Ninajirachi Leads the 2026 AIR Awards Race With 10 Nominations

Ninajirachi is in position to clean up at the 2026 AIR Awards, where she and her orbit of collaborators have landed 10 nominations, including the headline-grabbing independent album and single of the year categories.

The recognition lands after a very busy run for the electronic producer and DJ, who released her debut full-length I Love My Computer last year and has since moved through the international festival and awards circuit with unusual speed. Ninajirachi, whose real name is Nina Wilson, picked up three wins at the 2025 ARIA Awards, won the Australian Music Prize for album of the year, the J Awards, and the NSW Music Prize for breakthrough artist, and placed second in the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition for “iPod Touch.” She also ticked off a long-held live ambition by playing Coachella 2026, with another North American tour still to come.

That momentum now rolls into the AIR Awards, which will be handed out on Thursday, July 30 at Adelaide Town Hall as part of an invite-only industry event. For Ninajirachi, the nominations go beyond her own project. NLV Records, the label run by Nina Las Vegas and home to I Love My Computer, is also up for independent label of the year and will compete with ABC Music, Astral People Recordings, College Of Knowledge and Mushroom Music.

The wider field, announced on May 14, pulls in a cross-section of Australian independent music: Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers, Spacey Jane, Jem Cassar-Daley, Confidence Man, FISHER, John Butler, Keli Holiday and Stella Donnelly all appear among the nominees. The trophies will again be presented during the penultimate evening of AIR’s Indie-Con Australia Conference and A2IM’s Indie Week Australian Edition, held this year at Mercury Cinema and Nexus Arts from July 29 to 31.

“The South Australian Government is proud to support Indie-Con Australia and the AIR Awards,” arts minister Kyam Maher MLC said, “and to welcome nominees, industry leaders and delegates from across Australia and around the world to South Australia.”

This year’s nominations also reflect AIR’s newly sharpened approach to dance and electronic music. For the first time, the organisation has split its recognition into clearer categories: best independent dance/club single now covers club-oriented tracks, including house, techno, trance, drum & bass and garage, and requires a DJ service component, while best independent electronic single is reserved for releases not built primarily for the club. The old best independent dance or electronica album or EP category has also been retitled best independent electronic album or EP to match that split.

Below is the full list of nominees.

2026 AIR Awards nominees

Best Independent Blues And Roots Album Or EP
John Butler – Prism
Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would Be A Good Time
Liz Stringer – The Second High
Melbourne Ska Orchestra – The Ballad Of Monte Loco
Sons Of The East – Sons

Best Independent Jazz Album Or EP
Natalie Gauci – Pictures Of Mars
Phia – When I’m Holding You, I’m Holding Me
Temporary Blessings – Sumbisori
The Cat Empire – Bird In Paradise
Touch Sensitiive – In Paradise

Best Independent Classical Album Or Ep
Andrea Lam – Piano Diary
Australian String Quartet – Vanessa Perica, String Quartet No.1 No Feeling Is Final
Joseph Tawadros – The Forgotten Path To Humanity
Rose Riebl – Dust
William Barton, Omega Ensemble – Gift – Our Breath Of Life

Best Independent Children’s Album Or EP
Diver City – Weekend Baby
Emma Memma – Dance Island Party
Justine Clarke – Mimi’s Symphony
Teeny Tiny Stevies – Brain Fart
The Wiggles, The Tree Of Wisdom – The Tree Of Wisdom

Best Independent Country Album Or Ep
Emily Lubitz – Two Black Horses
Hayley Jensen – Country Soul
Imogen Clark – Choking On Fuel
Ruby Gill – Some Kind Of Control
Wade Forster – Gooseneck Party

Best Independent Soul/Rnb Album Or EP
Bumpy – Kanana
Cookin’ On 3 Burners – Cookin’ The Books
Don West – Give Me All Your Love
Felivand – My Body’s My True North
Wilsn – Bloom

Best Independent Pop Album Or EP
Georgia Knight – Beanpole
Montaigne – It’s Hard To Be A Fish
Stella Donnelly – Love And Fortune
The Tullamarines – Safety Blanket
Way Dynamic – Massive Shoe

