2023 has been huge for Ocean Alley – a year that has seen them perform at a number of the biggest Australian festivals including Splendour In The Grass, Spilt Milk and Groovin The Moo, as well as undertaking the biggest Australian, UK and North American tours of their careers.
Managed by UNIFIED Music Group’s Senior Artist Manager Dan Nascimento – OA’s song Confidence surged across DSPs on the back of a viral TikTok moment, hitting the #1 spot on Spotify’s US Viral 50 Chart, among other global territories. This has led to the band recently exceeding 5 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, as well as seeing an increase of over 160,000 followers on TikTok. This achievement is a testament to the ever-evolving landscape of how people are finding and consuming music and engaging with artists. It is also an example how meaningful outcomes can be achieved across all facets of an independent artist’s business when they continually dedicate themselves to hard work on the road and online.
More than anything, it’s proof that you can’t keep a good song down.
Pictured: Josh Pyke // Photographer: Matt Wilson
Acclaimed singer-songwriter, producer and children’s book author Josh Pyke has signed a new artist management deal, revealing today a partnership with UNIFIED Artist Management’s Sarah McMillan.
Pyke’s career to date has seen the release of six studio albums including 2022’s To Find Happiness, all of which have debuted in the ARIA Top 10, as well as four ARIA Awards and category wins at the APRAs and CMAs. His songs have placed in triple j’s Hottest 100 countdown on nine occasions.
A multi-talented creative, Pyke has also written several children’s books, with seven titles currently available through publishers worldwide, and another set to be released in September this year. Pyke has established himself as a respected composer for Film and TV. He is currently writing music for ABC’s dedicated 24/7 radio station and on-demand app ABC Kids Listen.
Of his signing with UNIFIED, Pyke said: I’m incredibly excited to be working with Sarah and UNIFIED for the next chapter of my career. I’m as passionate about music now as I was when I started almost 20 years ago, and seeing Sarah share that passion and energy is really inspiring! I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years holds!”
UNIFIED Artist Manager Sarah McMillan said: Josh Pyke is an incredibly talented artist, revered both domestically and internationally. We are honoured to be working with him at this stage of his career and looking forward to taking him to new heights here at UNIFIED Music Group. I personally have been a big fan of Josh right from Memories and Dust days so I feel very lucky to get this opportunity to work with him. I am looking forward to learning from such a successful musician, songwriter, producer, author and all-round lovely human being. The future is bright!
Josh Pyke today also announces the final Josh Pyke Partnership. Launched in conjunction with APRA AMCOS in 2015, the Josh Pyke Partnership has for almost a decade offered an unsigned musician the opportunity to receive mentorship and funding to help grow their career. Past winners include Gordi, Alex Lahey and Angie McMahon.
As with previous years, the 2023 winner will receive a $7,500 grant as well as mentorship from Pyke, as well as meetings with experienced artist manager Sarah McMillan from UNIFIED music group and Select Music’s owner and booking agent Stephen Wade, to help grow their careers.
Entries are open from April 19 through June 21, 2023. Entrants must not have signed a contract with a recording or publishing company to be eligible. Submissions must include a business plan (maximum two pages) explaining how you would like to grow your musical career, including a SoundCloud link to a maximum of two songs online. The winner will be announced on July 5.
Pyke added: “Creating the JP Partnership with APRA AMCOS has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever worked on. Having a tiny hand in supporting the success of artists like Gordi, Alex Lahey and Angie McMahon has been an enormous privilege, and has also led to friendships and collaborations. I’ll always be super proud of this project.
“After 7 years though, it’s time to announce the final JP Partnership. I want to acknowledge the input and generosity of Wonderlick and Select, who have been pivotal to the mentorship element, and welcome Sarah and UNIFIED into the fold for the final endeavour! I can’t wait to dig into the entries for the final round, there are always incredible musicians to discover!
UNIFIED Artist Management is part of UNIFIED Music Group.
Josh Pyke’s upcoming live shows include Salt Festival in South Australia on April 29, and Banana Festival in NSW on May 6. Pyke has also been announced as a support for The Waifs for a run of shows in NSW and the ACT this July.
Pictured: Dan Sultan with Ash Hills // Photographer: Michelle Grace Hunder
Multi-award-winning musician Dan Sultan is preparing to share new music after inking fresh artist management and booking agency deals, announcing today that he’s partnered with UNIFIED Artist Management’s Ash Hills and Lonely Lands Agency’s Harry Moore, to help guide the next chapter in the singer-songwriter’s illustrious career.
