MUSIC CATEGORY
ALEKS MATIC & AMOS KIM
NEON CLOUDS
ARTIST STATEMENT
The song is about the journey to finding yourself in the world. You try going to different places and party with new people you meet but still question if it is right for you. You then decide to push yourself out your comfort zone and go to a place you’ve never been. In this place you find that you can just let yourself break free from all your fears and embrace your true self fully.
BIO
ALEKS MATIC and AMOS KIM are two upcoming artists based in Sydney. Both artists explore making music within the EDM genre, as well as the sub-genres of EDM. MATIC and KIM really focus on how they can blend storytelling in lyrics with the powerful production world of EDM. Both artists study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and started collaborating at the start of 2023 to make a Concept EDM E.P which is set to release at the end of 2023.
ATHANASIA
YOU’RE A HIT
ARTIST STATEMENT
Infused with sugary pop vibes, 'You're a Hit' captures the essence of your typical love song.
BIO
Clouded with sultry smoke and dripping in gold, ATHANASIA’s vocals are sure to create a sound for the senses. Fusing alternative-soul with up-beat electronica, she constructs both anthems for the summer and melancholic ballads. Her distinctive tone, both mellow and sonorous invoke names like Amy Winehouse, Adele and Billie Eilish. ATHANASIA’s journey to music started as a child, immersed by the sounds of her parents’ nostalgic CD’s that accompanied the long drives home. With their songs, unbiased to any decades or style, ATHANASIA developed an elemental affinity with music and began writing unrestrained by genre. Her music is most notably characterised by its frank lyrics and diaristic storytelling which captivate listeners and transports them to her innermost monologues.
COFFEE BEAN
HANDSTUFF
ARTIST STATEMENT
this is an album of songs! it's about whatever you'd like it to be about. it's about 30 minutes long, so i don't expect you to finish it. i hope the small section of it you listen to is ok. You can listen to the whole album here.
BIO
coffee "tom brand" bean is an architecture, law, and psychology dropout with dangerously high blood cholestoral, a history of drug addiction and is currently taking antidepressants. they have a history of suicidal ideation and social isolation. they broke their shoulder one time.
GIAN SANTORO
HOMEOSTASIS
ARTIST STATEMENT
Homeostasis is a song on Gian Santoro's first 2023 album, 'Reflections On The Waters' and the song speaks of torn romantic and familial relationships, and the acceptance of loss. Laid over a lamenting soul sample, Gian raps of their journey through grief and the necessity of pain to grow.
BIO
Gian Santoro is a hip-hop artist from Southwest Sydney whose music mainly focuses on topics of trauma, conflicting identities and finding a collective love through community and a passion for art. Gian’s style of music features introspective lyrics over soulful samples and lofi percussion, and they are constantly refining their craft to better project their soul.
HEMANS ERILIA
MIRROR MIRROR
ARTIST STATEMENT
‘Mirror Mirror’ is the second single to my debut EP, which shifts my focus from seeking validation from others, to learning self contentment. This song is my self-love anthem, as I finally recognise the importance of self-love, and learn to prioritize myself first. Thus, the song becomes my self-reflection - both representative and contemplatively. Hence, the upbeat tune is reminiscent of a coming-of-age anime soundtrack, an artist fusion of Western and Asian sounds, which I call my “comfort space”.
BIO
Hemans Erilia takes on the scene as she navigates through love in a turbulent world, bringing with her dramatic vocals and sounds that reimagines the vulnerable conversation of love and identity. An up-and-coming artist from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Hemans enters the field in a whirlpool of Asian and Western influences, as she marries the pop and cinematic world together. Growing up with Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Joe Hisaishi, Joey Yung and Disney’s entire discography, it's no wonder that her music came to be the kaleidoscopic soundcloud that it is now. In her short career, the all-rounded musician is playing at well-known venues such as Lansdowne Hotel and Oxford Art Factory, landing international interviews, getting spins on FBI radio and being recommended by Triple J Unearthed. Hemans’s debut single ‘Love Me This Way’ tells the world that “vulnerability is a strength”. She continues this conversation in ‘Make This Christmas’ and her collaboration in ‘Hope’. Now, Hemans looks to release her debut EP ‘flower crowns out of red flags’, a “cautionary fairy-tale” about her self-love journey. With the release of ‘Lover’s Dream’ and ‘Mirror Mirror’, Hemans is excited for her EP to be a comfort to those who are also struggling to love themselves.
HUNGRYGHOST
SPEAKING IN TONGUES
ARTIST STATEMENT
This piece encapsulates the disintegration of our memories as life accelerates. When listening to the conversations we once held, we are met with words that have faded into unintelligibility; meaningless husks of experiences. As a haze of unfamiliarity envelopes our memory, it’s fragility is illuminated; a truth buried beneath the present.
BIO
With influences from Clams Casino and Flume, Hungryghost exhibits a discography that seeks to blur distinctions between electronic genres. Such a reconstruction is achieved through a stereophonic exploration into dystopian soundscapes; disorienting the psychoacoustic experience of listeners whilst embracing heavy, evolving textures. Ultimately, Hungryghost is a freeing pursuit into unknown territories.
LEILA HARRIS
TERMAGANT
ARTIST STATEMENT
A Termagant is defined as a “harsh-tempered or overbearing woman” and “an imaginary deity of violent and turbulent character”. This track explores conflicting perceptions and expectations of women through an evocative soundscape responding to rhythmic patterns of the breath and whispers. For a deity, breath is play and power.
