Top 5 Aussie Acts To Catch At This Years Yours & Owls Fest!
Photo Credit Ian Laidlaw
Another day, another chunk taken out of my ever-dwindling savings account, and another weekend I won’t regret. Yours and Owls is back for 2023 and has brought with it a pleasant change in scenery. Moving sites to the University of Woolloongabba, YAO is the perfect excuse for students to ignore their academic responsibilities and have a little fun before the looming threat of exam block.
This is the first time since 2020 that international artists have stepped upon the YAO stage, giving audiences a menagerie of global legends from the grubbiest corners of their private playlists. Yours and Owls has it all— from R&B legends like Earl Sweatshirt to seasoned punk-rockers Descendents and internet sensations like Oliver Tree.
Music festivals have always been used to stimulate the economy, but YAO began as a breeding ground for emerging talent. A way for Australia to prove to itself that it was still capable of culture. And while no one is going to shame you for seeing Hilltop Hoods for the fifth time, I can guarantee that your new favourite band is hiding in this year’s line-up.
Of course, it’s impossible to see every band that weekend, and you might just miss the best performance of your life, but that’s where we come in. We here at Alterwave want to keep you in the know, so here are some of our favourite Aussie artists that we know are going to kill it during Yours and Owls.
Girl and Girl
This one is an absolute no-brainer. Believe it or not, Alterwave is actually just the world’s biggest GAG stan account. This four-piece alt-garage rock band has just been eating and eating and licking their plate clean. Having just returned home from a tour across Europe/UK and their recent signing with Sub Pop Records (you know, the dudes that signed Nirvana?!), GAG deserves each and every one of their successes.
It’s genuinely baffling how this band can barrel through emotions with each performance, yet it’s never jarring. From the 12-minute recollection of ‘Divorce’ to a 3-minute song about ‘Strangers’ that belongs as the soundtrack to a pub brawl, Girl and Girl is one of the most wonderful bands I’ve ever encountered. So much so that this might be considered a basic pick. Let’s move on, shall we?
BIG WETT
BIG WETT is the kind of artist that fills my gender euphoric fantasy. As a queer person that isn’t as flamboyant as they’d like to be, listening to her lyrics, full-frontal, with heavy beats makes a walk of shame feel like a walk on a red carpet—if that carpet was sticky and was being rolled out by your best friend who just came back from a tacky vom. If you show up to BIG WETT dead sober, you’ve done something wrong.
This is nothing but intense electro-pop, harkening back to all the bad decisions your parents made in the 90s. I have only hazy memories of her headlining set from this year’s Mountain Goat Valley Crawl. Drunkenly swinging my hair, impairing my vision more than the booze, and an attitude on stage that is everything I want and more. If you want to have fun at YAO, it’s best you get WETT.
Full Flower Moon Band
FFMB is a rock band for the new generation, aware enough to acknowledge the farcity of actual rock bands. Again, this recommendation might be cheating—almost all of my non-freak friends have heard of FFMB, but they’re just too good. The persona of Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon as frontwoman is a spectacle, doused in leather skirts and stilettos, gripping her guitar like Hendrix, indulging in the myth of rock and roll.
I’ve seen these people at gigs, just as regular people. Curly ranga mullets in the crowd grooving along to whatever’s on at Beardo, but I can’t help but see them as icons; wherever they go, they are always in the pursuit of pleasure. Alternative rock at its finest, crunchy guitars, gritty aesthetic, with a touch of tongue-and-cheek. I can guarantee that Full Flower Moon Band will perform unlike any other at YAO.
Billy Otto
Australian-Malaysian artist Billy Otto is a swiss army knife full of amazing shit. His psychedelic dream-pop—think this weird fusion between Tame Impala, Tash Sultana, and DNCE—isn’t even scratching the surface of his achievements.
Environmental activist, mental health advocate, and all-round content creator, Billy Otto makes the most out of his experiences. His confessional lyrics over his boppy dance music will make for a perfect show-starter at Yours and Owls. Something to get the blood pumping.
The Sweaty Bettys
This one just feels like home. If any of you were devastated when Camp Cope played their last show, then The Sweaty Bettys is a must-see. Hailing from Woollongong, their light indie-rock reminds me of clear skies.
The kind of tunes to put on the way to a beach trip. It sounds cliche, I know, but I used to listen to this kinda stuff all the time. Walking home from work on a weekday, thinking how I was going to convince my friends to split a carton. We’d talk about nothing till the sun came up and music like this would be in the background on repeat. Whenever silence came between us, we’d tap our foot to the light strums of the guitar as it crescendoed into the hook. Watching The Sweaty Bettys live is reliving those moments and all the emotions that come with it, highs and lows in all its beauty.
And that’s us! Whether you’re at Yours and Owls to see Peach Pit, Earl Sweatshirt or Hobo Johnson, make sure you keep a couple of hours free to catch some Australian acts. Not only does supporting local acts feel good, but some of Australia’s best artists are at this festival. I am always astounded by the amount of heart and soul that goes into these works. Watching local bands, discovering them, going to their smaller shows is an experience all in itself. It’s truly amazing.
October 14 & 15, 2023, University of Wollongong
General On Sale Tickets now!
yoursandowlsfestival.com.au
Words by Bea Omundson