The way in which Dan Sultan – the songwriter – has been able to capture the complexity of the human condition has brought him widespread acclaim and accolades. But for Sultan – the human outside the art – it’s this complexity that has belied some of his most challenging years.
Sultan unpacked some of these challenges during a talk at TEDxCanberra last year titled ‘Impact Through Creativity’, a deeply personal monologue about how creativity has a cathartic impact on trans-generational trauma – moments in life that change you forever.
It’s this closely guarded trauma that inspired the lyrics for “Story”, a powerful ode about reclaiming one’s own narrative, in which Sultan’s signature sound shines. “Story” lands on streamers next Thursday (Feb 23) via Mushroom Group’s Liberation Records, marking the beginning of a vulnerable new chapter.
For over a decade, Sultan’s work has become synonymous with an important thread of songwriting that forms a detailed tapestry of Australian music. Across four studio albums, his artistry has been built on unbridled rawness; an ability to emotionally shatter a listener with passionate lyricism, and build them back up over the space of a singular playback. It’s a gift that has consistently won him praise from critics.
Sultan, who started playing the guitar at age four and wrote his first song at age ten, cemented his position as a prolific artist during the 2010 ARIA Music Awards where he entered the mainstream public consciousness when he won Best Male Artist and Best Blues & Roots Album for his second LP, Get Out While You Can.
He went on to win four more ARIAs over the last decade, including Best Rock album in 2014 for Blackbird and Best Children’s album in 2018 for Killer Under a Blood Moon. He’s also won four AIR Awards, two APRA Music Awards, four Deadly Awards, six National Indigenous Music Awards, and two Music Victoria Awards during his almost decade-long partnership with Liberation Records after signing with the independent label in February 2013.
Also announced earlier this week, Sultan will join Vance Joy on a North American tour in August and September this year, where he will play iconic venues like Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre in Denver, CO, and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.
Dan Sultan said: “To have found a home with my manager Ash Hills at UNIFIED, and my booking agent Harry Moore at Lonely Lands Agency, is wonderful. Moving forward with such a strong team, at a time when I’m making my best work, is very exciting.”
Ash Hills, General Manager, Artist Management AU/NZ, at UNIFIED Music Group, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Dan Sultan to UNIFIED and to be working with him on this next stage of his career. Dan is an incredible artist and has been working on some of his best work yet, I can’t wait for the rest of the world to hear it.”
Harry Moore, General Manager at Lonely Lands Agency, said: “I’m extremely grateful to be a part of team Dan Sultan. Dan has had such a long and successful career and is an incredible live performer. To get the chance to work with the team, and build his live business, is something I am very excited about.”
UNIFIED Artist Management and Lonely Lands Agency are part of UNIFIED Music Group.
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Meanjin/Brisbane-based singer, songwriter and producer, FELIVAND, today releases her exquisite debut album, Ties out via Sweat It Out, and ahead of headline live shows throughout August and September.
An imprint of FELIVAND’s rich and talented inner-world, Ties represents a journey of self-care, curiosity and introspection. FELIVAND harnesses her songwriting talents to turn observations and reflection into lasting sonic memories, inflected with indulgent neo-soul energy. Between soundscapes of rich bass lines, warm, jazz-flickered chords, harmonic vocal stacks and crisp doses of percussion, FELIVAND ruminates on the all-pervasive questions of mental health, spirituality, interpersonal connections, and her own place in the world.
Although FELIVAND still records in much the same manner as she began – an abundant flurry of noodling around with samples, bass lines, vocal stacks and chords, cocooned in her bedroom’s secluded sphere of creation – Ties sees her open this once private sphere to outside collaborators including Wes Singerman & Taydex (Princess Nokia, Kehlani, Anderson Paak), Maxwell Byrne (Mallrat, Allday, Cub Sport) Ed Quinn (Slum Sociable, Sycco), Tristan Hoogland (Joji, James Blake), and more.
Speaking on the release of Ties, FELIVAND says: “I have dreamt of recording an album ever since I was little, so to see ‘Ties’ in its final form brings me a childish joy and satisfaction I can’t quite put into words. I have never felt more aligned with or proud of anything I have written before.”
Opening the album is the melancholic beauty of “Way Out”. A gliding trill of piano flutters ahead of a steady beat that introduces the soul-laden voice of FELIVAND amid harmonious melodies. Next, “Stolen Seats” ensures a skipping beat, with the clever simplicity of an organ-led melody, speaks to the power of perception in seeing ourselves, versus how our loved ones see us. Soon, “Not My Way” enters, offering a slowed down coat of introspection, as bass chords twang and acknowledge the lyrical sentiment of letting go.
