GRID Series = Grass Roots Indie Development. It’s a career development program for emerging Australian musicians. You read that right. It’s career development. For musicians. Aside from needing the smarts to save cash for equipment and the spunk to bellow songs and beats heartily from the stage, building a music career takes a team, indeed an industry to kick start that process. As the saying goes… it takes a whole goddamn village. Enter GRID Series.

GRID is an Australian artist development platform established in 2013 by Melbourne musicians Ariel Blum and Ayesha Mehta. The program empowers emerging Australian musicians from outer suburban areas to cultivate their musical and marketing skills and transform them to support thriving careers. GRID cuts through the noise and gets to the heart of a fundamental issue within the Australian music industry; under-served suburban communities are breeding powerful musicians who need the resources to hone their creative and professional skills and establish their rightful foothold within the Australian music industry.

Having kicked off with their Western Sydney program last month, GRID now turns their attention to South West Brisbane.

Four successful applicants from South West Brisbane will receive a one-on-one session with an established songwriter, have the chance to record with a renowned producer, and be mentored by an accomplished music industry expert to discuss their career and develop a set of strategies to ensure that music remains a central part of their lives. Past participants include rising hip hop star Daniel Elia, soul band The Fabric (fronted by Angie McMahon), indie folk singer songwriter Alana Wilkinson and dream pop band Manorism.

Mentors for the Brisbane program include Nick Lynagh from Mirror Music Group (Gang of Youths, Middle Kids), Sarah Chipman from Title Track (Manu Crooks, Didirri, Gretta Stanley) as well as songwriting development from Konstantin Kersting (The Belligerents and Mallrat), with Yanto Browning (Kate Miller Heidke) and Ariel Blum (Lara Andallo, St.Ives) on production duties.

GRID Series’ mission  has been to take the music industry to musicians within their communities – not the other way around. Whilst many other great artist development programs support  more established musicians already living in flourishing music communities within the inner city hubs, the participants in GRID Series are re-defining the Australian suburbs where creative industry is not already dominating the local landscape. Through GRID Series, participants are being empowered to trip-wire the local culture, placing their suburbs on the map and enlivening communities where production resources and industry support would be otherwise scarce.

GRID BRISBANE is supported by Belong, with additional support from program partners APRA/AMCOS and BEMAC (Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre).

Meanwhile, following an extensive call-out, GRID is thrilled to announce the four artists selected to be a part of the Western Sydney program.

Atmavichara
As a young, Australian-born Tamil woman, Srisha Sritharan uses her background as an Australian Poetry Slam Sydney & NSW Champion to discuss socio-political issues though her music. After securing the title of a finalist at the Sydney Opera House in 2017, Srisha subsequently won the Bankstown Poetry Grand Slam at Sydney Town Hall and the People’s Choice, and has since progressed to working on her own music, recently performing “Colonise My Melanin” from her upcoming mixtape at Secret Garden Festival, 2019. Some of Srisha’s notable work includes performing at the Sydney Writers Festival, the Museum of Contemporary Art and Casula Powerhouse Museum. Interviewed by ABC Lateline and SBS Tamil radio for her winning slam “Fake News” which she featured over Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 track “These Walls”, Srisha hopes to start pressing conversations locally and globally.

Chris Neto
It may be apparent on first listen that Neto (Chris Neto) has a vast array of musical influences, from the roaring 20’s jazz, to classical scores composed for film and video games. As a songwriter and performing artist, Neto is often compared to an unlikely coupling of Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley; it is no surprise that his years of experience have culminated into thought-provoking lyrics that conjure images in the mind’s eye with hair-raising vocal dynamism. Neto’s honest, emotionally-driven music relaxes the body and soothes the soul in a world of ever-growing pace.

Clarissa Mei
Clarissa Mei is a 21 year old songwriter and producer, born and raised in Western Sydney, Australia. Clarissa has debuted her new sound at The Plot Festival 2017, Secret Garden Festival and Women in Music Empowerment Day 2018. She has also performed at MCA event GENEXT alongside Kota Banks, Clypso & PRINCI. “‘Vulnerable’ was the perfect introduction to her impenetrable vocal style and clever production which blended soulful instrumentation with heavy electronic beats…” – Purple Sneakers, Emma Jones.

Ilisavani
Ilisavani Cava possesses a talent that is undeniable. Originally hailing from Fiji and now calling Western Sydney home, Ilisavani signature vocal sound is a mesmerising tour-de-force. With performances at the Rugby League World Cup and Oceania Rhythms Festival already under his belt, its only a matter of time till the world gets to know this immense talent.

Applications are open now to artists from South West Brisbane. Details of how to apply are available on the GRID Website.