Naretha Williams

After hours, the room hosts one-off sessions, talks, and listening parties from RISING artists who you wouldn’t usually get to see up close. The lineup has been curated by Yasmine Sharaf host of Cease + Desist on Triple R and Robin Fox, co-founder and artistic director of MESS.

Naretha produces deep, layered electronic music utilising synths, vocals, percussion and atmospheric sound beds to create high voltage, visceral tracks.

A First Nations Wiradjuri woman of mixed lineage, born and based in Birrarung-ga/Naarm Melbourne on the Sovereign Lands of the Kulin Nation, Victoria AUS. Naretha works across contemporary music, composition and sound design with a professional creative career spanning 20 years.

Following the success of a major music commission in 2019 entitled BLAK MASS for the Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ, Naretha Williams has continued to evolve to find a firm footing in Australia’s musical landscape.

Naretha Williams is the 2019 winner of the Music Victoria Award for Best Experimental or Avant-garde Act, and released BLAK MASS on Heavy Machinery Records in 2020. She is also featured on Cling Clang: Compositions for Computer-Controlled Bells and Australian Electronics on the same label in 2017.

She is the Co-Founder and Director of record label Groundstar Music, launching in 2023 with her new album Into Dusk We Fall.

Known for her intense, ritualistic performances, Naretha has played major stages such as the Sydney Myer Music Bowl and the Melbourne Town Hall, as well as intimate shows at experimental institution Make It Up Club, studio sets at MESS and curated art programs for Yirramboi and SWELL.