These award-winning musicians and best friends are taking the world by storm with their infectious electro-pop sound. Their vibrant music and art celebrate joy and inclusivity, making them inspiring role models for our next generation.
You might have seen them as special guests on Play School or featuring in our very own Embrace Kids film. They’re fierce advocates for embracing your differences and dancing to the beat of your own drum, and we love everything they’re about!
Zaachariaha and Michael’s stories
Representing Australia at Eurovision 2024, Electric Fields made history as the first act to perform a song featuring an Australian Aboriginal language, showcasing their rich cultural heritage. But that’s not all — Zaachariaha is also an acclaimed visual artist, recently winning the prestigious Wynne Prize for landscape painting at the 2023 Archibald Prize. His work often focuses on themes of identity, culture, and inclusivity.
“I am Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, so I speak Yankunytjatjara language. I’m from Central Deserts in Australia. My community is called Mimili. I had to leave my community at a very young age and then that’s when I first got to experience living in two different worlds, the way it was Anangu, where nature dominated most of my existence and then I came into the big smoke,” Zaachariaha says.
The contrast between these different locations has given Zaachariaha a deep understanding of his own identity and what he treasures.
“Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara people, they live very simplistically. It’s not so confusing psychologically like it is in the western world cos there’s too much noise and there’s too much activity going and there’s distraction as well. So, after I’ve done my work here in the city, I look forward to going back to my community and just be in a simplistic way of thinking and you feel the relationship stronger with nature. And I feel grateful for that,” he explains.
While Michael’s upbringing looks very different on paper, there are lots of common themes in the challenges that these two creative partners faced while growing up and embracing their own uniqueness.
“For me, I was brought up in a very poor suburb in Brisbane. I loved roller-skating and I loved gymnastics, and I loved playing with dolls. I think a lot of people definitely didn’t understand it. They weren’t like me so … they thought something was wrong with me. And they went out of their way to tell me,” Michael says.
“The things that I got bullied for — being femme as a guy and being really creative — were the things later in life I’ve been able to use to write and perform amazing songs all over Australia and all over the world. And I’m very proud of myself for that,” he adds.
“What I realised working with Zaachariaha — as I’ve grown up and become wiser and enjoying life — is that we’re all extremely different, but we are way more similar than we are different. That’s how we connect. That’s why we connect.
“When we work together with music, we’re being totally ourselves, but we all do it in our own individual ways. That’s why you have to be yourself, because we can’t have one thing everywhere,” Michael says.
Electric Fields inspire people of all generations to celebrate their differences and squeeze the most out of life. They are passionate about teaching the younger generation this invaluable lesson: embrace your uniqueness!
“Enjoy that. You have to be yourself, because we can’t have one thing everywhere. We need variety to make the world go around! You are okay as you are. Don’t worry. Just dance!”
“Don’t look at it on a screen — actually go out into the world. Go skydiving, go bushwalking. Life is about going out there and being an adventurer,” Michael says.
“Yeah, live it. Smell it!” Zaachariaha adds.
Their joy is contagious, and we love Electric Fields for spreading the love with their incredible music and these important messages.
For more on these superstars, head to www.electricfieldsmusic.com.au