Belac James, The QUBE Effect 2023 participant. Image: Markus Ravik.

The QUBE Effect 2024

In 2024, Brisbane City Council’s The QUBE Effect is providing 19 musical acts the chance to take part in an annual music development program.

Being part of The QUBE Effect provides artists with the opportunity to network with and be mentored by some of the country's most influential music industry experts. Musicians will develop their skills, have live performance opportunities, make incredible industry connections and have their own music video filmed for thousands of people to watch and vote for in the People’s Choice Award.

The QUBE Effect 2024 runs from November 2023 to August 2024.

The QUBE Effect 2024 Live Event

Join on Sunday 7 April for The QUBE Effect 2024 Live Event where all 19 finalists will be putting their hard work into action and performing back-to-back sets for one afternoon of some of the best live music Brisbane has to offer.

Venue: What’s Golden - The Tivoli, 52 Costin Street Fortitude Valley.

Save the dates

Important dates to keep handy for The QUBE Effect 2024:

  • People’s Choice Award voting - Finalists music videos will be available to watch, with voting open to the public from 10am Monday 1 July to 4pm Wednesday 31 July 2024
  • The QUBE Effect Awards Night – Monday 19 August 2024.

The QUBE Effect 2024 finalists

Check out The QUBE Effect 2024 finalists:

01 Thurman

Allegra Neve

Ancient Remains

Blonded

Blakey J

Image of artist Blakey J sitting amongst green grass

Deni

Doyle

Dublin Rose

florin

Hunter Nelson

Ixaras

Maarjn

Mid Drift

Monstera

Pasky

Serendipiti

SPACE&AGES

THE ZON

Worm Girlz


The QUBE Effect 2024 awards and prizes

Innovation Award

Awarded to the song that shows the most originality, creativity and innovative composition.

Prizes

  • $250 Quiet Storm Records voucher
  • $1500 Suitcase Records voucher
  • $500 Silk & Squeeg merchandise screen-printing credit
  • 4ZZZ artist package including an artist subscription

Original Song Award

Awarded to the song that shows excellence in the craft of song writing an original composition.

Prizes

  • $250 Sonic Sherpa voucher
  • $1500 Suitcase Records voucher
  • $200 Triffid voucher 
  • 4ZZZ artist package including an artist subscription

QUBE Development Award

Awarded to support the act that has shown commitment, originality and great potential in their artistic pursuits.

Prizes

  • $500 Silk & Squeeg merchandise screen-printing credit
  • $250 Dutch Vinyl voucher 
  • Management advice session with Sunroom Group 
  • A&R advice session with Dew Process Records 
  • 4ZZZ artist package including an artist subscription

People’s Choice Award

Awarded to the song that receives the most public votes for their original music video.

Prizes

  • $500 Silk & Squeeg merchandise screen-printing credit
  • $250 Record Store voucher 
  • $2000 No1 Network music video shoot, edit and promo pack
  • 4ZZZ artist package including an artist subscription
     

Lord Mayor’s Live Event Award

Awarded to the group or individual that displays originality, creativity and potential to further develop their on-stage presence.

Prizes

  • $1000 STORE DJ voucher 
  • $500 Valley Eyewear voucher 
  • 4ZZZ artist package including an artist subscription
  • Paid performance opportunity at Valley Fiesta

Performance Partner prizes

In addition to the prizes for the five award categories, the expert panel, in conjunction with sponsors, will hand-pick finalists for the following paid performance opportunities.

Mountain Goat Valley Crawl

The annual indie pilgrimage of new music discovery, slated to take over eight Fortitude Valley venues, and with festival entry absolutely free, there's no reason not to unearth a swag of talent to overload your next playlist party. Mountain Goat Valley Crawl alumni include Polish Club, WAAX, Tia Gostelow, Mallrat, Kwame, Cloe Terare, and The Terrys, so it's highly likely you'll spend quality time with some of Australia's next big indie acts. The act selected for this prize will be offered the opportunity to perform live at the Mountain Goat Valley Crawl.

GOMA Up Late

QAGOMA's signature Up Late events sees the gallery's iconic spaces filled with live music by cutting edge and emerging musicians from around the world. Up Late has hosted exclusive live performances by Caribou, Wolfmother, Katie Noonan, Akron/Family, Chet Faker, DJ Krush, Future Islands, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Courtney Barnett, Shonen Knife and Kamahl and more. The act selected for this prize will be offered the opportunity to perform at a QAGOMA Up Late event.

