Twelve months after opening their Australian studio in Los Angeles, Squeak E. Clean is quietly signing Australia’s best musical talent

Twelve months after opening their Australian studio in Los Angeles, Squeak E. Clean is signing artists at home and putting Australians on the world’s biggest campaigns.

The dancing banana in Instacart’s Benson Boone/Ben Stiller Super Bowl spot was a Melbourne singer-songwriter. Elle Graham, or Woodes to her listeners, manages Squeak E. Clean’s Los Angeles studio, and Spike Jonze cast her in the spot mid-production. She said yes, obviously. Nobody in the studio has let her forget it.

When Squeak E. Clean announced its Melbourne–LA pipeline last year, the fair question was whether it would amount to anything. The answer has been on screen all year: Gucci’s ‘The Tiger’, Apple’s ‘Someday’, Instacart’s ‘Bananas’ – all award-winning, music-led work produced out of the LA studio, with Australian talent helping build it. APRA AMCOS now bases its US operations from Squeak E. Clean’s LA headquarters.

“The Australian music industry spent a decade lamenting the talent drain to LA, but we saw that as an opportunity,” says David Gaddie, co-founder. “Our artist friends are over here because they feel they have to be, not by choice, so we’re the Australians who met them where they are. That Australian no-barrier-to-success attitude travels well, and with the industry changing so quickly, it’s an advantage.”

Since March, Head of Music Max Wilkinson has been quietly signing Australian artists, working from an insight he picked up over a decade at Universal Music Group. “We’ve taken a completely different approach. It’s not a lot of bodies for every brief,” he says. “It’s the most comprehensive pool of musical talent in the country, and every one of them is ready to work with brands. The work will do the talking.”

This model is old news at Squeak E. Clean. Co-founder and Exec-utive Creative Director Sam Spiegel wrote ‘Hello Tomorrow’, featuring Karen O, for Spike Jonze’s Adidas spot in 2005; it garnered the first Cannes Lion ever awarded for original music and later became a successful single. Twenty years later, the approach hasn’t changed: music made for a brand shouldn’t stop at the ad.

Spiegel says the influence now runs both ways: “There are Australians involved in our whole process now, including the engineers I use on everything I make. It’s not just the accent that dominates the studio. The Australian team changed how we work: they don’t overcomplicate things, and they don’t wait for permission. That’s in everything we do now.”

Meanwhile in South Melbourne, Head of Sound Paul Le Couteur is having one of the busiest years of a long career and is refusing to join the industry’s favourite pastime of worrying.

“There is definitely concern in the industry at the moment about external factors that will have an impact on the market,” says Le Couteur. “But I’ve lived through a few of these major ad industry shifts over the years, and the fact is that they transform things. It’s happening with our clients right now. Many creatives coming through the door this year are prepared to take chances, because they recognize that the old platforms and rules don’t apply anymore. That’s the fun part. Their fresh eyes and fresh perspectives are creating bolder, more creative work.”

Wilkinson’s take is simple: “Australian artists want a global audience. Brands want to matter culturally. We’re the ones in the middle who know both sides. That’s it, really.”

The banana suit is optional.

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