With o-week having come to an end and the grind of uni underway, here’s The Tertangala’s scoop on the serious talent we got to witness. I had a chat with some of the musicians who are defining the golden standard of artistry on display right here UOW – o-week and beyond, you’ll want to commit these names to memory.
Can you tell us about you and your music?
Yes, I’ve been like playing guitar and singing for a while now, but ever since I’ve started studying music at UOW I’ve really gotten into music. I’ve started like writing my own songs and I’ve been playing at open mic night a lot the past two years, just trying to build up my skills, build up my repertoire. So then I can start gigging and also with my music, I’m in the process of getting two of my songs produced by Mark and the Music Foundry. Once I’ve got those two songs, that should be ready in like a month or two, then I’m hoping to release it on Spotify and Apple Music.
Who are your musical influences?
So many! I love Bruno Mars, he’s got curly hair like me. And he’s just an awesome dancer and songwriter. He’s the best performer in my eyes. But I also love John Mayer. A lot of the songs I write are kind of inspired by the John Mayer style of writing.
How would you describe the vibe of your set for o-week?
Very acoustic laid-back. Singing love songs. I did one original song last night and then I did a couple of covers. My original song was about a relationship that didn’t work out and it’s called ‘Dreaming Different Ways’.
How has being at uni shaped your musical practice?
Being at uni, being around all these musicians has definitely pushed me to keep up with my music and inspired me to write songs and keep performing because if I didn’t have that motivation from my friends, I don’t know if I’d be doing music as much. Uni is also the best place to like learn new music skills, try new things. And yeah, this music course, I especially love the production components of it. So we get to work with Logic Pro and Ableton Live to create our own music and produce our own stuff. A brand new recording studio has been installed in building 29.
Could you tell us about UOW Music Culture Club?
We just started the club this year. UOW has never had a music club before, which is kind of crazy because there’s so many awesome musicians who are born here. So, it’s kind of a community for us to bring musicians together. Especially people who aren’t necessarily studying music, they may not have that community around them to have support – so we’ve got that. Now, we’re running the UOW open mic night. We’re running the other o-week performances. We’re getting students paid for those performances, which is really great. Some of the students had never been paid for gig before. We run the UOW’s Got Talent every year, where we just try and we get a whole bunch of different talents. You don’t even have to be a musician. You could be a dancer, a comedian. Last year, we had a $500 cash prize for that. We also want to do lots more with the music club. We don’t want to stop there. We’re still trying to get ideas for different events that we can put on throughout the year.
What’s in the future for you and your music?
I definitely want to produce my music, release songs. I’ve been doing a bit of research into this, how exactly to promote my music through advertising, socials, that kind of thing. I’ve also seen like some of my mates recently release music on Spotify. So, I’ve been watching how they produce their music and taking ideas and elements of their promoting. Yeah, I just want to play some music. Just more gigs and see where that goes.
Show your support for UOW Music Culture Club, follow them on Insta here, get involved & join a community aiming to share the magic of music.
Tell us about you and your music.
My name is Kye Hall, I’m a singer-songwriter in the Illawarra and I make sad acoustic music.
Who are your musical influences?
My major musical influences are Elliott Smith, Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief) and Andy Shauf.
How would you describe the vibe of your set for o-week?
The vibe for my set is easy listening acoustic covers.
How has being at uni shaped your musical practice?
Studying music at UOW and attending open mics at UniBar has been the greatest asset to my career in terms of meeting other musicians and furthering my musical knowledge and confidence.
What’s in the future for you and your music?
My plans for the future are to write and record as much music as I can and get it out in the world.
Listen to Kye’s single ‘Before You’ now!
Tell us about you and your music.
I’m a singer songwriter. I pretty much been performing and traveling without the pain to sharing my music as wide as I can.
Who are your musical influences?
