From a Mid Coast footy oval to the Eyre Peninsula, Daybed Records is building a sick live music scene outside Adelaide’s CBD – and they’re not the only ones.
In 2020, Mid Coast local Jack Stokes was in a band called STORK, trying to navigate the business side of music with no real idea how any of it worked.
The solution, for a while, was a fake manager named Graham Hotdog. But what Jack actually wanted was bigger than that – a platform that could house and promote music without it all having to come from him personally. He brought in good friend Tom Redden, and the project took on a life of its own.
That project is now Daybed Records. Motto: “Music, the arts, or anything worth doing.”
In 2026, it’s one of four recipients of a Robert Stigwood Industry Fellowship. Run by the SA Government’s Music Development Office, the program gives emerging SA music industry entrepreneurs funding, plus 12 months of mentorship to develop their business. There’s a parallel Artist Fellowship for SA musicians, and this year Daybed’s own band Kurralta Park is one of those recipients too.
Bringing it back to the Mid Coast
Daybed is based on the Mid Coast – Moana, Port Noarlunga, about 30km south of the CBD – and the geography matters. The area had a thriving pub scene in the ‘90s, the kind of place where bands would play a city show and then roll south for a second gig at the Port Noarlunga pub. Then the pokies arrived and hollowed it out.
“All those people still live here,” Tom says. “They’ve had kids and they’re introducing them to albums. A lot of the people that come to our gigs now are bringing their kids, watching the bands they grew up with.”
Reviving that is essentially what Daybed was created for.
What they actually do for bands
The label has a small, local roster – Jack’s own band Ethanol Blend, plus Kurralta Park, The 745, STELLAR, and Outback Cadillac – and supports them across the whole process: recording, releasing, booking gigs, and answering the questions nobody teaches you.
“How do you administer your stuff so you get publishing royalties? How do you message another band to ask to play with them?” Jack says. “If you’re going to make your own show, how do you sell tickets? If you want to sell merch, how do you set up Square payments? It’s a pretty daunting task.”
Both are still working day jobs around Daybed – Jack doing disability support, Tom in events. The label doesn’t pay the bills yet. But then, that was never really the point.
Nice Day To Go To The Club
Daybed’s flagship event started with a phone call. Tom’s mate Shane, who grew up with AFL and radio personality Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald, caught wind of the smaller shows they were putting on and passed on Tom’s number. Fitzy rang with a proposal: a festival at Port Noarlunga footy club, home of the Cockledivers.
“It was bizarrely simple,” Tom says. “And then also bizarrely complex – because we’d never organised a festival.”
“You should see the spreadsheet from our first festival,” he adds. “It’s horrible.”
That inaugural event drew 1500 people. By 2026 – its fourth year – Nice Day To Go To The Club had grown to 2500-plus, headlined by Rolling Blackouts CF, The Bronx, Lambrini Girls and local bands across two stages. Tickets stay under $100. It’s all-ages. Kids under 12 get in free.
It’s not just the ticket price that makes it accessible. The programming – old guard and new blood on the same bill – means the crowd ends up the same way: dads who grew up on this music standing next to the teenagers who just found it.
“It feels like some barriers have been broken,” Tom says. “Young people hanging out with their parents. No one’s too cool.”
From Port Noarlunga to the Eyre Peninsula
Last December, they took the model to the Eyre Peninsula with Live in Lincoln – a one-day event at Port Lincoln’s Centenary Oval featuring Bad//Dreems, Magic Dirt and Gyroscope alongside local acts, and a short doco to go with it. A second edition is already in the works.
Next up closer to home: regular shows at the Port Noarlunga Arts Centre and the Port Noarlunga Bowling Club – gigs with a game of bowls thrown in.
In 2026, Jack and Tom’s plan is to do more of everything: more events, more releases, more content – including reviving their video and podcast arm, Daybed Drive.
“This year it feels like we’re leaping into not just more events, but a lot more legitimate releasing of artists’ work,” Tom says. “We just really want to make sure we can service the music the best we can.”
SA’s music scene, behind the scenes
Daybed aren’t the only ones doing the unseen work. The Robert Stigwood Fellowship – named after Port Pirie-born entertainment mogul Robert Stigwood, the man who managed the Bee Gees, produced Saturday Night Fever and Grease, and became one of the most powerful figures in global entertainment – has been backing SA music talent for years, through both the Artist Fellowship for SA musicians and the Industry Fellowship for music industry entrepreneurs.
The Robert Stigwood Fellowship brings funding and a year of mentorship led by Wonderlick Entertainment’s Stu MacQueen and Dan Crannitch – the team behind Amy Shark, DMA’s and The Paper Kites.
Past industry fellows include Sharni Honor, the force behind Porch Records, Summertown Studio and Porch & Recreation, and industry legend Nick O’Connor of Northern Sound System and Carclew.
In 2026, four music industry fellows are being recognised for building the infrastructure around SA’s artists – the spaces, platforms and communities that make the scene possible. Each is doing something different, but all of it aimed at the same thing: making it possible for the people actually in it.
Band Banta: Music discovery for the people actually at the gigs
Band Banta is the Adelaide-born platform turning late-night “you HAVE to hear this band” energy into actual content – interviews, reviews and video across Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, all of it sounding like real people talking rather than press releases. They’re at the gigs, in the group chats, and then online making the local scene feel exciting and accessible to anyone who wants in. For emerging artists, getting picked up by Band Banta means you’re starting to cut through.
Runt! Records: Because the same five guys shouldn’t get every support slot
Founded by Bella Veith and Lilith Malloy, Runt! Records throws shows and mini-fests – including the Bullet Bra festival with collective GLOSS – supporting female and gender non-conforming performers, photographers and techs. It’s not just about representation on a poster; it’s about building rooms where people feel safe showing up. If you’ve ever counted the women on a lineup and given up, Runt! is doing something about it.
caps lock records – music you can hold
Louis Campbell and Thea Martin’s DIY label, caps lock, is for people who still want to own music, not just stream it. Small runs, hand-assembled releases, shows in bookstores and intimate venues – each one a considered snapshot of Adelaide’s current moment. Their compilation Sitting in the Same Chairs grew from handmade CDs into a vinyl release, and this year saw the release of Volume II. It’s the part of the scene that algorithms will never find: the in-between moments, the artists you only hear about because someone shoves a record into your hands.
Applications for the next Robert Stigwood Fellowship Program open in late 2026. For more information on the program and application process, click here.
