2018 has been a huge year for Australian writer and producer Sam Phay.

After performing on Triple J’s Like a Version and at the Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid Festival, Phay will wrap up 2018 with his debut show supporting JEFFE in Melbourne on December 6th, 2018.

24 year-old Phay has spent this year writing with some of the most exciting up-and-coming artists in Australia. Earlier in the year he received news that a track he co-wrote and vocal featured on with Kuren, ‘Never Enough’, was being released. An invitation to perform on Triple J’s Like A Version and at the Sydney Opera House followed and industry buzz ensued.

Trace comes as a right of passage in his career, seeing him transition from frontman to songwriter and artist.

“This song is really important to me because I had to really actively give myself permission to do something I hadn’t allowed myself to do before,” he explains.

Those familiar with Phay’s previous work will associate his name with powerhouse vocals that front a backdrop of robust and energetic riffs, but with the release of Trace comes a showcase of a different side to his musical prowess.

“So much of my musical output and projects had involved these big, triumphant and vocally expansive moments that I’d really attached my musical self-identity to. I like to think that this song rejects a lot of those ideas whilst still feeling like it’s me,” Phay explains.

“Writing it taught me a lot about trusting my own sense of musical instinct.”

Phay says the track lyrically tells the story of finding your way back to someone despite the distance, whether it be physical or emotional, “which funnily enough, outlines my relationship with this song.”

At the end of 2016 Phay took the next step in his career. After spending the past eight years fronting rock bands, he opened himself up to the world of songwriting and made his mark at APRA AMCOS Specific Music’s 50 Songs in 5 Days writing camp.

“It changed everything. From there, I did more sessions and wrote more songs. This year I’ve written records in an ex-church-turned studio for a week, performed an original on Triple J’s Like A Version and even sang at the Sydney Opera House. About mid-way through this year I decided to release some of the songs taking up space in my hard drive. I’d only really written these for the sake of writing but I’m excited to get at least a few of them out into the world.”

Phay’s plans are to “keep writing and producing”, and states “I’m in the middle of finishing an EP that will hopefully traverse a couple of the different sounds I’ve been exploring. Some might be groovy and some will be slow piano songs. But as long as I’m writing stuff that’s real to me then I’m hitting the mark.”

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Released on this very day (7th September) in 1998, Powderfinger proudly announce a 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the Quintuple Platinum, 4x ARIA award winning recording, Internationalist. The 20th Anniversary of Powderfinger’s Internationalist album, featuring unreleased tracks, will be released on Friday October 12th, 2018.

The original 13 track album will be expanded to 35 tracks, including a triple j Live At The Wireless session from 12th October 1998 (never before available commercially), all B-sides from the album (available digitally for the first time), alongside previously unreleased demos including the never before heard track Feels Like Something – listen here. Digging deep into the vaults and lifted from the Internationalist demo recording sessions, the slow-burn structure, quiet/loud dynamic and cascading crescendo of this demo make it unmistakably of its time. Tracked, recorded and mixed in the bands own studio by Darren Middleton and Ian Haug. The Deluxe Edition will be available on 2LP purple vinyl, 2CD Deluxe and digitally.

1998 was a landmark year for Powderfinger. Two years prior, their Double Allergic album provided a breakthrough to Powderfinger’s career. It occupied 10 weeks in the ARIA top ten, eventually achieving triple-platinum. Buoyed by the singles Pick You Up, Living Type and DAF, all were in the upper echelons of the triple J Hottest 100 of 1996. Internationalist, the band’s third album, was released on September 7th 1998 and immediately hit the #1 spot on the ARIA chart, spending six weeks in the Top Ten. It was the album that cemented the band as the force that they became and holds a very special place in the hearts and music collections of hundreds of thousands of fans.

Recorded at Melbourne’s Sing Sing studios, Internationalist was produced by Nick DiDia, (the first outing in a long-standing relationship) whom the band credit strongly for finding the Powderfinger ‘sound’.  ‘We probably can’t overstate the influence Nick had on helping us define this album, and three subsequent. We tracked the main body of the album in a few weeks and we were all gobsmacked at how good he’d got it all to sound. We had made great sounding records before, but this was ALIVE. It was leaping out of the speakers when we mixed it’.

