MURWILLUMBAH'S Tupenny Opera has claimed their first NCEIA Dolphin Award.

Made up of married couple David Weir and Miya Sapir, the group claimed a win in the Alternative/Indie category at the awards in Ballina on Tuesday night.

Weir, a multi- instrumentalist, submitted three songs but it was Our Wars from their self-titled debut album which gained them the gong.

"It was fantastic. It was great seeing all those local musicians, a lot of them we know and there was a good vibe,” Weir said.

"It's (Northern Rivers) a pretty rich part of Australia for contemporary music, so winning was a good feeling.”

The group has played abroad, gaining fans in Europe and Mexico with their unique sounds and live energy, but only play around three shows a year in the area, which makes their win all the more remarkable.

Weir said the group's unique blend of sounds make them hard to pigeonhole or fit into particular venues.

"We're hard to pin down and we value originality and our naturally, quirky sensibilities,” Weir said.

"We're not mainstream and we're not a pub band so there's a limited number of places we can play.”

The group has claimed a day's recording session at the famous Rockinghorse Recording Studios in Byron Bay, which Weir said would allow them to gain a fresh insight into their music.

"We've always done it ourself so it'll be nice to get a fresh perspective and just concentrate on playing,” he said.

The group aims to release their second album in 2017.