Nominees for the 2025 SA Music Awards were announced today, including DEM MOB, Ella Ion and more multi-nominees. See the full list of artists and industry heads who made the cut. 

Leading the nominations with five nods is First Nations hip hop group DEM MOB, including being up for Best Regional Artist – a gong they’ve won two years running.

Jump to the full list of nominees

In the Best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Artist category they’re up against electro-soul duo Electric Fields, another strong contender with nominations in Best Group, Best Release (EP/Album).

Folk rock singer-songwriter Ella Ion is up for four nominations, including best song for her track ‘Creature Skin’, which was featured in CityMag‘s best new music column in June.

CityMag described ‘Creature Skin’ as “an intimate look into Ella’s mind as layers of delicate, breathy vocals envelop listeners in a comforting pool of ethereal sound”.

Joining Electric Fields with three nominations are indie grunge-pop trio Oscar the Wild and experimental rockers the Genevieves. The ladder two groups will go head to head in the People’s Choice Rock category and Best Release category, Oscar the Wild for Blue and The Genevieves for Dog Dreams.

The Genevieves are also up for Best New Artist, following their feature in CityMag’s Class of 2025 – published in February – naming them as emerging artists to watch this year.

Also from our Class list is singer-songwriter My Chérie, who is up for two nominations: Best Song for ‘Life Is’ and a People’s Choice Pop Award.

Music SA CEO Christine Schloithe says the calibre of talent among the nominees reflects the state’s reputation and celebrates the best of our city’s music scene.

“This year’s finalists showcase the incredible range of independent voices and stories our community continues to produce–from brand-new acts to established icons,” she says.

Arts Minister Andrea Michaels congratulated the finalists and says she looks forward to unveiling the winners.

“South Australia has a remarkable history of producing extraordinary musicians and you have all made an important contribution to our state’s musical history,” she says.

The awards will be held at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Tuesday, October 28.

Full list of SA Music Awards nomineesThis picture by Elise De Simoni of Amyl and the Sniffers playing Hindley Street Music Hall is one of the contenders for Best Live Music Photograph.Major awardsBest Song

The Dainty Morsels – ‘Hold Your Horses’
aleksiah – ‘Clothes Off’
My Chérie – ‘Life is’
TOWNS – ‘can’t blame yr dad’
Ella Ion – ‘Creative Skin’

Best New Artist

BOUSTA
The Genevieves
The Dainty Morsels
Purée
Ella Ion

Best Regional Artist

Erin Buku
DEM MOB
Germein Sisters
Gratts
Rob Edwards

Best Solo Artist

Parvyn
Kultar Ahluwalia
Naomi Keyte
Lonelyspeck
aleksiah

Best Group

Oscar the Wild
Bromham
Purée
TOWNS
Electric Fields

Best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Artist

Cringetrender
DEM MOB
J-MILLA
Rob Edwards
Electric Fields

Best Release (EP/Album)

Oscar the Wild – Blue
The Genevieves – Dog Dreams
aleksiah – Cry About It
LOLA – Live In A Jive
Electric Fields – Live In Concert

Industry AwardsBest Cover Art

TOWNS
aleksiah
Soylent Green
Ella Ion
Placement

Best Large Music Festival (more than 1000 attendees)

Froth and Fury Fest
Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival
City of Adelaide – Make Music Day
Nice Day To Go To The Club
Semaphore Music Festival

Best Live Music photograph

William Coombs – Tonix
Elise De Simoni – Amyl And The Sniffers
Justin White – Slowly Slowly
Bronwen Caple – Lany
Skye Sampson–Lola

Best Live Music Venue

UniBar ADL
The Austral
The Scenic Hotel
Hindley Street Music Hall
Lion Arts Factory

Best Live Technician

Nathan D’Agostino
Ryan Martin John
Michael Murphy
Liam Roche
Luke Hancock

Best Manager

Chelsea Sinnott
Rachel Whitford
Sebastian James–27 Music
Gully
Hannah Louise

Best Music Educator

Nic Jeffries
Mat Morison
DEM MOB
Paige Court
Joseph Cheek –Home Recording Bootcamp

Best Music Video

The Tullamarines – ‘Lying’  – directed by Myles McEwen
Lonelyspeck –’Wishing’ –  directed by Sione Teumohenga
Teenage Joans – ‘Sweet and Slow’ – directed by Scarlett Scherer
effie isobel –’Moon Made’ – directed by Grace Stewart
LOLA – ‘What Line?’ – directed by Bryce Kraehenbuehl

Best Regional Music Venue, Festival or Event

Caltowie Chilled Out ’n’ Fired Up Music Festival
Limestone Coast Beer & BBQ Festival
Adelaide Guitar Festival On the Road–Kangaroo Island
Space Jams 2024

Best Small Festival (less than 1000 attendees)

Future Sounds Festival
Caltowie Chilled Out ’n’ Fired Up Music Festival
Dougstock Music Festival
Space Jams 2024
Porch and Recreation

Best Studio

Cactus Cactus Sound
Wizard Tone Studios
Forest Range Studios
Dänger Deer Studios
Songbird Society

Best Studio Engineer/Producer

Ryan Martin John
Sam Lench
James Brown
Mario Späte
Lucinda Machin

People’s Choice AwardsBlues & Roots

Badland Caravan
Laura Hill
Cal Williams Jr
The Honey Badgers
63 Deluxe

Country

The Flying Squad
The Jeffries
River Rose
Brad Chicken and the Bootstraps
Rob Edwards

Electronic

Sexy As Shit
TONIX
L T Balkin
Alex Hosking
Georgia Oatley

Experimental & Art

Night Rites
Violet Harlot
James Brown
we see moons
Quirkestra

Folk

Naomi Keyte
Ned Baulderstone
Kellys Wayke
Bromham
Ella Ion

Heavy

Raccoon City
Falter
MACËY
Lumens
xGemmini

Hip Hop

Tommy Marsh
Kultar Ahluwalia
OC3ANEYES
DEM MOB
HeyHolly

Jazz

Parvyn
Alexander Flood
Live Slug Reaction
Soylent Green
Fuja

Pop

Bella Brinkworth
aleksiah
The Tullamarines
My Chérie
LILLI

Punk

Witch Spit
babyteeth
Teenage Joans
DONNI HEAT
LOLA

Rock

Oscar the Wild
The Genevieves
The Dainty Morsels
Molly Rocket
GREASY

Soul/Funk/R&B

Erin Buku
Dojo Rise
San Dragan
WANDERERS
Meena De Silva