Meet our team
The GRID team brings a passion and commitment to listening, sharing and collaborative creation.
Ariel Blum
Director & Co-founder
He/him
Ariel Blum is a Melbourne-based producer who has worked with artists including Gadigal R’nB artists Lara Andallo , Srisha, Naarm artists Angie McMahon, Gordon Koang, Allara, Krookletter, Mac -Eleven, Niasha, Jacki Tut. Haych, Cash For Gold, and UK artist Florence and The Machine.
As an artist, he was the bandleader of 11-piece soul-band Pablo Discobar, fronted critically acclaimed Melbourne noise band Telescopes. is one half of Trip-hop act St.Ives, heralded as a love child between Portishead and Radiohead and also has his own solo project, BLUM.
Blum's composition work has included being commissioned by the State Government to compose ‘Assembly’, a collaboration between 11 musicians from 11 different countries. His work has been featured in numerous TV and Film projects including The Heights (ABC), Swift Street (SBS) as well as composing music for Sukin, Samsung and Hyundai.
N’fa Forster-Jones
Program Manager
He/Him
N’fa F-Jones is a Sierra-Leone/Australian music artist, songwriter, producer, mentor, University lecturer, and workshop facilitator based in Melbourne. While continuously pushing the artistic scope of independent music, N’fa is credited for having cemented the early Australian Hip Hop movement with his 2002 ARIA award winning group 1200 Techniques.
N’fa has released multiple albums locally and internationally, and most recently releasing and touring with his Afro percussive, Hip Hop infused group, Cool Out Sun. N’fa co-produced the independent Australian Hip Hop documentary, Burn Gently (2022) and continues to give back to the community sharing his skills and knowledge as a peer assessor/reviewer with the international CLOCK Your SKills Program.
This vast experience and knowledge in the music industry has N’fa offering his skills as a recent addition to the GRID Series family. Creating opportunities for unheard artists has N’fa enjoying the process of cultivating and nurturing the exciting new talent that GRID series support and push to the front line of the Australian music industry