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This book focuses on the liminality and experiences of Filipino migrant musicians in Australia in relation to their identities and positionalities as migrants, professionals, labour force, musicians, and members of the multicultural community. Over 40 interviews with Filipino musicians living in Australia connect phenomena and issues surrounding transnational labour migration and the performance of musicians from other migrant backgrounds. Scholars and students interested in cultural sociology, ethnomusicology, popular music studies, cultural studies, migration, diaspora studies and Southeast Asian studies gain insights from the compelling stories in both scope and nuance, which are applicable in a broader multicultural context and the transnational as well as local music industry. Deploying important concepts such as liminality and marginality, the book is interdisciplinary and offers fresh empirical, theoretical and methodological takes on transnational migration and migrant representation in the music industry. More importantly, it highlights the involvement of an underrepresented group in a vulnerable and undervalued profession, to increase participation of migrants in the Australian and global music industry.
List of contents
1. Introduction: Researching Filipino Cover Music Performance and Migration.- Part 1: Transnational Migration and its Theoretical Underpinnings.- 2. Transnational Labour Migration and/of Filipino Musicians.- 3. Filipino Musicians in Australia: Labour Migration and Music.- Part 2: Musical and Cultural Practices.- 4. Musical and Socio-Cultural Negotiations of Filipino Identity.- 5. From Jamming-jamming lang to Stage Gigs: Musical Practices and Transcultural Differences.- Part 3: Liminalities and Transculturality.- 6. Neither Here nor There: Liminalities and Precarity in the Australian Music Industry.- 7. Neither Here nor There, Still: Experiences of Microaggressions and Everyday Racism in Multicultural Australia.- 8. Conclusion: Re-Situating the Filipino Migrant Musician Experience.
About the author
Carljohnson Anacin is an academic at Griffith University, Australia, where he also received his PhD. His research interests include popular music, migration, social media and interdisciplinary studies. A member of the Filipino community in Australia, Carl is a practising musician and cultural advocate, which adds credibility and knowledge to the embeddedness of migrant musicians’ experiences in his research. His recent publications include contributions in Rethinking the Music Business: Music Contexts, Rights, Data, and COVID-19 (Palgrave Macmillan 2022), The Qualitative Report (2024) and Journal of Intercultural Studies (2025).
Summary
This book focuses on the liminality and experiences of Filipino migrant musicians in Australia in relation to their identities and positionalities as migrants, professionals, labour force, musicians, and members of the multicultural community. Over 40 interviews with Filipino musicians living in Australia connect phenomena and issues surrounding transnational labour migration and the performance of musicians from other migrant backgrounds. Scholars and students interested in cultural sociology, ethnomusicology, popular music studies, cultural studies, migration, diaspora studies and Southeast Asian studies gain insights from the compelling stories in both scope and nuance, which are applicable in a broader multicultural context and the transnational as well as local music industry. Deploying important concepts such as liminality and marginality, the book is interdisciplinary and offers fresh empirical, theoretical and methodological takes on transnational migration and migrant representation in the music industry. More importantly, it highlights the involvement of an underrepresented group in a vulnerable and undervalued profession, to increase participation of migrants in the Australian and global music industry.
