxiety. With this as a context, we were more than happy to donate our time in the form of strategy, creative, production and post-production skills to deliver this, and – hopefully – break some records in terms of donations.

LBB> Tell us a bit about the history of Aus Music T-shirt Day
Jess> Ausmusic T-Shirt Day (AMTD) is an annual day of fun and awareness to celebrate Aussie music and raise urgently-needed funds for music workers in crisis. After the last few years, the music industry needs your help more than ever before.

AMTD started as an ARIA initiative and then was supported and endorsed by Triple J, who loved it, and helped push people to support the cause and purchase merchandise (an important and much-needed revenue stream for artists). Support Act was invited in as a partner and, after a time, offered to take the reins from Triple J, who were more than happy to see it go from strength to strength under Support Act’s expert guardianship.

It’s now a day that is embraced across the entire Australian music industry, and we really hope the 2022 campaign will take it to a much, much broader audience. We want all of Australia to get involved and proudly wear Aussie artists on Nov 18 and - most importantly – donate to the cause.

LBB> Without giving away your trade secrets, how did you manage to get Chris Hemsworth involved?
Jess> Ha, very good question. The Mushroom Group has always been built on a foundation of establishing great relationships, and maintaining them over time. These relationships are built on trust and reputation. Chris is a huge fan of Australian music in general, but The Teskey Brothers especially so - couple that with the help of an incredible array of some of Australia’s best talent and, somehow, he said ‘yes’.  We’re absolutely elated that he chose to work with us on such an incredible cause. Chris is one of the most genuine, professional and kind humans Mushroom has ever worked with, and we are thrilled he’s embraced Ausmusic T-shirt Day like he has. It’s very special. 

LBB> Who's your favourite Aussie artist?

In the campaign or in general? From the campaign, it’s Tom Cardy. It took everything I had to hold back on quoting some of his iconic lines back to him {if you’ve seen his stuff, you know exactly which lines I mean}.

In general, it’s Hermitude. Or The Rubens. Or Lime Cordiale. Or Jerome Farah. I can’t choose, ha. We’re pretty lucky to have such amazing talent in this country.

Ausmusic T-Shirt Day is an annual day of fun and awareness to celebrate Aussie music and raise urgently-needed funds for music workers in crisis. It’s supported by ARIA and celebrated across triple j, Double J and the ABC as part of Ausmusic Month.

Funds raised from the campaign go towards helping Support Act continue its crucial work supporting musicians, managers, crew and music workers through crisis relief, mental health and wellbeing programmes, and the Support Act Wellbeing Helpline, a 24/7 free phone counselling service.

To find out more and get involved in this year’s campaign, visit ausmusictshirtday.org.au.

For further information on Support Act and its services, visit supportact.org.au.