It’s been a rough week with a number of brilliant musicians departing for the great gig in the sky. Music guru David Kowalski has the latest.
Eminem and the beach umbrella
IN THE NEWS this week is a story from one of our favourite topics in the music world — trademark infringement.
A small Australian independent beach accessory company is in the crosshairs of the legal team of U.S. hip-hop star Eminem. The company, that makes bags and swimwear, is in trouble with the U.S. Trademark and Copyright Office over their business name and the name of their own unique style of beach umbrella, called the 'Swim Shady'.
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, has had a trademark reserved in the USA since the late 1990s for his alter-ego “Slim Shady”, which has been used in album titles and used in various now well-known songs. Mathers has said that the Australian beachwear brand’s name is too close to his and has applied to register that “Swim Shady” infringes his trademark.
Perhaps he has a point. However, does a small company from Australia, the creators of whom clearly are making a nod towards one of their favourite artists have any recourse here?
According to Rolling Stone, Swim Shady had applied to register their trademark in the U.S. Trademark Office on September 23rd 2025 and on the 29th of the same month, Eminem lodged a protest. Perhaps the beachwear brand should’ve kept the name in Australia only and chosen something else in the USA, similar to how Burger King and Hungry Jacks cannot co-exist in Australia for similar reasons.
Swim Shady has just about exhausted its 60 days to respond to Eminem’s legal team. We’ll keep watch on the outcome…
ARIA Awards wrap up
The 2025 ARIA Awards have been and gone for another year. An eventful night by all accounts, with some truly bizarre fashion on the red carpet.
Big winners of the night were Melbourne punks Amyl and the Sniffers, who took home four awards (Best Cover Art, Best Group, Best Rock Album and Album of the Year for their third album Cartoon Darkness).
Up-and-coming EDM artist Ninajirachi won Best New Artist. Kevin Parker from Tame Impala won a couple more spiky trophies for his mantlepiece with wins for Best Engineered release and Best Produced release for the 'End of Summer' single. Missy Higgins won Best Adult Contemporary Release for her album The Second Act. Probably the biggest upset of the night was Emma Memma winning Best Children’s Album over her former employers, The Wiggles.
You Am I were inducted into the Hall of Fame and Tim Rogers gave an emotional, often teary speech.
He spoke candidly about his health issues, mental and otherwise:
Thirty-six years ago, I was extremely sick and had no prospect to do anything, and my brother and my best friend asked me to join their band, and it gave me a life. At the start of this year, I was sick again in hospital. My mate Andy Kent called me and said, ‘Let's get the band back together.’ Well, we've never broken up, but let's go out on tour and not for the 100th time, it gave me the opportunity to have a life.
I extend my congratulations to all the winners.
The passings of Mani, Ian Lees, Jimmy Cliff and Todd Snider
It’s been a rough week with a number of brilliant musicians departing for the great gig in the sky.
We have lost Ian Lees, a name many may be unfamiliar with. Lees was the bass player in Moving Pictures in the 1980s when the band were at the peak of its powers, playing on hits like 'What About Me' and 'Bustin’ Loose'. He also played in the Kevin Borich Express, The Mal Eastick Band, and was an indispensable member of the backing bands for Country artists James Blundell and Melinda Schneider.
We also lost another bass player, Gary Mounfield, aka Mani, from Manchester legends The Stone Roses, at the age of 63. He anchored the bottom end on many of the group's classic rock-meets-dancefloor anthems, such as 'Fools Gold' and 'What The World Is Waiting For'. After the Roses split up in 1995, he was also a member of Primal Scream until that split in 2011.
Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff passed away at the age of 81 in a hospital in Jamaica. He was a vital part of the Jamaican music scene and helped break Reggae as an international music sensation. Cliff also starred in the first Jamaican feature film, 1972’s The Harder They Come and sang many classic songs from its soundtrack, such as the title track, 'Many Rivers to Cross' and 'You Can Get It If You Really Want'.
Last, but certainly not least, is Georgia (U.S.) American musician Todd Snider.
While Snider didn’t necessarily have massive global recognition, those who knew his work loved it. He had a brief flash of success in Australia in 1995 with his album Songs From The Daily Planet.
Snider was the first, and I think only, artist to land a song into Triple J’s Hottest 100 in 1995 that was an unlisted track on an album — Talking Seattle Grunge Blues. Snider was signed to Jimmy Buffett’s label Margaritaville and was regarded as an heir to the folk storytelling tradition of John Prine.
Thanks to each of them for their amazing contribution to music. Vale.
New music: 'Houston' by Lucky
Before I go, here is a new banger from a Melbourne-based artist named Lucky.
She has been doing the rounds for about 18 months and her latest single 'Houston' has some major indie vibes, channelling some of the darker sounds of the Cranberries and even some shoegaze feels from the likes of Ride. It is a lot moodier than previous singles; however, it still has a raw vulnerability about it.
Lucky is playing at the Vic on the Park in Sydney on 6 December. Give her a listen.
Until next time…
LISTEN TO THIS WEEK'S SPECIALLY CURATED PLAYLIST BELOW:
David Kowalski is a writer, musician, educator, sound engineer and podcaster. His podcasts 'The Sound and the Fury Podcast' and 'Audio Cumulus' can be heard exclusively HERE. You can follow David on Twitter/X @sound_fury_pod.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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