The National Campus Music Competition (previously known as the National Campus Band Competition) is an annual

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n music competition specifically for tertiary students. The comp was created in 1990 by members of the volunteer organisation, ''Australian Association of Campus Activities,'' which later become a part of the Tertiary Access Group (TAG). The first Adelaide Student Band Competition was held in 1983 and the Victorian Student Band Competition was held in 1986, after an observation by Activities Officers on campus, that there were hundreds of student bands with nowhere to play, and needed an extra incentive to have a go. The brain-child of a bunch of Campus Activities Officers was enacted by posters on campus, and the response was staggering. The competition was such a success that by 1990 it went national. During that year, campuses in every state ran competitions on a local level, with the finalists playing it off at the

University of NSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public university, public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight (Australian universities), ...

. The first national winner was Helvelln, who later signed to

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

. A crowd 2,000 attended the night backed by sponsorship from the National Aids Education Campaign Unit and National Youth Radio Station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

. Since then, the National final has travelled around the country (

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Lismore,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

) and the competition has attracted more and more bands, as well as receiving great kudos from the music industry. In 2006, the overall winner of the competition received $8,000 worth of equipment, 3 days studio time and 3,000 mastered and duplicated CD’s. As Michael Gudinski of Mushroom Records once said,

"The National Campus Band Competition is a great initiative. It gives new talent a chance for exposure. It is also a tremendous support to the Australian Music Industry."

The winners

*1990: Helvelln (

VIC Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

) *1991: Storytime ( WA) *1992: Raisin Toast ( SA) *1993: The Simpletons (

NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

) *1994: Hardware (

) *1995:

Jebediah Jebediah are an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. They were formed by Chris Daymond on lead guitar, Kevin Mitchell (aka Bob Evans) on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, and Vanessa Thornton on bass guita ...

( WA) *1996:

78 Saab 78 Saab were a rock band from Australia that consisted of Ben Nash (vocals and guitar), Jake Andrews (guitar and vocals), Garth Tregillgas (bass and vocals) and Nicholai Danko (drums and percussion). The band has stated that it was influenced b ...

(

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

) *1997:

Eskimo Joe Eskimo Joe are an Australian alternative rock band that was formed in 1997 by Stuart MacLeod, on lead guitar, Joel Quartermain, on drums and guitar, and Kavyen Temperley, on bass guitar and vocals, in East Fremantle, Western Australia, Austral ...

( WA) *1998: Big Wally ( Tas) *1999: Chenlab ( Lismore) *2000: Couchgrinder (

) *2001: Ungkas ( SA) *2002: Proem ( Lismore) *2003:

Transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

(

QLD ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

) *2004:

The Vasco Era The Vasco Era were an Australian three piece rock/blues band based in Melbourne. Career Originally from Apollo Bay, but now based in Melbourne, the band's members are brothers Sid (vocals, guitar, lapsteel, rototoms) and Ted (bass) O'Neil and M ...

(

) *2005:

The Preytells The Preytells were an Australian indie rock band from Perth, formed in 2004 by Jessicca Bennett (a.k.a. Audrey Tell) on lead guitar and backing vocals, Simon Okely (a.k.a. Will Tell) on guitar and lead vocals, Jaclyn Pearson on drums and percus ...

( WA) *2006: The Embers ( Tas) *2007:

Will Stoker and the Embers Will Stoker and the Embers are a band based in Perth, Western Australia fronted by singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Will Stoker. In 2007 they won the Western Australian final of the National Campus Band Competition and then went to Melb ...

( WA) *2008: Rubycon ( ACT) *2009
The Downstairs Mix-Up
(

) *2010: Caballeros (WA) *2011: Runner ( WA) *2012
Walking With Thieves
(SA) *2013
The Orchard
(

) *2014: Parkside Orchestra (NSW) *2015
Nocturnal Tapes
(QLD) *2016:

Moaning Lisa Moaning Lisa may refer to: * Moaning Lisa (band) Moaning Lisa are an Australian rock band formed in Canberra in 2016. The group has released two EPs, ''The Sweetest'' in 2017, and ''Do You Know Enough?'' in 2018. The four members of Moaning Li ...

(ACT) *2017
Jones the Cat
(NSW) *2018
BODiE
- aka Mr. Sauce (NSW) *2019
Muka Vhatti
(WA)
Other notable bands which have competed in the Competition but didn't win the final for their respective year but have gone on to achieve national recording success include:

Frenzal Rhomb Frenzal Rhomb are an Australian punk rock band that formed in 1992 in Sydney. Three of the group's albums have entered the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart: '' A Man's Not a Camel'' (1999), '' Hi-Vis High Tea'' (2017) and ''Smoko at the P ...

george George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

Spiderbait Spiderbait is an Australian alternative rock band from Finley, New South Wales, formed in 1991 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram (musician), Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004 the group's cover version o ...

The Mavis's The Mavis's were an Australian rock band formed in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1987. Founding mainstays are Becky Thomas (a.k.a. Beki Thomas, Beki Colada) on vocals and keyboards, her brother Matt Thomas on guitar and vocals, and Andrea Vendy on drum ...

References

External links

AACA - National Band Competition webpage
{{Music of Australia

National Campus Band Comp The National Campus Music Competition (previously known as the National Campus Band Competition) is an annual Australian music competition specifically for tertiary students. The comp was created in 1990 by members of the volunteer organisation, ' ...