About Us

RISE was created by Michelle (aka Mykee) and Johnnie Mac – a couple of Aussies who’ve been working in and amongst the music industry scene for the last 20 years. This includes playing music but also working in record companies, management, promotion, tour management, recording and a bunch of other stuff they’ve probably forgotten about!

And just so you know you’re not dealing with fly-by-night-pretenders or a couple of “Milli Vanilli’s” – you can check out their history in the section just below.  But if you want to know a little bit more about these two, then the story goes like this…

Mykee and Johnnie experienced many different sectors within the industry over the years … from corporate to grass roots … rockstar to busker … yet often found themselves going out of their way to help the independent musicians move forward after having seen far too many fantastic unsigned musicians loose heart, burn out, hit the skids and give up on their dreams.

The crunch finally came after spending time with a well known (signed) internationally acclaimed musician who revealed behind the scenes music industry truths and intently stressed that every artist should do everything in their power to get their artwork ‘out there’ independently.

Surprised with all this behind-the-scenes info, Mykee decided to work for a major record company to check out the situation herself. Without letting too much outta the bag, Mykee resigned a short time later with a newfound passion to help musicians bypass the ‘get discovered, get a deal, get famous’ traditional system.

That was 1996 and the start of something bigger than expected. Mykee bought a computer, a beginners guide to html, built a basic website and started promoting unsigned musicians to a worldwide audience with her ‘Australian Music Homepage’. And although the internet was in its infancy and most people didn’t give a toss about the ‘world wide web’ back then, the results were absolutely mind blowing!

All of a sudden national and international promotion became a hellova lot easier and the no-name garage bands Mykee managed started to experience success like never before… offers of national radio airplay, national tours, festival gigs, big name supports and record label deals.

Since then Mykee and Johnnie have had hundreds of musicians, managers and promoters asking them for their internet success strategies.

Then a few years ago, this story got a whole lot more interesting after both Mykee and Johnnie were introduced to an American country music musician and internet guru who told them about how he used specific online strategies to help a “No Name Muso” sell enough albums to top the international charts.

After hearing this success story, they started to experiment with these cutting edge internet strategies, and  COMBINED them with traditional music biz systems.

They spent the next few years being mentored and trained by both Australia’s and America’s leading internet guru’s and learnt how to use marketing strategies in the creative world of music and art. It took another few years to blend these two subjects harmoniously and to compile all the relevant music related info, programs and resources that were floating out there in cyber-space.

Finally, all the pieces were in place… they had combined their years of arts industry experience together with all the latest internet techniques and created a step by step system for independent artists.

As you’ll see, the results speak for themselves….

  • In just 3 days Johnnies album went from #439,605 ranking to #1 on the international charts – outdoing the best selling album of all time.
  • The same album reached #9 on the international best seller list”. That’s #9 in the WORLD!  …not bad for a ‘no name’ Aussie guy from the bush.
  • In just 35 days they got 3 of Johnnie’s originals tracks in the top 10 of Triple J’s Unearthed charts – one of them going to #1.  And that’s without doing any live gigs… not bad considering there are more than 20,000 other bands to compete against.

Mykee and Johnnie are now living the dream… touring all over place, playing gigs and teaching other independent musicians how to reach the same level of independent success.

Getting gigs on ANY DAY OF THE WEEK has become an absolute breeze now.  Venue bookers just take one look at the success and Johnnie’s in!

Johnnie has had offers to play in other countries…

His album is selling all over the world like never before and…

Johnnie’s music is getting airplay all over the world too.

That’s why they’ve decided to put everything together into a workshop that explains exactly how to create a healthy income using modern technology within the arts industry.  Falling back on their years of internet know-how and music biz experience in Australia, USA and Europe, Johnnie and Mykee will teach you a simple step by step formula that has been used successfully again and again by other artists who are willing to break old traditions and step ‘outside the box’.  Once you learn this system you’ll quickly feel the buzz of knowing that there IS another way to reach success.Here’s all the formal info…

Professional experience within the music industry since 1996, including:-

  • Trainee Tour Manager with Jeff Buckley Band (Australian National Tour)
  • Production Assistant for Bjork
  • Music Biz Trainee (New York, USA)
  • Assistant for concert production business and sound studio (Seattle, USA)
  • Certificate in Music Business Management
  • PA to Managing Director of Festival Music
  • Founder, Designer, Producer and Manager of the Australian Music Homepage (Established 1996)
  • Managing Director of Millennium Music (Artist Management and Promotion) Band Manager, Publicist, Tour Manager, Booking Agent, Consultant, etc
  • Review writer for Rocket Records monthly music magazine.
  • Music Event Co-ordinator for 500+ audience (headlining act – John Butler)

  • Certificate in Music Business Management
  • Certificates in Classical Guitar and Music Theory
  • 20+ years music industry experience including…
  • Live Performance
  • Band Management and Promotions
  • Music Teacher
  • Journalist & Photographer for Rolling Stone Magazine
  • Worldwide Radio and Television interviews and performances
  • Tour Manager for Mongolian and Russian Performers for European tours
  • Stage Management for indoor and outdoor music events in Siberia
  • Production assistant (Europe)
  • Event Co-ordinator for 500+ audience
  • Johnnie Mac’s original song – ‘The Chant of Namatjira’ reached #1 on Triple J’s Unearthed charts –  2 other Johnnie Mac originals entered into the Unearthed top 10.
  • Johnnie Mac’s Album – ‘The World Seems Happy’ reached #9 on the international best selling charts.
  • Johnnie Mac’s Album ‘The World Seems Happy’ reached #1 on Amazon’s Movers and Shakers international charts topping Michael Jackson’s Thriller (placed at #3) which is classified as  the best selling album of all time.