The third annual Grulke Prize has been awarded in three categories to some of the showcasing artists taking part in SXSW this year. The special accolade, created in honour of the late Brent Grulke, who was the Creative Director of the SXSW Music Festival, recognises artists from both the US and abroad who have shown…
For the 8th consecutive year, Rachael Ray’s Feedback Party took over Stubb’s BBQ for the final afternoon of SXSW, seeing a mix of bands from around the world play across three stages, while four Rachael Ray recipes (which you can see HERE), were enjoyed by the masses (you have to try the tacos!) – some…
For the last four days, the Pandora Discovery Den at SXSW has been taking audiences through the world of music, starting with Electronic, moving through Hip Hop, Americana and closing the week out with a day dedicated to Rock. Performing through the final day were artists like Big Data – who earlier in the day…
Nestled in what we can only assume was the ground level of a car park on the west side of Austin’s downtown, UK electronic outfit Hot Chip tonight played the third and final night of the Samsung Milk Music Lounge as part of the 2015 SXSW Music Festival, following on from sets by Australia’s Iggy…
Following on from the venue’s opening day with an electronic curation, Thursday marked the day Pandora dedicated their SXSW venue to hip hop, with iconic artist Wyclef Jean closing out the stage. As part of his epic 90 minute set, Wyclef took the audience on a musical (and somewhat educational) trip down memory lane, not…
Wednesday at SXSW marked the first of four days of the Pandora Discovery Den, an annual party held at The Gatsby on 6th Street – featuring a mix of well established and up-and-coming artists from around the world. Australia’s own Peking Duk helped kick off the celebration with a day focused on electronic music. Closing…
Highlighting influential women may be the focus of Neiman Marcus’ “Make Some Noise” activation at SXSW this week, but it was New York duo The Knocks who had the privilege of helping kick the three day event off in style yesterday. The duo were joined, however, by Liz Nisitico, who fronts the ever-growing-in-popularity electro-pop duo…
After five days of talks, events and parties (…lots of parties), the Interactive portion of SXSW came to an end tonight with a massive party at Austin’s iconic Stubb’s BBQ outdoor amphitheater, presented by Media Temple. The drinks and BBQ flowed as Z-Trip, Ludacris and TV on the Radio performed in front of some two…

Three of Australia’s most respected acts will come together at The Corner Hotel this April for a benefit for John Hedigan. Fellow bandmates and friends Something for Kate, Clare Bowditch and Darren Middleton will join forces for what will be a very special and memorable night, as they recognise Hedigan’s achievements to date and celebrate all he has done for them.

There’s really no stopping this girl. Known for her bluesy sound and witty, realist approach to songwriting, Courtney Barnett has conquered Australia and is now moving on to bigger things. The songstress made an appearance on US talk show The Ellen Show today with host Ellen DeGeneres introducing her as “one of my favourite new artists, I love her so much!” Barnett won hearts of many Americans with her stunning performance of “Depreston,” before DeGeneres gave everyone in the audience a copy of her new album Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit.
This morning at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, a packed out Paramount Theatre enjoyed the World Premiere of the new music documentary Mavis!, telling the story of the legendary Mavis Staples. Making her feature length documentary debut with the film was Director Jessica Edwards, who joined Mavis and other members of the crew…
The annual celebration that is Spotify House returned to SXSW today, for the start of no less SIX days of live music, free food, free drinks and something called “SoulCycle”, which seems to include live music and a bunch of exercise bikes… you may have to head along to find out for yourself, should you…

With 44 albums under their belts, over 100 million albums sold worldwide and decades of record breaking tours, it goes without saying KISS need no introduction. The legendary rock’n’roll band will be returning to Australia this October as part of their current world tour. KISS will be celebrating their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2014 as well as their 40th anniversary as a band.