Teneriffe Festival

Teneriffe Festival is Brisbane’s biggest street party, celebrating the rich heritage and diverse community of the area. The one-day event attracts approximately 50,000 people and plays host to a range of musical acts, activities, artists, and food and drinks experiences. The act selected for this prize will be offered the opportunity to perform at Teneriffe Festival.

The Tivoli

With its stunning art deco features and old-world charm, The Tivoli is widely considered to be one of Australia’s most beautiful performance venues. It has played host to prolific Australian musical heroes such as Powderfinger, Nick Cave, Missy Higgins, Silverchair, Paul Kelly and The Go-Betweens, along with major international artists such as Bob Dylan, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Lily Allen, PJ Harvey, Sigur Ros, Slash, Gene Simmons, Ryan Adams, Ben Folds, Sufjan Stevens and Rodriguez (just to name a few).

The Princess Theatre

Queensland’s oldest-standing theatre is now Brisbane’s newest home for live music and performing arts.

The Triffid

Brisbane’s home of live music. The Triffid is an old commercial hangar that merges its WW2 heritage with the unique garden to create a vibrant and diverse space for the whole community.


Industry mentors

Check out the exciting panel of music industry professionals who are a part of The QUBE Effect 2024.

Adele Pickvance

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Adele Pickvance moved from Bury, Greater Manchester, Australia, to Brisbane, Australia, in the early '80s and settled into the music life of Brisbane, starting with playing bass in her father's band and gigging in clubs and RSLs during her studies. After her studies, she embraced the indie Brisbane music scene, playing in numerous bands. It was the mid-'90s when Adele commenced her long musical camaraderie and journey with Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, recording demos and playing shows. When Forster and McLennan decided to form the second incarnation of The Go-Betweens, Pickvance was asked by McLennan to join the band as bass player.

Back in Brisbane, in 2018, Adele formed Adele and the Chandeliers, a three-piece post-punk band with a touch of pop, with guitarist Scott Mercer and drummer Ash Shanahan. Adele & The Chandeliers released their debut album, "First Date," in late 2020 in Australia on Orange Carpet Records and on 12-inch vinyl on the Spanish label Pretty Olivia Records. Adele also works closely with the community radio team at 4ZZZ, hosting the weekly show "Brighten The Corners."

Bernard Fanning

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Bernard Fanning has accumulated one of the most celebrated songbooks on the Australian rock spectrum. The former Powderfinger front man has collectively released 11 studio albums producing songs that have become ingrained in the Australian psyche. Tracks like My Happiness, These Days, Sunsets, Burn Your Name, Wish You Well, Songbird, Blue Toowong Skies and Belly Of The Beast have become the moving soundtrack for a generation, with Bernard’s emotive and distinctive voice completely capturing our hearts.

He has a trophy cabinet that holds seven number 1 albums, 23 ARIA Awards, 5 APRA Awards to name a few… his songs have appeared in triple j’s Hottest 100 an incredible 23 times including three #1 spots for These Days (1999) and My Happiness (2000) and Wish You Well (2005). It’s fair to say Bernard Fanning has firmly cemented his position as one of Australia’s finest singer-songwriters and lyricists.

Davey Thompson

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Davey Thompson is a proud Bidjara, Inningai, Wakka Wakka, and Gubbi Gubbi man. Working across a number of art genres throughout his career, including film and TV, theatre, and circus. Davey is a shapeshifting producer, activist, writer, actor, and emerging filmmaker, as well as a sassy star of ABC’s "All My Friends Are Racist." Currently, he is working on new projects for Screen Australia as a Production Executive and on the second season of "All My Friends Are Racist."

Dominic Miller

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Dominic started the management and venue booking agency Bluebeard Music in 2010, where he manages two of Australia’s most promising up-and-coming acts, Good Boy and Sweater Curse, as well as having booked iconic Brisbane venues such as The Zoo, Black Bear Lodge, The Milk Factory, and many more. He has also booked festivals and events such as BIG Festival in Geelong, Story Bridge 75, G20 Summit Festival, and more.

