Adelaide is the Australian UNESCO City of Music, which may go part of the way to explain why there is so much musical talent in South Australia. The SA Music Awards, held at the Dom Polski Centre this year, is a way of recognising talent, established, new and emerging. With the support of several Government, media and industry partners, the awards include Special Awards, Industry Awards, Major Awards and People’s Choice Awards with over thirty categories. It takes a night like this to appreciate the broad scope of talent in SA.
Opening proceedings, West Thebarton performed a few of their hits, kicking off the night nicely. A genuine and welcoming “Welcome to Country” settled the audience nicely for what was to come. Ash McGregor from Triple J’s “Home and Hosed” show and local man about town Henry Doyle were upbeat and vibrant emcees for the evening’s celebrations. The first nomination was a new category sponsored by local printing company Atkins Lab – for “Best Photograph” which was won by Deb Kloeden for her photo of The Empty Threats taken at last year’s awards.
The big winner of the evening was indie rocker aleksia who took home four awards, Best New Artist, Best Solo Artist, Emily Burroughs Award and Most Popular Artist. The Emily Burroughs Award was set up in 2001 by APRA AMCOS in memory of Emily Burroughs, a young APRA representative who worked tirelessly to support young songwriters and composers. The Award was presented by Gary Burroughs (Emily’s father and previous APRA employee for SA) .
The Neville Clark Award honours the late Neville Clark, who was a leading mastering engineer, owner of Disk Edits and highly respected champion of SA music and production. The Award was presented to two outstanding sound engineering students, Matt Stasinowsky and Joshua Rocca.
Dr Oliver Fartach-Naini was recognised with the UNESCO Best International Collaboration Award. Dr Fartach-Naini developed musical and cultural exchange between Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music and two South Korean UNESCO Creative Cities of Music, Daegu and Tongyeong.
Also recognised was the world’s first all-female learning-disabled group Sisters of Invention, who were recognised for their ongoing work in the disability awareness space. They were awarded the MusicSA Community Achievement Award.
Guy Sebastian was inducted into the AMC SA Music Hall of Fame. He is one of Australia’s most successful male artists, with a 6 ARIA singles and three #1 albums. Before playing a set of music he gave an inspirational and humble speech. He thanked his family, many if whom were present to witness the award. He told the amusing anecdote of picking up his son early from school to come to Adelaide. When the teacher asked if it was a special occasion, his son replied that his dad was going to be abducted.
Reminiscing on his time growing up in Salisbury East, playing soccer in Modbury, singing at Baptist Church, you could feel a real sense of Guy’s gratitude and connection to South Australia.
Other major winners included Teenage Joans with Best Group, to go with their People’s Choice Award for Most Popular Punk Artist, while Electric Fields received Best Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Artist and DEM MOB returned to the winner’s circle after last year’s award haul, taking home Best Regional Artist.
Performances from My Cherié and Sons of Zöku kept the energy levels high between awards. One takeaway from the full list of awards below, is that there were at least four or five worthy nominations for each category. Which just goes to reinforce the idea that Adelaide really is Australia’s UNESCO City of Music.
THE COMPLETE LIST OF 2024 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MUSIC AWARD WINNERS
Special Awards
- International Collaboration Award – Dr. Oliver Fartach-Naini
- Community Achievement Award – Sisters of Invention
- Emily Burrows Award – aleksiah
- Neville Clark Award – Matt Stasinowsky, Joshua Rocca
Major Awards
- Best Song – Ceiling Fan by Swapmeet
- Best New Artist – aleksiah
- Best Regional Artist – DEM MOB
- Best Group – Teenage Joans
- Best Solo Artist – aleksiah
- Best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Artist – Electric Fields
- Best Release – Oxalis by Swapmeet
Industry Awards
- Best Studio – Forest Range Studio
- Best Large Music Festival – Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival
- Best Small Music Festival – Space Jams
- Best Studio Engineer / Producer – Lucinda Machin
- Best Live Technician – Luke Hancock
- Best Manager – Rachel Whitford
- Best Live Music Venue – Crown & Anchor
- Best Regional Venue, Festival, or Music Event – South East Beer & BBQ Festival
- Best Cover Art – Aysh Field for Coldwave, No Conflict
- Best Music Video – Bryce Kraehenbuehl for LOLA, Game Over
- Best Music Photograph – Deb Kloeden for The Empty Threats
- Best Music Educator – Annie Siegmann
People’s Choice Awards
- Most Popular Blues & Roots Artist – The Honey Badgers
- Most Popular Country Artist – Brad Chicken & The Bootstraps
- Most Popular Electronic Artist – Jane Doe
- Most Popular Experimental or Art Music Artist – SONS OF ZÖKU
- Most Popular Folk Artist – Maisie B.
- Most Popular Heavy Artist – The Munch
- Most Popular Hip Hop Artist – J-MILLA
- Most Popular Jazz Artist – Adam Page
- Most Popular Pop Artist – aleksiah
- Most Popular Punk Artist – Teenage Joans
- Most Popular Rock Artist – West Thebarton
- Most Popular Soul, Funk, or R’n’B Artist – Ukulele Death Squad
For more information on the South Australian Music Awards, visit southaustralianmusicawards.com.au
