The Artists That Changed The Game In 2017: Tash Sultana

It’s been a strong year for Australian music, not only release-wise and in terms of international touring success stories, but also for artists choosing to speak out and use their influence to help inspire positive social change. Over the next few days, we'll be sharing the acts and people that changed the game in 2017. Yesterday we kicked things off with Melbourne's Camp Cope and today, we share just why Tash Sultana has risen to the top of the game.

All you need to do is look at Tash Sultana's tour dates and constant "Sold Out" updates to realise she is actually taking over the world as a solo entity. Speaking to The Music at the end of 2016, Sultana recalled her surprise upon waking up the day after uploading a series of live bedroom recordings to YouTube and noticing they'd gone viral overnight. "I woke up the next day and my page had notched up 10,000 followers and I was like, 'What the fuck happened?'... It was just from people sharing it all the time." Her live bedroom recording of Jungle racked up a million views within five days and now Sultana plays sold out shows the world over as well as big international festivals, even performing on Late Night With Seth Meyers in October, 2017.

Here at The Music, we pride ourselves on noticing outstanding talent quick-sticks and, as such, we featured Sultana on our In Focus cover waaaay back in 2015 when the young star had a residency at The Workers Club (just sayin'!). Sultana took out the 2016 Unearthed J Award, two of her songs made the 2016 Hottest 100 (Jungle #3, Notion #32) and it's been full steam ahead since then.

Those who first clapped eyes/ears on Sultana busking in the Melbourne CBD definitely feel a special connection to her and this constant jamming/rehearsing proved to be the perfect training ground. Fiercely independent, Sultana sold out some of her early shows with no promo and 2018 sees her booked for Lollapalooza and Bluesfest.

Sultana sure ain't an overnight success, however, having first picked up a guitar aged three. "My grandfather gave me a guitar and I've been playing it since," she shared in the aforementioned interview. And thanks to a fake ID, Sultana played her first gig at just 13 years of age. "I think it was at The Cornish Arms Hotel on Sydney Road," Sultana told us, before explaining the girl's license she was using as her fake ID didn't look anything like her. "I used to say that my stage name was Tash Sultana so they'd just let me in."

She's been active as a musician on Bandcamp since 2013 and Sultana described the type of music she plays during Busker Stories episode one (you can watch it on YouTube): "alternative roots, reggae, folk-ish - yeah! Maybe I'll just say alternative."   

We've been lucky enough to catch Sultana live loads of times over the years. Here's a segment of a review from her performance at The Lost Lands festival in Werribee: "She is a shining light of empowerment for all. Sultana somehow manages to make beatboxing through a pan flute sound good and even the bouncers are dancing."

Her latest single is called Mystik with all instrumental parts performed by this extraordinary artist who has already achieved so much just being her fucking wonderful self.

Sultana has gone to ground at the moment to work on her debut album and we can't wait to get our hands on it.