Stiff Gins

Last updated

Stiff Gins
Origin Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
  • World
  • folk
  • acoustic
Years active1999 (1999)–present
Labels
Members
Past members
Website stiffgins.net

The Stiff Gins are an Indigenous Australian band from Sydney. They call their music "acoustic with harmonies" and are regularly compared to Tiddas. [1] The band was formed by Emma Donovan, Nardi Simpson and Kaleena Briggs in 1999, [2] after meeting at the Eora Centre while studying music. [3] The band's name uses the word gin (a derogatory word for an Aboriginal woman which was also a Dharug word for woman/wife) with the word stiff to become strong black woman, [4] a name which caused debate about use of the word gin. [5] Kaleena Briggs is a Wiradjuri/Yorta Yorta woman and Nardi Simpson Yuwaalaraay woman.

Contents

The band won Deadlys in 2000 for Most Promising New Talent and in 2001 for their single "Morning Star". [6]

In 2012 Stiff Gins performed at TEDx Sydney, simulcast by ABC Radio. [7]

In 2016 Stiff Gins, with Lucy Simpson, Felix Cross and Syd Green, created Spirit of Things, new works exploring the dispossession and spiritual repatriation of Indigenous cultural objects held in museum collections. [8] [9]

Discography

Albums

TitleDetails
Origins
  • Released: 2001
  • Label: Stiff Gins (SGO2500)
  • Format: CD
Kingia Australis
  • Released: 2004
  • Label: Didgeridoo records
  • Format: CD
Wind & Water
  • Released: March 2011 [10]
  • Label: Gadigal Music (GAD006)
  • Format: CD, DD
Crossroads
  • Released: June 2025 [11]
  • Format: Digital download

Extended plays

TitleDetails
Soh Fa
  • Released: 2000
  • Label: Stiff Gins (TSG500)
  • Format: CD

Awards

Deadly Awards

The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as "The Deadlys", was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The awards ran from 1995 until funding cuts lead to their cancellation in 2014. [12]

YearNominee / workAwardResult
Deadly Awards 2000 Stiff GinsMost Promising New TalentWon
Deadly Awards 2001 "Morning Star" by Stiff GinsBest Single ReleaseWon

References

  1. ↑ Ewans, Michael; Rosalind Halton; John A. Phillips (2004). Music Research: New Directions for a New Century. Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN   9781904303350.
  2. ↑ Davern, Pearl (4 May 2009). "Emma Donovan shoots her first music video". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  3. ↑ "About". Stiff Gins. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  4. ↑ TE Archive Drink up the Heady soul of Stiff Gins
  5. ↑ Dunbar-Hall, Peter; Chris Gibson (July 2004). Deadly Sounds, Deadly Places. Contemporary Aboriginal Music in Australia. University of New South Wales Press. ISBN   9780868406220.
  6. ↑ Michael Ewans, Rosalind Halton, John A. Phillips Music Research: New Directions for a New Century 2004 Page 159 "... 2000, the group won a Deadly Awards for Most Promising New Talent, and in 2001, they won the Single Release of the Year award for their song "Morning Star."
  7. ↑ TEDx Talks (22 June 2012). Performance: Stiff Gins at TEDxSydney . Retrieved 15 March 2025– via YouTube.
  8. ↑ "The Stiff Gins and the Spirit of Things". ABC listen. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  9. ↑ News, The Australian Museum. "The Spirit of Things: Day 1". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 15 March 2025.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ↑ Elder, Bruce (11 June 2011), "Indigenous folk", The Sydney Morning Herald
  11. ↑ "Crossroads, by Stiff Gins". Stiff Gins. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  12. ↑ Feneley, Rick (14 July 2014). "Deadly Awards founder Gavin Jones dies after funding cut". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 February 2021.

Further reading

Davis, Therese (2006). "'The Spirit, the Heart and the Power': An Interview with the 'Stiff Gins' on Music, Friendship and History". Aboriginal History. 30: 111–123.

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