SA musos to watch in 2024: Eight up and coming stars tipped for global superstardom
Most started “just jamming out with friends”, now they’re SA’s talented rising stars tipped to make it on the global stage. Find out who to watch in 2024.
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South Australia is home to thousands of aspiring music artists desperate to put their own personal stamp on the competitive scene.
But there are only a handful that ever make it to the heady heights of superstardom, and The Advertiser has handpicked the top eight to watch in 2024.
Yep, move over Sia and Kid Laroi, these scene disrupters are about to be next generation of music superstars.
Did we miss someone worthy of this list? You can contact Eva Blandis.
Stellie
Name: Gabriella Pansini
Age: 24
Genre: Indie, pop
Handle: @stelliemusic
Gabriella Pansini found her calling in life when she discovered her love for singing as a young girl.
The 24-year-old, who goes by the stage name Stellie, said she knew from an early age that the only career for her would be one in music.
“I always knew … that music was something that needed to be a part of my life forever,” she told The Advertiser.
“My parents were always encouraging of me to pursue my love of music further and I owe a lot to them.
“I studied jazz when I was in high school and became obsessed with women in music such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and my all time favourite – Amy Winehouse.”
The young singer said she first started working with a producer when she was 19-years-old and has never looked back.
“A couple of weeks later I uploaded a song to ‘Triple J Unearthed’ and much to my initial surprise, it was very well received,” she said.
“This was kind of the kick starter of my music career.”
Ms Pansini said she will continue, for as long as she’s able, to create good music and continue to garner a bigger fan base.
“Honestly, my aspirations are pretty simple: to make good music that I’m proud of and to enjoy doing it,” she said.
“As soon as music becomes a chore, I think you are doing it wrong.
“Aside from this – I would love to continue to play shows across Australia, as well as internationally.
“Essentially, I just want my music to be heard by as many people as possible.”
Gwilym
Name: Wil Davies
Age: 20
Genre: Jazz informed house music
Wil Davies is changing South Australia’s jazz scene with his unique approach of combining jazz with dance music.
The 20-year-old, who goes by the stage name Gwilym, first started performing in Adelaide in 2021 after starting his degree in Jazz Performance.
“I was always interested in how music was made and played,” he said.
“Initially I took an interest in jazz music but this has extended to house and dance music.”
The dedicated performer said his discovery of house music led him to produce and start his project “Gwilym” in 2022 which he describes as “jazz informed house music”.
“I started piano at five-years-old then began drums and saxophone at seven – I still continue to play all three,” he said.
“I was inspired by the jazz I heard playing at home such as John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter.”
Mr Davies said the jazz saxophone is his focus, especially after finishing up his degree in Jazz Performance.
“I aspire to be a performing jazz musician as well as continuing to produce and DJ,” he said.
The young performer said his biggest achievement so far was being the recipient of the Helpmann Jazz Award for Outstanding Saxophonist which allowed him to perform alongside accomplished jazz singer Jazzmeia Horn.
Bianca Feher
Name: Bianca Feher
Age: 18
Genre: Acoustic folk
Handle: @biancafehermusic
Bianca Feher is proudly making her way up through the South Australian music scene.
The 18-year-old said her introduction into music was “somewhat unintentional” but one of the best things she’s done.
“I was 16 and completing year 12 in the Riverland when my uncle asked if I could play some background music for his vintage car club’s Easter event at the Overland Corner Hotel,” she said.
“The owners Brad and Nic must’ve liked me as they invited me back to play another gig a few weeks later, which led me to play at other venues across the Riverland in the second half of 2021.
“It must have been around this time that I also started writing my own music and figured the best way to show venues what I could do was to have my work released.”
Ms Feher then released her first single ‘Emotional Purgatory’ in October 2021.
“I moved up to Adelaide in February 2022 for university and lived at St Mark’s College which opened a while new world of opportunities, from jamming with my fellow collegians, getting out to local gigs, and expanding my reach in South Australia,” she said.
The young artist said she is looking at taking up new opportunities in 2024 and continuing to book exciting gigs, as well as releasing an EP.
Violet Harlot
Names: Will Everett, Hugo Begnini, Nathan Rowe, Bailey Fechner and Luke Vanderzon
Ages: 21, 21, 20, 20, 20
Genre: Rock
Handle: @violet.harlot
Young South Australian band Violet Harlot started at the end of 2020 after the group graduated high school but it wasn’t until September 2021 that they made their debut performance.
The band – made up of Will Everett, 21, Hugo Begnini, 21, Nathan Rowe, 20, Bailey Fechner, 20, and Luke Vanderzon, 20 – is now taking Adelaide by storm and performing gigs across the city.
