It’s the kind of story that every young band dreams of – a small-stage victory that could change everything.
For Melbourne’s Sundreamer, that dream is fast becoming a reality. After recently winning The Bergy Bandroom’s Battle of the Bands, the four-piece not only walked away with a sizable prize, but also with the kind of confidence and fresh energy that has the power to launch an emerging band into the spotlight.
Catching up with Sundreamer a few weeks after their win, it’s clear they’re still buzzing. The band consists of bassist Camelia Rose, lead vocalist Eden Sofarnos, guitarist Jarrah Sofarnos and drummer Cameron Harris, all hailing from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
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“Jarrah and I started this back in 2020, as kind of a COVID project… We set up a little home studio and recorded our first EP, just the two of us at the time. Then we thought, ‘Well it’s only two of us and we can’t really play live with just the two of us,’” Eden explains. Through mutual friends, Camelia and Cam eventually joined and the chemistry was instant.
2025 marked the Bergy’s Battle of the Bands second year, kicking off in May with 25 emerging acts. Heats were held monthly, with winners progressing through to the grand final on 15 October.
“Cam was the one who found out about it, and initially I was very skeptical,” Jarrah shares. “I’ve played quite a lot of Battle of the Bands in the past, and some of them have been money-making schemes where the organisers look to extort young musicians. But this one was really different. This was a really well-organised event. Cam was really keen and thought we should give it a go so we said yes. We really didn’t have high expectations, especially being a metal band.”
Not only were they the only metal band in both their heat and the grand final, but they also played the earliest slot of the night, while the sun was still up. “It was a really weird situation for a metal band to be playing in,” Camelia laughs.
But early time-slot aside, Sundreamer came out on top. Their prize included cash, a full day at The Aviary Recording Studio with engineer Zachary Camm, $500 worth of on-air advertising and a performance slot at the 2026 Sydney Road Festival.
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“It’s a huge opportunity for us,” says Eden. “As musicians in Australia, we don’t make anywhere near enough money from what we do to support or pursue these opportunities. Recording, shooting a music video, promoting our music… The winnings from this help enormously.”
For an emerging band, financial support is one thing, but getting people to pay attention is another entirely, especially in the modern metal scene.
“You take the amount of people who want to go see local bands and then you really divide it down by who wants to go see metal bands locally. There’s a lot of work to try and get people to come out,” Camelia says.
“I feel like the metal scene is dominated by really masc men and we’ve put a lot of effort into trying to get our friends who we would want to come along. I want to be putting on a gig where I would feel safe as a queer person. We get a lot of queer fans who really appreciate what we do, and lots of women which can be unusual for the metal scene.”
In 2024, Sundreamer released their debut album, Flower and Bloom, an entirely self-produced effort funded out of pocket and recorded around day jobs and life commitments. The result was a polished and powerful record that could easily rival label-backed releases.
“It was our first record as a full band,” explains Jarrah, “We knew it was going to be a really different process to anything Eden and I had done before, since there was more people involved, even just as far as how the songs would naturally change. I tried to let go of the perfectionism of things and let it evolve in a natural way. We learned so much from that process.”
Taking out The Bergy’s Battle of the Bands has given Sundreamer a solid push forward financially, creatively and in terms of their self-belief. It’s proof that staying true to their sound, no matter how niche it may be, pays off. With a fresh momentum behind them, the Melbourne four-piece will be stepping into their next phase with purpose and passion.
