MUSIC CATEGORY
Brigadoon
Queen Cow
Artist Statement
This piece was designed as an experimental piece of musical collage based on the "found sounds" of the initial rhythm, which came from a vinyl record which had stuck on rotation after it had finished playing. This was built upon with guitars, vocals, a child's toy (the cow of the title) and other effects.
Bio
Barnaby Smith is a singer-songwriter, poet, researcher and journalist based in the Blue Mountains. He has released the album Itch Factor (which "Queen Cow" is on), with a second LP close to completion. He is a PhD candidate at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Dr.3w
Reel it in
Artist Statement
The song Reel it in taps into the bad habit of doom scrolling but also talks about how comforting it can be. I metaphorically compare “reeling it in” as a way of processing information and instagram reels as a process of self comfort and relaxation for one person. The song is simply something that everyone can relate to.
Bio
My name is Drew, a Filipino artist from Western Sydney that makes RnB and Pop music heavily influenced by Jazz and Hip-Hop. I’ve immersed myself in music production since I was 13 and since then I’ve been improving myself and always learning about different styles of music and how I can incorporate that into my own practice. I hope to be able to perform my music for other people and for them to resonate with the stories that I bring.
Pico Dos Santos Lee
Hunted
Artist Statement
In this piece, I wanted to push the compositional and sonic limits of my saxophone. All sounds (barring the drums) were created using different parts of a saxophone. This included techniques like glissandos with just the mouthpiece, clicking the reed, blowing into the neck, rapping the body, and playing split-tones.
Bio
Pico is an independent artist and freelance composer for art and the screen. He grew up playing a litany of instruments and loves experimenting with interesting textures and field recordings. Rather than melody, Pico enjoys using timbre as a central compositional technique to evoke strong emotions.
INDIANNA
Liminal Space
Artist Statement
My mind is captured in a state of limbo. My purpose unclear. My reason for being on hold. Until - a doorway, a light at the surface. Can I be compelled to breathe again?
Bio
From a little village surrounded by bushland, I wrote in amongst the trees where it was quiet. There I found a path bursting with flowers. Sometimes they shared their beauty, other times their thorns. Harmony. Discord. This was the way of wild things.
Amos Kim
butterflies
Artist Statement
butterflies explores the vulnerability and longing that comes with deep emotional connection. Rooted in late-night yearning and heartfelt confessions, the song captures the thrill and uncertainty of love. Through expressive lyrics and intimate imagery, it reflects the desire to break past hesitation and embrace love fully, without restraint.
Bio
Amos Kim is a Korean-Australian artist and producer. His sound blends smooth R&B with electronic textures, weaving together heartfelt emotion and modern production. Amos’s work highlights delicate vocals, honest storytelling, and a genre-blurring approach that continues to evolve with each new release.
Kelipso (ft. Lara Inman & Max Amoyal)
Said It First
Artist Statement
Said It First portrays themes of disappointment, fixation, and the bittersweetness of the connection between two naive people caught in a relationship. It illustrates not mourning the affair itself, but rather grieving the loss of control and the regret of not being the one to ‘pull the trigger’.
Bio
We are ⅖ of the Sydney-based indie-pop band called Kelipso. This work was created by USYD students, Max Amoyal (guitar) and Lara Inman (vocals), after numerous voice memos were sent back and forth to find the right chords, guitar picking and lyrics to tell the story.
FREDDY & Looks (ft. Jeremy Hugh Vidler Smith & Tashi-Louise Laurie Flint)
Our Love is a Symphony
Artist Statement
Our Love is a Symphony: a punchy pop tune transporting the listener to a nostalgic underground night club in the 2000s, Pharrell blasting out of the convertable, girls in cheetah print tanks lined up outside and FREDDY & Looks bringing the swag and fun back into music. Quirky, witty lyrics matched with a booming bassline, this song is sure to blow your ears off.
Bio
We are collaborative artists-turned lovers and the music we create together is a product of our shared admiration of all genres and eachother.
Polly (ft. Fifi McMillan, Tama Williams & Aden Thiess)
I Know What I Saw
Artist Statement
I Know What I Saw is a lyrical contemplation on over-analysis in romance. Musically, it is a rock ballad that draws on vintage R&B, coming together as a poetic and distinctly off-kilter slow jam.
Bio
Polly are a noisy guitar-pop band from Sydney's inner west.
