Tia Gostelow is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

singer-songwriter from

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

. Gostelow released her debut studio album, ''Thick Skin'', in 2018 on Lovely Records. Further albums, ''Chrysalis'' and ''Head Noise'' followed.

Early life and education

Tia Gostelow grew up in the

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Australian town of

, adjacent to the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

coast, Australia. When she was four years old, she relocated to

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba''; meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "large island" ...

a remote island in the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

with her family for her father's work. She spent six years there before moving back to Mackay, where she went to high school. Gostelow's Aboriginal roots are based in Cape York's Luma Luma tribe where her grandfather is an elder.

Career

2015–2018

In 2015, at the age of 16, Gostelow wrote "State of Art" which was released in February 2016 as her debut single. "State Of Art" received airplay on national youth broadcaster

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

, won the station's 2016 Indigenous Initiative and placed top 5 in

Triple J Unearthed Triple J Unearthed is an Australian digital radio station and online music discovery platform. It is a sister station of Triple J, owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Unearthed began in 1995 as a regional talent competition open to ...

High in 2016. Gostelow was invited to showcase at

Bigsound Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...

2016, which was her first ever gig with her band. This performance coincided with the release of her second single "Vague Utopia" which was also received high rotation on Triple J. In May 2017, Gostelow released single "That's What You Get". At the 2017 Queensland Music Awards, the single was nominated for 6 awards, winning two. In June 2018, she released the single "

Strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown or unfamiliar to another person or group. Because of this unknown status or unfamiliarity, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity (social science), identity and Character structure, chara ...

". In September 2018, Gostelow released her debut studio album, ''Thick Skin'' to positive reviews. ''Thick Skin'' was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2019

National Indigenous Music Awards The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA), also known as the NT Indigenous Music Awards from 2004 to 2008, are music awards presented to recognise excellence, innovation and leadership among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians in ...

2019–2021: ''Chrysalis''

In July 2019, Gostelow released "Get to It", her first new material single since ''Thick Skin''. In April 2020, ABC records released a live album titled ''Triple J Live at the Wireless''. The album was recorded at The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney on 23 February 2019, during her ''Thick Skin'' tour. It was first broadcast on 6 May 2019, before its official release in April 2020. In October 2020, Gostelow released ''Chrysalis''.

2022–present: ''Head Noise''

In April 2023, Gostelow announced the forthcoming release of her third studio album, ''Head Noise'', scheduled for release in August 2023, preceded by singles "Spring to Life", "Sour", "Early Twenties". and "I'm Getting Bored of This".

Influences

Gostelow has openly discussed her musical influences as foremost fellow regional singer-songwriter

Melody Pool Melody Pool is an Australian country-folk musician from Kurri Kurri, New South Wales. She first stepped on stage with her father, country musician Alby Pool, when she was 8 years old, and was performing solo aged 9. During her teens Pool playe ...

, as well as

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons are a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, double bass, bass guitar), and Ben Lovett (British musician), B ...

and

The Jungle Giants The Jungle Giants are an Australian indie rock band from Brisbane, Queensland, who formed in 2011. The band have released four full-length albums and two EPs. Their fourth studio album, '' Love Signs'', was released on 23 July 2021. Career 20 ...

. Gostelow has said she was also inspired to play music after seeing

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

perform live in Australia.

Awards and nominations

''Thick Skin'' was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2019

. At the 2019 Queensland Music Awards, Gostelow made Australian history by being the youngest winner of Album of the Year.

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. ! , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, ''Chrysalis'' , Best Independent Pop Album or EP , ,

National Indigenous Music Awards

The

(NIMA) recognize excellence, dedication, innovation and outstanding contribution to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

music industry. It commenced in 2004. ! , - ! scope="row" rowspan="1",

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, herself , New Talent of the Year , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="1",

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, ''Thick Skin'' , Album of the Year , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2",

, ''Chrysalis'' , Album of the Year , , rowspan="2", , - , "Two Lovers" , Film Clip of the Year ,

Queensland Music Awards

The

Queensland Music Awards The Queensland Music Awards (commonly known as QMA and known as the Q Song Awards from 2006 to 2010) are annual awards celebrating Queensland's emerging artists. They commenced in 2006. Each year, the QMA Song of the Year is immortalised in ...

(previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating

Queensland, Australia Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006. , - , rowspan="2",

, "Vague Utopia" , Folk Song of the Year , , - , "State of Art" , Schools Song of the Year , , - ,

, ''Thick Skin'' , Album of the Year , , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, "Spring to Life" , Indigenous Award , , -

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Non-single album appearances

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gostelow, Tia Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian musicians Australian women musicians 1999 births