REDD. and sleepazoid chat all things Australian music, dream lineups and this year’s BIGSOUND showcase

The trio of musos represent the kind of unstoppable talent that will be infiltrating the sound waves across Fortitude Valley at the music conference and showcase this September 2 to 5. Make sure to catch sleepazoid and REDD. at BIGSOUND – but, for now, you can jump into their invigorating conversation below.

BIGSOUND 2025

• Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
• September 2 to 5
• 130 artists, 100 industry speakers, 18 stages and 70 conference sessions and workshops
• More info here.

JOSEF: You have one of the most cohesive and interesting visual worlds of any artist in Australia right now. How do you go about crafting your visual identity? Are there any key collaborators that you work with or is it entirely DIY?

REDD.: Dang. That’s the biggest compliment ever. I still feel like my world’s evolving. I think, if anything, I’m always trying to be really true to myself. So if it’s coming across as cohesive, I’m glad because my brain feels really scattered all the time, so it’s really cool when I can be directional.

I think on this first project, a lot of it came from myself. I grew up in that acting and movie world, so my brain is very visual. The two main people that I collaborated with [on RAUNCH] were Cole [Surrey] and Michelle [Pitiris]. Cole’s just like a homie – we grew up in the scene together. He’s super talented and I think just going to your friends and collaborating with them always keeps it really fresh and also really personal.

GEORGE: Social media presence is such a big part of the music industry these days, with many artists feeling the push from labels and management to be constantly posting. You seem to strike a really good balance of it, using it to connect with your fans in a way that feels natural and authentic. Do you have any advice on doing that?

REDD.: I think it’s such a funny dance. Being an internet-era artist – I feel like we can all agree – it’s so weird because what you put out is typically very controlled, [even] when there’s a lot of panic going on behind the scenes. I think that you’ve just gotta do what’s true to yourself and don’t make content that you’re not interested in and that you don’t want to consume.

I’m really inspired by my peers as to what to make and what is really cool. I think making stuff that’s authentic and direct will also help connect with the audience that you want to connect with. Social media is one of those things that it’s freaking hard – but you’ve just got to do it.

I always think about Chappell Roan and looking back at her old TikToks and, Tyler [the Creator] and stuff. They’re all artists and people who just created a lot of shit. Not shit as in it’s bad – just a lot of stuff.

GEORGE: A lot more than just their music, than just the craft. They created a whole world.

REDD.: Yeah. And I think that’s really important. People nowadays more than anything want to latch on to a personality and you as an individual. There’s so many people who make good music. I think people want to connect with someone on a deeper level than that nowadays.

JOSEF: You recently put out your debut mixtape, RAUNCH. What is your favourite song and why?

REDD.: You guys are giving me all the hard questions. It changes between these two every day – it’s either Bad Days or Two Years. Bad Days is just like my little baby. I played almost every instrument – or, every line on that song – which just feels really cool. I’m really proud of myself for doing that. I suck at playing drums and I suck at playing guitar and bass, so it’s really cool to be able to make a song that I played.

GEORGE: On that record, do you have any notable inspirations, like sonic influences? And whereabouts would you say that applies?

REDD.: I think it’s really interesting because the music that I was consuming was nothing like what I was putting out. And I think that’s really true to me and myself. I think I love taking the ethos of different artists and what they do and what they create and applying that to my own world. Tyler, the Creator was probably – when I was making this project – my biggest inspiration in terms of just being myself.

I was very scared to make something that was bad. I was like, oh, what if it kind of sucks? Or whatever. And I was like, I gotta let go of that to make something for myself and just have fun doing it – which is what [Tyler] did. That was really inspiring. I was just like, I want to do what I want to do.

JOSEF: Love that. All right, now – dream show line up pick. Three artists – can be any artist – but they have to play in a local Melbourne venue. So, where is this happening and who’s playing?

REDD.: Okay. I’m tossing up between Max Watts and Forum – I’m gonna say Max Watts, just because I had my favourite live experience ever there. I’m gonna put myself in the centre of this universe and say I’m the headliner. So, I want three people opening for me. I’m gonna say – not that this is in any sort of way realistic – but I would have Olivia Rodrigo, I would have Teezo Touchdown, and I would have Mk.gee. I want to see them all live so bad.

GEORGE: Who are some of your favourite Australian emerging artists?