Since 2010, Dom has become a major contributor to the exponential growth of Brisbane’s music scene. He joined New World Artists as an agent in 2015, making him the first Brisbane-based agent working at a national level to be appointed by a major agency.

Dom represents all genres of contemporary music with particular expertise and focus in the indie music world, with over 15 years of experience in the music industry. Over that time, he has worked with some of the biggest names in the Australian music industry such as Allday, Bugs, Butterfingers, Clea, Grinspoon, Hope D, Mallrat, Northlane, These New South Whales, and many more. He has booked artists onto some of the country’s most popular festivals such as Splendour In The Grass, Falls Festival, Laneway Festival, and Groovin’ The Moo.

Dom joined QMusic in March 2020 as their Development and Program Manager. He has a passion for all things Queensland music and believes that Brisbane is “The Greatest City On Earth”. Dom currently works as a manager and event programmer with Ruby-Jean McCabe under Sunroom Management.

Fergus Jenkins

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Based in Brisbane, Fergus is the General Manager of Publishing & Synchronization at Dew Process, an Australian music record label, and music publisher. Over his 15 years in the industry, he has worked closely with local and international artists including but not limited to Tkay Maidza, London Grammar, Sarah Blasko, Spacey Jane, Mallrat, Powderfinger, Sam Fender, and Oh Wonder.

He has placed music into thousands of advertising, television, and film productions, including award-winning campaigns for WWF, Ford, Isuzu, Gillette, Twitter, 7-Eleven, Instagram, and iconic series like Grey’s Anatomy, Please Like Me, Janet King, Bump, and Heartbreak High.

Fred Leone

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Fred Leone is one of the Butchulla Songmen, with Aboriginal, Tongan, and South-Sea Islander roots. He comes from the Garrwa and Butchulla tribes.

Fred's role as a Songman sees him as one of the custodians of the traditional songs of the Butchulla tribe and one of a handful of keepers and custodians of their language.

Fred has been touring the world for over a decade, throwing rhymes and traveling with artists such as Public Enemy, Dead Prez, People Under The Stairs, as well as receiving invites to collaborate ad play with contemporary artists such as John Butler, Xavier Rudd, Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman, and many, many more.

His guest appearance singing in Butchulla on his cousin Birdz’s track "Bagi-la-m Bargan" helped see the song become a hit, with millions of streams, a cavalcade of synch placements and a placement at #30 on Triple J’s Hottest 100.

Gabe Cramb

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Founder and director of Scrabble PR.

Scrabble began in the nineties, helping events like Brisbane's iconic Livid Festival explode. Gabe has gone on to help discover the likes of Brisbane Festival, Party In The Paddock, Corona, Big Pineapple Festival, Splendour In The Grass Music and Arts Festival and a long list of tours by Australian and international artists. An in-demand publicist, Gabe has a knack for tailoring publicity plans to suit artists and events in unique, creative, and on-brand ways.

Georgie Luxton

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Georgie is the Country Music Talent & Branding Director for Frontier Touring, working across the programming and marketing for Australia’s biggest country music festival, CMC Rocks, which is held every year at Ipswich. More recently, she has been working as part of the team establishing the city sister event, Ridin’ Hearts Festival.

Georgie is a passionate country music lover, who loves working on talent development for emerging artists.

Hope D

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Based in South Brisbane, Hope began as a solo artist who specialised in live looping and created her songs via the art. As of May 2019, Hope recruited four of her talented female friends whom she admires to bring her songs to life. Still incorporating looping songs that she performs solo in her set, Hope's live shows are ever excelling to be more captivating than ever before.

Playing major festivals and touring across the country, Hope is continuously collecting new fans wherever she performs. She is a QUBE Effect Alumni and a passionate supporter of Brisbane music.

Ian Haug

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Ian is the guitarist for Brisbane rock royalty, Powderfinger, helping to create their legacy of recording five Number 1 albums, winning 18 ARIA Awards, 3 APRA Awards, and millions of record sales. Owner of Brisbane recording studio Airlock Studios, where the "Up In The Airlock" sessions are recorded and broadcast from, Ian has also established Airlock Records to support and develop upcoming talent.

Ian is also a member of the legendary Australian band "The Church," recording two albums and touring globally with them. Ian in also a member of "The Predators" with fellow guitarist JC, cementing his place as one of the finest guitarists in the country.

