When she performed at Rolling Stone House at SXSW Sydney 2024, Ayesha Madon told a harrowing story relatable to any aspiring artist: when showcasing one time at BIGSOUND, the audience in the room could be counted on one hand, she revealed.
Fast forward to now, and Madon is on the cusp of something special. At the time of writing, the Sydney artist’s following on Instagram is racing towards 300,000, thanks in part to her second life portraying Amerie Wadia in the hit Netflix series Heartbreak High, for which she received nominations for AACTA and Logie Awards.
Madon dropped a trio of singles in 2024, most recently the pop-nugget “Michelle Obama”, and covered Cosmopolitan Australia.
Looking ahead, Madon has more live performances and more acting lined up in 2025. She’s writing and working on her debut EP, and she teases shooting something “top secret.” “It’s the start of my live journey,” she tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ. —Lars Brandle
Read an exclusive interview with Ayesha Madon below. Check out the full Future of Music 2025 list here.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: How was 2024 for you? What were your biggest achievements and favourite moments?
Ayesha Madon: 2024 was such a mixed bag. I had a pretty hard personal year but professionally it felt like my best year yet. So many bucket list career things happened, like relaunching my artist project and making some music videos, to a handful of magazine covers I’ve always aspired to, to putting together my live show, to writing my EP in London, to shooting the final season of Heartbreak High. There was plenty to keep me busy, but what I’m most proud of is the way I navigated my mental health and pulled myself out of some pretty rough patches while meeting those professional commitments.
Music is an increasingly crowded and competitive field. What’s one thing that makes you stand out from other artists?
I don’t know if any artist is completely unique. I feel like all artists are constantly borrowing and learning from each other and I’m no different! I do feel very committed to my own taste, improvement, and joy of making music though. I try not to perceive myself too much. Still, everything I make is very me and honest and relatively unfiltered so I hope my listening experience feels very intimate and allows people a window into who I am!
What’s coming up for you in 2025 and beyond? Any big shows, notable releases?
I have an EP coming very soon which has been a long time coming. Super excited for that! I also have some shows lined up for the first half of the year, which feels like something I’ve been working towards for ages and feel[s] like a big moment! Once the EP is out I’m actually really excited to start a new chapter. I’ve been on set filming for the last four months so I feel like I have a lot of song ideas just waiting to be written!
Other than that, maybe a bit of acting or directing if the right project presents itself and if my music schedule allows. Quite a bit of travel hopefully… I’m a short-term goals kinda gal, but what I do know is that I’m in my busy girl era and I plan on milking that capitalist teat…
