Julia Stone
Stone performing at the 2011 Southbound Festival in Busselton
Background information
Born (1984-04-13) 13 April 1984 (age 39)
Sydney, Australia
GenresFolk, acoustic
Occupation(s)Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, mandolin, piano, trumpet
Years active2005–present
LabelsEMI, Flock/PIAS, Nettwerk, Discograph
Websitejuliastonemusic.com

Julia Stone (born 13 April 1984) is an Australian folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She is the sister of Angus Stone, with whom she has collaborated in professional music, and is also a solo musician. Her debut solo album, The Memory Machine, was released in September 2010. Her second solo album, By the Horns, was released in May 2012, and peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Albums Chart.

Biography

Early life

Julia Stone was born on 13 April 1984 and grew up in Sydney. Her parents, Kim and John Stone, were both folk musicians.[1] Stone's older sister is Catherine (born ca. 1982) and her younger brother is Angus Stone (born 27 April 1986).[1] Stone attended Newport Primary School and Barrenjoey High School.[1] At primary school she joined the school band with her father teaching and her siblings accompanying.[2] At family gatherings when the children performed, Stone played trumpet, Catherine on saxophone and Angus on trombone with Kim singing and John on keyboard or guitar.[2]

2005–present: Julia and Angus

Main article: Angus & Julia Stone

After finishing secondary school and while on a holiday with her brother in South America, Stone was impressed by his musical talent, "[Angus] was writing amazing songs ... [he] had shown me how to play guitar in Bolivia, and those songs had gotten me through that year".[2] Subsequently, Stone started writing her own songs.[1][2] By 2005 Stone was playing at open mic nights, sometimes Angus performed backing vocals – their first such gig, at the Coogee Bay Hotel, they performed "Tears".[3] After playing split sets with each singing backing vocals to the other's material, in 2006, they started a duo, Angus & Julia Stone.[2] In March that year the pair recorded their debut extended play, Chocolates and Cigarettes, which was released in August.[2] Since then the group has released five EPs, a compilation album and four studio albums.

Angus & Julia Stone (Julia at left) performing at Falls Festival, Marion Bay, Tasmania, December 2007.

Angus & Julia Stone's second album, Down the Way (March 2010), debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified 3× platinum in 2011.[4][5] It was the highest-selling album by an Australian artist for 2010.[6][7] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 the duo won ARIA Album of the Year for Down the Way and ARIA Single of the Year for "Big Jet Plane".[8] The track, "Big Jet Plane", was voted at number-one position in the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2011 by the station's listeners.[9]

2010–present: Solo career

Despite reaching critical acclaim as a duo, Stone had initially embarked on her musical career to become a solo musician.[10] In September 2010, after five years of recording and touring with the duo, Stone released her debut solo album, The Memory Machine, which charted on the ARIA Albums Chart into the top 100.[11] It was well received by fans and critics. Poppy Reid of The Music Network found that "Julia uses clever vintage horror film posters painted by UK artist Caroline Pedler. The posters depict themes from each song; all of them of course, starring Julia as herself".[12]

In June 2011 she sang backing vocals on "Do You Realize" for The Flaming Lips and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at a sunrise concert at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.[13] In August that year Stone supported her collaborator, Doveman, at shows in California and New York.[14]

On 25 May 2012 Stone released her second solo album, By the Horns, simultaneously around the world,[10] which debuted at No. 11 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[4] Stone described writing the songs and temporarily parting with Angus, "[w]e had already been working on a new record together but it didn’t feel right ... I was thinking 'I'll make it now and we'll figure out what happens when it happens'".[15] "Then Angus and I were talking on the phone and he'd been working on more stuff on his own as well and we both just agreed – we were both in the same place, ready to put together a collection of our own songs". She worked on the album in California, France, Australia and India.[16]

Originally released in 2010, Julia's cover version of "You're the One That I Want" has been featured on UK and Irish TV channel, Sky's identification ad. The track entered the UK iTunes charts after airing on the commercial.[17]

In 2015, Stone was featured on Jarryd James' single, "Regardless" that peaked at number 48 in Australia in August.[18]

In February 2020, Stone released a cover version of "Beds Are Burning". The song is the lead single from the collaborative album Songs for Australia, released on 5 March 2020.[19]

In July 2020, it was confirmed that Stone had signed with BMG Australia[20] and on 31 October 2020, Stone announced that her third studio album, Sixty Summers, would be released on 30 April 2021.[21] EiC In November 2021, Stone announced the release of a Christmas album titled Everything Is Christmas.[22] In an accompanying statement, Stone said "Christmas music has always been such a beautiful and nostalgic part of my life. This is a record I've always wanted to make. It has been in me for so long."[22]