“Our singer Will eventually started making connections with some local bands in our city’s music scene, and got us our first gig with Milly Rocket at the Broadcast Bar,” Mr Vanderzon said.
“For now, our focus is set on finally releasing a selection of the music we’ve been sitting on for the last two years.
“Aside from that, we wish to continue performing throughout Adelaide, potentially expanding interstate, and just seeing where the future takes us.”
Mr Vanderzon said the groups highlight so far was playing at Vintage Vibes this year.
“Playing on a massive outdoor stage, with staff helping set up our equipment, and our own tent set up backstage – it was an extrodinary experience that we’ll never forget,” he said.
“We’ve also played at the Royal Adelaide Show and played a sold-out show to promote the release of our debut EP.”
FINN
Name: Finn Larcombe
Age: 20
Genre: Ambient, experimental
Handle: @finnlarcombemusic
Finn Larcombe said he was first inspired to become a musician when he did the subject Personal Learning Plan (PLP) in high school.
The 20-year-old now can’t imagine doing anything else.
“My parents are both big music lovers and encouraged me to learn instruments and write music from a young age,” he said,
“I started in the local scene playing for another musician’s solo project and then eventually started my own bands and started playing with them.”
As well as releasing music under his own name, Mr Larcome also plays in a variety of bands including The Genevieves, Funky C Funky Do, Druid Fluids, Live Slug Reaction, Birds Are Spies, No Head and Plum Jam.
Mr Larcombe said he has high hopes for the future and would like to explore a variety of different avenues in the music world.
“My current aspirations for the future is to do more soundtrack work, I’ve been doing that for almost as long as I’ve been playing gigs, doing short ambient composition for film, and I’m hoping to do a lot more of that work,” he said.
“It would be super to branch out into full length films or TV or something like that.”
Theoretical Boyfriends
Names: Sarah Footner, Annika Rose, Phoenix Scriver, Lottie Hewett, Noah Wild
Ages: 29, 21, 20, 21, 21
Genre: Indie/Punk
Handle: @theoreticalboyfriends
Indie punk band Theoretical Boyfriends met while volunteering at Girls’ Rock Adelaide’s rock camp program in 2021. They’ve never looked back.
The band now use their “lived experience” to grow as a group and produce music they are proud of.
“For us as a band, lived experience is important in everything that we do and the topics we choose to write about, and I think that was the catalyst for us to start,” bass guitarist Noah Wild said.
“We wanted to take our experiences and frustrations about society and the world we live in and turn it into music that hopefully resonated with other people to create change.
“We knew very early on that we had topics that were important to us that we wanted to write songs about.”
Mr Wild said the group “quickly jumped” into rehearsals and started to learn how to gel together.
“Once we had a setlist of songs, we started playing local shows and haven’t looked back since,” he said.
“We want to continue playing shows and developing our sound as a band. We have a lot more songs and lyrics in us to put out in the world in the way that only we can.”
Maisie
Names: Emmett Prime, Edward Tyson, Olivia Aquilina, Yanni Apostolidis, Madeleine Cossey
Ages: 25, 21, 25, 27, 22
Genre: Groovy psychedelic rock
Handle: @maisieband_
South Australian band Maisie started out in 2017 just “jamming out with friends” before they progressed to gigs.
The band, made up of Emmett Prime, Edward Tyson, Olivia Aquilina, Yanni Apostolidis and Madeleine Cossey, has now achieved highs such as supporting US psych rockers Earthless at the Gov.
Mr Prime, 25, said he’s always had a love for music and found his match when working with his bandmates.
“My dad and I would listen to music together all the time when I was growing up, it became one of my favourite things and then seeing my dad guitar lying around – that always seemed to give me inspiration,” he said.
Mr Prime said the band is currently working on their debut album.
“With that national and international touring is a big aspiration,” he said.
“I guess we just want to connect with as many people as possible with our music.”
The Birds Are Spies
Names: Lily Appelt, Lachie Durrans, Finn Larcombe, Gracie Northam
Ages: 19, 19, 20, 12
Genre: Alternative Rock
Handle: @birdsarespiesband
The Birds Are Spies made their debut on the South Australian music scene at the beginning of 2019 as a three piece playing in local pubs before expanding to a four piece this year.
The band said they were influenced to starting up and producing their own music after going to local gigs and listening to South Australian bands.
“We started in school as a lunchtime band to raise money for a charity event … fast forward to 2023 we are now heavily inspired by our jazz degree and aspire to write more harmonically and rhythmically complex songs in order to keep challenging ourselves,” they said.
The band said their biggest achievement so far has been self-recording, mixing, mastering and releasing their single Haze.
“We all put a lot of effort into this song and we were all proud of the final product and how it has been received by the public,” they said.
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