A woozy and off-kilter interlude in “Safe Here” becomes a definitive mood-setter for the record, seeing bass notes skip and warble to the beat. Previous Billboard and FBi Radio-acclaimed single, “Butterfly Wings” arrives next, seeing a one sided conversation set to a swaying tempo, where percussion flourishes and playful synths glide with FELIVAND’s lyrical exploration of growth and curiosity. FELIVAND collaborated with, LA-based producer duo Wes Singerman and Taydex (Anderson .Paak, Princess Nokia, Rich Brian, Kendrick Lamar, Kehlani) on the track, and in the process masters a duality of sensitivity and attitude.
A late 2021 release, “Where Were You” follows, which scored applause from triple j, community radio, NME, 10 Magazine, MTV, rage and more upon release. A ballad-like piece of empathy, the song consoles, restores and uplifts in equal measures. Next, “Big Little” sees a groove-heavy bass line kick in, while a snappy hook jolts you into an infectious rhythm, as a reassuring love note. Soon, “Ripple Effect” relies on distorted guitars and a muted bassline, to see its swanky and smoothness tell the tale of snowballing action.
A melancholic dream-pop jam of jangly guitars and cruisy backing vocals, sees “Lately” enter, before the self-soothing power of “My Cool” as an antidote to anxiety in its funky stratostephic tempo. Next, “RIde Home” sees slow gracious movements of piano, and a resounding horn fill space prior to a softly tapping snare. FELIVAND locks into a higher register and between whispers and smokey vocal hues, speaks to those who struggle to be alone. A finale, “Seasons” arrives as a magical epilogue, befit with crispy and rolling basslines, and softly scattered vocal hues, closing the door on this chapter in FELIVAND’s universe.
Influenced by the likes of Kali Uchis, Solange, James Blake, among others, FELIVAND’s recent projects have garnered praise from Billboard, COLORS, triple j, Rage, NME, Apple Music (New Artist of the Week), community radio and more. Prior to her album singles “Where Were You”, “Butterfly Wings” and “Not My Way”, FELIVAND’s 2020 sophomore EP, Nerve, arrived a bewitching, seamless slide into slinkier, darker shades of pop for her soul-tinged music. It marked a distinctive maturation in sound from debut EP, In Bloom, that now boasts more than 12 million streams combined. In her next movements, fans can hear Ties in its live beauty this month as FELIVAND performs headline shows from hometown Brisbane’s Woolly Mammoth on August 19, Mary’s Underground in Sydney on August 27, and Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on September 2.
Don’t delay in soaking up the effervescent and elegant sphere of FELIVAND, as her debut album in its radiating beauty, emotion and vulnerability, Ties enters the world for endless play.
TIES IS OUT FRIDAY, AUGUST 5 VIA SWEAT IT OUT
FELIVAND AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
Friday, August 19 – Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane – TIX HERE
Saturday, August 27 – Mary’s Underground, Sydney – TIX HERE
Friday, September 2 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne – TIX HERE
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“…a satisfying mix of the alternative rock, pop-punk and new wave influences the band has dabbled in since their inception,”-Buzzbands LA
Today, Los Angeles based pop-rock band HUNNY release their new EP ‘Homesick’ via EpitaphRecords and produced by Carlos De La Garza (Paramore, The Linda Lindas.) As a follow up to their 2019 debut album,YES. YES. YES. YES, the EP’s 4 tracks span across the indie/pop-punk spectrum with tinges of late 90’s alternative rock. Its lyrical themes of longing and laments on social status are also quite satirical, highlighting the band’s penchant for paring moody lyrics with bright and sunny melodies.
The band also shares the suitably over dramatized music video for title track, “Homesick” the third and final in a trilogy of tongue-in-cheek videos to accompany the EP. The members play washed up models frolicking on a beach in classic boyband montages, setting the tone with Abercrombie-esque shopping bags and frontman Jason Yarger in a pair of UGG boots. The first two videos were self-shot and directed, so bringing on director Mason Mercer (Citizen, JoyceManor) and a whole team was a treat for the guys. Enamored by the final product, Yargerstates, “We loved Mason’s concept so we just let him rip. He’s a true freak and he killed it.”
