Violent Soho pick up two QLD Music Awards

A music-loving public joined forces with the Queensland music industry last night to celebrate the state’s finest artists at the annual Queensland Music Awards, presented by BOQ and Hutchinson Builders.

Held at Brisbane Powerhouse, the night belonged to local legends Violent Soho who picked up two awards including Song of the Year and the Rock Award for their song – Like Soda.

 

Another star of the night was Luke Daniel Peacock, who took out the Indigenous category, as well as the prestigious $10,000 Billy Thorpe Scholarship, supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

This year’s awards were hosted by triple j’s Gen Fricker, whose tongue-in-cheek style brought an offbeat energy to the ceremony. Indie-psychedelic supergroup The Belligerents set the scene for the night with a rocking rendition of In My Way, while Indigenous award nominee Emily Wurramura’s earthy and honest performance of Black Smoke gave the night one of its more reflective moments.

Brisbane four-piece Blank Realm collected the Album of the Year award for their acclaimed release Illegals In Heaven. New categories recognised the commercial success of Queensland artists, at home and abroad: globetrotters Sheppard received the Export Achievement Award, Jarryd James’ Do You Remember was the Highest Selling Single by a Queenslander in 2015, while The Veronicas self-titled album took out the Highest Selling Album Category.

The night was dominated by a diversity of female talent. Doolie’s win in the Schools category forPristine was quickly followed by an otherworldly performance by Ayla, who also went on to win the Regional Award for her song Waiting.

Other awards went to rising stars Dana Hassall who won the Country Award and Sahara Beckwho received the Folk / Singer Songwriter Award.

Amy Shark showed everyone why she is LA-bound, taking out the Pop Award from an all-female field, and dropping jaws with a polished yet emotional performance of her winning track, Golden Fleece.

Avaberée, Joe Agius (The Creases) and Deena were judged by the public to be the worthy winners of new Bank of Queensland People’s Choice awards that provide emerging artists a financial kick-start to their career.

This year’s recipient of the Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award was recently retired Courier-Mail journalist Noel Mengel, whose words have created a greater public understanding and awareness of the Queensland music industry for many decades.

QMusic’s Executive Officer Joel Edmondson said, "Time and again, the Queensland Music Awards prove that Queensland produces some of Australia’s most talented and exciting musicians. Although there can only be one winner in each category, the depth of talent that the QMAs have unearthed this year is staggering. The format consistently proves that opening the application process to the general public creates a space for unknown gems to shine. This year was also a great chance to create new ways of celebrating the commercial success of Queensland musicians around the world.”

 

 

CATEGORY	SONG		ACT	SONGWRITER
POP	Golden Fleece		Amy Shark	Amy Shark
ROCK	Like Soda		Violent Soho	Luke Boerdam, James Tidswell, Michael Richards, Luke Henery
ELECTRONIC / DANCE	Tenderness		Standby Empire	Tom Wensley, Nathan Morrison
BLUES / ROOTS	Impolite		Bearfoot	Asher Chapman, Rhys Fox, Sean Keenan, Damian Khoury, Rohan Nitschke, Sullivan Heywood
HEAVY	Marigold		Caligula’s Horse	Samuel Vallen, James Grey, Zachary Greensill
JAZZ	Hope in My Pocket		Berardi/Foran/Karlen	Sean Foran, Rafael Karlen, Kristin Berardi
SCHOOLS	PRISTINE		Doolie	Doolie
INDIGENOUS	Fruits of Our Labour		Luke Daniel Peacock	Luke Daniel Peacock
URBAN	Move Actively		Astro Travellers	Ali Lakhani, Rui Da Cruz Vieira, Tiana Naug, Jessi Dunbar, Sam Maguire, Rohan Seekers
COUNTRY	Spinning Wheels		Dana Hassall	Dana Hassall
WORLD	Nightwatch		MZAZA	Pauline Maudy, Stephen Cuttriss, Greta Kelly, Jordan Stamos, Chloe Ann Williamson, John Robertson
FOLK SINGER / SONGWRITER	Mother Mother		Sahara Beck	Sahara Beck
CHILDREN’S MUSIC	Kangaroo Dance A Roo		Carolyn Simpson/ The Kangagang	Carolyn Simpson
REGIONAL	Waiting		Ayla	Ayla
MUSIC VIDEO	TV		Eves The Behavior	Written by: Hannah Karydas, Adam Spark
BOQ People’s Choice Most Promising Female Songwriter				Deena
BOQ People’s Choice Most Promising Male Songwriter				Joe Aguis (The Creases)
BOQ People’s Choice Most Promising Songwriting Team				Avaberee
Album of the Year Award		Illegals In Heaven		Blank Realm
Song of the Year Award		Like Soda		Violent Soho
Billy Thorpe Scholarship Award				Luke Daniel Peacock
Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award				Noel Mengel