Young South Australian musicians

Off the Couch (OTC) was originally developed to address a lack of performance opportunities for young South Australian musicians

Launching itself into the musical stratosphere in 1996, over the years OTC has showcased its talent to audiences of more than 65,000 young people, supported 652 team members in the planning, programming and implementation of OTC events, and given 653 bands and musicians a head start in the South Australian music industry.

“OTC showcases and promotes emerging South Australian musicians,” explains current coordinator Drew Landt, "and gives them the opportunities to perform in venues they may not necessarily get. It also gives the opportunity for young people who are interested in event management to program and run and get experience working on events. That’s pretty much OTC in a really tight nutshell."
Like most of Carclew’s work, OTC is all about offering young people opportunities that they may not otherwise obtain. “I think the biggest thing that team members can take away from OTC is experience,” agrees Landt. "It’s pretty hard to get experience running live events; you can get it, but you can also really get taken for a ride. People get a lot of work out of volunteers, and they don’t get much respect."

Landt is a big believer in respect, a sentiment which may stem from his humble beginnings as an OT…