Our Team of Artists

Robbie is an innovative Australian drummer and sound artist with an international reputation for bold, sonic exploration. Robbie has been at the forefront of the Australian experimental music scene both as a performer and a curator for over 30 years. In 2018, Avenaim undertook a radical reorientation of his practice, founding Safe in Sound (SIS) and pioneering inclusive experimental music. SIS has delivered over 100 in-home concerts and workshops for families living with disability, mentored 50+ emerging musicians with disability into professional practice, and curated Australia’s first festivals dedicated to disabled experimental artists (2023, 2024, with a 2025 edition in partnership with Liquid Architecture and Next Wave).

Jim is a world-renowned flutist and saxophone player and is regarded as among Australia’s foremost improvisers, with musical activity spanning four decades. His emphasis on spontaneity, site-specific work and collaboration has been central to his work. His 2006 and 2008 recordings from the Budawang Mountains for the ABC received an Honorary Prize in the Prix Ars Electronica. In 2006 and 2007 he received a Music Fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts to research and develop his concept of ‘meta-instrument’.

Laura is a renowned clarinettist, improviser and composer. Laura has a playful approach to music-making, often using tapes, feedback, objects, her voice and various other instruments to extend her sonic palette. Laura also tutors in improvisation at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has extensive experience working in early-childhood music education with organisation Bluebell Music.

Annika Moses is an exciting, emerging sound artist in text-based composition, radiophonic works, community radio and transmission arts, vocal improvisation, immersive theatre and installation, experimental pop and field recording. Annika recently completed a Bachelor of Music: Honours, majoring in Composition & Music Technology at WAAPA. Her work has premiered and exhibited in festivals including Totally Huge New Music Festival, Fairbridge Festival, Audible Edge, FRINGEWORLD, WAMfest and Sound Spectrum, with installation works at Cullity Gallery and Mundaring Arts Centre. Annika is a core member of the Perth exploratory music label Tonelist.

Allanah Stewart is an artist from NZ, currently based in Naarm/Melbourne.

Originally a classical guitarist and an oil painter, she trained as an arts therapist and has been involved in community radio for 15 years.

Since moving to Melbourne, her attention has shifted to more abstract ways of creating, regularly collaborating with Jen Callaway, Dale Gorfinkel and Clinton Green. She works with wire, clay, rubber, fabric, vibes and percussion to capture sound worlds.

www.tapeways.com

Fred Leone is a respected Butchulla Songman of Aboriginal, Tongan, and South Sea Islander heritage. A cultural custodian and musical innovator, he is one of a handful entrusted with preserving and performing Butchulla language and song. His debut solo project, Yirinda (2024), received critical acclaim and debuted on the ARIA Charts and NPR. He is a Sidney Myer Creative Fellow, NAIDOC Brisbane Music Award recipient, and founder of Impossible Odds Records, Queensland’s first Indigenous internationally distributed record label. His career also includes roles as Indigenous Arts Development Manager at QPAC, Head of Indigenous Languages at the State Library of QLD, and curator of major national events. Fred currently serves on the Music Australia Board and continues to shape Australia’s cultural landscape with integrity and innovation.

https://www.facebook.com/TheFredLeone/

Angus Leslie is a composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and frontman and leader of Melbourne eccentric funk band Sex on Toast. Sex on Toast’s 2015 single ‘Oh Loretta’ has seen over 15 million streams and was a viral music video sensation starring Australian music television icon Molly Meldrum. He has recorded, worked and played with members of Secret Chiefs 3, The Sports, You Am I, Mr. Bungle and recently toured Australia and Japan as a sideman for eccentric rock icon Todd Rundgren.

Carolyn is regarded as one of Australia’s most important experimental vocalists who creates new works in the fields of contemporary music and theatre. Carolyn was awarded the 2015 Age Melbourne Music Award for Avant-garde and Experimental music. Her solo vocal works have been presented by international and national festivals, the Melbourne Recital Centre, Sydney Festival, Dark MOFO, The Ian Potter Museum, and Gertrude Contemporary.

Karina Utomo is an extreme metal vocalist, composer and collaborative artist. She is the co-founder of musical projects Rinuwat, KILAT, and High Tension. Her interdisciplinary vocal practice transcends various genres of extreme metal, experimental, extra-normal and cross-cultural practices. Karina has collaborated extensively across industrial, avant-garde improvisation, grindcore, and black metal genres in performance and recordings, as well as in visual art in the medium of video, sculpture and research.

Alon Ilsar is an Australian drummer, composer, sound designer and instrument designer. He is co-designer of a new interface for electronic percussionists called the AirSticks. Alon has completed a PhD in instrument design through the University of Technology, Sydney’s Creativity and Cognition Studios, under the supervision of Andrew Johnston. In 2016, he completed a one-year artist residency at Brooklyn College’s PIMA in New York, working on new collaborations with musicians, visual artists and dancers.

Brendan Walls is an interdisciplinary artist, experimental composer and performer. His work utilises a variety of handmade instruments and sound-producing sculptural objects, considering the psycho-acoustic properties of performance and gallery spaces, physical and technological limitations, failing systems and collapse. With a career spanning more than 20 years, Walls has performed extensively in Australia and overseas. He has been included in international symposiums, publications and biennales concerning experimental and improvisational practice and debate, showcasing in 21:100:100 — One Hundred Sound Works by One Hundred Artists from the 21st Century (Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne / Long Gallery, Hobart).