I feel like it’s changed a bit; when I was a kid definitely Katie chambers, and Beccy Cole, a lot of those country artists really influenced who I was as an artist. I think as I’ve gotten older, though, my inspiration kind of diversified. I find myself in so many different forms of music, not just country and folk music, but kind of a little bit of everything and not only taking inspiration from other artists music itself, but also how they present themselves with people and who they are.Nowadays, probably Felicity Urquhart and Jeff Cunningham are probably two of my main influences – they’re just such beautiful artists but also just beautiful people as well.
How would you describe the vibe of your set for o-week?
I absolutely love songwriting, that’s what I focused on. And the way that I get myself out there is, I’ll do some upbeat covers. So I kind of bring people in with covers that they know and then I’m lucky enough to be able to share the songs that I’ve written. I love the energy of o-week. I feel like there’s so many nerves and so much excitement about, especially for the first years, about what the rest of the uni semester is going to be like, so I definitely wanted to kind of reflect that within my selection. But I kept it very upbeat, very light-hearted and just kind of very much on the themes of family and love and confidence in growth.
How has been at uni shaped your musical practice?
It’s actually been quite incredible. So I’ve been studying and double degree of communications & media in marketing and creative arts in music. So not only just being able to use the equipment and [help from] the teaching staff and the knowledge that UOW has in music has been incredible, but also learning how to market myself and share my music in the world. I think one of the coolest things is that university allows you flexibility, you know, some classes you can have online, some classes you can have in person, and there’s a lot of free time as well. So I feel pretty lucky that kind of since moving to uni, I’ve actually been able to live full-time in a caravan and when not studying, I’ve been able to kind of travel the country here, there and everywhere and really expand my music knowledge, not just as a student, but also as a person working in the field. In the past 13 months, I’ve been to over five states. I drove over 35,000 k’s and got to play at different festivals. So basically just being able to live the dream and live what I want to be doing after university.
What is in the future for you and your music?
Recording, heaps more travel. I think one of my favorite parts about music, is just the way that it connects us. Not just emotionally but physically, you know, you can dance along to it and it’s a really special thing. Definitely heaps more gigs, morefor opportunities to connect with people as much as I can. I feel pretty lucky. The University of Wollonong is amazing, they have so many gigs and opportunities, not just through the open mic but also through lunch on the lawn – just taking up every opportunity I can.
Support Felicity’s music by listening here!
Alex Sabotovski and Tayvin Martins
Tell us about you and your music.
Alex: Yeah, so I’ve been a music student for two years. I’m going into my third year now, but I’ve been doing music since the start of high school, started writing music about year nine. Yeah, it’s been good. I really like it.
Tayvin: Yeah, so I’ve been playing music for about five and a half years now. I haven’t written any music, but I do love to play a lot of folk and blues music. I was a uni student, first year music student with Alex here, but I ended up dropping out just to do local gigs and pursue that a little more.
Who are your musical influences?
Alex: I feel like I have a lot, but I feel like some of my main ones are like Gary Moore and John Mayer. I really like blues and country as well.
Tayvin: So my biggest music influences definitely fall down to two major ones. And that’s blues rock band called Kaleo – absolutely love them. They they brought me up on the Mississippi blues and all that sort of stuff. And then the next one would definitely be Ed Sheeran. I love the way he absolutely abuses his looping pedal and I definitely love to incorporate that into a lot of my gigs and performances.
How would you describe the vibe for your sets for o-week?
Alex: I just kind of went in wanting to do mostly originals, because I just want to kind of get my music out there in any sense. Like I want to start recording at some point this year and get it all out. I think it’s a good way to promote and let people know about you is through gigs like open mic.
Tayvin: For the UOW gig, I definitely wanted to do something where a lot of people would know the songs and bring up the mood a little bit, so I went with a very fast pace. Brought my stompbox to get a bit of a kick drum in there going and just brought up the pace and the mood and it was fun.
How has/did uni shaped your musical practice?
