Each year an up-and-coming South Australian musician or band is recognised for their potential and awarded $5,000 to support their professional development.
This year's Emily Burrows Award winner is Adelaide band Seabass.
Previous honourees include Dead Roo, Ollie English, Electric Fields and the Hilltop Hoods.
Congrats to this year's Emily Burrows Award winner, Adelaide band Seabass. The four-piece only formed last year - thanks to a support slot for Pussy Riot - but are already getting noticed for their 'potent indie-rock power' and songs packed with meaning.
Each year an up-and-coming South Australian musician or band is recognised for their potential and awarded $5,000 to support their professional development. The award was instituted in 2001 in memory of Emily Burrows, a former APRA AMCOS membership representative and compliance officer, who worked tirelessly to support and encourage South Australian songwriters and composers. The award was established following her tragic, accidental death in 2000.
Seabass was announced as the recipient at the South Australian Music Awards, and presented with the honour by APRA AMCOS SA Rep Alana Jagt. Previous honourees include Dead Roo, Ollie English, Electric Fields and the Hilltop Hoods.
"It's a huge honour for all of us to be presented with this award for this project. We're a very young, self-managed band and we are only scratching the surface of what we are capable of artistically as a collective. The recognition of the hard work and countless hours we've all put into this project really does hit us right in the feels and is exactly why we were all speechless when receiving the award the other night," said the band in a written statement (more below).
On the heels of their big night, Seabass released their new single 'Burn.' The song will be included on an EP for release in early 2021.
Read the band's thoughts on winning the award:
We will certainly be putting the money right back into SEABASS whether it's for vinyl pressing, future records, PR and (soon) management - whatever it is it takes a huge weight off our shoulders in having to find the funds to keep this project going. Ultimately this will allow us to put another foot forward in the SEABASS journey.
APRA AMCOS - is the lifeblood of the Australian music industry. From networking events, industry/artistic recognition, grants, songwriting workshops, mentorships. APRA serves as a central hub for all of us involved. In these dire COVID times, we cling to bodies like APRA AMCOS not only for live performance reporting income but also as moral support that legitimises what we do. This is especially important at this time when the recovery of the arts sector continues to be overlooked in any kind of meaningful way by state and federal governments.
Artists are the storytellers, therapists, historians and entertainment for the community at large and hope that this government will place more importance on supporting the people that are always the first to support other good causes. The music industry plays a huge role in getting people out of the house and into venues which injects money back into local businesses which creates and sustains work for many. We hope the government takes a closer look at this really soon.
Hopes for the future as a band include writing more, staying true to ourselves and our community. We hope as a band we can also continue to support and make space for much needed diversity in the music industry. We fly huge flags for cultural, gender diversity and the queer community and hope that we can hold space for those incredibly talented and highly skilled people that are so often overlooked. We're excited for THAT future.
Seabass - Burn