QMusic has revealed the finalists for the 2023 Queensland Music Awards, honouring the best and brightest music makers from the sunshine state. Cub Sport, Mallrat, Thelma Plum, DZ Deathrays and Confidence Man lead the wide-ranging list of nominations.
74 musicians have been named as finalists across 17 categories, with the winners to be unveiled in a ceremony at Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall on Tuesday, 28th March. 100 Australian and international music industry figures deliberated over the final list of nominees, which you can see in full below.
Cub Sport – ‘Keep Me Safe’
Confidence Man will go up against dameeeela, Nat Dunn and Sycco for the best electronic artist award, while DZ Deathrays have been nominated in the best heavy artist category alongside Citadel, Greshka and The Atomic Beau Project.
In the best hip-hop category we have Day1, JESSWAR, Khi’leb and Sialal; on the pop front, the finalists are Asha Jefferies, Cub Sport, Mallrat and Thelma Plum; and Eliza & The Delusionals, Hope D, WAAX and Yb. are nominated for rock.
Beddy Rays, Sunny Luwe, William Barton, Tjaka are nominees in the best Indigenous artist category.
“We are so incredibly proud of the last year of music in Queensland!” QMusic CEO Kris Stewart said in a statement. “From epic stories of identity, like Thelma Plum’s stellar EP Meanjin or Beddy Rays’ break-neck debut album, to uplifting party-starters, like Confidence Man’s sophomore album TILT – our stories are reaching out into the world and defining what we’re made of. And it’s something special.
“The 2023 Queensland Music Awards will be a moment for our industry to come together and celebrate,” they continued. “I invite music-lovers across all genres to book their tickets and join us at The Fortitude Music Hall to celebrate the incredible success of our artists and to celebrate each other!”
QMA 2023 Nominees
BLUES | ROOTS AWARD
- Darcy Kate – ‘Blue Cascade’
- Jackie Marshall – ‘Chop Wood Carry Water’
- Jen Mize & The Rough N’ Tumble – ‘All Riled Up’
- Pat Tierney – ‘Shadows’
CHILDREN’S MUSIC AWARD
- Blue Tac – ‘Jump In The Pool’
- Cheeky Monkey Club – ‘Yes or No – A Song About Consent’
- Spotty Kites – Donna Dyson – ‘Walk Around Wednesday’
- The Mini Moshers – ‘Waterslide’
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL AWARD
- Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, Tenzin Choegyal & Katherine Philp – ‘Dolma’
- Monique Clare – ‘Downhill Skiing’
- Nonsemble – ‘Argentavis’
- Tristan Barton – ‘In Time’
COUNTRY AWARD
- Casey Barnes – ‘Small Town’
- James Johnston – ‘COUNTRY BOYS’
- Sammy White – ‘Love On The Line’
- Taylor Moss – ‘What Am I Gonna Do?’
ELECTRONIC AWARD
- Confidence Man – ‘Luvin U Is Easy’
- dameeeela – ‘The Shake Up’
- Nat Dunn – ‘State Of My Heart’
- Sycco – ‘Ripple’
FOLK AWARD
- Freight Train Foxes – ‘Fly to You’
- Greta Stanley – ‘Keep My Cool’
- Miranda vs Arizona – ‘Changin’
- Yb. – ‘Blackphemy’
HEAVY AWARD
- Citadel – ‘Malignant’
- DZ Deathrays – ‘Paranoid’
- Greshka – ‘FREEDOM FROM CLIVE’
- The Atomic Beau Project – ‘GHOSTS’
HIP HOP AWARD
- Day1 – ‘MBAPPE’
- JESSWAR – ‘WAVES’
- Khi’leb – ‘Cheques’
- Siala – ‘Blackout’
INDIGENOUS AWARD
- Beddy Rays – ‘Handful’
- Sunny Luwe – ‘Double Shot’
- William Barton – ‘Kalkani’
- Tjaka – ‘Break It Down’
JAZZ AWARD
- Angela Newcomb – ‘Last Evening’
- Sophie Min – ‘Wind and the End’
- The Dawn Light – ‘The Moon Was Low’
- Trichotomy – ‘Forward Motion’
POP AWARD
- Asha Jefferies – ‘Tank Tops’
- Cub Sport – ‘Always Got The Love’
- Mallrat – ‘Surprise Me (feat. Azealia Banks)’
- Thelma Plum – ‘Backseat Of My Mind’
ROCK AWARD
- Eliza & The Delusionals – ‘Give You Everything’
- Hope D – ‘Emerald’
- WAAX – ‘No Doz’
- Yb. – ‘Sandra’
YOUTH (AGES 10 – 17) AWARD
- Amy Elise – ‘Kind Of Insane’
- FELONY – ‘Anything To Feel Anything’
- Lily Grace – ‘The Two Of Us Meet’
- Lottie McLeod – ‘Happy Birthday’
SOUL | FUNK | RNB AWARD
- Beckah Amani – ‘Waiting on You’
- Jordan Briton – ‘Lights Out Feat: Roman MC’
- Miiesha – ‘Still Dream’
- Pink Matter – ‘Can’t Start’
WORLD AWARD
- Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, Tenzin Choegyal & Katherine Philp – ‘Wo La So’Future Destin – ‘MALANGA’
- Innessa – ‘Perekati-pole’
- mou and Menaka Thomas – ‘Space’
REGIONAL AWARD
- Greta Stanley – ‘Red Earth Dirt’
- High Tropics – ‘Bipolar Disaster’
- Miiesha – ‘Everything’
- Sahara Beck – ‘Nothing Wrong With That’
VIDEO AWARD
- Ben Wrigley – Purple Static by Mirrors
- Deena Lynch – Cut by Jaguar Jonze
- Maeve McKenna & James Greville – Emerald by Hope D
PEOPLE’S CHOICE NOMINEES
METRO VENUE OF THE YEAR
- Miami Marketta
- The Fortitude Music Hall
- The Princess Theatre
- The Tivoli
- The Triffid
- Warehouse 25
REGIONAL VENUE OF THE YEAR
- Tanks Arts Centre
- Solbar
- Eleven
FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR
- Airlie Beach Festival of Music
- Buskers by the Lake
- Caloundra Music Festival
- GRAIN’s Birthday Weekender
- Gympie Music Muster
- NOOSA alive!
- Mountain Goat Valley Crawl
- SPRINGTIME
- Yonder Festival
Further Reading
Baker Boy Cleans Up At The 2022 ARIA Awards: Full Winners List
