Published 14 February, 2020

Following a competitive Expression of Interest process, five Victorian music business professionals have now been selected to undertake the CLOCK Your Skills bootcamp. The upcoming three day intensive program will validate their work skills and experience with formal qualification credits.  

The five recipients are: 

• N’fa Forster-Jones - Cool Out Sun

• Joel Ma - Joelistics

• Gerada (Gerry) McKenna - White Sky Royalty Accounting

• Lisa Palermo - Ellpee Management

• Emily York - Penny Drop

The program was extended for a second year to Victorians, after a successful first bootcamp in April 2019, with previous recipients Chelsea Gough (Native Tongue Music Publishing) and Siobhan Kranz (Mushroom Group). 

CLOCK Your Skills bootcamp will be facilitated by:

Denise Stanley, Founder of CLOCK and an international expert in delivering practice based learning for creative industries; and Paulette Long, OBE, a Music Publisher, Artist Manager and Board Director with over 35 years of industry experience.   

CLOCK Your Skills is a ground-breaking international development and accreditation program that enables freelancers, employees and small business owners to gain higher level awards while doing their everyday projects and work. The program is for professional creatives who want to validate their skills at a master’s level, irrespective of any previous formal qualifications. 

For full program details, head to the CLOCK Your Skills page. 

The Victorian Music Development Office is an initiative of the Victorian Government delivered by Music Victoria.

CLOCK Your Skills 2020 participant bios:

N’fa Forster-Jones - Cool Out Sun

N'fa Jones is an Australian/Sierra-Leonean music artist credited for helping establish the Australian Hip Hop movement with his ARIA award-winning band '1200 Techniques and continuing his work with the independent label House Of Beige. He has toured locally and internationally, gaining a wealth experience, knowledge and cultural growth that has helped him to nurture young creatives through community events, school workshops, and outreach music programs through various foundations. N'fa continues to stimulate the local musical community, recently co-creating and now delivering a first of it's kind 'Diploma of Music' focused on Hip Hop at Box Hill Institute. This sharing of knowledge continues to craft the ever-growing landscape of the Australian music narrative.

Joel Ma - Joelistics

Joel Ma is a songwriter, multi instrumentalist and producer recognised as a unique voice in the Australian Music Industry both as an artist with seminal alt rap group TZU and under the name Joelistics and as a collaborator and producer with artists such as Haiku Hands, Mojo Juju and Birdz. Joel has written and performed for theatre and TV including In Between Two and The Nowhere Boys and performs regularly with art ensemble Peril Symphony and Film School. He  currently runs a series of music studios in Brunswick and teaches part time at Box Hill Music Institute. He is closely associated with Multicultural Arts Victoria and is a past board member of youth music organisation The Push.

Gerada (Gerry) McKenna - White Sky Royalty Accounting

Gerry’s career commenced in 1977 at Charisma Records UK as the Accounts Assistant. The office was situated above the famous Marque Club in London. In 1981 after being head hunted by Mute Records, she joined the company as the fourth employee stating as the Accounts department and later becoming a Director of the company. In 1988 Gerry travelled to Australia and fell in love with the country and later emigrated to work at Mushroom Records. Whilst awaiting her Australian visa she returned to the UK and worked as a royalty consultant at Polygram Music Video. In 1991 she started at Mushroom Group initially in the royalty department and later became the International and Australian Mushroom Group Royalty Manager travelling to the London and Amsterdam on a regular basis. In 1998 she identified a need in Australia for an independent royalty auditing and statement production service and was quickly recognized as Australia’s number one music royalties expert. Royalty Accounting Services clients included numerous leading Australian artists. In 2012 Gerry formed a new alliance with the White Sky group and now heads up the White Sky Royalty Accounting division. The division employs three staff offering a myriad of services to an extensive list of clients. 

Lisa Palermo - Ellpee Management

Since striking out on her own in 2016, Lisa Palermo has gone from strength to strength in management and music event productions. Having been an integral member of Frank Stivala’s team at Premier Artists (Mushroom Group) for almost ten years, she honed her skills in the live music realm earning great respect and fostering strong relationships with artists and industry alike. She is now behind a full-time management company under the moniker Ellpee and boasts a roster of artists including Vika & Linda Bull, Brian Cadd and Kate Ceberano. Lisa also works extensively in touring, producing and curating live shows.  Conversely her grounding in the music world began in radio with Melbourne’s PBS-FM where she maintained a regular weekly music show for 21 years.  Since then she has joined 3RRR as an occasional broadcaster, and sporadically surfaces on the decks as DJLP for private parties and large-scale outdoor events.

Emily York - Penny Drop

Emily York is the founder and director of boutique touring and management company Penny Drop and has worked in the music industry for over 15 years. Penny Drop launched officially in 2010 and has since toured artists of all sizes and genres. Recent touring highlights include Aldous Harding, Clairo, Khruangbin, Leon Bridges, Mac DeMarco, Maggie Rogers, New Order, The Internet, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and many more. During this time Penny Drop established a joint venture with Chugg Entertainment. Penny Drop has programmed a number of prominent events and festivals in Australia, including the Zoo Twilights Summer series (artist highlights include Kurt Vile, Neil Finn, The Specials and Mavis Staples) and has worked as the talent producer for ABC’s New Year’s Eve Concert, a popular live broadcast that attracts over 4 million viewers and more through syndication and digital platforms. The program has become a unique showcase opportunity for emerging talent, providing many contemporary acts their first television opportunities.