You Am I Honoured With Australian Music Vault Showcase

The Australian Music Vault is celebrating ARIA Hall of Fame inductees You Am I with a new display featuring iconic posters and archival ephemera.

The display includes an original media release and newspaper clipping from the Australian rock and pop newspaper Juke Magazine from the ’90s, alongside a suite of contemporary photographs by Melbourne-based photographer Laura May Grogan.

You Am I is beloved in the Australian music scene for their raw energy, sharp songwriting and distinctly Australian voice. Admired for their authenticity, their music continues to resonate across generations, cementing their place as one of Australia’s most influential rock bands.

Curator Olivia Jackson said the Australian Music Vault was proud to welcome You Am I to its exhibition with a special display celebrating their induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

“One of my earliest musical memories is watching the band perform live on Recovery on a Saturday morning in the late 1990s – I was only eight, but seeing Tim Rogers sing ‘Heavy Heart’ made me feel as though I truly understood heartbreak. That is the beauty of You Am I’s music: their songs tell personal stories in a way that feels universal and deeply relatable. Many listeners have shared similar experiences with the band, whose remarkable career spans more than 30 years and 11 studio albums,” Jackson said.

Formed in Sydney in the late ’80s, with Tim Rogers at the mic alongside bandmates Andy Kent, David Lane and Rusty Hopkinson, You Am I captured the zeitgeist. As triple j and Big Day Out went national, their hooky, indie rock sound was medicine for young music fans.

Rogers said the band was fortunate to have been given chances and opportunities which he hoped they had passed around too.

“Most of them have come from within a music community. Never necessarily a music style, or a scene, just folks who need this music and are compelled, fanatically to share it around. No matter where you exist on the totem pole of the music industry, that community will always be there. This year, last year, ten years ago, 30 damn years ago it was the same. Thank you to the music community for giving us chances. Despite our rough and worn visage, we’re extremely grateful,” he said.

The new display is open to the public in the Australian Music Vault within Arts Centre Melbourne’s Theatres Building. The Australian Music Vault is a free exhibition developed by Arts Centre Melbourne in collaboration with the music industry and was a key initiative of the Victorian Government’s Music Works strategy. The exhibition is a celebration of the Australian contemporary music story – past, present and future.

The indie rock legends will be inducted during the 2025 ARIA Awards tonight (Wednesday, November 19th) at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.