Stiff Gins
Stiff Gins | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres |
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| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels |
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| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | stiffgins |
The Stiff Gins are an Indigenous Australian band from Sydney consisting of Wiradjuri/Yorta Yorta woman Kaleena Briggs and Yuwaalaraay woman Nardi Simpson and are renowned as Australia's foremost and longest-performing all-Indigenous female group.
They call their music "acoustic with harmonies" and are regularly compared to Tiddas.[1] The band was formed by Nardi Simpson and Kaleena Briggs Emma Donovan 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]
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]
In 2025 Stiff Gins released their fifth studio album Crossroads, marking a 25-year career point for Australia's longest-performing all-female First Nations band.
Discography
Albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Origins |
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| Kingia Australis |
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| Wind & Water |
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| Crossroads |
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Extended plays
| Title | Details |
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| Soh Fa |
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Awards and nominations
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]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadly Awards 2000 | Stiff Gins | Most Promising New Talent | Won |
| Deadly Awards 2001 | "Morning Star" by Stiff Gins | Best Single Release | Won |
NSW Music Prize
The NSW Music Prize aims to "celebrate, support and incentivise" the NSW's most talented artists, with "the aim of inspiring the next generations of stars". It commenced in 2025.[13]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Crossroads | NSW First Nations Music Prize | Nominated | [14] |
References
- ^ Ewans, Michael; Rosalind Halton; John A. Phillips (2004). Music Research: New Directions for a New Century. Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN 9781904303350.
- ^ Davern, Pearl (4 May 2009). "Emma Donovan shoots her first music video". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ^ "About". Stiff Gins. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
- ^ TE Archive Drink up the Heady soul of Stiff Gins
- ^ Dunbar-Hall, Peter; Chris Gibson (July 2004). Deadly Sounds, Deadly Places. Contemporary Aboriginal Music in Australia. University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 9780868406220.
- ^ 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."
- ^ TEDx Talks (22 June 2012). Performance: Stiff Gins at TEDxSydney. Retrieved 15 March 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ "The Stiff Gins and the Spirit of Things". ABC listen. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
- ^ News, The Australian Museum. "The Spirit of Things: Day 1". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Elder, Bruce (11 June 2011), "Indigenous folk", The Sydney Morning Herald
- ^ "Crossroads, by Stiff Gins". Stiff Gins. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ Feneley, Rick (14 July 2014). "Deadly Awards founder Gavin Jones dies after funding cut". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ "Finalists Unveiled for Inaugural NSW Music Prize". Billboard. 27 October 2025. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
- ^ "Hip hop and electronic artists dominate the shortlist for Australia's richest music prize". news.com.au. 27 October 2025. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
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.