Alex: Being around like my classmates has really helped me develop not just in a musical sense, but personally as well. I think from where I was the first year, I’ve improved so much. It’s just been great doing it alongside all my friends.
Tayvin: I can tell it did help me. During the first year, we had a couple of instances where we were practicing in a band and with my friends we’d go into the recording rooms and and practice a little bit there. And after I left, it made me realize how much I actually missed the full sound of a band. So that definitely pushed me to actually incorporate my own form of kick drum and looping pedal and start using that to build depth into my sets. So it helps me in some way even though I did leave.
What is in the future for you and your music?
Alex: I feel like we can both say recording and releasing music. More gigs, more open mics. And yeah, I’m gonna be recording like a madman over the next two semesters just getting as much as I can out.
Tayvin: Yeah, I’m definitely trying to write music at the moment. It’ll take some time because I haven’t previously written before and don’t really know what I’m getting myself into or where to start. So, it’ll get there but that’s definitely the future for me and branching out to more local gigs.
Tell us about you and your music.
I am indie folk singer songwriter. And I like to call myself a looping artist. I’ve been performing solo since I was like 14 but it’s also in the cover scene just to make money but it’s been primarily as my duo, the past few years, but I’ve only just gotten back into solo stuff and trying to figure out my sound, I guess, a lot of fucking around.
Who are your musical influences?
It depends on what I’m writing. I also write with Roses in Hand and when I write for our songs, it tends to be more electronic kind of influences. But at the moment, it would probably be Ed Sheeran, just because of how much he can do as one person.
How would you describe the vibe of your set for a week?
Let’s say chill.
What advice would you give to musicians who are starting out?
Sign up to APRA AMCOS, do your research and pick people’s brains.
What’s in the future for you and your music?
A lot of practicing. Hopefully some more co-writing and doing some recording.
Check out music by Jessica and Roses in Hand below!
Steless – Max (singer,rhythm guitar), Jack (drums), Saul (lead guitar), Ryan (bass)
Tell us about yourselves and your music.
Max: So, we’re a Wollongong-based surf rock band, who isn’t from Wollongong and can’t surf. And we make a lot of noise.
Who are your musical influences?
Max: Well, I write most of the music and I’d say our influences are: The Strokes, Harlem, Skeggs. Hockey Dad, The Tin Heads.
How would you describe the vibe of your sets for a week this week?
The first one, the vibe was very exciting and fun. Today’s one was very slow and relaxed and kickback.
How has being a uni shaped your musical practice?
Ryan: It’s turned into a social thing. It’s not just music that we came together for. We came together as friends and all liked music and it’s been good community we built.
Saul: The uni has also done everything for us. We started at the UniBar. We still practice in the uni practice rooms. We’ve made a lot of strangers come to our shows at the UniBar. When we first started, we made a lot of friends through here. We love playing here. We haven’t played in a while, so it’s good to come back. And so we’ll give Mark Lenzo a few more shows this year, I reckon.
Max: Honestly, without Mark Lenzo we’d be nothing, He recorded our first single, he saw potential. He’s been the loveliest man.
What’s in the future for you and your music?
Max: We’re hoping to get an EP out by the end of the year. It’s gonna be called ‘Gideon Flick’. You heard it here first.
Ryan: We want to play really big shows this year too. We only started last year but we have really ramped up the pace.
Saul: And in sooner new, we have a single coming out next week (OUT NOW!!).
Check out Streless’ new single here!
Autumn Sunset – Evana (singer), Mayra (bass), Matt (trumpet), Matilda (saxophone), Ethan (drums), Ollie (guitar), Tristan (guitar)
Tell us about you and your music.
Mayra: Most of our music is kind of a cross between indie-rock, funk and jazz. So, we’ve got the saxophone and the trumpet, which adds like a jazzy, funky layer. And then with Evana’s vocals being very jazzy as well.
Evana: Mayra and I were in a class together and we said, ‘we should start a band.’ We all come from different places, and we came together through uni. We’re all from different backgrounds but we create our own kind of genre together.
