Electric Fields is an Australian electronic music duo made up of vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and keyboard player and producer Michael Ross. Electric Fields combine modern electric-soul music with Aboriginal culture and sing in Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and English. The duo have released an EP and several singles. In , they became the first duo to represent in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, with the song " One Milkali (One Blood)".

Career

2011–2020: Formation and ''Inma''

In 2011, Zaachariaha Fielding auditioned for the third season of The X Factor Australia, performing

Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, widely known for her hit singles " Fast Car" (1988) and " Give Me One Reason" (1995). She was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she rel ...

's " Talkin Bout a Revolution". In 2013, Michael Ross auditioned for the fifth season performing

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

' "

You Can't Hurry Love "You Can't Hurry Love" is a song originally recorded by the Supremes on the Motown label. It was released on July 25, 1966 as the second single (music), single from their studio album ''The Supremes A' Go-Go''. Written and produced by Motown p ...

". The pair has been performing as Electric Fields since 2015. Their repertoire moves across pop,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

, while being described as "

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

meets

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

in the

Deep Forest Deep Forest is a French music project that originally began as a duo consisting of Michel Sanchez (musician), Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electro ...

". In June 2016, the duo released their debut EP ''Inma'' (which derives its name from the cultural ceremony of Aṉangu women known as inma). Daniel Browning, a presenter and producer of ABC Radio National said "Co-creating music that is as exciting as it is emotionally moving – the beauty and sheer power of their musicality is breathtaking. Often featuring Zaachariaha's traditional languages of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara people, Electric Fields music ranges from pop to epic-scale electronic works, through to intensely intimate story-songs." Their music was played at the Spirit Festival 2016 and Adelaide Fashion Festival 2016 and on

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 ...

. In 2016, the duo won the Emily Burrows Award, an award given to recognise and further the professional development of original South Australian music artists or bands. The duo won Best New Talent of the Year at the 2017 National Indigenous Music Awards. The duo was nominated for Artist of the Year at the 2018 National Indigenous Music Awards. In December 2018, the duo was announced as one of the entrants in ''

Eurovision – Australia Decides ''Eurovision – Australia Decides'' was an annual song competition organised by Australian public broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and production partner Blink TV. It determined for the Eurovision Song Contest between 2019 and ...

'' in an attempt to represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. Electric Fields performed at the competition with their song " 2000 and Whatever" on 9 February 2019 and came second in both Jury and Audience vote, and second overall. In May 2019, the duo announced the Australian jury votes at the Eurovision Song Contest final. Later that year, Electric Fields toured with "2000 and Whatever" around Australia. In July 2019, Electric Fields received two nominations at the National Indigenous Music Awards. On 3 April 2020, Electric Fields' collaboration with Norwegian group Keiino "Would I Lie" was released. The duo were joined virtually by

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...

Missy Higgins Melissa Morrison "Missy" Higgins (born 19 August 1983) is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her most popular singles include "Scar", " Steer", and " Where I Stood". Her Australian number-one albums are '' The Sound of White'' (2004 ...

and John Butler for a performance of Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody‘s song about the Gurindji strike, " From Little Things Big Things Grow". The performance was recorded at the Adelaide Botanic Garden conservatory, and broadcast for the season finale of ABC Television's 6-part

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

series, ''The Sound'', on 23 August 2020. In August 2020, they performed three acoustic sets at the Ukaria Cultural Centre in Mount Barker in the

Adelaide Hills The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. The largest town in the area, Mount Barker, South Australia, Mount Barker, is one of Australia's fastest-growi ...

, in a collaboration with online streaming platform Sunny Side Uploads. In October 2020, the duo performed " From Little Things Big Things Grow" at the

2020 AFL Grand Final The 2020 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between and at the Gabba in Brisbane, Queensland, on Saturday 24 October 2020. It was the 125th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Vic ...

. In December 2020, Electric Fields headlined one of the shows in the queer talent-seeking series "Express Yourself – Queer Discovery", which was run by APRA AMCOS and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

2021–present

In February 2021, Electric Fields performed "Don't You Worry" and "Gold Energy" at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

for Mardi Gras. In November 2021, Electric Fields performed " From Little Things, Big Things Grow" at the National Indigenous Music Awards. In the same month, they signed a global deal with Warner Music Australia and released "Gold Energy". On 18 March 2022, the duo released "Catastrophe". In February 2023, Electric Fields released "We the People" as the official WorldPride theme song. They performed their song to a crowd of 20,000 people at the festival's opening concert in Sydney's Domain on 24 February 2023, saying "Pride is not just about acceptance, but feeling at home in your own individuality". In July 2023, the duo performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The live album is scheduled for release in December 2024. On 5 March 2024, the duo was announced as the for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2024 The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Tattoo (Loreen song), Tattoo" by Loreen. Organised by the European Br ...

, taking place in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

in May, with the song " One Milkali (One Blood)". The song includes Yankunytjatjara lyrics. The duo failed to progress from the first semi-final on 7 May 2024, placing 11th out of 15 with 41 points. On 17 March 2024, Electric Fields performed in a concert called "Floods of Fire" with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at the Adelaide Festival Centre, as the finale to the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

Members

Identity

Electric Fields' band motto is "bypass the barriers", and Fielding and Ross describe themselves as "two feminine brothers", embracing their

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

identity and affectionately referring to each other as Mala (Fielding, the "younger sibling") and Tjutja (Ross, the "older brother"). They are very close friends but not romantically involved. They embrace their feminine identity, saying that it makes them stronger. They are 10 years and one day apart in age.