REDD.: I love this question just because I love my friends and I love talking about my friends. My favourite ones are Zafty – Zafty and Kayps are the two people in my mind who are keeping Australian rap interesting and exciting and really youthful – and I’m gonna say Lotte Gallagher, because of her talent. Oh, I’m gonna shout out my New Zealand friends – Borderline and Bakers Eddy – because they’re both so good.

REDD.: OK, so, if you could open for any artist in the whole world who would it be and why?

JOSEF: Wolf Alice or Fontaines D.C. – either one would be a dream. What about you, George?

GEORGE: Oh look, honestly, right now, Mamalarky – I’m really into them and they share some members with Faye [Webster], who we played with recently. But realistically we’ve been talking about Wolf Alice and Fontaines.

REDD.: How was opening for Faye?

JOSEF: Crazy. It was so cool – just mind blowing. I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet, honestly.

GEORGE: What was the biggest moment for you, Joe?

JOSEF: Just walking out on stage every night because that’s about all that I can remember – I feel like I blacked out for the rest of the sets because it was just insane.

GEORGE: I think the biggest realization of, like, “damn, this is huge”, was hearing the sound level of all the fans screaming at certain points throughout the set every night. I was like, wow, these people having a great time.

REDD.: It was also the Forum – that’s an iconic venue.

JOSEF: I think for everyone in the band it was our dream venue. We’ve been talking about it like, “one day, maybe we’ll play the Forum”. And we got to do it.

REDD.: That’s so cool. Who are you most excited to see if you have the time at BIGSOUND?

JOSEF: Artists from WA, I think. Ullah – I saw her on TikTok. And then dogworld. And, well, have you heard of this artist called REDD.? I don’t know if you would know them.

REDD.: (Laughing) Oh, that’s a shit name, bro. Who the fuck makes their name a colour.

JOSEF: I loved watching you at the Bakers Eddy set. I’d love to catch you again if we get the time.

REDD.: What’s it like being an artist in the modern internet era, especially as a band? There’s a lot more focus on individuals, I find, and it’s a very different dynamic with a band.

JOSEF: I think the coolest thing about it is it’s just exciting. You have this opportunity to reach so many more people than what you would ever have reached before, unless you were a massive band and you were just touring the world. But you have this opportunity to really connect with all of these different people and share your music with them.

The toughest part, I guess, with being a band is like you said – there’s a lot of focus on individuals on social media. So to convey each – we’ve got five people in our band – each member’s personality, and do it in a way that’s authentic and true to each of us is very difficult. But, again,I guess we just try to be ourselves as much as we can and really connect with people

GEORGE: I’d say at this point in time, artists have the most control over what their brand and whole ethos is. But at the same time, we’re also facing the most pressure to keep up the momentum and keep up with the whole streaming model, which is rapidly changing. You’ve really got to be on your feet.

REDD.: Yeah, it’s freaking hard, dude. I swear, every artist nowadays is like a slash-influencer. When I signed up to be an artist, I didn’t expect to be an influencer as well. I was not ready for that.

This one’s quite a general question, but what’s one of your favourite things about the Australian music scene?

JOSEF: I love that sense of community that you have. Kind of like what you were talking about when you were talking about your favourite emerging acts and shouting out your friends. I think in each little niche of sound, you have hundreds of bands and hundreds of artists that you can connect with and play a show together or message on socials or whatever – these other artists who are all trying to do the same thing that you’re doing and [you can] bond over that. It’s very friendly, very community-driven.

GEORGE: Community is very strong, especially here in Melbourne. I’d say another great thing about it is the diversity and quality of the music in each of these little pockets of genre, style and all that. It’s kind of mind boggling sometimes just how much music there is coming out of just one country.

REDD.: Yeah, dude, it’s really cool. It’s really, really exciting. And with events like BIGSOUND where all these acts are coming together – it’s really crazy to be in such a talent pool, especially because the Australian scene is getting so much bigger.

GEORGE: You really notice it when, say, if you ever look through a little gig guide or something – like in Beat Magazine – especially in Melbourne, any night of the week you can just go down to a local bar and there might be some mind blowing thing happening in front of five people. Or down at the Forum. There’s all [different] levels to it.

REDD.: It’s so cool.

For more information and tickets to see REDD. and sleepazoid at BIGSOUND, head here.

This article was made in partnership with BIGSOUND.