BIO
Leila Harris is a singer-songwriter, composer and producer who creates alternative/experimental music. She is passionate about blurring the genre constraints of contemporary, classical and theatre music and artistic disciplines to create outspoken art that speaks to diverse and untold stories.
MICHAEL PALMWATER
SYDNEY
ARTIST STATEMENT
Sydney captures the youthful excitement of stepping into a space of endless possibilities—both geographically and emotionally. The song serves as an homage to the rite of passage many young adults experience when leaving the familiar comfort of home to embrace the unknown in a new country, while also embarking on a transformative journey through college life.
BIO
Michael Palmwater is a multifaceted music producer whose creations resist simple labelling, but consistently deliver both creative ingenuity and emotional resonance. Operating across a range of genres—including Indie, French House, and Pop Punk—Michael Palmwater has established a unique niche in the musical landscape, enchanting audiences with a diverse array of sound experiences.
NICHOLAS ASTILL
STORM / SUNRISE
ARTIST STATEMENT
In the blend of the electronic and the acoustic, figures and gestures can evoke very vivid depictions of nature. Storms and sunrises are brilliant and converse demonstrations of raw energy in nature. Perhaps electro-acoustic interactions suggest such energy?
BIO
Headwound is Nicholas Astill: an awarded poet, professional visual artist, and music composer/producer from the south coast of Australia. He is also good at using words to make things sound more impressive than they are in reality.
ORAN HARKIN
LOSING YOU AGAIN (FEAT. JASMINE GOLDEN)
ARTIST STATEMENT
Losing you again was a song written by myself and Jasmine Golden in the span of 48 hours.
If I had to say what the song was about, I’d say it's about youthful relationships, and the love and loss that comes with them. It was born from the raw and unfiltered essence of resilience and determination in the face of heartbreak, encapsulating the idea that love, once found, is worth fighting for, even when it seems lost. Through evocative lyricism and emotive melodies, the song invites listeners to reflect on their own experiences of love, loss, and what it means to be young.
BIO
Oran is a Sydney/Eora-based artist with a multi-faceted practice in which sound is a key material of communication and investigation. Oran performs her original music as a multi-instrumentalist under 'Oran Harkin', composes electroacoustic music as 'The Brian We Know', and produces, mixes and masters his own contemporary dance infused electronic pop under the alias 'oranora'. In his musical endeavours, Oran hopes to respond to our call to climate change, personal wellbeing, and cultural renewal.
ROSEY JONES
WRAPPED IN DIVINITY
ARTIST STATEMENT
Synesthesia is the hearing of color, love for me is the seeing of feeling. It’s indescribable in words but often the essence of each other mixes to portray a portrait of emotion. We’re beyond senses yet the mix of sight, sound, and sensation are all involved. This song is the vibrant expression of this experience.
BIO
Rosey Jones is a singer and musician from the United States who found music and community to be the key of life in Tennessee. She then moved to New York and realized that in order to incorporate those aspects, one must have a realist business approach to their making. Since then, she has taken up engineering and marketing as her main focus with the underlying intention of interconnection.
saranghae
CHINATOWN! (LET’S GO OUT!)
ARTIST STATEMENT
Its a simple hyperpop song about my crush! I finally mustered the courage to ask her to hangout at chinatown. This song was made later that night at home.
BIO
saranghae is a fast-growing hyperpop artist showcasing reminiscent yet unique flavours of k-pop. His self production on his songs can range from energetic and electronic to emotional and acoustic. From his regular voice to his distinctive falsetto voice, saranghae boasts one of the most diverse discographies amongst his underground contemporaries.
TAKUAN
EMPEROR
ARTIST STATEMENT
An extra raw style track from me and my friend Dark Burnerz. I made several kicks and leads in this song. This song is released in our own label called polaron carnival.
BIO
A hardstyle, synth wave producer from Shanghai China, I have started to make music for 2 years, my track have been released by Macrame Music, Hilarity Leap Records, Psychic Dominator Records and Seal Network(but I released this track in our own label). In 2023, I have set up a new hardstyle label 'Polaron Carnival' with my friend Darkburnerz. Hope that we can spread our sounds to Australia.
THICK VENEER
UNAWAITING SPOTLIGHTS
ARTIST STATEMENT
Unawaiting Spotlights is a two-part track that ponders the desire to fulfil longing that may best be left unfulfilled. I often find myself mistakenly wishing for greener grass and I take myself out of a moment or experience I will long for in retrospect.
BIO
Thick Veneer is a band of two brothers, Patrick and Dominic Moore. Music was a passion for both of us before beginning school and the years of talking, writing and listening to music has culminated in a desire to share our music with others.
TIFFANY WENG
TUESDAY IS FOR BUSINESS COMMUTES IN A GREY HOODIE
ARTIST STATEMENT
Musicalizing my perception of Sydney while commuting on a busy Tuesday, this piece captures various daily-life sonorities of the urban life from a fresh perspective. Through digital sound manipulation, listeners are taken on a surrealistic journey to experience the ordinary, as they resonate and relate to their own imagination of this city.
BIO
A composer exploring various forms of music while pursuing a degree in marketing. I work across various genres including pop, classical, contemporary and electronic to create story-telling, intimate, and heartfelt musical pieces.