Zaachariaha Fielding

Zaachariaha Fielding is the oldest of nine children of a family who live in Mimili, in the APY lands of north-west South Australia. He studied

Indigenous Australian music Indigenous music of Australia comprises the music of the Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, intersecting with their culture, cultural and ceremonial observances, through the millennia of their ind ...

and started producing his own work at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

. He is also known as an artist, whose work has been exhibited in several exhibitions as well as winning the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

and the Ramsay Art Prize People's Choice prize in 2023.

Michael Ross

Michael Ross is a singer, songwriter, pianist and producer from Adelaide. His musical influences growing up were mainly

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

, along with

the Cranberries The Cranberries were an Irish rock music, rock band formed in Limerick in 1989. The band was composed of lead singer and guitarist Dolores O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan (Noel's brother), and drummer Fergal Lawler. O'Riord ...

, and

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

. Before joining Electric Fields, Ross was a contestant on ''The X Factor Australia'' in 2013.

In film

Electric Fields are the subject of a SBS/

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

documentary, "Voice From The Desert", screened nationally from 10 December 2018. The film was part of the ''Our Stories'' series, featuring emerging

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 ...

creatives, and directed by Daniel Clarke and Amy Pysden. The doco shows the duo performing at the 2017 National Indigenous Music Awards in Darwin, as well as covering Fielding visiting Mimili, and examining his early life experiences growing up in remote South Australia and his artistic and personal growth. There are also interviews with his parents Kaye Lowah and Robert Fielding.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

Awards

Electric Fields were awarded a Robert Stigwood Fellowship, which provided mentorship and professional development, by the

Music Development Office Music of Adelaide includes music relating to the city of Adelaide, South Australia. It includes all genres of both live and recorded music by artists born or living in the city, live music events happening in the city, and other aspects of the ...

in SA.

AACTA Awards

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards is an awards ceremony to celebrate the best of Australian films and television. ! , - ,

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, , "Dream On" ( Megan Washington) by Electric Fields & The Prison Choir , , Best Original Song , , , ,

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. ! , - , rowspan="1",

, ''Live in Concert'' (with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra ) , Best Independent Classical Album or EP , , rowspan="1",

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual award ceremony event celebrating the

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

industry. Electric Fields have been nominated for two awards. ! , - ,

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 ...

, 2000 and Whatever Tour , Best Australian Live Act , , , - ,

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 ...

, '' Faraway Downs''
, Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album , ,

National Dreamtime Awards

The National Dreamtime Awards is an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in sport, arts, academic and community and commenced in 2017. Electric Fields have won one award. , - ,

, Themselves , Male Music Artist ,

National Indigenous Music Awards

The National Indigenous Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises the achievements of Indigenous Australians in music. The award ceremony commenced in 2004. Electric Fields have won one award from four nominations. ! , - ,

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 ...

, rowspan=3, Themselves , Best New Talent , , , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, rowspan=2, Artist of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2",

, , , - , "2000 and Whatever" , Song of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Themselves , Artist of the Year , , rowspan="2", , - , Electric Fields and Keiino - "Would I Lie" , Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="1",

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, Themselves , Artist of the Year , , , - , rowspan="3",

, Themselves , Artist of the Year , , rowspan="3", , - , "One Milkali (One Blood)" , Song of the Year , , - , "Anpuru Maau Kutjpa" , Indigenous Language Award , , -

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) commenced in 2016 to recognise contributions to the live music industry in Australia. They paused between 2021 and 2022 due to Covid-19 ! , - , rowspan="2" ,

, Themselves , South Australian Live Act of the Year , , rowspan="2" , , - , Zaachariaha Fielding (Electric Fields) , South Australian Live Voice of the Year , , - ,

, rowspan="3" , Themselves , Live Electronic Act (or DJ) of the Year , , , - , rowspan="3" ,

, Live Act of the Year , , rowspan="3" , , - , Live Electronic Act (or DJ) of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" , Zaachariaha Fielding (Electric Fields) , rowspan="2" , Live Voice of the Year , , - ,

, , , - , rowspan="5" ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, rowspan="3" , Themselves , Best Live Act , , rowspan="5" , , - , Best Live Act in SA , , - , Best Pop Act , , - , Zaachariaha Fielding , Live Voice in SA , , - , Zaachariaha Fielding (Electric Fields) , Best Live Voice ,

South Australian Music Awards

The

South Australian Music Awards The South Australian Music Awards, also known as SA Music Awards, commonly SAM Awards, formerly Fowler's Live Music Awards (FLMA), are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary m ...

(previously known as the Fowler's Live Music Awards) are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary music industry. They commenced in 2012., , - , rowspan="2" , 2019 , rowspan="3" , Themselves , Best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island Artist , , - , People's Choice Electronic Award , , - , 2024 , Best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island Artist ,

References

External links

* {{Authority control Australian electronic musicians Musical groups established in 2015 Living people Year of birth missing (living people) South Australian musical groups Indigenous Australian musical groups 2015 establishments in Australia Eurovision Song Contest entrants