Josh Pyke, in conjunction with APRA has announced Australian musician GOVS as the winner of the 2013 Josh Pyke Partnership.
GOVS is the solo brainchild of21-year-old Gold Coast basedJosiah Birrell,who is currently completing his Bachelor of Popular Music at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.
Multi-instrumentalist Josiah is also one of the QCGU SEED Volume 2 artists who will perform at the upcoming public album launch at QPAC on August 9.
Selected from almost 200 entries, Josiah will receive a mentorship program with industry experts including Josh Pyke, Gregg Donovan (Wonderlick Entertainment) and Stephen Wade (Select Music), as well as $7500 in funding to support his future career supported by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)’s music grants program.
Speaking of his decision to handpick GOVS as this year’s winner, ARIA award-winning songwriter Josh Pyke said, “In the end we decided on an artist that had already proven to be pro-active, had a plan that had a set goal and quantifiable outcomes.”
“They needed to show that they were already on a progression and that they had a strong vision for their art. Most importantly, they needed to be producing music that is awesome, exciting and shows enormous potential. Our winner certainly fits this description.”
Listen to GOVS on Triple J Unearthed.