Fender announces Aussie winners of Player Plus Studio Sessions

Four Australian acts have been announced as the winners of Fender’s Player Plus Studio Sessions competition, aiming to get independent artists back in the studio.

The competition was open to artists all across the world, with global winners decided by the likes of Chic’s Nile Rodgers, Ashley McBryde, Alastair Burns and more.

The Aussie acts who took out the comp are Melbourne’s Sidney Rose and The Great Emu War Casualties and Sydney’s NedR and T E A K.

Each of the four acts will receive 10 hours of free studio time, recording time cost, an on-site engineer, $500 credit for a mixer and mentorship from industry professionals.

In addition, each act will receive one Fender Player Plus guitar or bass to keep for future creative endeavours.

Sidney Rose and The Great Emu War Casualties will clock their studio time at Melbourne’s Sing Sing Studios, while NedR and T E A K will fulfil their time at Sydney’s Studios 301. Both studios will have a ‘Fender Nook’ set up so any musicians working in the studios – not just winners – can try their hand at one of the new guitars.

Fender CEO Andy Mooney said that the competition “is the manifestation of Fender’s dedication to artists at every stage of their journey.”

“The hope is this program will jump start their artistic careers enabling them to fuel their passion to achieve their dreams.”

The competition is just the latest example of Fender collaborating with Australian artists over recent months. In July, the company teamed up with Dan Sultan to auction off two pieces of guitar art in celebration of NAIDOC Week.