Jeremy Neale

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Jeremy Neale hails from Brisbane and has been a mainstay of 'The Biz' since his "In Stranger Times” EP in 2013. There have been some truly powerful highlights along the way - from national and international touring to being awarded Song of the Year at the 2018 Queensland Music Awards and receiving his very own star in the Fortitude Valley Mall.

As a recipient of the Grant McLennan Fellowship, Jeremy travelled to New York in 2018 and wrote his most recent album, 2020’s "We Were Trying to Make it Out". Cancelled tours galore due to Covid saw Jeremy pivot into the wild world of musicals - co-writing the cult smash-hit musical "Absolute Objectivity" in 2020.

He has most recently been laying low, now a father of two and dealing with the associated sleep deprivation, but preparing for a most triumphant return to the stage in 2024. See you there! Jeremy is also the frontman and principal songwriter of Brisbane-based garage-pop group ‘Velociraptor’.

Joc Curran

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Joc is a mother, businesswoman, friend, and passionate music lover. She founded, owned, and ran Brisbane's seminal live music venue 'The Zoo' from 1992 until 2016.

Continuing to foster emerging musical artists in Brisbane and support the scene in any way possible, Joc works as The Laneway Festival Brisbane Promoter and Producer of the Hidden Lanes Festival. Joc still believes that a beautiful song and random acts of kindness can help change the world.

John Collins (JC)

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As the bass player for one of Australia’s biggest and most loved bands, John Collins has toured the world playing rock n’ roll with the best of the best. The Powderfinger machine earned a monolithic total of eighteen ARIA Awards, making them one of the most awarded bands in Australia. Ten Powderfinger albums and DVDs certified multiple-platinum, the cover of Rolling Stones, headlining festivals, and millions of album sales had led JC to have a broad and artist-led view of the music industry.

Upon Powderfinger's breakup, JC set his mind to creating music venues with the establishment of The Triffid, Fortitude Music Hall, and The Outpost in Brisbane. JC continues to perform with his epic band "The Predators".

John Mullen

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John is Head of A&R and Executive Producer at Dew Process Recordings and has worked with such artists as Sarah Blasko, Tkay Maidza, The Grates, Bernard Fanning, WAAX, Eves Karydas, Mallrat, and more.

A broad supporter of local music, John has worked with emerging artists WIIGZ, Lola Scott, Noah Dillon, Old Mervs & Tyne James-Organ. John is involved in community initiatives such as Rec Link Community Cup, is a board member of Queensland’s music industry development association QMusic, and is an active advocate for live music.

Having reached 20 years at Dew Process in 2022, John continues to work with new artists and established heavyweights.

Kate Little

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Kate has been working in the Entertainment Industry for over 20 years, with a vast array of experience with some of Australia’s leading festivals, ranging from artist management, publicity and marketing, tour management, concert promotion insights, and talent booking, making her a valuable mentor to emerging artists.

Some of the artists that Kate has worked with recently include Nahko & Medicine for the People (USA), Ziggy Alberts, Tay Oskee, Dustin Thomas (USA), and Rising Appalachia (USA). Kate has been the programmer of the Global Village and World Stage at Splendour in the Grass for 15 years and is always on the lookout for new and interesting acts to introduce to the Splendour audience.

Katie Rutledge

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Katie is a graduate from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and Southern Cross University. She has been a performing artist with Opera Queensland since 2001 and has had the opportunity to perform and record for ABC Classic FM, 4MBS, and ABC Television. Katie has enjoyed working alongside international Australian Award Artists and Grammy Awarded Producers such as Nick DiDia and Aria Awarded Artist Bernard Fanning, where they have teamed up to build a state-of-the-art recording studio in the Byron Hinterland.

Katie is also a Judge for the ‘Bluesfest Busking Competition’ and is completing her Masters in Vocal Pedagogy at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. She is preparing masterclass workshops with Madeline West and Rachel Beck for 2023. Katie is an international vocal coach with students from the United States and Australia.

Luke Daniel Peacock

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Critically acclaimed Brisbane singer/songwriter, Luke Daniel Peacock, is a proud descendant of the Meriam people of the eastern Torres Strait Islands.

