The Australian music industry's night of nights - the 2019 ARIA Awards - it's the chance to socialise, mingle, build relationships and see who handles their drink the best.
Following three hours of juggling artists on the carpet, the chance to sit down was welcome as we shuffled into the Iain Shedden Media Suite. With the evergreen and professional Robbie Buck steering the ship, the show started pretty much on time, which is a good thing seeing as how it goes for a bloody long time.
Looking for the full ARIAs winners list? Then head right here
Guy Sebastian cheekily opened the show, followed by Tones & I performing Dance Monkey, and the first award, for Best Live Act, was given out to Hilltop Hoods.
Robert Irwin and his black-headed python, Larry, presented Dean Lewis with his second ARIA ever and rumours circulated that Irwin, and the reptile, might make an appearance in the suite. He came in, unfortunately sans Larry, and chatted with a fellow Robert on the couch. They didn't talk much about music, sticking to animal births and the size of baby koalas. (A jelly bean, FYI). Buck tried to encourage teenage rebellion, but Irwin, dressed in his uniform khaki, admitted, "Look at how rebellious I am!" Indeed. We did find out that there would be animals at his sister Bindi's wedding. A scoop? Probably not, but good fun.
Justine Clarke, presenter of the Best Children's Album, joined the room soon after. "I wish I had my ukulele!" Clarke announced, but we were treated to a rendition of her latest track about bananas, which was super cute.
Winner of the ARIA for Best Children's Album, Dan Sultan, and his impressive dyed hair ("my hair's amazing!") jumped on the couch and shared what it was like making an album for younger people. "The songs are shorter and the jokes are funnier!" He shared how nice it was to be acknowledged for both of his albums, although only one had farting gorillas.
If you watched the ARIAs 20 years ago, you might remember Madison Avenue's infamous performance. One half of the duo, Andy Van, shared what it was like during those hectic days and gave advice to the next crop - "It's easy to burn out".
Following Tones & I's second win of the night, for Best Pop Release, talk turned to guessing just how many she would take home. Buck reassured us that she would make an appearance in the suite, so that seemed to hint that there was more to come...
Billie-Rose Brotherson and Zane Blumeris from School Of Rock The Musical hit the couch next. Veterans of the stage even at their young age, the two spoke amazingly well, explaining the musical and how they felt being in the big production and presenting the Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album award. Blumeris' love of Mr Bungle surprised everyone when asked about their own taste in music they love, proving that the kids really are alright.
While The Teskey Brothers were picking up the Best Group gong, Best Country Album winner Morgan Evans joined the media throng and his genuine and warm presence was beautiful to experience. Brought up on Lee Kernaghan and Garth Brooks, the rising talent (who now calls Nashville home) was admittedly overwhelmed but seemed very appreciative.
As we all laughed/cringed at the wrong envelope being opened live for the Best Independent Release by triple j presenters Lewis & Veronica, past presenters Alex 'Dance Monkey' Dyson and Matt 'Tones & I' Okine mounted the couch. "When you dress up as a monkey, you expect everyone to be better than you," chuckled Dyson. With discussion of Okine's book, and its movie deal, it seems that Alex is writing a book too. "I'm the only one that did a creative writing degree!" It would appear their night had just begun.
One of the best moments of the night was Amyl & The Sniffers, dressed head to toe in Gucci, winning Best Rock Album. Singer Amy Taylor declared right off the bat, "I'm alright. I'm just shitting myself". Their meteoric rise has seemingly come as a surprise to no-one more than themselves, Taylor sharing, "Triple R played us once and I thought, 'I'm leaving Coles!'"
"You must be finally Australian!" Buck introduced Arj Barker. The Best Comedy Release winner shared that Australia is a special place for him - and that his particular brand of laidback comedy fits right in. Obviously still quite buzzed from just accepting his award, Barker declared he will gladly keep returning.
Fresh off claiming the Best Soul/R&B gong, Kaiit quietly slipped into the suite, the Papua New Guinea born artist seeming extremely humble despite her obvious talent and golden voice. Revealing that she had a small breakdown on the red carpet, she credited Amy Winehouse, playing on the PA, for helping her to get through the moment.
"There was an amazing feeling in the room," declared newly minted Hall Of Famers Human Nature of their live performance in the auditorium. The Western Sydney boy group rattled off some stories of their passion and tribulations of becoming an a capella group in the '80s. Telling stories of their high school reunion and their residency in Las Vegas, the band easily handled the pressure of the media room couch. Despite telling us how often they get asked to sing instead of talk, a polite request saw them spin a few lines of My Girl and it was as perfect as it was 30 years ago.
Winner of the award for Telstra ARIA Music Teacher Of The Year, Antonio Chiapetta told us what we already know of the award: "it's heavy and it's pointy!" We also discovered that his favourite Western Sydney suburb is Blacktown and that he used to drum for Bardot but now shares his musical love and talent with students.
Dean Lewis, with a win for the prestigious Album Of The Year, revealed that he is an anxious person and how comments can sometimes bring you down, though he was happy to hear from a number of artists on the night about how important kindness is. Discussing the fact that his songs have been streamed over 2.7 billion times, Lewis said the important thing is to stay grounded. "I just want to keep writing really good songs that I'm proud of," he shared. We hope so too, Dean!
Guy Sebastian, host and winner of Song Of The Year, had a well-deserved bottle of champagne with him as he entered the room, admitting that the hosting gig scared him more than performing. Going from a Medical Radiation course to music, Sebastian hasn't looked back and really backed up the fact that kindness is key.
Last to grace the room was The Teskey Brothers. "We've never used any computers," admitted Josh Teskey. "It was really special to perform our old school music to a crowd like that." Sharing it was a love of funk music that started the group in Warrandyte, they effuse that there's something in the water of the region with so many great artists coming from there.
This wrapped the night in the media room - unfortunately the evening's big winner, Tones & I, was not able to make it - closing a night where good music and great people won out.
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