Castlemaine Secondary College celebrated this morning after 16-year-old KIAN was named the 2018 Triple J Unearthed High winner.
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Triple j Breakfast hosts Ben & Liam snuck into the school disguised as firefighters responding to an alarm to surprise KIAN with the news.
KIAN was picked as the winner from five finalists including Bendigo musician yergurl and Burnout, Nancie Schipper and The Kid Laroi.
The teenage musician has already won over fans with his Baker Boy Cloud 9 collaboration and his latest track Waiting.
KIAN joins past winners of Unearthed High including the Macedon region’s Stonefield as well as Arno Faraji, Gretta Ray, Japanese Wallpaper and Mosquito Coast
“It's a near impossible task to separate the five finalists in 2018’s Unearthed High, all of whom would make worthy recipients of the crown,” triple j Unearthed Music Director Dave Ruby Howe said.
“In the end though, KIAN stood out the strongest this year, emerging as one of the most promising voices in the country – high school aged and otherwise. It feels like just the beginning of this young artist's story.”
KIAN will now be flown to triple j to record, mix or master his music, which will be played on triple j and triple j Unearthed. He will also work with a musical mentor on his tracks.
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