Luke is a member of Halfway, The Painted Ladies, collaborator with legendary Vic Simms, and frontman of his current indie rock project, The Minor Premiers, as well as being a revered solo artist.

In 2016, his debut solo album "We've Come A Long Way Darling" put his name on the map. The album received high critical acclaim and led to Luke being awarded The Billy Thorpe Scholarship Award in 2016.

Luke's work can be heard in Tourism Queensland's latest campaign, and he's currently touring the country playing bass for collaborator Tia Gostelow.

Nat Dunn

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Nat is the first Australian songwriter to be recognized for amassing more than 1 billion streams and has written for international superstars including Charli XCX, Rita Ora, Marshmello, and Anne-Marie.

An industry veteran, Nat has been successfully releasing music since she was 17 years old. Traveling the world honing her craft, she is now a highly in-demand singer, songwriter, and curator. With an impressive track record of bringing together creative songwriting teams to create huge albums, Nat is passionate about supporting young artists and creating opportunities for Queensland artists globally.

Nat is also part of the duo Naations alongside Nicky Nighttime and has recently released her “Digital Dust” project, which is a treasure trove of collaborative tracks with friends.

Nick DiDia

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After 30+ years in the professional recording business, 2X Grammy Award-winning engineer/mixer Nick DiDia has worked in many of the world’s top studios with bands such as Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and numerous others. Along the way, he’s engineered/mixed for producers such as Brendan O'Brien and Roy Thomas Baker, to name a few.

A producer in his own right, he’s helmed several seminal albums from Powderfinger along with many other Australian and international acts. This unique combination of skill sets and experience makes his knowledge valuable for any aspiring engineer, as well as those who produce/engineer and mix their own music. Nick recently opened his purpose-built studio, Brooklet Studios, in the Byron hinterland.

Patience Hodgson

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Patience Hodgson is an artist and performer best known for her huge voice, energetic performances, and her time fronting the ARIA-nominated indie rock band The Grates. With The Grates, she toured internationally, received high rotation play and support from Triple J, and has graced the main stage of every major festival in Australia.

Loved by audiences for her dynamic and engrossing performance style, Patience still regularly takes to the stage performing trivia as a part of the cult music trivia night Not On Your Rider.

While her list of creative endeavours is long, some highlights outside of her time in The Grates include touring with Rockwiz, her collaborations with multidisciplinary artist Rachel Burke, The Minutes podcast she produced with comedian Melinda Buttle, her work with John Patterson creating and operating Southside Tea Room, Death Valley, and Red Robin Supper Truck, hosting and facilitating Splendour In The Craft for 5 years, and countless appearances on stage singing beside Australia’s best.

Ruby-Jean McCabe

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After completing a bachelor of Music Business Management at JMC in 2014, Ruby began working at booking and management agency Bluebeard Music.

Over her time working at Bluebeard, Ruby was a booking agent for The Zoo, Black Bear Lodge, Milk Factory, Eat Street Markets, and Cardigan Bar. Ruby also currently manages guitar-pop trio Bugs, the next big thing Hope D, and grunge wunderkinds VOIID. Ruby previously worked for national artist booking agency New World Artists as an assistant agent and as the volunteer coordinator for Laneway Brisbane. Ruby now runs Sunroom Artists management with Dom Miller, managing a host of acts and curating lineups including BIGSOUND Festival and GOMA Up Late.

Seja Vogel

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Seja Vogel (pronounced say-ah) is a German/Australian solo musician who was a member of Brisbane bands Sekiden and Regurgitator. Formed in 1998, Sekiden was known for high-energy live performances and toured extensively throughout Australia, Canada, Japan, and the USA.

Touring and recording internationally with Regurgitator and Sekiden, Seja has a broad group of musical friends and collaborators, some of whom you can tune into on her podcast HearSej. Seja has also played in backing bands for Spod, Heinz Reigler, David McCormack, and Ben Salter. Additionally, Vogel has released her own material and toured widely, supporting the likes of Sarah Black, Warpaint, and Goldfrapp.

More information

For more information about The QUBE Effect you can:

Join Brisbane City Council’s Creative Register to receive information about future program opportunities.

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Brisbane City Council acknowledges this Country and its Traditional Custodians. We pay our respects to the Elders, those who have passed into the dreaming; those here today; those of tomorrow.