The Colliflowers When Alex Pereira met The Colliflowers frontman Gary Collocott in primary school, they shared only the same school house colour and an acquaintance Facebook friendship. Fast forward to 2021 when Gary put a call out on Facebook to start a musical project, and Alex took the bait.
"I messaged him on Facebook and we just got chatting again. I told him I had some mates from Southern Cross Uni that would be great for this sort of project," said Alex.
A four-person Indie Rock band, The Colliflowers consists of Gary Collocott as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, and Southern Cross University Contemporary Music graduates Rachael Goddard (drums and backing vocals), Nelson Ludeke (guitar), and Alex Pereira (bass and backing vocals).
The band debuted at the Byron Beach Hotel and has been playing your go-to dancefloor songs across the east coast ever since.
"When we're on stage it's just like we're a bunch of mates on stage enjoying themselves," said Rachael.
The band members recently recorded their latest single, 'Nighttime Whispers', in D Block at Southern Cross University, and raved about their experience with the music degree.
"The course is kind of designed at a parallel to the industry and what you'll actually be doing. Whether it's performing, theory, songwriting, it just mirrors the profession quite closely," said Nelson.
"Within the degree, there was this one particular class where you would do a one-on-one with your tutor, and I've improved so much just from those sessions," said Rachael.
"There was also a space set out as if you were in a concert space, so you get a stage and you're performing to a group of people. It gives the sense of what it's like to be playing in an actual gig.
"When people ask me what did I study, I am so proud to say that I have studied this degree because I can see where it's taken me."
According to Alex, Southern Cross University provided him with opportunities to network and build connections in the music industry. His advice: "Just dive deep into it and talk to everyone, because you never know what opportunities will come up from that little bit of networking."
"Our guitarist, Nelson, was just a random guy I met when I started university, and now we're playing at festivals."
