ARTICLE by Victor Stranges
No sooner had Anthea Palmer closed the doors to her live music venue in Swan Street, Richmond, the serial entrepreneur is next week launching a print only quarterly magazine. She asserts that the magazine will be "shining a light on the bravely creative with the goal of inspiring readers to be the same." Say hello to Jimmy Hornet Magazine.
With a fist full of creative currency and a work ethic that would confound your grandfather's generation, Palmer has quietly reinvented herself as a publisher. She picks up where her successful string of music venues left off. The author of this piece has personally worked with Ms Palmer and can attest that she is the hardest working person in showbiz. Who else do you know that harvests their work hours? Someone on a mission, that's who.
The Adelaide girl, born and bred, found a home in the rock 'n' roll business as lead singer in her early 1990s band, Drama Queen. She went on to open the popular Watch Tower Studio in South Melbourne showcasing local visual artists and designers. The studio was a gallery of paintings, photography, textiles, and sculpture.
By the time she launched her live music venue, The Chandelier Room, Palmer's thirst for artist development was in full swing, hosting hundreds of shows from established musicians as well as up and comers that would later find national and international success including Tash Sultana and Jordie Lane.
As if she wasn't busy enough, Palmer also found time to mentor and coach over 200 music students as Founder of Melbourne Rock School.
2016 saw Palmer open the first Jimmy Hornet venue in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, China. The venue operated under the much coveted ‘Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise’ certification. In addition to running the venue, Palmer created a seven city tour of South East Asia for Australian Singer Songwriters.
The success of the Chinese experience led Palmer to open Jimmy Hornet Richmond (Melbourne) and opened its doors in February 2020 as an Intimate Music Lounge.
It specialised in original and unique music content, with live performances six nights a week for local, national and international artists.
When Jimmy Hornet shut down during lockdowns, Palmer turned to the online world.
The Hornet Press was launched in 2021 as a monthly digital magazine and a way of staying in touch with its musical community and customers, and it quickly built an underground following.
“When lockdowns ended it turned out we had created an audience that demanded we continue sharing stories... We decided to scour Australia for the best stories to share, and with that Jimmy Hornet the magazine was born” ,”
(Anthea Palmer, Editor in Chief, Jimmy Hornet)
It's March 2023 and Anthea Palmer is signing off on final proofs. She is going to print with her new publication, Jimmy Hornet Magazine. The quarterly will be revealing stories of established artists, musicians, authors, and personalities and is seeking to discover the next generation of talent along the way.
Featuring, interviews, rants, research pieces, and photography, readers can expect to find a quirky sort of cool between the pages. From art, design, music, mindset, and entrepreneurial articles to general grooviness, Palmer says, "this is a magazine that’s a little bit sundry and a little bit rock’n’roll."
Jimmy Hornet Magazine will launch Saturday, March 18 and will be available to purchase after that time. The magazine will retail for $25 with a limited quantity of 1,000 copies available in the first print run.