Making reference to Australia's long standing pub rock traditions, the band combines well crafted, literate songwriting with volume and energy.
Fifi McMillan - Bass Guitar
Tama Williams - Drums
Aden Thiess - Engineering/Mixing
Maya Riv (with Morgan Monk)
Rainbow Cove
Artist Statement
Rainbow Cove was created and released as an testament to the power of creativity and musical enjoyment. It had no accompanying release strategy or digital marketing plan. Zero dollars was spent on the production or release. As depressing as it is, AI music, online trends and our streaming overlord Spotify can’t possibly sustain this constant growth for much longer, because what we all crave is authenticity, connection and true art. This is why Rainbow Cove was created; to inspire other students to let the world see their art and to build a community that is based on something deeper than passing trends and viral moments.
Bio
Maya Riv is a 20-year-old producer, session guitarist and student at The Sydney Conservatorium of Music making strange and psychedelic pop music. Catch her sporting eye-catching seventies-style outfits whilst tearing up stages on her guitar all across NSW.
Gian Santoro
walk w me
Artist Statement
Gian Santoro’s song walk w me is a raw, authentic and poetic journey through the artist’s experiences of suffering and struggle. The soulful sampling and soft instrumentation provides a soundtrack for the confessional verses, and the sung hook echoes the desire for change, growth and self-reclamation.
Bio
Hailing from Southwest Sydney, Gian Santoro is a hip-hop artist whose music captures the raw essence of personal growth, identity struggles, and the healing power of community and art. Gian weaves introspective lyrics over soulful samples and lofi percussion, crafting a sound that is both nostalgic and refreshingly modern.
Cara Sullivan
Winter - at the end
Artist Statement
This piece is the final track of a 4 song Concept EP, where each song is a new season in a person's life. Winter - at the end is a song about finding comfort within the cold, and peace at the end of a life well lived.
Bio
Cara Sullivan is a Sydney based singer/songwriter/producer in her 3rd year of Contemporary Music Practice at the Conservatorium of Music. Music has become her way of connecting with herself and the people around her and she hopes to to be able to continue to share it.
V!DE
Bubble Gum
Artist Statement
Bubblegum is a hyperpop music exploring the chaotic sweetness of teenage love. Inspired by personal memories, it uses nostalgic Y2K visuals, playful effects, and an original song to express fleeting desire. It reclaims girlish aesthetics as sincere, portraying love as performative, vulnerable, and powerful briefly adored, then discarded.
Bio
I’m a multi-disciplinary artist capturing Gen Z nostalgia and the raw emotions felt only in our teens and twenties. Through hyperpop music and visually rich music videos, I express my identity. Blending diverse sounds with bold visual effects, my work reflects youth, chaos, vulnerability, and the desire to be seen.
Where She Was (ft. Alexander Hsieh, Achille Fong, Sophie Morrison, Tom Toft & Ella Sheehy)
Now or Never
Artist Statement
Captures the rush of meeting the right person at the right time — a moment so rare, it demands everything or nothing at all.
Bio
Just three uni kids who love pop punk and aren't afraid to scream about it.
Derek Wu (with Spencer Oxnam, Lara Ueki & Jamie Brew)
state of mind...
Artist Statement
state of mind… explores the tension between tranquility and stress through evolving musical material. As serene and agitated states collide and transform, the piece traces a psychological journey where inner turmoil gradually overtakes calm, culminating in a final, distorted echo of the opening—now shadowed by unease.
Bio
I am a first-year composition student at the Conservatorium, with extensive experience in arranging and composing, plus orchestral performance including The Sydney Youth Orchestra.
Yo Oo Ya (ㅕㅜㅑ) (ft. Shimmy & Angus Jin)
MIA
Artist Statement
MIA stands for "Missing in Action", but in Korean, it also means "missing child", a double meaning that anchors the heart of this project. The song explores the disorienting passage into adulthood. While you're busy looking for directions, the "child" inside you tugs at your sleeve and tells you to come out and play!
Bio
Yo Oo Ya (ㅕㅜㅑ) is a Sydney based music project formed by Aus-born Korean duo Shimmy and Angus. Together, they craft playful, dreamy sounds with melancholy and darker textures, weaving in Korean poetry. Shimmy is the writer and voice, while Angus fills the Yo Oo Ya world with genre-blurring instrumentals.