At Sunset take out inaugural MTV Brand New AU/NZ

MTV’s competition for emerging Australian and New Zealand acts announced its first ever winner overnight with Adelaide pop-rock trio At Sunset taking the crown.

Over the past ten weeks, ten of Australia and New Zealand’s emerging artists have gone head-to-head competing for MTV Australia’s first ever title.

At Sunset were the favourites amidst a formidable and awesome talent pool, the public vote saw them accrue almost 200,000 votes.

Speaking to TMN yesterday, At Sunset’s Harrison Kantarias, Andrew Kantarias and Tom Jay Williams said: “The fans are what makes all this possible. We would like to thank every single person that voted and every single person that has ever watched our videos or supported us.”

Runner-up, Conrad Sewell, recently made ARIA chart history for his single Start Again, alongside his sister Grace Sewell for You Don’t Own Me, as the first Australian siblings to both hit #1 with different tracks was just one example of the calibre that the trio ousted to take the top prize.

Sewell and At Sunset beat out highly celebrated entrants Tkay Maidza, Sydney DJ duo Set Mo, Josef Salvat, Thomston, Chris Watts, Winterbourne, Carmada and Cosmos Midnight.

When asked if At Sunset had any advice for future competition entrants they said: “The key for us was to stay tight with the fans and never under-appreciate what they’re doing and who they are.

“They make you who you are and it’s important to stay true to your sound and true to yourself. Don’t overcomplicate things and the smallest gestures and connections go a long way.”

Since winning Nova’s Fresh Discovery earlier this year, At Sunset have exceeded five million views on YouTube and have an ever-increasing army of fans globally with over one million social followers. The band’s single Replay exceeded 400,000 YouTube views in the first two weeks of uploading and was endorsed by the original artist, Zendaya.

The band told TMN that a six-track EP is in the works and that an American tour is also on the cards.

The competition follows MTV Brand New in the UK, which has discovered and showcased some of the biggest and most internationally recognised artist of the past five years including Sam Smith, Florence & the Machine, Adele, Jessie J, Charli XCX and most recently James Bay.