Ten years ago, Caleb and Kieran of Spacey Jane were busking on the main street of Geraldton, getting paid $20 to play Riptide on repeat.

Today, Spacey Jane are the face of Australian indie rock and they've just released their rawest project yet, Exit Wounds.

In this episode, I sit down with two of my good friends to take it all the way back to day one: how a mum asking a favour at a high school kickstarted one of Australia's most beloved bands, the open mic nights and backyard house shows that built their fanbase before they had a single song out, navigating Covid as the only band still touring in Australia, and the road from there to number two on the Hottest 100.

We also get deep into their brand new EP Exit Wounds; a bare-all project that Caleb calls the darkest thing they've ever written, wrapped up in their most fun rollout yet.

This one's a full decade in the making. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Genesis Owusu has built a reputation as one of the most fearless and genre-defying artists in modern music.

From the explosive success of albums like 'Smiling With No Teeth' and 'STRUGGLER' to praise from public figures as unexpected as Barack Obama, Genesis' creations have aways been larger than life.

Now, with his third studio album 'REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE', he’s turning his attention directly toward the world around us. It's an album set in the now.

In this episode, Genesis takes us back to growing up in Canberra, his earliest creative projects alongside his brother Citizen Kay, and the journey from underground artist to one of Australia’s most acclaimed musical voices.

We dive deep into 'REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE', an album that comments on division, noise and modern life while still searching for hope and human connection underneath it all.

It's an album that is hijacking airwaves, it demands attention and is not afraid to tell it as it is. So listen up to what he has to say!

-------This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body.

Melanie C, best known as Sporty Spice from the Spice Girls, is one of the most recognisable voices of a generation, she redefined pop music and global fame in the late ’90s.

In this episode, Melanie takes us back to growing up just outside of Liverpool, being handed a flyer to audition for what would become the Spice Girls, and her first impressions of the group that would change her life forever.

We get into the early days of the Spice Girls, the rapid rise to global superstardom, and the reality of navigating that level of fame at such a young age. If you want to hear the blow-by-blow of global domination, you're in the right place!

Post-Spice Girls, Melanie has carved out her own path as a solo artist and DJ, it's a side to her that feels like a true return to her younger rave and dance roots. Now, with her new album Sweat on the way, she opens up about this chapter, the music and the upcoming tours.

Vanessa Amorosi had one of the most explosive starts to a career in Australian music history.

Within a year of releasing her debut music, she was performing on one of the biggest stages in the world - opening and closing the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. But the story started long before that, years of dedication and grinding.

In this episode, Vanessa takes us back to growing up in a very musical household, to being discovered singing in a Russian restaurant, and navigating the industry as a young female artist in the early 2000s. We talk about the whirlwind of early fame, the expectations that came with it, and her decision to move to the US and exploring new sounds in gospel and blues.

Throughout this chat, two things really strike home: her strong sense of self from such a young age, and the quest to always be growing and challenging yourself.

This is a bit of a longer one, but lets indulge - she's an Aussie icon!

Canadian rock band The Beaches have spent years building their story from teenage bandmates to one of the most exciting names in modern rock.

In this episode, sisters Jordan and Kylie join the podcast to take it all the way back to their first band Done with Dolls, and the early years of growing up making music together.

We talk about navigating the music industry as a female rock band, the moment they walked away from a team that didn’t understand their vision, and the viral success of their breakout track Blame Brett.

The conversation also dives into the balance between writing deeply personal songs and sharing those stories with the world, and how that changed their perspective during the making of their album No Hard Feelings.

Sydney psych-rock project Velvet Trip might feel like a new name on the scene, but the journey behind it is anything but conventional.

In this episode, Zeppelin Hamilton takes us back to the beginning, growing up surrounded by some of the world’s best blues musicians in his family home, and nearly taking a completely different path as a professional skateboarder.

From hitchhiking from Sydney to Darwin, to early internet fame as part of the viral Facebook creators Urmumsyadad, Zeppelin’s creative life has taken plenty of unexpected turns.

We also dive into the musical chapters that came before Velvet Trip, including a metal band with Jules from Parcels, time in a seven-piece psych rock group, and the moment he realised he needed to start something of his own.

Velvet Trip is quickly becoming a well known name in the Australian scene, and with the release of his new album Glimmers Continued, Zeppelin is on the path to "world domination".

Meg Mac has been one of Australia’s most distinctive voices for over a decade. From her breakout track Known Better, which exploded on triple j Unearthed, to fan favourites like Grandma’s Hands and Roll Up Your Sleeves, she’s built a career defined by powerful vocals and deeply personal songwriting.

Her 2019 album Matter of Time even debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts cementing her as a staple of the Australian music landscape.

In this episode, Meg takes us back to the beginning: growing up in Sydney, studying music at Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), and the moment Known Better changed the course of her life.

We talk about the challenge of being known for the songs that introduced you to the world, how her songwriting has evolved over 15 years, and the creative process behind her new album It’s My Party.

Wisp's breakout single Your Face exploded online and pulled her straight onto the global stage, almost overnight.

But behind the viral moment is an artist who grew up immersed in discipline and craft. Raised in San Francisco, Wisp trained as a ballerina and violinist before stepping into shoegaze - a genre known for both devotion and scrutiny.

In this episode, we talk about what it really means to have a song take off before you’ve fully found your footing. The pressure of being labelled the next generation of shoegaze, and how she navigated it all in such a short amount of time.

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This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body.

Cavetown grew up uploading songs to YouTube at 14, building a global audience before he’d even finished school. What began as bedroom covers and self-produced tracks quietly turned into billions of streams and one of indie pop’s most devoted fanbases.

But growing up online comes with its own challenges.

In this episode, Cavetown reflects on evolving in public, from being known for the songs he wrote as a teenager to wanting recognition for the craft he’s building now. We talk about navigating identity, finding your sound, and what it’s like to mature alongside the audience that first found you.

We also dive into his album Running With Scissors, the sonic risks, the growth in production, and the intention behind creating work that feels honest to who he is today.

Hazlett didn’t grow up chasing music, nor fame and fortune.

He started his solo career at 26 after years of playing bass and a stint in advertising.

In this episode, Hazlett reflects on what it really means to back yourself later than most, the leap that took him from Australia to Sweden, and the creative partnership with producer Freddy Alexander that helped shape the sound he’s now known for.

We talk about going from pub gigs to touring internationally, writing songs that feel quietly devastating, and the making of his new album Last Night You Said You Missed Me.

-------This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body.