Samantha Morris

Having been to primary school, high school and university here on the Gold Coast, Sam is pretty passionate about the local arts scene as well as the natural environment. With vivid memories of our golden era of live music venues and heavily involved in the Student Council while at uni, Sam is also a budding local music historian. Blank GC is Sam’s brainchild and she’s part owner as well as being the primary local music writer. But Sam’s other job is in community engagement and facilitation in regional communities, with a focus on sustainability. She’s been lucky enough to work with some of Australia’s largest (and smallest) conservation groups and as a result has been awarded a Young Australian of the Year award in Queensland for her environmental work and in 2013 was named as one of Queensland's Champions of Conservation. In 2014, she received a Golden Gecko Award from the Gold Coast's peak environment group. After launching Blank GC and seeing the growing need for support for local musicians and music businesses, Sam and her mate Chloe also launched the annual Gold Coast Music Awards, which had its first run in 2015. The event now takes place on the beach in Surfers Paradise with the Esplanade closed to traffic so that the red carpet can be rolled out for local rock stars along the sand. Sam’s a solo parent to a hyperactive kid and as well as writing for Blank is a freelance writer for other organisations wanting to create environment, art and culture content.