Published 20 April, 2021

Inverse, Music Victoria, the Victorian Music Development Office and Moon Mother Productions are thrilled to present the winners of their recently announced Music VR Backers Fund – a first-of-its-kind grant offered to assist Victorian artists in connecting with fans in new and exciting ways, utilising live virtual reality technologies. Each of the twenty lucky recipients of the fund will receive a $2500 grant and will take part in the inaugural virtual reality festival, Beyond Boundaries, with dates to be announced soon.

While live music is slowly returning to Australian venues, the music industry as a whole is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, with venues running at limited capacities and many music lovers are still unable to attend live events. Live VR technologies allow both artists and fans to reconnect, regardless of lockdown restrictions, or circumstance, through immersive at-home experiences, merely a sidestep from reality itself. 

Introducing the 2021 Music VR Backers Fund recipients: Alon Ilsar, Close Counters, Crown Heights, Delorean Project, DRMNGNOW, Fascinator, FOOLS, Hachiku, Louise Terra, NIASHA, Opal Ocean, Parvyn, RAT!hammock, Rubiks Collective, Rudely Interrupted, Speak Percussion, Tanzer, Taylah Carroll, Telenova and XANI.

Decolonial hip-hop artist and staunch First Nations activist DRMNGNOW is one of this year’s highly deserving recipients. “This is an exciting opportunity to have work presented in an innovative way that will hopefully bring my work which for me is embedded into thousands of years of my cultural connection as a First Nations person into the now,” the proud Yorta Yorta man said. “I believe one of the most powerful ways technology can be used is to bring forward the stories and song of our peoples, so I am grateful that through this project I may have an opportunity to do so.”

The twenty recipients of the fund we’re handpicked by an expert panel of leading Victorian music figureheads from Music Victoria’s Artist Advisory and COVID Recovery Advisory Groups including Ben Wiesner (Box Hill Institute), Dave Newington (Granite Consulting), Eyal Chipkiewicz (The Boite), Kylie Auldist (Artist), Peta Petidis (Muso) and Tim Curnick (Artist/Producer). With an overwhelming amount of applications received, the arduous decision was carefully decided by the level of innovation and uniqueness of the successful applicants’ performance pitches. Each grant recipient will receive one-to-one coaching and support on VR stagecraft, to ensure the Beyond Boundaries VR Festival is an experience like no other.

“Seeing the quality and quantity of applications for the Music VR Backers Fund has inspired us and is a fundamental driver to our vision – Victorian (and more broadly, Australian) live music has the potential to capture global audiences in the fast-growing ecosystem of immersive entertainment. Through true convergence of arts and technology, both of which Victoria are global pioneers in, we’re putting our creatives at the forefront of an entirely new art form that will deliver unique and memorable audience experiences.” – Darren Vukasinovic, Founder of Inverse 

Melbourne five-piece Rudely Interrupted have carved out a worldwide profile with their music over the past 15+ years having performed numerous international tours in ten countries including an invitation to perform at the United Nations in New York City for international day for persons living with a disability. The self-described indie rock/love/pop entertainers are thrilled to be included amongst the winners of the fund and had this to say about the opportunity, "Rudely Interrupted are thrilled to be selected and included in this new space for music lovers. We've longed for the virtual experience as an outsider act and the places we've toured, it's not so easy for an act like Rudely Interrupted to get around the world for our fans, and thanks to Inverse this is becoming possible again and we are thrilled to bits to be included in this new virtual space for artists to reach their fans." 

To stay up to date with the Beyond Boundaries festival announcements, sign up below.