Thelma Plum reveals what her six ARIA nominations mean to her as winners predicted
As a little girl, Thelma Plum watched Delta Goodrem’s historic wins and never contemplated she would one day be nominated for six ARIA Awards. SEE WHO ELSE IS UP FOR A GONG
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Thelma Plum was still in single digits when she sat down in the loungeroom to watch the 2003 ARIA Awards. The little girl was, like a million other Australians who had bought Innocent Eyes, a Delta Goodrem fangirl.
Goodrem and her triumphant ARIAs moment as she battled cancer represented a musical fantasy for the shy nine-year-old who already harboured ambitions to write songs and sing them for people after her mother Lieszel had taken her to see a Paul Kelly gig.
Fast forward 16 years after Goodrem swept the ARIAs to win seven trophies and Plum is still trying to reconcile the reality of receiving six nominations for the 2019 ARIA Awards with her acclaimed indie pop record Better in Blak.
She vacillates between being tongue-tied and effusive as she tries to explain what ARIA nominations represent to a young indigenous woman who grew up struggling to see herself, or anyone who looked like her, in the mainstream pop landscape of Australia.
Plum distilled that frustration into the song Homecoming Queen on her debut album, a poignant declaration she would “put on the crown” and be “the voice of this town”.
“I know how people say “I didn’t expect this” but I genuinely did not expect this. I’m not saying awards or things like this necessarily decide whether something is an amazing record or whether something is successful – it doesn’t – but you have to remember I have grown up watching the ARIAs,” she says.
“I remember watching it when I was little, I remember the year Delta won all of the awards and she was in that beautiful pink dress. I remember not being able to watch the second half of the show because I had school the next day and being so grumpy because I had to tape it.
“I was in awe of it and how it all worked and never imagined me being on that stage … and now I get to be a part of it.
“I have a really hard time explaining how it makes me feel. It also makes me very happy for all the people who backed me when it wasn’t easy to back me and wasn’t always the most popular decision. Those people stood by me and I am grateful all those people get this recognition as well. It’s pretty cool, pretty cool.”
The 2019 ARIA Awards continue the pattern established in the past decade of shining a spotlight on the country’s emerging artists as much as celebrating the enduring excellence of household names including Paul Kelly, Guy Sebastian and Hilltop Hoods.
And one of those breakthrough artists happens to be the global pop star of 2019, the synth-playing, infectious melody maker Tones and I.
In under a year, the twenty-something musician has been catapulted from busking on the streets of Byron Bay to breaking every chart record in Australia and topping the pop countdowns in almost 20 countries.
Tones leads the 2019 ARIA leaderboard with eight nominations but the shy, idiosyncratic artist has barely had time to contemplate that success as she chases the rise and rise of Dance Monkey around the world, performing sold-out shows in London, New York and Los Angeles last week.
“This time last year I was watching the ARIAs with Amy Shark (winning), living in my van, and I would never, ever, ever think this would be me right now. No f---ing way, it’s the craziest thing,” she said.
“Some people think when it happens, all your problems must be over but they’re not. You still want to focus on fixing the exact same things you were focused on a year ago which is being happy and healthy. Your career and your passion is only 50 per cent of it, which is a good chunk.”
Another break-out act in 2019 has been the decidedly un-pop, blues-flecked, soulful rock band The Teskey Brothers with their second album Run Home Slow which debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts.
A much sought after live act, the Teskeys have built a strong following through the US and Europe while maintaining the home fan fires on their own national tour and festival stages.
They have already banked one win for Engineer of the Year ahead of this week’s ceremony and scored seven nominations in total, equalling the Hilltop Hoods haul this year.
Plum share six nominations with Sydney singer and songwriter Julia Jacklin who has been touring with Lana Del Rey in the US and will be kicking off her own UK and European run of shows as the ARIA Awards goes to air.
The five nominations won by national treasure Paul Kelly demonstrate he is indeed the GOAT, making ARIA history with three different records nominated across three different genres in his clutch of five nominations.
A great shame of the 2019 ARIAs ceremony is the increased presence of international artists on the performance roll call, robbing other Australian artists with nominations of the chance to perform in front of a national audience via Nine and a global one via the YouTube stream.
