Bowral and Mittagong have contributed to the livelihood of a middle class man who has never been to the two towns.
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In fact many towns around the world have kept Matt Farley of Motern Media in the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed.
Mr Farley has taken advantage of the internet, podcasts, Wikipedia and a little bit of imagination to make a living without even leaving his basement.
The singer-songwriter has written about 80 novelty songs about the most populated Australia cities and towns he has never visited for an album called These Australian Places Deserve These Nice Songs.
“All my information for these songs comes from glancing at a Wikipedia article,” he said.
The Australian-themed album has earned Mr Farley about $55 per year since it was released.
Mittagong Song has earned the songwriter $3.34 since it was released, while Look at Bowral. Isn’t It Glorious? has earned $1.88.
Fortunately other albums are pulling in more money to help Mr Farley sustain an income from his music.
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Mr Farley has amassed about 19,000 songs in his catalogue on a variety of topics.
“I'm also motivated by the fact that more songs equals more money from streaming royalties,” he said.
“I haven't run out of ideas. There are lots of topics that aren't typically covered in songs. So I have a long list of themes that I won't get through for a long time.”
Why does he do this?
“As an independent artist, I've found that the best way to make a name for myself has been by making lots and lots of music,” Mr Farley said.
“The more songs I have, the more likely it is that someone will discover that song.
“When iTunes and Spotify became the primary way that people found music, I realize that it would be easier for people to discover my songs if I wrote songs about extremely specific things.
“I'm motivated by my love for creating things.”
The secret to Mr Farley’s success is the quantity of his music catalogue.
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“Songs like these aren't particularly profitable unless you've written thousands and thousands of them,” he said.
“So I've written thousands and thousands of them!”
The annual Tulip Time festival is featured in Look at Bowral. Isn’t It Glorious?
“Bowral, what a good place, what a nice town, it’s got a lot of cool stuff. It’s Tulip Time in Bowral. Yes it is,” Mr Farley sings.
Tourists who listen to the Mittagong Song before they arrive in the town might be disappointed to find one of the attractions mentioned is not able to be visited.
“Take a look at the Maltings, yeah. Mittagong, Mittagong, Mittagong, Mittagong, oh yeah.”
Mr Farley started writing songs about every topic imaginable in 2008.
He changes his name to correspond with the theme of his albums.
He has more than 70 aliases including Papa Razzi And The Photogs, The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man, The Toilet Bowl Cleaners, The Passionate and Objective Jokerfan and The Singing Animal Lover.
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The highlights of Mr Farley’s career include performing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2016.
He was also the subject of an ABC documentary called Lessons from a Middle Class Artist.
Mr Farley hosts an annual five and a half hour “concert extravaganza” in his hometown of Danvers, Massachusetts.
At last year’s extravaganza, one person travelled from Australia to attend.
Mr Farley has declared that June 3 is World Motern Day.
On this day, he aims to get one million people to listen to the Official Motern Media playlist on Spotify.
Each time a person listens, Mr Farley earns about $1 per song.
He hopes to one day make a million dollars.
Mr Farley has hosted several World Motern Days and each has failed to earn him more than a few hundred dollars.
Mr Farley’s songs are available on Spotify and iTunes.