The first single from the album came in the form of The Day You Come, which was released a month prior to the album, with its down tempo arrangement in tangent to what would make up the rest of the album. The second single was the double sucker-punch of Don’t Wanna Be Left Out / Good Day Ray followed by Already Gone. The fourth single, Passenger, was released 11 months after the album and immediately propelled it back into the Top Ten for another 12 weeks. Internationalist spent 101 weeks in the ARIA Top 50, one of only two Australian albums to have achieved over 100 weeks in the Top 50. The album enjoys a peerless legacy 20 years on, having forged a path of both critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as being highly cherished by fans.

At the ARIA awards in 1999 Internationalist took home the awards for Album of the Year, Best Rock Album and Best Cover Art (by Kevin Wilkins), and The Day You Come won Single of the Year. Passenger was nominated for three additional categories the following year.

The 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Internationalist will be released on Friday October 12th 2018 across a variety of formats including vinyl.

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Released last month, Thandi Phoenix and Rudimental’s My Way is quickly picking up pace as one of the most catchy, energetic dance songs of the year so far. Now stepping up on remix duties are none other than Ulterior Motive, a Bournemouth-based drum and bass duo known for their moody basslines and underground appeal. Utilising their trademark atmospherics and some masterful drum-work, Ulterior Motive put their unique spin on My Way, aimed at those more acquainted with the underground dancefloor.

The original artist and vocalist, Thandi Phoenix, is striding into 2018 with serious momentum.

An eventful last year saw the Sydney-based artist touring with Tinie Tempah, Jhene Aioko, Tinashe and dance legend Pete Tong alongside his 65-piece Heritage Orchestra. Thandi then went on to release her biggest tune to date, ‘Standing Too Close’, that garnered local tastemaker support and major rotation on Triple J.

This year the longstanding relationship between Thandi and East London collective Rudimental materialised with their first official collaboration. The friendship was born after Rudimental were blown away when they first discovered Phoenix on stage in 2015. Invited by the Rudimental boys to join them as main support on their Australian tour the next spring, they forged a close-knit bond becoming an integral part of both Thandi’s development and discovery as an international artist. Rudimental are renowned for their involvement with launching the careers of some of today’s most successful artists including Anne-Marie, John Newman and Jess Glynne, who all got their big break collaborating with the band.

The Ulterior Motive remix of My Way is released via Island Records / Neon Records.

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Ten years deep into their career, Thundamental’s reputation is undeniable.

From their debut self-titled EP in 2008 through to their acclaimed, ARIA and J Award nominated fourth album Everyone We Know in 2017, relentless touring across Australia and Europe including support for A Tribe Called Quest, Macklemore and Big Boi, not to mention gracing almost every major music festival in the country along the way, the band has evolved musically, inspired lyrically and become one of Australia’s most exciting and powerful live acts. In the last year alone, Thundamentals have graced the stages of Triple J’s One Night Stand, Groovin The Moo, Splendour In The Grass and Falls Festival, in addition to selling out their biggest ever headline tour. 

Thundamentals

Tuka explains “It’s 10 years of releasing records and touring, sure, but it’s so much more than that. It’s family, it’s a platform to contribute to our community, it’s connection to the broader community at large, it’s a wealth of life-changing experiences. To be fair, it’s a crazy thing to look back on. To listen back on…”

Following their accolades and commercial success, it’s Thundamentals ongoing efforts to spread love and inspire a positive change in their own community that has endeared them to their legions of fans, quietly raising tens of thousands of dollars through their Got Love Initiative on behalf of the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown and the The National Centre of Indigenous Excellence.   

“Despite us being around for a decade, I feel like we have a lot of great music and creative energy left in us which I look forward to sharing with our listeners in the years to come. Thank you so much to anybody who has ever taken an interest in our music. We wouldn’t be here without your continued support” – Jeswon 

Tickets on sale today, Thundamentals ‘Decade Of The Thundakat’ Tour 2018!

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