indie

AWCP are a five-piece indie, acoustic based band from Melbourne, pitched somewhere where the desert meets the sea. Forming in 2012 as a duo, life-long friends Jimmy (Phoenix) Pollock and Anthony Nero set out to record songs and music videos using their iPhones in an attempt to capture more “honest” sounds away from studio trickery. In 2014, the pair began playing live and unplugged in more and more unconventional settings - lounge rooms, backyards, record stores, warehouse parties, giant bean bag factories and in a two-man inflatable boat sailing down a water catchment drain in the middle of nowhere suburbia. In the summer of 2015, Nero and Phoenix took their sound to a string of pubs and bars in St Kilda where they would play to their wives, Jimmy’s mum and various house sound guys. Great times had by all! AWCP set upon the mysterious Heatherton Trail to find some extra magic to widen their sound. This came in the shape of long-time compadres Anthony ‘Quesadilla’ Casey on bass.

If you asked Majelen what her music feels like, she’d say it’s a sonic journey—imagine Ani DiFranco’s lyrical fire meets Ed Sheeran’s heart-on-sleeve storytelling, with a dash of acoustic doof doof.

Picture this: romantic wanderers, their hearts thumping to a rhythm of adventure and love, moving through mountaintop sunrises, coastal sunsets, and the wild Australian outback. It’s the soundtrack of backpackers chasing both dreams and horizons, all wrapped up in Majelen’s one-of-a-kind sound.

A graduate of the prestigious Conservatorium of Music, Majelen's roots are in jazz guitar, but her heart beats for the raw energy of acoustic music. She’s crafted a signature playing style that defies convention—her right hand doesn’t just strum; it drums, creating a rich, percussive landscape that makes her live performances a force of nature. It’s a rhythmic technique that transforms her shows into a dynamic, immersive experience, leaving audiences entranced.

Her songs are more than just music—they’re stories that invite reflection and joy. With lyrics that stir the soul, melodies that soar, and a pulse that drives you forward, Majelen’s music is an uplifting escape into her world of wanderlust and wonder.

Her debut studio album, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, is set for release in 2024, distributed by Virgin/Universal Music Group under her own Australian-based label, Liondance Records. The industry is already taking note: she’s been nominated for Musician of the Year and Breakout Artist of the Year at the 2024 Gold Coast Music Awards, while her tracks have charted in the top 100 across Australia, Europe, Canada, the USA, and the UK. She’s even collaborated with Australian guitar maker Cole Clark Guitars, resulting in her own signature “Majelen” model, and has caught the eye of top-tier brands like Sheeran Loopers.

Having toured extensively through the UK, Europe, and the USA in 2023 and early 2024, Majelen is now gearing up for an exciting run of shows across Australia, the UK, Europe, and beyond in 2025. Her music isn’t just a performance; it’s an invitation to join her on a journey—and there’s no telling where it will take you next.

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Melbourne-Based Indie Artist Underlay Announces New EP “Sick Like A Kid”; New Single “Ought” Out Now

November 17, 2023 BY Emma Orland

Today, Melbourne-based indie-rock artist underlay, AKA the musical brainchild of Melbourne via Newcastle via Riyadh, Saudi Arabia multi-instrumentalist Cody Broughman, announces the release of his second EP Sick Like A Kid, due out February 2nd 2024 via Nettwerk. The EP features five tracks, including recent singles “Father’s Name” and “Haircut”, alongside new single “Ought”, out now.

Produced with long-time collaborator, Vacations’ frontman Campbell Burns, Underlay’s new EP Sick Like A Kid was written across the three different houses Cody lived in from 2020 to 2022, with a song on the EP bookmarking each location. The record soundtracks a pivotal time in Cody’s life, following the chaos of 2020 where he lost everything in a house fire in the first week of lockdown.

LISTEN/SHARE “OUGHT” HERE:
https://underlay.ffm.to/ought

Through Cody’s powerful, driving songwriting, he shares memories of breakups, new relationships and the breakdown of old ones, and struggling through illness while trying to find balance in the world again – each chapter layered with his own raw vulnerability while leaving space for listeners to bring their own experiences, as if in deep conversation with a close friend.

New single “Ought” is one of those chapters, of the track Cody says, “This was the last song written for the EP and felt like the perfect ending for the chapter of my life that I wanted to write about. It’s about friend breakups, and basically me venting my anger about how someone had hurt me but also trying to move on. It’s a pretty pointed song towards someone and I hope they hear it.”

offcanv-menu-toggle-icon
Melbourne-Based Indie Artist Underlay Announces New EP “Sick Like A Kid”; New Single “Ought” Out Now

November 17, 2023 BY Emma Orland

Today, Melbourne-based indie-rock artist underlay, AKA the musical brainchild of Melbourne via Newcastle via Riyadh, Saudi Arabia multi-instrumentalist Cody Broughman, announces the release of his second EP Sick Like A Kid, due out February 2nd 2024 via Nettwerk. The EP features five tracks, including recent singles “Father’s Name” and “Haircut”, alongside new single “Ought”, out now.

Produced with long-time collaborator, Vacations’ frontman Campbell Burns, Underlay’s new EP Sick Like A Kid was written across the three different houses Cody lived in from 2020 to 2022, with a song on the EP bookmarking each location. The record soundtracks a pivotal time in Cody’s life, following the chaos of 2020 where he lost everything in a house fire in the first week of lockdown.

LISTEN/SHARE “OUGHT” HERE:
https://underlay.ffm.to/ought

Through Cody’s powerful, driving songwriting, he shares memories of breakups, new relationships and the breakdown of old ones, and struggling through illness while trying to find balance in the world again – each chapter layered with his own raw vulnerability while leaving space for listeners to bring their own experiences, as if in deep conversation with a close friend.

New single “Ought” is one of those chapters, of the track Cody says, “This was the last song written for the EP and felt like the perfect ending for the chapter of my life that I wanted to write about. It’s about friend breakups, and basically me venting my anger about how someone had hurt me but also trying to move on. It’s a pretty pointed song towards someone and I hope they hear it.”

OUGHT SINGLE ARTWORK | DOWNLOAD HERE

WATCH & SHARE: “OUGHT” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/K-bEmxievL8?si=WpTs0KYrQlVMRQsb

underlay combines jangly guitars, analogue synths, and introspective yet brazenly honest lyrics to create his self-described brand of “nervous pop.” After working behind the scenes in the studio or appearing on stage for acts such as Fritz, OILBARON, Chakra Efendi, and fellow Nettwerk artist Vacations, Cody released his self-titled solo EP in 2021. underlay touches on sounds reminiscent of bands like Smith Westerns, Beach Fossils, The Strokes, and Girls. His live shows bring a DIY energy and sound underpinned with dry humor. He has recently toured alongside acts including Slowly Slowly, Stand Atlantic, and Stumps.