In March 2023 Stone featured on Peking Duk's Like a Version of Crowded House's single "Fall At Your Feet" with Dean Brady. The song reached number 64 on the Triple J Hottest 100 2023.[23]

Activism

In September 2012, she featured in a campaign, 30 Songs / 30 Days, to support Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book of the same title.[24]

Discography

Main article: Julia Stone discography

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".[25]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2011 Angus & Julia Stone (with Angus Stone) Songwriter of the Year[26] Won
"Big Jet Plane" (with Angus Stone) Song of the Year[26] Won
2015 "Get Home" (with Angus Stone) Blues & Roots Work of the Year[27] Nominated
"Heart Beats Slow" (with Angus Stone) Blues & Roots Work of the Year[27] Won
Song of the Year[28] Shortlisted
2018 "Snow" (with Angus Stone) Song of the Year[29] Shortlisted
2019 "Chateau" (with Angus Stone) Blues & Roots Work of the Year[30] Won

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2008 Angus Stone, Julia Stone and Josh Groom for "Just a Boy" by Angus and Julia Stone Best Video Nominated [31]
2021 Jessie Hill for Julia Stone – "Dance" Nominated [32]

EG Awards / Music Victoria Awards

The EG Awards (known as Music Victoria Awards since 2013) are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2012[33][34] Julia Stone Best Female Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b c d Murfett, Andrew (3 September 2010). "Stone Hearts Renewed". The Age. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Murfett, Andrew (16 October 2007). "Angus & Julia Stone". The Age. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  3. ^ Treuen, Jason (24 October 2007). "First and Last Times with Julia Stone". frankie. Morrison Media. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  4. ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "Discography Julia Stone". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Archived from the original on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  5. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  6. ^ "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 2010". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Angus & Julia Stone". discograph.com. Discograph. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  8. ^ "ARIA Awards 2010 : History: Winners by Year 2010: 24th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 9 November 2010.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Hottest 100 2010". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). 26 January 2011.
  10. ^ a b "Siblings Angus and Julia Stone reveal their solo singles". The Daily Telegraph. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  11. ^ "ARIA Report – 20th September 2010" (PDF). No. 1073. Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 20 September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  12. ^ Reid, Poppy (21 September 2010). "Album Review: Julia Stone, The Memory Machine". The Music Network. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  13. ^ "In Case You Missed It: Julia Stone with Flaming Lips and Edward Sharpe in LA". Nettwerk. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  14. ^ Payne, Jenny (13 April 2012). "Doveman". Columbia Spectator. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  15. ^ "New Noise: Julia Stone". Wonderland Magazine.
  16. ^ Chan, Su-Yin. "The Story". Original Matters. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  17. ^ "Julia Stone – You're The One That I Want". femalefirst.co.uk. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  18. ^ Williams, Tom (5 August 2015). "Jarryd James & Julia Stone Collab on Lush New Single 'Regardless'". Music Feeds. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  19. ^ "Julia Stone announces collaborative album with cover of Midnight Oil's "Beds Are Burning"". The Line of the Best Fit. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  20. ^ "Julia Stone Signs With BMG". noise11. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  21. ^ "Sixty Summers by Julia Stone". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  22. ^ a b "Julia Stone Is Releasing a Christmas Album Next Month". 22 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Peking Duk cover Crowded House 'Fall At Your Feet' for Like A Version". triple j. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  24. ^ "30 Songs / 30 Days for Half the Sky". Half the Sky Movement. Maro Chermayeff. 30 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  25. ^ "APRA Music Awards 2012". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  26. ^ a b "Winners for the 2011 APRA Music Awards Announced". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  27. ^ a b "Blues & Roots Work of the Year". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  28. ^ "APRA's Shortlist Of The Top Aussie Songs Of 2014 Is Hereng of the Year!". Music Feeds. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  29. ^ "Meet the contenders for the 2018 APRA Song Of The Year". The Industry Observer. January 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  30. ^ "2019 APRA Awards nominees announced". noise11. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  31. ^ ARIA Award previous winners. "Winners by Award – Artisan Awards – Best Video". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  32. ^ Kelly, Vivienne (20 October 2021). "ARIA Awards nominees revealed: Amy Shark & Genesis Owusu lead the charge". The Music Network. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  33. ^ "EG Awards 2012 Announce Nominations, Induct Weddings, Parties, Anything". Tone Deaf. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  34. ^ "The Temper Trap, Oh Mercy Win EG Awards". noise11. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
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