Alt-rock band NANTES are back with a bang, announcing exciting tour news, a new single and a new EP! The 7 Tour will see the outfit play seven shows on the East Coast in support of their new single “7.” NANTES are hitting up a variety of specialty locations including Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel, Rad in Wollongong and Newtown Social Club, among other shows in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Pictured: METZ / Photo by Andrew Wade in Brisbane For the past four years, Laneway Festival has celebrated their internationally renouned festival by throwing a special party at SXSW. The event often serves as an indicator of some of the bands we might end up seeing at Laneway in Australia in the following year. Well,…
The Aussie BBQ is returning to the park from whence it came… For the the 2015 event, SXSW will see The Aussie BBQ move from Saturday to the Friday and take over both sides of Brush Square Park for the first time ever – returning to the site for the first time since 2009. Here…

One of Ireland’s biggest festivals have just dropped their 2015 lineup and it is full of stellar acts! The annual Electric Picnic Festival is a three day event held in Stradbally, Ireland. The greatly anticipated lineup was only released less than 24 hours ago and sees ethereal act Florence + The Machine and electronic duo Underworld as headliners.

Just when you thought it was near impossible for South by Southwest to get any bigger, Pandora drop their Discovery Den lineup. This will mark the fourth annual event the leading internet radio service has produced with 2015 seeing 37 diverse artists from eight countries performing.

Between receiving four Grammy nominations and winning multiple ARIA awards, there’s no surprise Sia Furler took out yet another award at last night’s 6th Annual Rolling Stone Awards. The songstress beat the likes of Dan Sultan, The Preatures, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and The Church for the prestigious title of ‘Album of the Year’ for 1000 Forms of Fear.

Synth-pop visionary Andy Bull is embarking on a nationwide tour this April/May in support of his latest single and 2014 album Sea of Approval. The ‘Talk Too Much’ tour will see ten performances across the country, including regional stops Wollongong and Newcastle.

Brisbane trio Columbus are rising through the ranks, quickly making a name for themselves as one of Australia’s most exciting punk-rock outfits. Between recently dropping their Home Remedy EP and securing a spot at the Queensland Soundwave Festival, the boys are definitely ones to watch this year.

After debuting at BIGSOUND 2014, experimental pop artist Lia Mice is coming back to Australia for her first Australian tour since, this April. Fresh off the release of her second LP I Love You last November and supporting tours in France, Japan and USA, the artist will be visiting three locations: Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Things are about to get loud with Portland legends Red Fang bringing their heavy metal, three albums and countless world tour experience to Australia and New Zealand this May. This will be the band’s first headline tour of Australia and New Zealand (ever!) and marks two years since they first played in Oz as part of Soundwave Festival 2013.

As if they weren’t already busy enough, South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord have managed to squeeze time in between touring Europe and preparing for Future Music Festival to make an appearance in Sony’s upcoming release Chappie.
Well now this is pretty amazing. This May, USA groups The BellRays and Supersuckers are coming down under to bring us one hell of a sexy rock n roll experience. It’s being dubbed as a “colossal showdown” and we’d expect no less from two of music’s most electrifying groups. The tour will take them all…

There’s only just under a month to go before Farmer & The Owl kicks off and it just keeps getting bigger with new music, food and arts additions. The Wollongong festival is already hosting the likes of DZ Deathrays, Bad//Dreems and Jebediah amongst many more, and have now announced that Velociraptor, Rolls Bayce, Jeremy Neale, Parkside + Friends, SPACE 44 DJs, Blackbear, Honeybear, Berko (FBi), Vintage Stylus DJs and Music Farmers DJs will also be joining.

German metal band Blind Guardian have announced an exclusive two-show tour in support of their tenth studio album Beyond the Red Mirror. The band will be performing two dates at both of the HiFi locations in Melbourne and Sydney on June 19 and 20, respectively.

Whether you know her as Magic Dirt front woman or the firecracker herself, there’s no doubt Adalita is one incredible performer. Curbing off a whirlwind 2014 which resulted in her receiving an ARIA nomination for Best Female Artist and delivering a keynote speech at the annual AIR Awards, Adalita is kicking off 2015 with a residency at The Gasometer.

With the event now only six weeks away, Byron Bay’s 26th Annual Bluesfest Blues and Roots Festival have just released the long awaited daily playing schedule, performance times and stages, and yet another list of artists appearing this year on their official website.
OK, everyone take a deep breath. Firstly, if you’ve been to SXSW before you know how it works. You’re not going to see half the stuff you want to see, and half the stuff you want to see now will be superseded by not-so-secret shows that aren’t officially announced until the day. The epic Austin…