Drew Kaza has been telling the Melbourne Music Conference about a new London based centre he will be running to support upcoming bands and songwriters. The brain child of Microsoft founder Paul Allen and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics the centre – called The Hospital – will be housed in the former St Paul's Hospital and will give musicians access to technical recording and production facilities as well as a members club, restaurant, art gallery and even serviced apartments. The hope is to create an institution like the Brill Building - the famous New York consortium of songwriters and publishers in the sixties.
Kaza explained: "The Hospital will allocate seed funding for up and coming acts – we’ll award between $5,000 - $100,000 for 10-15 projects a year. But wannabe celebs won't be welcome. This is based on talent, not on celebrity. It is for people who get off on working with their peers." If successful the centre’s backers hope to set up similar institutions in major cities around the world.