1tbsp is the indie-house and dance project of Australian artist Maxwell Byrne — a Grammy Award nominee also known for his work as songwriter and producer Golden Vessel. In 2019, Byrne began exploring house music while curating tracks for his DJ sets at Sumoclic Nights, a monthly event he hosted in Brisbane. That experimentation led to a collection of original tracks he created specifically for his sets — the beginnings of a new project that would soon become 1tbsp. Diverging from the familiar Golden Vessel sound, Byrne officially launched 1tbsp in 2021 with his debut EP kanashī, released via Sumoclic, the label he co-founded with Connor Grant (aka Akurei). The four-track release resonated globally, amassing over 3.6 million streams on Spotify. Building on this momentum, Byrne followed up with the double-singles Dhollandia // Circles and Stay Up // Rest, while performing at festivals and supporting artists including Young Franco, BAYNK, and daste. across Australia. In 2022, he collaborated with Nick Ward, Allan McConnell, Squidgenini, and Sampology, culminating in his second EP Joan, released that December. Entering 2023, Byrne released three standout singles — Pioneer Digital Plastic Sound, No Nein (feat. Mietze Conte), and Four Tet Is My Godmother — leading into his next EP It’s Very Loud. Released in March via Sumoclic, the EP featured a co-write with Squidgenini on the title track. That same year, Byrne received a Grammy nomination for his contribution to BAYNK’s ‘Till It’s Even’, marking a milestone moment in his career. Byrne continued the year with the release of his debut album Mosquito Love in August 2023 — eight invigorating tracks that solidified 1tbsp as a standalone creative force, no longer a “side project” but a defining part of Byrne’s artistic identity alongside Golden Vessel. On the touring front, 1tbsp completed a nine-date Australian tour in 2023, including a slot at Groovin the Moo, a sold-out EP launch party in Brisbane, and showcases at BIGSOUND, Listen Out (Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne & Sydney), and the inaugural SXSW Sydney. Closing out the year, Byrne embarked on a seven-date North American tour, performing to packed rooms in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Toronto, and Montreal. With plans already underway for a 2024 return, 1tbsp continues to evolve as one of Australia’s most exciting and forward-thinking electronic projects.
2touch is a project inspired by cross-genre sounds and sentimentality — fusing the familiar with the delightfully off-kilter. Their music blends cryptic yet irresistibly melodic vocal samples that seem to speak their own language, with a striking, surreal visual world created by Naarm/Melbourne illustrator Major Precious, where a cast of animated characters stands in for the anonymous producer duo. For 2touch, music is a boundless space for exploration and connection — a catalyst for community, memory, and emotion. It’s the thread that ties together friendships, relationships, and shared experiences; the atmosphere that surrounds and connects us all. Their debut EP captures that spirit of discovery and youthfulness, weaving vaguely recalled voices through bouncy, warped basslines, cloudy pads, and precise, gooey synths. The result is a sound both nostalgic and new — wide-eyed yet refined. Alluding to a growing sense of reflection and joy, Shug suggests that the halcyon days are never truly gone — they’re only just beginning.
Ninajirachi – née Nina Wilson – has been inspired by the fantastical for as long as she can remember. “Nature, fantasy, science fiction, ideas of occult and magic – those things make me feel so inspired and alive,” says Nina. “I want to recreate that for other people so that they can have that same experience.” Fantasy worlds and the natural world are awe-inspiring in equal measure for Nina – and that surprising confluence of influences shows up headily in her music, which incorporates a rich tapestry of experimental soundscapes, frenetic 8-bit inspired hooks, and melodic lines as sweeping as the sky and sea. At age 16, Nina left her small beach village and took a fortuitous trip to Sydney that would alter the course of her entire career. She spent a week volunteering at FBi Radio, immersing herself in new sounds and getting exposed to artists like SOPHIE, Grimes, Holly Herndon and Iglooghost for the first time. Around one year later, Nina met Nina Las Vegas at a Diplo event – and everything changed. Ninajirachi signed to Nina Las Vegas’s label, NLV records, and began releasing a series of singles, EPs and mixtapes that earned her widespread critical praise and touring accolades with artists like Charli XCX and Cashmere Cat. She was deemed an artist to watch by Billboard Dance, her ‘True North (Deluxe)’ EP was named one of The Atlantic’s top 10 albums of 2021, and her debut full-length project ‘Second Nature’ earned her the cover of NME Magazine and led EDM.com to declare her Top Producers of 2022. Most recently, Nina released her ‘4x4’ EP in late 2023. “‘4x4’ was a conscious effort to make club dance music again,” says Nina, who describes her previous project ‘Second Nature’ as “more experimental” and a departure from her signature club-focussed sound. “Once COVID ended and touring resumed, I was inspired to make music for my shows again – before Second Nature, all of my biggest songs were dance songs,” says Nina. “When I was making ‘4x4,’ I was listening to the music that made me want to be a producer in the first place – hard dance, electro house, progressive house, trance, – I loved EDM when I was a kid before I had done any touring, before I knew the context for which it was really made.” This return to form earned Nina international acclaim from the likes of NME, Crack Magazine, Rolling Stone Australia and Billboard, who said ‘4x4’ “highlights her mastery of productions that balance effervescence, bounce, heft and style.” As Ninajirachi continues harnessing the naturalistic and the futuristic through sound, art, and feeling, the stage is set for her to build an even bigger, more mystical musical world – and bring the rest of us along for the wild, untamed ride.
