Created In Partnership With Open Universities Australia
Making a living in the Australian music industry is particularly tough right now. Between venue closures, cost-of-living pressures, and streaming services monopolising the market, many Australian musicians work not just one, but multiple jobs to pursue their passions.
For Sydney-based producer and composer Louis Isaac, who goes by the stage name Kid Fiction, being a musician in 2026 is like “covering yourself in honey and running naked through bear country at dusk”. Tough.
The artist played his first gig aged 12, beginning in punk and nu metal bands before expanding into electronic music as the millennium ticked over. As he grew as a musician, Kid Fiction’s work took him to stages both at home and abroad. From Listen Out, Subsonic and Yours & Owls festivals to club performances in London, Berlin and a set in The Box at Ministry of Sound, music was Kid Fiction’s key to the world.
View this post on Instagram
Love Music?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian/New Zealand music and globally.
During COVID lockdowns, however, Kid Fiction began to watch the same world “fold in on itself”. Wanting to understand his place amongst it all, the artist considered higher education for the first time at age 32.
“I was always politically engaged and interested in understanding my surroundings on a deeper level,” Kid Fiction tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ. Despite this attitude, the musician hadn’t embarked on a university degree or even read a book until he was in his thirties. One day, Kid Fiction decided to enrol in an online course through Open Universities Australia, a free educational support resource, and never looked back. He’s now undertaking a Bachelor of Arts (Advanced) majoring in Political Economy & Anthropology.
Open Universities Australia are partnered with Australia’s leading universities and offers access to thousands of degrees, single subjects, and short courses, all in one place. If you’re not sure where to start, they have a team of expert student advisers who offer free and unbiased advice. They’ll chat to you about your study goals and career outcomes to make an informed decision on the right course that works for you.
“Open Universities Australia lowers the barriers to starting,” says Kid Fiction. “Particularly if you haven’t studied at university level before.”
Gaining a qualification is helping Kid Fiction see the world, and his music career in a different light. It helped him to take the pressure off music and rediscover what made it fun in the first place.
“Music is about drawing out meaning from the confusing mess of modern life. I think academia has helped me draw out those images with more clarity and confidence,” shares Kid Fiction. “On a more practical level, the time I’ve spent learning to write has really helped my lyric writing process.”
While Kid Fiction’s career path is still undetermined, by embarking on a higher education journey, he’s seeing the world (and his music practice) in a new light.
“To survive [in the music industry] requires a great deal of skill, tenacity, creativity and willpower. Sometimes I don’t think we give ourselves credit for that,” says Kid Fiction. “If you can match those street smarts with book smarts, it’s a dangerous combination in the best way possible.”
After decades of investing in his music practice, Kid Fiction is investing in his education and still not giving up on his dreams.
“Your dreams race away from you just as fast as you chase them. The only way forward without losing your mind is to stop chasing and realise the music is within you. It goes where you go.”
Your journey into uni starts with Open Universities Australia at open.edu.au
