Here is a list of eight up and coming Australian musicians making waves in 2020.
1. Mia Rodriguez
Mia Rodriguez is a 17-year-old from Sydney who rose to fame on TikTok, gaining more than 2 million fans in less than two years. In December of 2019 she signed with Chugg Music subsidiary, City Pop. Her debut single ‘Emotion’ was released in January with a second single ‘Psycho’ released in April.
– Instagram: 164K followers
– Twitter
Check out ‘Psycho’ by Australian artist Mia Rodriguez:
2. Marco
Marco Ghikas is an 18-year-old from Brisbane who was already performing locally at the age of 16. The upcoming musician released his debut single ‘When I was a Ghost’ in August of 2018 and then went on to sign a record deal with Sony Music Australia. His most recent single ‘Harder to Breathe’ was released in March.
– Instagram: 1.7K followers
– Twitter
Check out ‘Harder to Breathe’ by Marco:
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3. Essie Holt
Essie Holt is a Melbourne raised now Sydney based singer-songwriter. She released her debut single ‘Underwater’ in November 2017 and signed with UNIFIED Music Group in May 2019.
Her debut EP Silent Wars was written while she was learning more about her own sexuality and growing into herself. After being released in April, it has been streamed more than 1.5 million times on Spotify.
– Instagram: 3K followers
– Twitter
Check out ‘Lover X Liar’ by Essie Holt:
4. KIAN
Kian Brownfield is a 17-year-old from Castlemaine Victoria who apparently shares the same birthday as Mia Rodriguez, also on this list.
His parents are both singer-songwriters with his father running a company that visits remote Indigenous communities promoting health and social awareness through music and art.
He featured on Baker Boy’s debut single ‘Cloud 9’ in May 2017 before releasing his own debut single ‘Too Far Gone’ with Vince the Kid in January 2018. He then went on to win triple j’s Unearthed High competition and signed with EMI Music Australia and Republic Records all in the same year.
His latest single ‘Every Hour’ was released last month.
– Instagram: 28.8K followers
– Twitter
Check out ‘Every Hour’ by KIAN:
5. Chymes
Chymes debuted as a duo in 2016, consisting of singer-songwriter Kiersten Nyman and former member, producer Cameron Taylor.
Originally from the Central Coast of New South Wales, the pair were thrust into the spotlight after their single ‘Dreaming’ was tweeted in December 2018 by K-pop group BTS member JungKook to BTS’ fans.
This caused Chymes to become the most searched word on the Korean digital music streaming platform Melon. Now a solo act, Chymes has just released new single ‘Bad’.
– Instagram: 4.6K followers
– Twitter
Check out ‘Bad’ by Chymes:
6. Yoste
24-year-old Kurt Sines, also known as Yoste, is a Brisbane born singer-songwriter who started uploading music to triple j Unearthed in 2016. He came into prominence in 2018 gaining millions of streams on Spotify and released his debut EP try to be okay in February 2019.
He recently signed with Island Records, releasing the single ‘Flaws’ in April.
– Instagram: 6K followers
– Twitter
Check out ‘Flaws’ by Yoste:
7. Graace
Grace Pitts is a 23-year-old who was born in Melbourne and raised in Sydney. She participated in The Voice Australia in 2015 under coach Delta Goodrem, who is now her labelmate at Sony Music Australia.
Her breakout featuring was on Hayden James’ single ‘Numb’ in October 2017, with her debut EP Self Sabotage released a year later in October 2018. Her latest single ‘Hard to Say’ was released in February.
– Instagram: 53.1K followers
– Twitter
Check out ‘Hard to Say’ by Graace:
8. Baker Boy
Danzal Baker is a 23-year-old rapper who was born in Darwin and grew up in the remote communities of Milingimbi and Maningrida in the Northern Territory.
His debut single ‘Cloud 9’ featuring KIAN was released in May 2017 and utilised both English and the Indigenous language Yolngu Matha.
Baker Boy is far from an upcoming musician anymore. In 2019, he won the Artist Of The Year Award at the National Indigenous Music Awards, was nominated for three ARIA awards and was also named Young Australian of the Year for his work with Indigenous youth.
His latest single ‘Move’ was released in April.
– Instagram: 65.7K followers
– Twitter
Check out ‘Meditjin’ by Baker Boy:
