“It was more than I expected on Saturday,” Aduny said.

“Even though we didn’t have the biggest crowd, it was a great opportunity and they made us feel very welcomed.

“Speaking with Joel and getting up there was such a great opportunity for the community to see local artists, them see we are out here trying to do good things.”

The year 12 student at Griffith High School, stage name ‘Akib’, is set to take his music passion further, hoping to study at Australian Institute of Music in Melbourne after finishing the HSC.

“I started singing when I was younger, I just liked performing in general,” Aduny said.

“Then later on as I grew up by voice wasn’t what is used to be. As I transitioned, I found I was better at rap than singing. People wanted more, and people started following me on YouTube and Facebook.”

All of the songs he performs now are original, however he started off doing covers.

“Not like the original covers though, but I take a beat and put my own lyrics on top, and then after a while I made my own beats, met with producers like Ben Ceccato.

“He is my producer now, and along the way he is teaching me to produce on my own.”

With a lot of local collaborations under his belt, he says events like those in MyFest give artists from Griffith and the wider Riverina the chance to perform and showcase their work.

“It gives them a platform, pushes them out there, get some recognition,and it’s also great for Griffith’s community as a whole to celebrate what we have here.”

Aduny isn’t a stranger to performing with well-known artists, having the chance to perform with one of his personal idols Remi at last year’s MyJam.

“I had been a fan, and then they won Tripple J’s Unearthed Artist in 2013, and since then they have been a huge inspiration,” Aduny said.

RELATED:

Before his trip to Griffith, Aduny sent Remi a Facebook  message asking him to look at his work – and when he got a response back it was “unbelievable”.

"Getting that recognition when he replied with a long paragraph, that was the first time I really thought to myself I really wanted to keep doing this. 

“When he came to Griffith it was a nice surprise for him as well, and he invited me on stage.”

“To perform with them last year was so cool, and it pushed me to keep doing bigger and better things, it has definitely given me motivation to keep going.”