Stiff Gins Explained

Stiff Gins
Background:group_or_band
Origin:Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Years Active:–present
Current Members:
Past Members:

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. 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,[3] a name which caused debate about use of the word gin.[4]

The band won Deadlys in 2000 for Most Promising New Talent and in 2001 for their single "Morning Star".[5]

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
  • Label: Gadigal Music (GAD006)
  • Format: CD, DD

Extended plays

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.[6]

|-| Deadly Awards 2000| Stiff Gins| Most Promising New Talent| |-| Deadly Awards 2001| "Morning Star" by Stiff Gins| Best Single Release| |-

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 .

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Ewans, Michael . Rosalind Halton . John A. Phillips . Music Research: New Directions for a New Century . Cambridge Scholars Press . 9781904303350 . 2004 .
  2. News: Emma Donovan shoots her first music video . Davern . Pearl . 4 May 2009 . Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) . 20 May 2017 .
  3. http://15min.org/articles/2001/october/31/ootm_3.html TE Archive
  4. Book: Dunbar-Hall, Peter . Chris Gibson . Deadly Sounds, Deadly Places. Contemporary Aboriginal Music in Australia . University of New South Wales Press . 9780868406220 . July 2004 .
  5. 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."
  6. Web site: Feneley . Rick . 14 July 2014 . Deadly Awards founder Gavin Jones dies after funding cut . 9 February 2021 . The Sydney Morning Herald.