The Queensland Music Awards (QMAs) were celebrated last week at The Fortitude Music Hall in Queensland, Australia. Congratulations to The Orchard distributed artists The Jungle Giants, The Kite String Tangle, and Eliza & The Delusionals for all taking home awards!
The evening included performances from Jaguar Jonze, Cub Sport, Nat Dunn, Busby Marou and Order Sixty6. During the ceremony, special scholarships and honors were awarded to both emerging artists new to the field and honorees who have been active in the field for decades. The Queensland Government’s 2020 Billy Thorpe Scholarship was awarded to rising artist Harry Phillips. Now in its twelfth year, this scholarship is awarded to emerging artists with great potential, and was once awarded to Sam Hales of The Jungle Giants. Sony Music executive Denis Handlin was presented the QMusic Honorary Award in honor of his 50 years working at Sony Music Entertainment.
Four-piece Australian band The Jungle Giants took home both Song of The Year and Best Pop Song of The Year for their 2019 single, “Heavy Hearted.” The single was certified gold in Australia, selling over 35,000 units. The Jungle Giants frontman Sam Hales worked on nearly everything behind the track in his home studio in Melbourne; from engineering and recording, to playing nearly every instrument. Sam told Triple J, “It’s got pop sensibility but it’s a big play-around with sounds. It was such a pleasure to make.”
Acclaimed indie-rock quartet Eliza & The Delusionals had the best year after topping the U.S. charts in 2019. The Australian band received praise for their single “Just Exist” by Sirius XM’s alternative rock station Alt Nation, and beat out the competition to win Best Rock Song. Led by front woman Eliza Klatt, she says the song itself “is about the balance of feeling depressed and feeling creative and [being] inspired by those feelings.”
Brisbane-based alternative electronic artist and producer Danny Harley, AKA The Kite String Tangle, won big for his single “P()L4R”, which took home two awards for Video Of The Year and Best Electronic/Dance Song. This year, Harley is set to drop his second studio album C()D3X, and has announced an upcoming national tour starting in May.
Congratulations again to our Aussie friends on all their wins this year. For a full list of 2020 Queensland Music Awards winners click here. For a list of The Orchard winners, see below:
Best Pop Song
The Jungle Giants “Heavy Hearted” (Amplifire Music)
Song of the Year
The Jungle Giants “Heavy Hearted” (Amplifire Music)
Best Rock Song
Eliza & The Delusionals “Just Exist” (Cooking Vinyl AUS)
Video of the Year
The Kite String Tangle/Danny Harley “P()L4R” (Exist Records)
Best Electronic/Dance Song
The Kite String Tangle/Danny Harley “P()L4R” (Exist Records)
