The Life and Time Stories of Australian Musicians, Performance Artists and those who commenced their contributed to the Australian Music industry from the 1950’s through to the 1970’s.
Australian Rock of Ages is a series of interviews conducted with artists, entrepreneurs, managers. Those who promoted and contributed to the Australian Music Industry. All were born or settled in Australia during the halcyon years of the late 1950’s through to the late 1970’s.
We present a different story each month.
This program features the 2-part story of Dom Barbuto.
When we think of contributions to the Australian music scene we tend to think of groups and artists.
Yet there are many other elements and therefore people, whose contributions to our industry are essential.
This program looks at one of those essential non-performing roles.
Born in 1954 on a small Italian island off the coast of Sicily, Dom reflects back on his early years. So this part of his story covers his pre-involvement in the music industry, through to his early involvement.
Dom talks about the family migrating to Australia while he was still a very small boy. He recalls his early life in Melbourne and we follow him growing up as a confident child into a teenager.
By the mid to late 1960’s there were a plethora of music venues springing up in Melbourne.
These were largely in response to the waves of English music hitting our shores.
Even though he was still only a young teen, Dom sneaks out to attend as many as possible. This leads to a future life where he becomes hooked on the world that was surrounded by music.
Dom shares how he had the desire to play an instrument but he just didn’t have the talent.
Yet, he did have an enormous talent for drawing, which he worked hard to develop and finesse.
As a result by the early 1970’s Dom was tapping into his natural talents and began designing posters for music venues.
Through this activity he became involved in running a venue at Box Hill Town Hall.
However, in order to earn a living he joined the Public Service.
So it was he worked his way up to running the Audio/Visual department for the Department of Social Security.
As a result he finished a part-time course in A/V at RMIT and while still working for the public service. It was during this time he began moonlighting designing sets for theatre shows and a range of other artwork.
Dom was highly encouraged by the response he was receiving for his creative work. So it was he worked his way into becoming the co-publisher for a Melbourne entertainment magazine, “Good Times”.
PART 2
Dom sets out to be a freelancer, drawing on his art design skills, even while in the Public Service. This results in him becoming more and more successful and more in demand.
As a result his design work is becoming very profitable. However, Dom is at a crossroads and makes a life shaping decision. Deciding to leave the security of the public service, in 1985 sets up his own business – Visible Ink.
Through hard work Dom wins contracts to design for major TV shows.
These include, “The Price Is Right”, Family Feud” and other similar game show programs.
Because of this success his contracts with the music industry begin to really grow. Now Dom begins to design posters and a range of other materials for major music tours. These include tours by Jimmy Barnes, Dizzy Gillespie, Transvison Vamp and Joan Armatrading – to name but a few.
So it is that now he is in his creative element.
Although he is working almost non-stop his career in design moves from local to national to international work.
Yet, he finds time for relationships and meets and marries a Swedish girl. This leads to his story of his amazing journey to Sweden.
However, this relationship was not to last and to Dom’s delight, he meets the right woman. This turns out to be a lasting relationship with Jane.
Yet his work & story doesn’t stop with his design business.
We learn about the Debonairs. This is a music industry support group that meets monthly for lunch and to raise money for Support Act.
Support Act is an organisation that directly supports music industry people in need. By organising monthly lunches for the Debonairs, Dom as Secretary brings together up to 300 people at a time. These lunches also raise significant amounts of money for industry welfare needs.
This is a story of a man who has contributed significantly to our music industry. A huge contribution without playing a note of music.
Dom Barbuto – Part 1
Dom Barbuto – Part 2
Previous stories in Australian Rock Of Ages can be found via these links;
Program #1 – Bob Bright: Click here
Program #2 – Normie Rowe: Click here
Program #3 – Mike Rudd: Click here
Program #4 – Phil Manning: Click here
Program #5 – Marcie Jones: Click here
Program #6 – Ross D. Wylie: Click here
Program #7 – Lynn Thorpe: Click here
Program #8 – Sam See: Click here:
Program #9 – Mick Hamilton: Click here
Program #10 – Claire Humphrys: Click here
Program #11- Glyn Mason: Click here
Program #12 – David Flint: Click here
Program #13 – Chris Stockley: Click here
Program #14 – Frank Howson: Click here
Program #15 – Mick Elliott: Click here
Program #16 – Pat Wilson: Click here
Program #17 – Lindsay Field: Click here
Program #18 – David Pepperell: Click here
Program #19 – Howard Freeman: Click here
Program #20 – Laurie Arthur: Click here
