King Stingray wins Vanda and Young Global Songwriting Competition with Milkumana
Arnhem Land band King Stingray has won the $50,000 top spot in the annual Vanda & Young contest for its song about the importance of setting good examples for young people.
Top End surf-rock band King Stingray has won the top spot in the annual Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition for Milkumana, a song about role models and the importance of setting good examples for young people.
The No.1 place earned a $50,000 prize for co-writers Roy Kellaway and Yirrnga Gotjiringu Yunupingu, whose song – sung largely in Yolngu Matha – is an irresistibly upbeat party track that pivots on a fleet-fingered bassline and an intricate drum pattern.
“We can’t believe it, we are so over the moon to win the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition,” said Kellaway on Thursday. “It means so much to us, we really do believe what we are singing about and our songs tell a story and a message. We feel really lucky that we can share stories.
“The song Milkumana is about leadership and the people we look up to and now, all of a sudden, we’ve become leaders in our community and that concept is just so amazing,” said the guitarist and songwriter. “We come from a small place and we’re singing about big things.”
Among the leaders on the artists’ mind when crafting the song was the late Mandawuy Yunupingu, Yirrnga’s uncle and the frontman of Yothu Yindi, the globetrotting group in which Roy’s father Stuart Kellaway played bass.
“What an amazing leader he was for his community; a massive advocate for bilingual education and celebrating culture,” said Kellaway. “He was one of the true greats: an Australian of the Year and a phenomenal fella, and someone we always looked up to.”
Milkumana was one of several songs recorded with engineer Steve Kempnich at Airlock Studios, near Brisbane, after the band received a $22,250 Australia Council grant in December 2019.
Much of that was spent on airfares for the NT-based band members, with return trips from Gove Airport to the Queensland capital averaging $3000 per person.
“It was amazing, that Australia Council grant; it just meant we were able to do this,” said Kellaway. “I’m forever thankful that they believed in what we wanted to do.”
Another King Stingray song placed third in the competition: Camp Dog, an ode to the community dogs of the band’s hometown Yirrkala, which earned its writer Kellaway a further $5000.
The $10,000 second prize at the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition – so named for the iconic Easybeats songwriters, Harry Vanda and the late George Young – went to NSW singer-songwriter Budjerah for his song Ready For the Sky, co-written with Ainslie Wills.
“Sony Music Publishing is honoured to be a co-sponsor of the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition and we couldn’t be more thrilled to see the top three places this year being taken out by Aboriginal artists and writers,” said Damian Trotter, managing director of Sony Music Publishing Australia.
“The incredible King Stingray and Budjerah have both made a huge impact over the last couple of years across the whole country and are now set to show the rest of the world their culture and the depth of talent of these exciting Yolngu/balanda and Bundjalung artists,” said Trotter. “Congratulations to them and also to Ainslie Wills.”
Dean Ormston, chief executive of music rights organisation APRA AMCOS, said: “Hearty congratulations to King Stingray – Roy and Yirrnga – on your collaboration that is travelling from the top end to all corners of the globe. The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is so special because it honours the craft of songwriting and gives anyone who enters the chance to be heard and win. Thank you to all entrants for making a difference.”
The global songwriting accolades cap a remarkable year for King Stingray, which released its self-titled debut album in August, then won the Michael Gudinski breakthrough artist ARIA Award in November and the $30,000 Australian Music Prize in March.
Formed by lifelong friends Kellaway and Yunupingu in 2019, the group recorded its debut album as a quintet, and last year expanded to a six-piece with the addition of Yimila Gurruwiwi on didgeridoo and backing vocals.
The Arnhem Land rock band’s five-date theatre tour will begin June 24 in Sydney and end on July 7 in Brisbane.
