APRA Music Awards 2024: The Teskey Brothers win songwriter of the year accolade
The Teskey Brothers’ APRAs win saw them follow in the footsteps of sibling duos such as Malcolm and Angus Young of AC/DC, and Neil and Tim Finn of Crowded House | FULL LIST OF WINNERS
Josh and Sam Teskey have become the latest sibling duo to share the songwriter of the year title at the APRA Music Awards, held at a music industry event in Sydney on Wednesday night.
Their win at the annual celebration of excellence in Australian songwriting saw them follow in the footsteps of famed sibling duos Malcolm and Angus Young (of AC/DC, 2010), Neil and Tim Finn (Crowded House, 1992), Ella and Jesse Hooper (Killing Heidi, 2001), and Angus and Julia Stone (2011).
As well, the award win meant the siblings from the northeast Melbourne suburb of Warrandyte joined the likes of Australian songwriters including Nick Cave, Paul Kelly, Kasey Chambers, Sia Furler and Kevin Parker (aka Tame Impala).
“These are really ‘pinch yourself’ moments because you grow up being so inspired by these great songwriters – and then to be on that list, it’s very special,” Sam Teskey, 35, said ahead of the event.
Unusually for the award ceremony, which was hosted by music rights organisation APRA AMCOS, the pair was given advance notice of their accolade.
There was a good reason for this: they needed to accept it in absentia, as they are touring the US in a run of shows booked well in advance of the surprise prize.
“To not be able to be back there, and be really immersed in the whole scene and enjoy it – that’s definitely a bittersweet thing,” Sam Teskey said. “But we’re off touring the world, doing what we love doing.”
Their third album under the banner of blues/soul act The Teskey Brothers, The Winding Way, debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA chart last year. Their shared obsession for the craft of songwriting, Sam Teskey said with a laugh, is “definitely not too strong a word”.
“It feels like it’s something that just keeps on going,” he said. “If you’re not ready to let go of stuff, then you can’t really write anything new. That’s just the way creativity works: you’ve always got to have a creative flow, and you’ve always got to be putting stuff out, in order to take stuff in.”
When the songwriter of the year award was announced on Wednesday night, the brothers were raising a glass together while somewhere between a headline concert at the 2500-capacity Taft Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio, and an upcoming appearance at the Florida music festival Sun, Sand and Soul Weekend.
Since releasing their debut album Half Mile Harvest in 2017, The Teskey Brothers have become a remarkable export success story, particularly in the live sector. When touring nationally, the duo and their bandmates attract large enough audiences to fill outdoor venues such as Brisbane’s Riverstage and Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl.
The band’s uniquely soulful bluesy sound – led by Josh Teskey’s evocative, remarkable voice – has attracted a monthly global audience of 3.7 million listeners on Spotify alone, and international revenue forms a significant part of their income as recording artists.
Also at the ICC Sydney on Wednesday night, at a ceremony hosted by comedian Tom Gleeson, peer-voted APRA song of the year went to Troye Sivan and co-writer Styalz Fuego for Rush, a hedonistic pop single from Sivan’s third album, which also earned four trophies at the ARIAs last year.
Dean Lewis took home two awards for How Do I Say Goodbye – most performed Australian work and most performed pop work – and indie pop artist Grentperez was named emerging songwriter of the year.
The inaugural award for most performed hard rock/heavy metal work went to Byron Bay quintet Parkway Drive for Darker Still, while the Ted Albert Award for outstanding services to Australian music was presented to Bart Willoughby of pioneering Indigenous rock act No Fixed Address.
The writer travelled to Sydney as a guest of APRA AMCOS.
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