It's time to refresh your playlist with a stack of emerging artists as recommended by the nominees for the Queensland Music Awards People's Choice Awards Metro Venue Of The Year.
There's nothing quite like discovering a new artist to fall in love with, and there's always fresh talent to be found in the sprawl of our local live music venues.Here, the nominees select a host of exciting acts and artists for your listening pleasure.
The Fortitude Music Hall & The Triffid
Collar: Shoegazey, dark-psych electronica. Live is where they dominate. Spencer White (Morning Harvey) and Charles Murdoch (Charlie Why!) Expect to see them play every uber cool music and arts festival they want in 2022.Hope D: Hope cut her teeth on The Triffid Garden stage and spring-boarded to cult status at the start of 2020. Her emotive live shows are only missing full capacity shows post-COVID. 2022 is going to be her year.
Boss Moxi: Music and art collective don't do half measures. Some bands write a record and release it – Boss Moxi complement the record with graphic novels, their own music and arts festival, NFT development, DIY high production music videos, and film scores.
VOIID: A truly good punk band who adapt their shows to suit their surroundings. Equally as devastating in a small bar as they are when slaying The Fortitude Music Hall main stage. They’re the real deal!
HOTA
The Dharma Chain: Another Gold Coast local supergroup, made up of members of The Oogars, Bronte Eve and more. These locals have a unique sound that taps into the Queensland coast and the nostalgia of the music eras gone by.The Junk Bar
Girl and Girl: Sold out their show at The Junk Bar in 2021 and had punters lining up on the street trying to get in to see them. Their EP has been played so many times on our record player in the venue that it's on its last legs; their sound is so classic, but so unique at the same time – it's hard to stop listening to them.Beckah Amani: Another one to watch. Her songwriting and vocals are honestly on another level – every word she sings, you feel it right through to your core, and even just her soundcheck was enough to give us chills. Her lyrics combined with her voice just transport you emotionally, she’s incredible.
Nujrah (Arjun Singh): They came in as an underdog and blew us away; the band presented as tight as a touring act and their sound definitely caught our attention.
Lefty's Music Hall
Mou: Also known as Isaac Conomos, he was a staff member of ours throughout 2021. In early 2021, we discovered he created music and the team at Lefty's quickly became massive fans.Taylor Moss: Also a regular on the stage at Lefty's, she is an amazing country artist. She is a regular on the Aussie country festival circuit and already has over three million streams on Spotify.
Miami Marketta
Buttered, Beckah Amani, Sofia Isella and Lily Budiasa are all impressive, emerging Queensland artists we are excited to watch grow this year.In 2021 we created a residency programme to support these four musicians, seeing them on a monthly rotation on our front Street Food stage. All four artists were chosen for this residency because of their unique musical talents, and we cannot wait to see what they have to come this year.
Mo's Desert Clubhouse
Endless Valley: They are an incredible mood-scape psychedelic band that take you on a creative journey through their onstage presence and music ability.Boing Boing: Quintessential Queenslanders bringing the best punk rock in the most Australiana way possible. Again, great storytellers and live performance presence.
Fight Ibis: A dynamic Sunshine Coast band that have been moving up the ranks, they hold a unique sound to SE QLD and are both musically engaging and onstage captivating.
Blue Savannah Underworld: Brisbane's psych rock emerging favourites. Heavy and musically inspiring.
Rinser: Frontman Charlie is a unique and dynamic performer, his raw energy and power to hold an audience onstage is something to be reckoned with.
Princess Theatre
Hollow Coves: Excellent duo.Great Sage: Whimsical outfits and great storytelling, very cool to see live.
Radium Dolls: WOW, the lead guy is epic and really knows how to put on a show.
Studio 188
TAS: He performed at Ipswich Unearthed in June 2021 and has passion and skill to go far in the industry.Dream Dali: They played at Studio188 in September and blew us away. Their tight, dark-wave psychedelia paired with entrancing visuals made their live performance unforgettable, and we’re excited to follow their journey.
The Tivoli
JERM: Absolutely incredible live.Selve: These guys just keep getting better and better.
Dream Dali: An incredible trio that have epic visuals.
Sahara Beck: What a voice!
Full Flower Moon Band: The absolute highlight from Concrete Jungle (at The Princess).
Tomcat Bar
Cheap Date: They've now played at Tomcat a number of times, have an amazing sound and have been hitting the local touring scene hard.Space Flamingo: Still a very young band, but super talented, super keen, and again a great sound.
Brixton Alley: A current favourite with amazing stage presence, and they just rock and are great people all-round.
The Zoo
Piss Shivers. Dopamine.Voting in the 2022 People's Choice Awards – Metro Venue Of The Year / Regional Venue Of The Year / Festival Of The Year – is now open and closes 11:59pm EST 9 March.
The public vote with input from an expert industry panel will decide the winners. Everyone who casts their vote is in the running to win an overnight stay at New Farm's Calile Hotel and a double pass to the 2022 QMAs ceremony.
2022 Queensland Music Awards will be staged at The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane) 29 March.