Who are your musical influences?
Evana: We have quite a few and ranges between like Pacific Avenue, Sammy Rae & Friends.
Mayra: Ocean Alley, as well. Yeah, we all have our own inspirations that we bring to the band. But yeah, those are the big ones.
How would you describe the vibe of your sets for our week?
It popped off, it was sick. The crowd was young and it was really good to see new faces in the cloud. And we enjoyed just playing on the UniBar stages – such a great vibe and it’s a great way to harness our skills and polish up. So, such a good vibe.
How has being at uni shaped your musical practice?
Mayra: Evana and I studied music. We became friends in the second session of 2021. And I just got out of a band I was in and I wanted to create something and she did as well.
Matt: I studied drama. So, I can get very performative very, very quickly.
Matilda: I came [to the UniBar] and these guys were playing. I was like, ‘wow, they’re really good. But they need a saxophone player.’ So I came backstage and I knew Ollie kind of, so I asked, ‘Hey, can I join your band? ‘ And he’s like, ‘I don’t know. Ask Evana’. She was so scary, so intimidating – beautiful and intimidating. But I walked up to you, then I went to rehearsal and then I went the next gig.
Evana: Uni has really shaped our music. We are conscious of the theory side and what goes into making songs and what makes it interesting. I think most of us are really well versed in theory and I think a lot of that is through that course in music.
What’s in the future for you and your music?
Mayra: We’re coming out with a single, and then an EP, and one of our biggest ambitions is to play at Yours & Owls Festival.
Evana: We’re gonna keep putting our heads down. Putting music out, doing gigs, hopefully climbing that ladder. It’s our passion and we really love it, so we’re going to be working really hard.
Listen to Autumn Sunset’s debut single here!
Echidnacia – Hugo (lead singer), Olly (lead guitar), Eli (drums), Fraser (bass), Jack (rhythm guitar), Carlo (band manager)
Tell us about you and your music.
Hugo: We are a five-piece rock and roll band. We like bluesy indie kind of rock is what we would probably say.
Who are your musical influences.
Hugo: We love Oasis, a bit of Led Zeppelin, KALEO, Arctic Monkeys – those probably main influences.
Who are your musical influences?
Jack: In your face, bit of that punchy guitar.
Fraser: Having a crowd down the front dancing along was good.
Jack: To put any words to it: raw, energetic, uplifting.
How has being at uni shaped your musical practice?
Hugo: I started the band. Initially, it was just Fraser and I and another mate of ours. We just started by jamming. We all liked similar music, and we just wanted to get into the scene at UniBar. And then it kind of evolved by coming through to the UniBar. We just met more and more people more music.
Fraser: Open mic and just the general connectivity of the scene down here made it really easy to kind of progress a lot quicker in terms of getting gigs. And so he really like he pushed us towards musicians. He’d been like in the same sort of genre
Hugo: Honestly, we owe a lot of credit to Mark. Mark actually motivated me to get into a band. I’d never been in a band. I only just started playing guitar four years ago and I’m pretty mediocre at that. But I picked up singing and Mark said you know you should do this properly.
What’s in the future for you and your music?
Hugo: Big things. Absolutely mega things.
Fraser: We are releasing music probably at the end of March, early April.
Hugo: We want to be really tight as a band, we obviously want to take it to the next step, the next level. We’re all hungry for it. We love rock and roll, and this is what we do. And Steamfest too. Yeah, that’s like end of year thing. We did it last year with Finding Darcy, Stesless and The Summer Guppys – just a good gig and we’re hoping to make that a yearly thing.
Any final words?
Carlo: Massive ups to old local bands that come here and play continuously, because if you want to follow the scene, this is where it starts. There’s nowhere better to start than right here on a Tuesday night.
Stay tuned for music content from us
Feature Image: Autumn Sunset
Images: Provided