Our mentors make all the difference. We are privileged to have such a depth of amazing, award winning songwriters and music producers on the program. Here are some of our current mentors.
Alice Ivy
Alice Ivy is an ARIA-nominated electronic producer who has performed with Billie Eilish, Foster The People, Flight Facilities, Vera Blue & The Jungle Giants, and at SXSW, Falls Festival, Listen Out and Splendour In The Grass. Her triple j featured and 'J Award' nominated second album, ‘Don't Sleep’, containing collaborations with Thelma Plum, Odette & Montaigne saw Alice Ivy catch nominations for 'Best Dance Release' and 'Best Engineer' at the 2020 ARIA Awards.
Anna Laverty
Anna Laverty is one of Australia’s finest production talents, with credits on projects by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Courtney Barnett, Meg Mac, Lady Gaga, G Flip, Montaigne, Ali Barter and Kira Puru. Honing her production and engineering skills under the tutelage of producers Paul Epworth (Adele) and Ben Hillier (Blur, U2), Anna worked on releases by Bloc Party and Depeche Mode at London’s Miloco Studios. In early 2020 Anna was awarded the inaugural Mushroom Music Producer Award and finished the year by receiving the Australia Council Fellowship for creative activity and professional development.
Antonia Gauci
Antonia Gauci is an engineer, mixer, producer and artist with credits including Kesha, Lil’ Yachty, What So Not, Troye Sivan, DMAs, Vallis Alps and Japanese Wallpaper. Antonia got her start at Sydney’s legendary Studios 301, assisting for industry heavyweights Scott Horscroft (The Presets, Birds of Tokyo) and Eric J Dubowsky (Chet Faker, Flume, Odesza). Antonia now works out of her own room at Golden Retriever Studios in Sydney, making it a hub for the community of artists and producers she has established.
Bec Sandridge
Sydney-based artist/writer Bec Sandridge has collaborated with a stellar list of Australian and international music industry heavyweights, including prolific songwriter/producer Dave Jenkins Jr (Daniel Johns, Vera Blue), Lucy Taylor (Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding), and Gab Strum (Japanese Wallpaper). In 2019, she took 2nd place in the International Songwriting Competition Unsigned Category judged by Tom Waits, Dua Lipa and Chris Martin. Her festival slots include openers for slots for Yungblud, The Rubens, Cub Sport, and Montaigne.
Blake Rhodes
Blake (aka Mr Rhodes) is a Sydney-based artist hailing from Lismore, ⅓ of Award-winning hip-hop trio Teddy Lewis King.
Chelsea Warner
Producer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chelsea Warner creates forward-thinking R&B, pop and hip-hop from Sydney, Australia. As well as her own collaborations with Emalia, Tentendo, and Vetta Borne, she has credits on releases by Ūla, Urthboy, Liyah Knight, BVT and more. A 2022 finalist in the Hip Hop/Rap/R&B/Soul category of the APRA AMCOS Professional Development Awards, Chelsea also attended the Bali Songwriting Invitational alongside MNEK (Dua Lipa, Beyoncé), Smoko Ono (Chance The Rapper, Kanye West) and others.
Chloe Dadd
Writer/producer/artist Chloe Dadd is herself a SongMakers alum, from regional NSW. She has worked with Lime Cordiale, Meg Mac, Courtney Barnett and others. She was a featured artist at music industry conference, Big Sound 2022. She tours with MAY-A, and has just returned from a sold out European tour and a gig to thousands on the steps of the Sydney Opera House opening for 5SOS.
DVNA
Dana is an artist, songwriter and producer hailing from the Gold Coast who has graced stages for Baker Boy, BigSound and festivals around the country. Her track ‘Looking Like A Snack’ was nominated for Song of the Year at Gold Coast Music Awards.
Ilan Kidron
Ilan Kidron is an award winning, one-billion-and-counting streamed songwriter and producer. He is known for his role in the multi-platinum dance band The Potbelleez and is a trained classical musician and screen composer. Ilan’s writing credits include Jessica Mauboy, Ricky Martin, Tina Arena, Kygo, Rita Ora and Chance The Rapper, and his trophy cabinet contains awards and nominations from ARIA, APRA and ASCAP.
Joel Quartermain
ARIA and APRA award winner Joel Quartermain is a founding member of the broadly acclaimed rock trio Eskimo Joe. Beyond a successful recording and touring career, Joel has immersed himself in the roles of producer, co-writer, mixer and engineer on projects from Meg Mac, Dan Sultan, G Flip, Merci Mercy, British India and Dustin Tebbit and even SongMakers alum Fergus James.
Katie Wighton
QLD Conservatorium-trained, ARIA award winning artist/writer, Katie Wighton, is co-founder of alt-folk group All Our Exes Live in Texas. With the Exes, Katie toured the world as support for Midnight Oil, and is now a regular visitor to Nashville where she has become an in-demand songwriting collaborator for prominent global artists. Katie is a songwriting educator at Monash University.
KLP
KLP is a singer, songwriter, producer and DJ. She tours with the likes of Art Vs Science, has worked with Skrillex and Slumberjack, graced stages from Splendour in the Grass to SXSW and has her own distinctive sound of layered vocal harmonies. KLP’s track ‘Energy’ with Stace Cadet peaked at Number 1 on the ARIA club chart, scored her an ARIA nomination for Best Dance Release and has been certified as a Gold single.
Milan RiNG
Sydney-based singer, rapper, guitarist, producer and mixing engineer, Milan Ring directs each and every aspect of her creative process. Milan has toured with The Avalanches, Sampa The Great, Genesis Owusu, Winston Surfshirt and The Rubens, has graced festival stages across the country and recently was nominated for a 2021 APRA Award for her self-released single ‘Say To Me’.
Ninajirachi
A finalist in triple j’s Unearthed High competition in both 2016 and 2017, Ninajirachi has been punching above her weight in the world of electronic producing and performing ever since. Her debut single, “Pure Luck (feat. Freya Staer)”, topped the Spotify Australia Viral Charts, received support from Zane Lowe Beats1 and was added to high rotation on triple j. On the live circuit, Nina has toured with Mallrat, What So Not, Hermitude, Crooked Colours and has performed at Falls, Listen Out Festival, Splendour in the Grass and Groovin' the Moo. Beyond her own releases, Nina has produced remixes for deadmau5 & The Neptunes, Flight Facilities and Hermitude.
Taka Perry
A SongMakers participant in 2015, Taka Perry is one of Australia’s most exciting producer/artists. He has since signed a worldwide record deal with TMRW Music and global publishing deal with Downtown Music; hitting the ground running as soon he left school. With a credit list consisting of Ruel, Denzel Curry, Stellie, JP the Wavy, Thomston, Max Frost, SACHI, and A.GIRL, his creative contributions have now amassed over 130 million plays on Spotify. He recently performed one of the best triple j Like A Versions of the year, covering Kanye West’s ‘Jesus Walks’.
