Wow, and here I thought that being a musician in Sweden was awesome. In Sweden, you can get public assistance (welfare) for being a musician, while not actively touring. That's nothing compared to Australia. Death metal act Ouroboros were approved for a $20,000 grant from the Australia Council For The Arts to record their new album. This is better than Kickstarter!
The council for arts is known to be a giving organization, between 2010 and 2011, they distributed over $160 million in grants to local artists.
The band has said they will use the money to hire an orchestra to play on their next album.
The chair of the Australia Council music board, Matthew Hindson, was quoted as saying about the band: "They have a degree of technical virtuosity and musicianship. No matter what kind of music you are involved in, that comes through."
So, what do these guys sound like?
The band is already getting it's share of critics, including one Australian journalist described as their version of Bill O'Reilly, who claims it's a waste of money. I guess if the music isn't to his liking, it's not worth the grant.
I only wish these sort of things happened in this country as well.
