Amyl and the Sniffers & Alice Ivy Clean Up At the 2025 Air Awards
Other winners on the night included Royel Otis, Kasey Chambers and Gut Health.
Image Lucy Partington Photography
Amyl and the Sniffers and Alice Ivy were the big winners at this year’s 2025 Air Awards. Both acts took out three gongs each on a night celebrating everything great about Australian independent music.
Hosted by Dylan Lewis and Jessica Braithwaite, the 2025 Air Awards took over Adelaide Town Hall and featured performances from nominees Parvyn, Queenie, Alice Ivy, and Emily Wurramara.
Everyone’s favourite shit stirrers Amyl and the Sniffers took out the coveted Independent Album of the Year for Cartoon Darkness, along with scoring wins for Best Independent Rock Album or EP for Cartoon Darkness and Independent Song of the Year for ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’.
Not to be outdone, Alice Ivy also claimed three awards for Best Independent Dance/Electronica Album or EP and Independent Producer Team of the Year for Do What Makes You Happy, and Best Independent Dance/Electronica or Club Single with ‘Do I Need To Know What Love Is?’ feat. Josh Teskey.
Other winners on the night included Miss Kaninna, who won for Best Independent Hip Hop Album or EP for Kaninna and was also named this year’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year, The Amity Affliction who won Best Independent Heavy Album or EP for their album Let The Ocean Take Me (Redux) and Melbourne post-punkers Gut Heath who claimed the award for Best Independent Punk Album or EP with Stiletto.
This year’s 2025 Outstanding Achievement Award, sponsored by Merlin, went to the legendary David Bridie, who was recognised for his work with the Wantok Musik Foundation. Not only did Bridie take home an award, but he received a cool $5,000 prize money to be used for business and professional development.
The 2024 Air Awards also introduced a brand new industry award category – the Independent Mix, Studio or Mastering Engineer of the Year. Shining a light on Aussie-based engineers who worked on a single, EP or album, the inaugural winner was Nick Herrera, who was recognised for his work on Miss Kaninna’s Kaninna.
Check out the full list of winners below.
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“Congratulations to all the nominees and award recipients!” AIR CEO Maria Amato said in a statement. “It was a great night of celebration and recognition for our hard-working sector.. We thank all our sponsors and are especially grateful to the South Australian Government through the Music Development Office for their continued support.”
Minister for Arts, the Hon. Andrea Michaels, added, “The Malinauskas Government is proud to host the wonderful artists and music businesses that make up the independent music sector on their night of nights. We would like to congratulate tonight’s winners and nominees for excellence in their categories and look forward to seeing their continued success.”
For more details about the 2025 AIR Awards, visit air.org.au.
2025 AIR Award Winners
INDEPENDENT LABEL OF THE YEAR
ABC MUSIC
INDEPENDENT PUBLICITY TEAM OF THE YEAR
THINKING LOUD - ROYEL OTIS, PRATTS & PAIN
INDEPENDENT MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
NICK RAE, JORDAN RUYI BLANCH - 3%, WON’T STOP FEAT. JESSICA MAUBOY
INDEPENDENT MIX, STUDIO AND MASTERING ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
NICK HERRERA - MISS KANINNA, KANINNA
INDEPENDENT ALBUM OF THE YEAR
AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS - CARTOON DARKNESS
INDEPENDENT SONG OF THE YEAR
AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS - U SHOULD NOT BE DOING THAT
BEST INDEPENDENT SOUL/RNB ALBUM OR EP
ELLA THOMPSON - RIPPLE ON THE WING
BEST INDEPENDENT COUNTRY ALBUM OR EP
KASEY CHAMBERS - BACKBONE
BEST INDEPENDENT BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM OR EP
EMMA DONOVAN - TIL MY SONG IS DONE
BEST INDEPENDENT POP ALBUM OR EP
GOOD MORNING - GOOD MORNING SEVEN
BEST INDEPENDENT ROCK ALBUM OR EP
AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS - CARTOON DARKNESS
BEST INDEPENDENT CLASSICAL ALBUM OR EP
ELECTRIC FIELDS x MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - LIVE IN CONCERT
2025 OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - SPONSORED BY MERLIN
DAVID BRIDIE
INDEPENDENT MARKETING TEAM OF THE YEAR
OURNESS, THE ANNEX - ROYEL OTIS, PRATTS & PAIN
INDEPENDENT PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
ALICE IVY - DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY
BREAKTHROUGH INDEPENDENT ARTIST OF THE YEAR - PRESENTED BY PPCA
MISS KANINNA
BEST INDEPENDENT HIP HOP ALBUM OR EP
MISS KANINNA - KANINNA
BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE OR ELECTRONICA ALBUM OR EP
ALICE IVY - DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY
BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE, ELECTRONICA OR CLUB SINGLE
ALICE IVY - DO I NEED TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS? FEAT. JOSH TESKEY
BEST INDEPENDENT JAZZ ALBUM OR EP
PARVYN - MAUJUDA
BEST INDEPENDENT PUNK ALBUM OR EP
GUT HEALTH - STILETTO
BEST INDEPENDENT HEAVY ALBUM OR EP
THE AMITY AFFLICTION - LET THE OCEAN TAKE ME (REDUX)
BEST INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S ALBUM OR EP
TEENY TINY STEVIES - THE GREEN ALBUM