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Artists such as electrifying indigenous artist Baker Boy, drumming pop powerhouse G Flip or electronic dreamscape gurus Rufus Du Sol have missed out on spots because the number of international guests given exposure on the ARIAs stage has grown to three out of the available 10 slots this year.
Popular artists and chart favourites Halsey, Dua Lipa and Khalid will no doubt entertain ARIA viewers and give their respective singles a boost up the charts.
The presence of these charttoppers might give a slight kick to television ratings - awards shows are in a ratings death spiral - but isn’t supportive of the incredible achievements of local artists this year.
It appears television broadcasters are dictating to the music industry instead of ARIA backing Australian artists.
But for those homegrown pop heroes such as Thelma Plum who get their moment to shine after years of hard work, the ARIAs are indeed an occasion to celebrate.
“I am definitely going to do an outfit change and I have never been in a situation where I’ve done that. Maybe even two. And then after-party. Ok, three altogether. I feel like such a diva and I love it.”
The 2019 ARIA Awards will be at the Star Event Centre in Sydney on Wednesday November 27.
WHO WILL WIN THE 2019 ARIA AWARDS
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Dean Lewis – A Place We Knew
Hilltop Hoods – The Great Expanse
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Solace
The Teskey Brothers – Run Home Slow
Thelma Plum – Better In Blak
Verdict: A hip hop record has never won this category. The Great Expanse is the trio’s sixth record to reach No. 1 on the ARIA charts, propelled by two multi-platinum singles Leave Me Lonely and Exit Sign. Hilltop Hoods should get their first Album of the Year.
BEST MALE ARTIST
Dean Lewis – A Place We Knew
Guy Sebastian – Choir
Hayden James – Between Us
Matt Corby – Rainbow Valley
Paul Kelly – Nature
Verdict: It could be Paul Kelly’s year again with three wins from 17 nominations in this category over three decades. Guy Sebastian has been a patient nominee six times before this year and is overdue for recognition in the wake of his stunning hit single Choir, inspired by the death of musician Luke Liang. And of course Dean Lewis has been kicking goals overseas but my gut says Sebastian might finally break his drought.
BEST FEMALE ARTIST
Amy Shark – Mess Her Up
Jessica Mauboy – Little Things
Julia Jacklin – Crushing
Thelma Plum – Better In Blak
Tones And I – Dance Monkey
Verdict: Could it be a five-way tie? What an amazing collection of unique and truly special artists. Three are nominated for singles releases so am going to go with Thelma Plum for the win because of the brave, singular vision of her debut album Better in Blak, which was six years in the making.
BEST GROUP
5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
Birds Of Tokyo – Good Lord
Hilltop Hoods – The Great Expanse
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Solace
The Teskey Brothers – Run Home Slow
Verdict: All worthy nominees in the category which has historically been dominated by rock bands with guitars over the 30 plus year history of the awards, with the exception of pop duo Savage Garden in 1997 and dance party-starters The Presets in 2008. The Hilltop Hoods broke records for the biggest live audiences of their career on their No. 1 record The Great Escape and the hip hop trio are well overdue for celebration in this category with their fourth nomination for Best Group in a decade.
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST
G Flip – About Us
Stella Donnelly – Beware Of The Dogs
The Teskey Brothers – Run Home Slow
Thelma Plum – Better In Blak
Tones And I – Dance Monkey
Verdict: Interesting to note the Teskey Brothers have been recognised as a “breakthrough artist” on their second album but anyhoo … please do not make me choose this one. In terms of measuring success via streaming stats, it’s tough to go past Tones and I as the artist with the biggest cut through on a global scale.
SONG OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY YOUTUBE MUSIC
5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
Amy Shark – Mess Her Up
Birds Of Tokyo – Good Lord
Dean Lewis – 7 Minutes
Guy Sebastian – Choir
Hilltop Hoods – Leave Me Lonely
Kian – Waiting
Morgan Evans – Day Drunk
Ocean Alley – Confidence
Tones and I – Dance Monkey
Verdict: Give. It. To. Tones. Dance Monkey is the song of the year. Although with this publicly voted award, the fan armies could muster in a voting bloc behind 5SOS. But seriously, if Tones doesn’t win Song of the Year, I may be compelled to do a Kanye and storm the stage in protest with a “Imma let you finish …” speech.