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Australian record label founder From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andrew Penhallow (1952–2023) was an Australian music figure who founded electronic music record label Volition Records and co-founded the Boiler Room at the Big Day Out music festival.
Andrew Penhallow | |
|---|---|
Andrew Penhallow in 2021 | |
| Born | 24 January 1952 London, England |
| Died | 17 May 2023 Sydney, Australia |
After moving to Australia from England in the 1970s,[1] Andrew Penhallow worked as a contributor for Rolling Stone Australia and as manager of the local band Pel Mel.[2][3]
In 1979 he co-founded GAP Records with Rolling Stone Australia publisher Paul Gardiner.[2][4] They released Pel Mel's debut album and licensed releases from English labels Factory Records and Rough Trade,[3][5] including releasing Joy Division's albums in Australia for the first time in 1980.[2]
After GAP closed, Penhallow set up Volition Records in 1984, signing local group Severed Heads and licensing UK group New Order from Factory Records.[6]
Penhallow was also managing director of Factory Australasia, a local subsidiary of Factory Records, between 1984 and 1992.[7][8] The label's first release was New Order's Low-Life album, released when the band toured Australia in 1985.[9] In 1988, Factory Australasia released New Order's 'Blue Monday 1988' which reached number three in the charts, even with a lack of radio airplay. Penhallow criticised commercial radio stations such as Triple M at the time for not playing dance music, with the success of 'Blue Monday 1988' attributed to dance clubs and music videos seen on TV.[7]
In 1994, Penhallow teamed with Ken West to bring dance music to his Big Day Out music festival. Penhallow had previously brought his Volition acts Severed Heads and Itch-E and Scratch-E to 1993's festival, and after noticing their success, in 1994 West and Penhallow created The Boiler Room, a separate area of the festival dedicated to dance music.[10] Volition acts such as Boxcar and Vision Four 5 appeared at the first Boiler Room,[10] and the festival addition was credited with increasing the popularity of dance music in Australia.[11][12]
Penhallow was behind the ARIA Award for Best Dance Release being introduced to the annual ARIA Music Awards in 1995, with Volition acts winning the first two years.[8]
He also founded Second Nature in New Zealand, as a sublabel to Volition, to release local dance and hip hop music from Australia and New Zealand and provide better representation of local music produced in the genres.[13][14]
After Volition's publishing deal with Sony Music expired in 1996, Andrew Penhallow took a year off before returning to the music industry with a publishing company Higher Songs.[8]
He managed Love Tattoo as part of his artist management company 2000AV,[15] and from 1999 worked as local dance A&R consultant for Warner Music Australia.[8] He continued supporting Australian dance music, through work with Australia's first internet radio station Pulse Radio,[15] compiling compilation CDs to promote local artists,[8] and in 2005 founded Resolution Music.[15]
Penhallow died in 2023, with many artists from Australia thanking him for his strong support towards electronic music over his career.[16][17]
The Australian Dance Music Awards (DMA) were founded by 3D World in 2000 to celebrate dance music in Australia and recognise the people who helped it gain greater recognition nationally.[18]
| Year | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Outstanding Contribution To Dance Music | Nominated[19] |
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