WATCH THE “HOMESICK” MUSIC VIDEO HERE
Over the course of the pandemic, the four members of HUNNY collectively made nearly 100demos that turned into the cohesive compilation of Homesick. The title track came to be as guitarist Jake Goldstein was literally at home sick when he wrote the original demo during quarantine. With the word itself being polysemantic, the band finds that the song can take on a few different meanings. Jason Yarger recalls,
“It started as this cheeky little tune but when we started fleshing it out as a real track it started to morph into a bit more.”He explains, “It turned partly into some sort of love letter to touring and how much we’d missed it after nearly two years of not being on the road.” That sentiment is wrapped in a lot of insecurities they were feeling about the future of the band-and in turn their lives-due to the pandemic. The frontman continues, “I personally felt like I was going backwards-not touring and working a day job. I wanted my life back. I was homesick.”
The EP throws you into the unique offbeat nostalgia of Y2k from the music to its visual references. Led by single “Speed Dial” whose music video was self-shot by the band, it evokes the feeling of watching a home movie through pixelated VHS tape. “Loser,” with its awkward-yet-endearing moments, captures an overdressed Jason Yarger at a beach boardwalk alongside clips of roller blading footage.
The band sought out to explore new sounds after briefly straying from their punk beginnings in favor of 80’s new wave and 90’s pop influences on their 2021 album. “We’re trying to get to the root of the music we want to make at this point,” they said. With a fresh direction, the new EP finds them attempting to reconcile those differences with swirling guitar riffs, catchy pop melodies and sugary sweet synths. ‘Homesick’ propels HUNNY one step closer to their newfound sound.
HUNNY is lead singer/guitarist Jason Yarger, guitarist Jake Goldstein, drummer Joey Anderson, and on bass/keyboards Kevin Grimmet.
December 16, 2021 – UNIFIED Music Group has today announced the signing of Australian chart-toppers Boy & Bear to UNIFIED Artist Management and its Lonely Lands booking agency.
One of Australia’s most successful bands of the past decade, the new signing comes as the band returns to the studio to begin production of their much-anticipated 5th studio album
The past few months have seen Boy & Bear return to the top of festival lineup announcements, sell out multiple headline shows including the State Theatre in Sydney, and team up with new management in UNIFIED Artist Management’s Aidan McLaren & Joe Miles, and boutique booking agency Lonely Lands with agent Harry Moore.
McLaren said: “We couldn’t be more excited to be working with Boy & Bear. They’re just such a compelling band. Amazing songwriters, incredible live. They’ve achieved so much already and yet there is so much more to come. I can’t wait for people to hear the new music the guys are working on and to see what’s in store over the next 18 months and beyond. Watch this space.”
Moore said: “I have always been a massive fan of the band since they formed. It’s an absolute honour and privilege to work alongside this incredible band and team.”
All four of Boy & Bear’s previous albums have reached Top 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart, with two of them reaching No 1. Their debut album Moonfire (2011) reached double-Platinum sales, won five ARIA Awards with three songs in the triple j Hottest 100.
Their sophomore album Harlequin Dream (2013) achieved Platinum certification and the No 1 spot on the ARIA Albums Chart, staying in the Top 10 for five weeks. They followed it up with Limit Of Love (2015), resulting in their second ARIA #1 album debut. Their last album, Suck On Light (2019), also reached the Top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart and further consolidated their reputation, connection, creativity and was voted in Richard Kingsmill’s Top 10 albums that year.
For a band that consistently averages over 1 million Spotify monthly listeners, regularly sells out venues globally and has a growing international fan base, Boy & Bear’s future is looking bright.
Boy & Bear would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thanks to everyone who has been part of their journey so far.
2022 BOY & BEAR TOUR DATES
Friday 7th January 2022 – Torquay Hotel, Torquay VIC – SOLD OUT
Saturday 8th January 2022 – Torquay Hotel, Torquay VIC – SOLD OUT
Sunday 9th January 2022 – Ocean Sounds Festival, Phillip Island VIC – SELLING FAST
Saturday 29th January 2022 – SummerSalt Festival, Roche Estate, Hunter Valley NSW
Sunday 30th January 2022 – SummerSalt Festival, Stuart Park, Wollongong NSW
Saturday 12th February 2022 – Sydney State Theatre, Sydney NSW – SOLD OUT
Saturday 19th February 2022 – Festival Falls Creek, Falls Creek NSW
Sunday 20th February 2022 – Riverboats Music Festival, Echuca-Moama VIC – SELLING FAST
Saturday 19th March 2022 – Peninsula Picnic, Mornington VIC
Saturday 30th April 2022 – Sounds Bout Right Festival, Cairns QLD
Saturday 21st May 2022 – Bass In The Grass Festival, Darwin NT
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