Voice of Baceprot (VoB) and DEVAURA are the winners of the second annual Justin Cosby Music Prize, awarded following their respective performances at SXSW Sydney 2024.
VoB, the all-female Indonesian heavy metal trio, scoops the best performance award, following their headline slot on October 17th at Rolling Stone House.
“From the moment we announced VoB, the anticipation for this mighty trio was huge,” comments SXSW Sydney head of music Claire Collins. “Their appearance at SXSW Sydney is just one achievement in a blockbuster year, being the first Indonesian artist to ever play Glastonbury, and their years of playing live certainly paid dividends in a completely enthralling live show.”
She continues, “Whether it was impressing an industry audience at the Music Festival Opening Party, tearing apart the Tumbalong Park mainstage or headlining the Rolling Stone stage, the fiercely feminist heavy metal act surprised and delighted at every turn.”
Those appearances at SXSW Sydney kicked off VoB’s first-ever tour of Australia.
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Consisting of Marsya (vocals and guitar), Widi (bass), and Siti (drums), Voice of Baceprot (pronounced Bah-Che-Prot) are like-minded heavy-music connoisseurs who came together in 2014 as Islamic junior high school students in their hometown of Singajaya, a small village two hours’ drive away from the city of Garut, West Java.
“We are honoured to be invited to Australia by SXSW and to be doing our first national tour,” Marsya exclusively told Rolling Stone AU/NZ ahead of the tour.
“The stage to us is an independent arena for musicians to be safe and grow, as their voices echo independence, defending humanity and eternal peace.”
Meanwhile, Aotearoa-born, Eora-based soul singer and hip-hop artist DEVAURA is tapped for the best emerging artist honour, awarded to the local or international artist showing the most potential to attain their career goals.
The award is based on artistic merit and export readiness.
“For an artist that has only been releasing music and performing for just over a year, DEVAURA came to SXSW Sydney with the songs, the wild performance style and the magnetic energy of a seasoned veteran,” comments SXSW Sydney music program manager, Reg Harris.
DEVAURA
“Watching DEVAURA and her band transform her bouncy, jersey-club inflected hip-hop style into a raucous yet tightly arranged live set was a total pleasure, made even more fun by the various dress-up themes that ran through the shows (pyjama party, office meetup and construction site).”
Notes Harris, “she was very deservingly the name on everyone’s lips all week and with just a few songs under the belt so far, DEVAURA’s clearly got a super exciting life in music ahead.”
The Justin Cosby Music Prize is named in the memory of Inertia Music co-founder Justin Cosby, who died in June 2021.
The beloved independent music executive — and fan — was a regular attendee at SXSW and his meticulously-organised spreadsheet planner was shared widely among Australian industry making the journey to Austin each year, notes SXSW organisers in a statement.
The judging panel comprises industry leaders from independent record labels, community radio, venues, festivals, and local and international media.
The inaugural Justin Cosby Music Prize was awarded in 2023 to Otoboke Beaver (best performance) and Miss Kaninna (best emerging artist).
Running from October 14th-20th and produced by TEG, this year’s event featured 23 conference tracks, including freshly-introduced talking points on the creator economy, cyber and your data, education and skills, fashion, lifestyle and beauty, and food.
