From start to finish, Chey brings a sense of vulnerability to his performances inviting the crowd to a raw and exclusive version of himself. After releasing the charting single ‘wait 4 u’ debuting at number 4 on the Triple J Unearthed pop charts.

Chey started producing music at 16 in Albany, Western Australia. Working on a collection of 10 songs to be released for no particular reason besides the fact that he enjoyed making music - all produced, mixed and written by himself. It was from there that he released the project on Bandcamp which gained the attention of an A&R based in Melbourne for Calibre Management. Chey's love for music and songwriting grew into a the foundations of a career, which led to the big move from Albany to Melbourne.

After moving to Melbourne, Chey kickstarted his career by producing 'wait 4 u', once again entirely in his bedroom (mainly due to COVID lockdowns). This gained traction and debuted at number 4 on Triple J's Unearthed Pop Charts and number 8 on the overall Unearthed charts. He began interning at Marshall Street Studios and the internet blog AU$, where he gained music business insights for his own upcoming releases.

In 2021, Chey put focus on working for other musicians in production, design and songwriting. He recalls meeting the members of Spacey Jane and Ghost Care and them telling him about the importance of collaborating with other artists.

Now in 2023, Chey has been named a 'runner-up' award winner for APRA AMCOS & A Little Bridge studio residency, has had one sold out Western Australia tour, been named as one of Breaking Sound's 'ones to watch' upcoming artist (with shows at The Night Cat in Melbourne and The Oxford Art Factory in Sydney), worked as a booking agent for acts like Mia June, Spacedive, Will Baker and many more; with plans to only keep going.

Growing up in Albany, Western Australia, accessibility to the arts was limited. It was a matter of being involved with your local arts centre and/or driving five hours north to Perth, which financially isn't feasible. It wasn't until early 2010s that I discovered Youtube which is where I taught myself how to play guitar and later produce my own music. I then released a collection of songs on Bandcamp which caught the eye of an A&R from Calibre Management in Melbourne. It was here that I gained some motivation to work as a songwriter, it was a feeling of; 'oh wow, someone from across the country has shown interest in what I do'. That in itself, was enough for me to jump on board in the industry.

From writing demos with artists, to releasing my own productions, I decided to work freelance as a songwriter and engineer in Albany at 18. I was producing visual and audio content for The City of Albany, producing demos for local artists and getting involved with local art festivals just to see where I feel my most confident career wise in the industry. My efforts were starting to be recognised and it was here that I was nominated for ACCI's 'Young Business Person of the Year' and 'Best startup consisting of 1-4 employees'

At this point, Calibre Management had offered to get me in to the studio with a few artists in Melbourne which was an opportunity I took immediately. I fell in love with Melbourne and the arts community, and after returning to Albany I knew I had to come back.

My Dad grew up in 1970s England and would always recount the hardship he would encounter for reading and writing poetry, majority of the time he would keep it a secret; I'm certain he's the reason I grew up loving the art of writing. He had always wanted myself to invest in a career where there wasn't a ceiling in my creativity, like writing. He never forced for me to be a writer, it was just a coincidence that we both share that interest. This isn't a case of growing up with your career sought out by your parents like unfortunately some kids face - this is a case of your parents wanting you to find a career that doesn't ever put your creative perspective on hiatus.

It's an unfortunate truth that there's still regions in Australia that follow a similar ideology that my Dad encountered growing up, and not everyone's going to push through, especially when there isn't a role model to follow.

My aim is to get the ball rolling in accessibility to songwriting in remote Australia. This includes making free or low-cost workshops for youth and adults, funding regional music projects that increases remote tourism (i.e a songwriting camp based in regional Victoria). I've already started this by inviting artists to free songwriting camps I've organised in Victoria when they fly in from interstate. We all write together for a period of three days, go to a local brewery, check out the natural landscape and leave with an urge to come back. This benefits not only us as artists in a creative aspect but also the local community economically.

Songwriting is an art form that creates countless careers for people to profit from, but can also be very dynamic in its benefits. It's important to understand that, and as a songwriter myself; a career I would like to put into play is making it more accessible on a national level for remote communities.

Touring and working a full time job is a balance that every musician struggles to accommodate for. Not only from a time perspective, but it's an indefinite financial hiatus of trying to define your craft as a songwriter/producer and perfect it while keeping afloat with bills and rent. APRA's Professional Development Award lets me put focus on song structure, writing and polishing my production skills for future releases - not only for myself, but for other Australian artists.

A huge aim for myself is to be apart is to support the music community but giving back. Originally coming from Western Australia, I pride myself on bringing artists from that region and remote areas to Victoria to play, do songwriting camps and be involved with one of Australia's primary entertainment states all on an affordable budget.

Being given the opportunity via the funding this award provides; to learn more, i.e taking business management classes, audio-visual workshops, allows me to give back to other people in those areas for an affordable price and expand knowledge in places that may struggle with accessing those workshops. As someone who was born in Port Hedland, WA and grew up in Albany, WA - I've seen examples of the struggle of access, I can give back in regional Australia by providing accessible education that I myself have learnt from this funding.