This week AAA’s lui goes backstage with Brisbane Solo Artist and creator of Hellhound Hotdogs Justin Ryan.
Tell us about Justin Ryan before HellHound Hotdogs and what motivated you to start up HellHound Hotdogs?
Well let me see here, why did i start a vegan hotdog business in hicksville briz vegas? good question, i must be crazy or something. There is a perfectly logical explanation though i’m sure.
The idea started while i was on tour with a show as stage manager around Australia and New Zealand and was having a hard time finding quick and easy vegan food. So i started a little mobile kitchen and then thought if i’m cooking for one I might as well cook for anyone who wants it.
So i started a little side business selling vegan food to the cast and crew and donated all the profit to Sea Shepherd conservation society (dudes that ram, harass and sink illegal whale poachers).
At the end of the tour I decided to develop the idea into a viable business and set it up so that I could make some money and also have time to volunteer for various charities I am involved with.
You are fast becoming a cult figure around Brisbane, what was the most difficult part of setting up HellHound Hotdogs?
The most diffi-cult part (heh heh heh) of setting it up was my own lack of planning i think. I am now lucky enough to be on the NEIS program, a government small business program which is helping me to devise a solid plan of action over the next two years.
Before the NEIS thing I was just guessing as to how to do the business side of things and investing a fair whack of cash without any cash flow projection or anything. I nearly flopped when customs hit me with a $2k bill and two days to pay.
So yeah my biggest hardship was just being an idiot i think. Am i a cult figure? Awesome!
As a musician yourself, what is it you like most about the Brisbane music scene, and how do you compare it to other music scenes around the country?
One thing i really like about the briz scene is that it is small enough to feel like a community. There are so many bands etc in melbs that it is like a competition but here its like we’re on the same team.
Our government funding is similar to VIC or NSW with heaps less artists to share it so there is that too. There are heaps of resources in briz for artists and heaps of venues but at the same time it is totally a small enough place to become a known entity in the scene.
If u cant find a gig ur not looking hard enough. If you want help getting your name out there there are heaps of free services out there for you. If i wanted to do a gig every night of the week i could. Its just a matter of planning ahead and committing to it.
If you could improve one thing about the Brisbane scene, what would it be?
I’m going to resist the temptation to bad mouth a couple of venues i really don’t like here. If i could improve anything i’d somehow crank the number of hardcore straight edge vegan bands around the place. Not likely? I know but its what i’m into.
Oh and ban indie rock, especially ones that sound like kings of leon. ha ha ha. sorry budhi. seriously though i think the briz music scene can improve itself by using the resources it has at it’s disposal.
Free street press and organizations like Qmusic doing free workshops all the time are just a couple of tools to get you up and out there. Use this stuff dudes!
If you commit to playing a gig a week and rehearse at least once a week, work on your stage presence and allocate a night every week to do the boring stuff like booking gigs and sending out myspace and facebook friend requests AND you have talent then something good is bound to come of it.
What can we expect from Hellhound Hotdogs in 2010 and beyond?
Well i just started drumming for local skater punk band Ringpull who hope to tour in October and have another project in the melting pot called Vegan fight club. With the help of NEIS i will hopefully get the Hotdog thing all sorted and can spend more time on music and charity work.
Who knows i might even finish writing a new song or two. hectic!
