Sydney-based indie rock trio Valley Onda is making waves with their latest single ‘Minacious,’ released July 18th, 2025, via Valley Onda Records. Since their 2019 debut, they’ve amassed over 350,000 streams, earned acclaim from tastemakers and triple j, and secured national tour slots alongside The Money War and Brightness. Frontman Jordan Wilson (ex-Georgia Fair) has shared stages with icons like Paul Kelly and John Mayer, while keys player Michiya Nagai has performed at The Grass is Greener and TEDx Melbourne with Lamalo. Drawing inspiration from Radiohead and Alt-J, their sound blends alternative textures, showcased in captivating warehouse performances. ‘Minacious’ fuses Western cinematic tension with brooding synths and Wilson’s soaring vocals, exploring fear and transcendence.
Discover the story behind the track and the band’s evolution in our interview below.
What kicked off the idea for “Minacious,” and what vibe were you chasing with it?
Galen was living in a very urban environment, in the heart of Newtown. You could see the train tracks from the window of his studio. It was probably the riff that kicked it off. It was just before covid so we were probably sensing something pretty menacing coming. The western feel comes from a bit of an apocalyptic feeling, like a desert vibe.
How do your different backgrounds shape the sound of a track like “Minacious”?
Our varied backgrounds are what makes Valley Onda what it is. I bring a bit of the folk and country tinge, Galen always has a thumping beat and is concerned with making the audience dance. Michiya ties everything together and always brings an extra flavour, usually with the Synth and how the mix sits.
How do you balance your individual creative visions when working together as a band?
Knowing your roles is probably the biggest part, also not being afraid to venture outside of your role and offer your opinion. It takes a while to find your process, but we found it on this album. Usually we throw the wall at a track and then strip it back from there. When it comes to the mix, it’s more like painting to try and capture the vision that’s trying to come through.
What’s the most unexpected or unconventional place you’ve ever performed, and what was that experience like?
Galen and Michiya were putting on warehouse parties with their collective Mixo Lydian. One time they paved the whole warehouse floor with real grass for an event. We liked playing in warehouses because we could curate the event exactly how we wanted, often combining visual arts and different genres of music. The warehouse we used to record in also held different mediums of artists which all added to the creative vibe of what we were doing.
How did you all link up to start Valley Onda, and what’s been the roughest patch so far?
I met Galen at a farm to table restaurant in the inner west of Sydney. I started doing some demo’s for my new songs in Galen’s studio and Michiya and Galen were already in a collective. Naturally we all started contributing to tracks and forged our own sound. Suffice to say it was probably covid, we were sitting on a bunch of tracks for a while and it took the collective artistic consciousness a while to get our confidence back. Once we got back into the studio and started finishing what we had, we knew we were writing something pretty special.
What’s the next big thing you’re cooking up for the band?
Our album that comes out in October – we’re currently working on our live set for a big launch in November. We’re also super stoked with the visuals we have for our singles which we collaborated on with visual artist Nema from Dark Cinema.
With “Minacious” having that introspective edge, what do you hope fans feel, and how do you want it to hit them?
I hope they get taken to the edge. That’s the whole feel for the track, to confront your fear. To go nose to nose with it, look it in the eye and offer it a little smile. If they wanna shake their ass a bit too, that can’t hurt. Maybe there is no dragon to slay, and if there is then ride that thing.
How do you juggle the band life with everything else, especially with your solo wins like opening for Paul Kelly?
Yeah it’s super tough in this day and age. It’s about making music part of your lifestyle. Music’s where I go to relax so I try to harvest a good environment and community of musicians surrounding me. Salt baths and Qigong are also pretty helpful. Every now and again you get the opportunity to meet some of your heroes, and it’s just such a privilege. Paul bought us a whiskey after the show and we spoke mostly about sport.
What’s the music industry throwing at you as indie artists, and how do you push through?
A lot of admin haha. There’s a lot of work putting out a track, and honestly Michiya is an absolute gun. I know so many indie artists that struggle with their distro companies and getting no responses to emails. Personally this is where collaboration is so helpful for me. To share the load, and push each other on.
When you’re off the clock, what’s your go-to downtime, and what’s a random fun fact about the crew?
I have an alternating roster of golf, surfing and watching every code of rugby possible. I also love my doggo’s and just hitting up nature. A random fact about our crew is that on the side, Galen works with his father as a stonemason on some of the amazing sand stone buildings that Sydney is so famous for.
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