Best Independent Rock Album Or EP
Playlunch – Sex Ed
Spacey Jane – If That Makes Sense
Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers – Glory
The Belair Lipbombs – Again
The Southern River Band – Easier Said Than Done

Independent Marketing Team Of The Year
Mushroom Music – Bliss N Eso, The Moon (The Light Side)
Nlv Records, The Orchard – Ninajirachi, I Love My Computer
Playlunch, Abc Music – Playlunch, Keith
Secretly Group – Folk Bitch Trio, Now Would Be A Good Time
The Annex – Ocean Alley, Love Balloon

Independent Music Video Of The Year
Ball Bass John – Ninajirachi, Fuck My Computer
Bridgette Winten, Folk Bitch Trio – Folk Bitch Trio, Cathode Ray
Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore – Miss Kaninna, Backstreets
Tas Wilson, James Adams – Jem Cassar-Daley, Kiss Me Like You’re Leaving
Jasper Van Daatselaar – Way Dynamic, People Settle Down

Independent Mix, Studio Or Mastering Engineer Of The Year
Becki Whitton, Timothy Harvey, Hannah Cameron – Ruby Gill, Some Kind Of Control
Leon Zervos – Ocean Alley, Love Balloon
Michael Carpenter – Imogen Clark, Choking On Fuel
Stephen Mowat – Wilsn, Bloom
Thomas Purcell Pka Wave Racer – Ninajirachi, I Love My Computer

Breakthrough Independent Artist Of The Year – Presented By PPCA
Folk Bitch Trio
Georgia Knight
Rageflower
Rona.
Yes Boone

Best Independent Hip Hop Album Or EP
Bliss N Eso – The Moon (The Light Side)
Devaura – Vol 1. Learning In Public
Elsy Wameyo – Wameyo
Jamaica Moana – Bud & Deni
Teether & Kuya Neil – Yearn Iv

Best Independent Electronic Album Or EP
Essendon Airport – Mor
Mel Blue – No More Jackets Please
Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
Rona. – It’s All Here (EP)
Shouse – Collective Ecstasy

Best Independent Dance/ Club Single
Confidence Man, Jade – Gossip
DJ Pgz And Yikes – Ouss Ouss
Fisher – Stay
Shouse – Sunrise
Vv Pete – Wassa Feat. Utility, Formation Boyz

Best Independent Electronic Single
Cosmo’s Midnight – 45
Keanu Nelson – Place Where I Go / Kapi Ngalyananni
Ninajirachi – Ipod Touch
Robert Baxter & Sweatbaby – Icy (Take It Off)
The Superjesus & The Journey – Something Good

Best Independent Punk Album Or EP
Press Club – To All The Ones I Love
Private Function – ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Radio Free Alice – Empty Words Ep
These New South Whales – Godspeed
Wet Kiss – Thus Spoke The Broken Chanteuse

Best Independent Heavy Album Or EP
Battlesnake – Dawn Of The Exultants And The Hunt For The Shepherd
Hands Like Houses – Atmospherics
Npcede – Npcede
The Maggie Pills – Hearts Induring Lingering Loss
Thornhill – Bodies

Independent Album Of The Year
Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would Be A Good Time
Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
The 046 – Legacy In Motion
The Belair Lipbombs – Again
Way Dynamic – Massive Shoe

Independent Song Of The Year
Jem Cassar-Daley – Kiss Me Like You’re Leaving
Keli Holiday – Dancing2
Ninajirachi – Ipod Touch
Playlunch – Keith
Way Dynamic – Miffed It

Independent Label Of The Year
ABC Music
Astral People Recordings
College Of Knowledge
Mushroom Music
NLV Records

Independent Publicity Team Of The Year
Cult Logic – Ocean Alley, Love Balloon
Mushroom Music – Bliss N Eso, The Moon (The Light Side)
Mushroom Music – Wilsn, Bloom
Twnty Three – Folk Bitch Trio, Now Would Be A Good Time
Twnty Three – Ninajirachi, I Love My Computer

Independent Producer Of The Year
Angus Stone – Dope Lemon, Golden Wolf
Benjamin Stewart – Slowly Slowly, Forgiving Spree
Dylan Young – Way Dynamic, Massive Shoe
Nick DiDia – Ocean Alley, Love Balloon
Nina Wilson – Ninajirachi, I Love My Computer