You may have heard of the now-viral song Eastern Rosellas by seven-year-old Miles Phillips and his dad Joel — but the catchy indie-rock anthem has a special East Gippsland connection.
As it turns out, young Miles was inspired to write the track during a family holiday at his grandparents’ home on Raymond Island.
While feeding bird seed on the verandah, Miles noticed a variety of local wildlife dropping in, including pigeons and lorikeets. But one species in particular caught his eye: the eastern rosella.
“They were really friendly because they just kept tapping on the window like, ‘I want more seed,'” Miles recalled during a recent interview.
Captivated by the parrot’s striking red, yellow and blue plumage, the chorus came to him instantly: “Eastern rosellas, eastern rosellas, look at the beautiful colours.”
After returning home, Miles and his father Joel workshopped the idea together at their family keyboard, turning the simple holiday observation into a polished, high-energy track.
Since the full-band version was uploaded on July 15, the song has exploded across social media, racking up more than 1.5 million views across Instagram and TikTok, as well as thousands of streams on Spotify.
The viral anthem has caught the attention of major Australian musicians, inspiring covers by artists such as Ben Lee, Megan Washington and Sam Cromack of Ball Park Music. The track has even made its way into international classrooms and has been drawn into comparison with bands like The Strokes and Vampire Weekend by triple j Unearthed reviewers.
Native and endemic to south-eastern Australia, eastern rosellas are a familiar sight throughout East Gippsland — though few have inspired an international musical sensation quite like Raymond Island’s most famous feathered visitors.
