The Jane Austen Argument is an Australian musical duo from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Formed in 2010 by Tom Dickins (vocals, piano,

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

) and Jen Kingwell (piano, vocals, ukulele), the band considers themselves an "

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

duo with overtones of

anti-folk Anti-folk (sometimes referred to as unfolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in response to the remnants of the 1960s folk music scene. Anti-folk music was made to mock the perceived seriousness of the time's mainstream music scene, a ...

and

punk love ''Punk Love'' is a 2006 independent film focusing on a romance between two people haunted by abuse and addiction. ''Punk Love'' was directed and written by Nick Lyon, and stars Chad Lindberg and Emma Bing.Encyclopedia of Television Film Director ...

". The duo has had a great amount of support by friend and fellow artist

Amanda Palmer Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...

, and have supported her on her Goes Down Under Tour of 2011 as well as featured on her compilation record of the same name. Their debut album ''Somewhere Under The Rainbow'' was released through

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

on 2 March 2012.

Career

Formation and naming

Dickins and Kingwell met in 2009, during a cigarette break whilst working at a student union discovering mutual interests such as

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...

and

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

. Dickins at the time was planning a cabaret show, but was in need of a pianist, whereas Kingwell, a skilled pianist, was in need of a partner. The two began playing together in 2009, and in 2010 decided to make their musical partnership official. After initial difficulty settling on a name, the pair decided on The Jane Austen Argument, in reference to a long-running difference of opinion over the works of

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Early performances

Prior to the release of their first EP, the duo performed at numerous music festivals within Australia, performing at

Midsumma Festival Midsumma Festival is an annual celebration of LGBTQIA+ arts and cultures, held annually for 22 days across January and February in Melbourne, Australia. The festival began as a one-week celebration of gay pride in 1989. The festival has expande ...

and MONA FOMA. In 2010, they won the title of Best Cabaret Performance for their performance of Where Was I? at the

Adelaide Fringe The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...

Festival, a title they won again in 2011, as well as being Highly Commended for the Best Cabaret award for their performance of The Spaces Between at

Melbourne Fringe Festival The Melbourne Fringe Festival is an annual independent arts festival in Melbourne, Australia, usually over three weeks from late September to early October. Held since 1982, the Festival includes a wide variety of art forms, including theatre, com ...

''The Birthing Pyre'' and ''Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under''

, a long-time friend of Tom Dickins, promoted the band, often having them open for her at her own shows and performing alongside them. A recording of Dickins and Palmer performing a duet of ''Bad Wine and Lemon Cake'' at the

Festival was included in Palmer's 2011 album ''

Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under ''Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under'' is the first live album by Amanda Palmer, released on January 21, 2011, through Liberator Music in Australia and New Zealand and self-released worldwide via Palmer's Bandcamp and through her merchandise company ...

''. In January 2011, the duo supported the Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under tour, launching their debut EP ''The Birthing Pyre'' at Palmer's Australia Day Spectacular show at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

on 26 January 2011. When recording the last track of the EP, The Debt Collectors, Dickins and Kingwell used

social networking websites A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...

to advertise a need for backing vocals. Several fans recorded themselves singing and harmonising the parts described by Dickins, and sent the audio to the band. These fans are credited in the EP liner notes as the "Twitter Choir".

''The Plan Behind (The Beautiful Mess We Made)''

In May 2011, Dickins played his solo Fuck Plan B show at Revolt

. Named from an email from

, in which she told him: "Jettison the job. Fuck Plan B. I'll support you in any way I can", Tom announced on 20 May at a show at Revolt Melbourne that he had quit his job and was dedicated to pursuing his musical career full-time. This gig was recorded, and released as the band's second EP, ''The Plan Behind (The Beautiful Mess We Made)'', which itself launched on 28 July 2011. Jen Kingwell - London Bridge Studios

Pozible Fundraiser, Seattle and Dickins-In-Exile

On 21 July 2011, the band announced their intentions to record their debut album, ''Somewhere Under The Rainbow'', in Seattle. However, at that point they had not yet accumulated the finances to do this, so, simultaneously, they announced a fundraiser, hosted by Australian

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

website Pozible. Although the band required an additional $10,000 for their fund, they set their target donation total at $5,000, offering fans special gifts in exchange for donations. Rewards were conditional to the amount donated, and included a vast amount of goods, from a free digital download of ''Somewhere Under the Rainbow'' for $5, to appearances in future music videos for donations over $1,000. As a result of their efforts of the band, and that of their fans, the band earned a total of $9,063, 181% of their initial goal of $5,000. After performing at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, the band did a brief tour of Europe before setting in Seattle to record their album at London Bridge Studio. During this period, they also recorded a music video for a track on their upcoming album. The band released the first single, Holes, for order online on 3 November. The lyrics to the titular song were written by friend and famed author

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

. After recording the tracks for ''Somewhere Under the Rainbow'', the band accompanied

and Neil Gaiman on a tour of North America on the 'Evening with Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer' tour. After travelling to Canada for a show in Vancouver, Dickins was not permitted re-entry into the United States. This period became referred to by Dickins, and fans, as "Dickins-In-Exile". Shortly after, the band returned to Australia. In January 2012, The Jane Austen Argument supported

The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; ad ...

as an opening act on their tour of Australia.

''Somewhere Under the Rainbow''

On 24 February 2012, the Jane Austen Argument's debut album, ''Somewhere Under the Rainbow'', was made available for pre-release download for those who donated to the Pozible fund. On 27 February 2012, ''Somewhere Under the Rainbow'' was made available for pre-order. Pre-ordering the album allowed buyers to download the first three tracks of the album prior to the release. The pre-order peaked at number 1 on

on the same day. The duo launched their album to the public on 2 March 2012 during a round of performances at

Festival.

Arrangement, theatrics and "Twitnics"

Both Tom Dickins and Jen Kingwell play piano and ukulele, as well as contribute vocals to their songs. Dickins can also play guitar. The arrangement of instruments and singing varies, though Kingwell generally plays the piano more often than Dickins, each contributing vocals equally. The band have adopted a unique style of dress when performing.

Feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...

s, glitter and make-up feature heavily in their costumes during their performances. Dickins has become well known for wearing a pair of upside-down black wings at his live performances. The duo also frequently include humour as part of their live performances. During the '

Tour', the band began doing meets with fans, and small, free public performances. These soon became known as "Twitnics", a portmanteau referring to the use of

social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...

to plan and promote these small performances, as well as their

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

-like nature.

Discography

EPs EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to: Commerce and finance * Earnings per share * Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China * Express Payment System, in the Philippines Education * Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, Al ...

: * ''The Birthing Pyre'' (2011) * ''The Plan Behind (The Beautiful Mess We Made)'' (2011)

Singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

: * ''Under The Rainbow/Weightless Double Single'' (With Neon Bogart) (2011) * ''Holes'' (2011) * ''northsoutheastwest'' (2012) Studio albums: * ''Somewhere Under The Rainbow'' (2012)

Awards and commendations

* Won – Best Cabaret at the

Festival, 2010 * Highly Commended – Best Cabaret at the

, 2010 Additionally, Tom and Jen directed Sophie Walsh Harrington's ''Damsel in Shining Armour'' show at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival, which won the Best Cabaret award.