Dave Ruby Howe details his best discoveries on triple j Unearthed

Image: Meg Mac

As part of triple j’s Ausmusic Month celebrations the award-winning national youth broadcaster is also commemorating 10 Years of triplejunearthed.com.

It’s throwing a free party featuring live sets from Allday, Northeast Party House, Ali BarterandAlex Lahey on November 18 and tomorrow, will countdown the 100 Best Discoveries of triplejunearthed.com.

To celebrate, triple j Unearthed Music Director Dave Ruby Howe takes TMN through 10 of his Best Discoveries. From catching one of Meg Mac’s first live shows in Sydney, to his initial encounter with the music of Julia Jacklin in 2014, Ruby Howe has watched the ascent of some of Australia’s most lauded artists and in some cases, played an integral role in their early careers.

The Rubens

It was during my first week working at Unearthed when I came across the profile of this little band from country NSW. I was scouring the website for tracks to fill the library as we launched the Unearthed digital radio station and Lay It Down just blew my mind. From there the growth was really organic. Our support through Unearthed trickled across to triple j presenters, they won the Unearthed Homebake competition and then burst into the 2011 Hottest 100. Now we all know how big they are but I’ll always take it back to hearing those first uploads and how charismatic that spark was.

Meg Mac

I’m sure I had the same reaction as a lot of other punters when I heard Meg’s voice for the first time.Thatvoice! So commanding and soulful, you just knew that she’d be destined for big things. I think that was really crystallised for me when I saw her live the first couple of times, initially playing a crowded Vanguard in Sydney and then again at an Unearthed party with L-Fresh The Lion, KLP and Kingswood. She’s electric. And even if the throng of people in the room are belting out every word, it’s Meg’s unstoppable voice that you hear the clearest.

Japanese Wallpaper

I first remember hearing Japanese Wallpaper’s music through the recommendation of Nick Murphy when he was on Unearthed radio selecting some of his favourite tracks from the website. Here was a legit teenager, couldn’t have been more than 14 or 15, making some striking and chilled electronic music. He’s grown remarkably in the last few years, taking out the crown for Unearthed High 2014 and making his mark on the world ever since.

Thelma Plum

We get a lot of questions from artists wondering if they need real schmick recordings to get noticed but I always advise anyone to put their focus on writing a song that connects first and foremost. That was the case when we came across Father Said by then 17-year-old Thelma Plum. As has become legend now, Thelma recorded it hunched over in a cupboard straight into a laptop. It’s a song that’s less than two minutes long but it’s totally captivating and connects right away.

Montaigne

It’s a privilege to be a part of triple j Unearthed and I know that every day I show up to work I’m going to hear something exciting from an artist I’ve never heard of before. On one of those days back in 2012 it was hearing Jessica Cerro, a 16-year-old entrant in Unearthed High that year, giving us a boisterous indie pop jam called Anyone But Me. At such a young age Jess showed a remarkable voice both as a singer and a songwriter, and you can still hear that original spark in the incredible music she’s making as Montaigne today.

The Ocean Party

Wagga Wagga’s finest export (sorry Mark Taylor, you had a good run), The Ocean Party really cut through with us when they put out their second album ‘Split’, which identified mid-twenties malaise better than anyone else I’ve heard. But despite being at the centre of super-slacker movement dolewave, the Ocean Party guys are some of the hardest working musicians in the country – relentlessly slogging it out on the road, recording and mixing their own records, releasing albums on a break-neck schedule and playing in some six hundred other projects.

Julia Jacklin

The first song I heard from Julia on Unearthed was Santafel back in 2014 and it was a beauty. Compared to some of the big moments on her acclaimed debut LP Santafel now feels a bit under-dressed with just acoustic guitar and Julia’s voice but even that is a potent enough combination to stop you in your tracks. It’s no surprise that not only Australia but most of the world is swooning for Julia’s music now.

SAFIA

I promise that it’s not just the Canberran-blood running through my veins that keeps me repping SAFIA until the day that people stop listening. These guys are the real deal and you could hear it in the very first song they shared with Unearthed, Stretched & Faded. The combo of Ben’s superstar voice and the liquefied electronic production has become their calling card and they’ve really confirmed that genuine world-beating musicians can be found in our nation’s capital.