Guardian Australia is celebrating the past, present and future of the city’s music – and with your help, we’ll pick the best

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

When Guardian Australia asked its readers about the best of Brisbane music, the comments were flooded with some of the most celebrated and varied artists in the country.

From the Go-Betweens and the Saints to Regurgitator and Powderfinger; from Kev Carmody and Katie Noonan to Savage Garden and the Grates. When it comes to music, Brisbane clearly punches above its weight.

And Guardian Australia is celebrating the city with a new content series and poll: Songs of Brisbane.

From Tuesday, we’re asking our readers to nominate and vote for their favourite Brisbane song – either a song about the city itself, or by a band that originated or is based there.

With your help, we’ll determine the best Brisbane songs of all time, through an interactive poll you can wrap your ears around – and bicker with your friends about.

Quick guide What is #SongsofBNE? Show Hide Songs of Brisbane. Please explain? Through September, Guardian Australia is spotlighting Brisbane's groundbreaking music scene – its legacy, its present and its future – and asking our readers to decide: what are the best Brisbane songs of all time? Why Brisbane? Why not MY city? When it comes to music, Brisbane has always punched above its weight – from Kev Carmody and the Go-Betweens and the Saints, to Regurgitator, Katie Noonan, DZ Deathrays and beyond. Each year the country's biggest music conference BigSound descends on the city, and this year Guardian Australia has partnered with them and community station 4ZZZ to launch Songs of Brisbane with a bang. Don't worry - if it goes well, we might roll it out to other cities too ... What counts as a Brisbane song? You can nominate any song by a band that originated or is based in Brisbane – or any song written explicitly about the city. But how you choose to vote is up to you. Maybe it's a nostalgia thing, a song that makes you think about a certain time. Maybe it's that the way it sounds somehow encapsulates the beat of the city itself. Or maybe it's just a killer tune. How do I vote? Head over to our Songs of Brisbane page to scroll through the list of nominated songs and vote for your favourite. You can vote once per device, so please use your vote wisely! Once you've voted, you'll be able to see who is winning the poll – and you'll get the option to tweet about the song you voted for, using the #SongsofBNE hashtag. If your favourite song isn't there, you can nominate it yourself by filling out the form on the poll page.

How do I campaign for my favourite song? If you’re voting for a track which does not have a “picked by” blurb with it, and you’d really like to tell us why this is a great tune that should win, please email us at songsofbrisbane@theguardian.com

When will you announce the winner? Nominations close on 14 September. Voting ends at midnight on 18 September and the winner will be announced shortly afterwards – along with a playlist that soundtracks the city.



“Music is part of the fabric of Brisbane,” says Guardian Australia’s editor, Lenore Taylor. “For me, growing up in Brisbane, it was bands at Cloudland and Festival Hall, and clubs in the Valley; for others, it will be something completely different. But nothing takes you to a place and a time like music.”

On Tuesday morning, the Guardian Australia music critic Andrew Stafford is taking over the 4ZZZ airwaves with announcer and musician Branko Cosic for two hours dedicated to Brisbane music. Listeners will call in to nominate their favourite songs, which will be added to the ever-evolving poll.

“What I love most about Brisbane is that it’s unafraid to be itself,” writes Stafford, who literally wrote the book about Brisbane’s music scene, Pig City. “There’s no confected competition or rivalry with Sydney or Melbourne to be had.

“The music made here was always too variable to be reduced to a ‘Brisbane sound’, but the best of it is unafraid to be itself too, and that’s the stuff that travels and endures.”

On Tuesday afternoon, at Australia’s music conference BigSound, Screamfeeder, Emily Wurramara, Total Pace and Austen will nominate their favourite Brisbane songs before they play a cover of them.

In the coming weeks you’ll see spotlights on the past, present and future of music in Brisbane, and hear from local music lovers including Megan Washington, the Go-Betweens’ Lindy Morrison, Regurgitator, Krissy Kneen, Benjamin Law, Anita Heiss and Nick Earls.

To vote, head over to our Songs of Brisbane page to scroll through the list of songs already nominated and vote for your favourite. You can vote once on any device, so use your vote wisely!

Once you’ve voted, you’ll be able to see who is winning the poll – and you’ll get the option to tweet about your favourite song using the #SongsofBNE hashtag.

If your pick of Brisbane isn’t there, you can nominate it yourself by filling out the form on the poll page.

Nominations for the poll will close on 14 September. Voting ends at midnight on 18 September, and the winner – alongside the ultimate Brisbane playlist – will be unveiled shortly afterwards.

There’s no prize for this: just the bragging rights and the knowledge you helped shape the sound of a city.