drax project

Drax Project on Ed Sheran, Mexican Hot Wings and how a $20 busking tip started their career.

The electrifying Drax Project are hitting the road for their first-ever full UK tour, kicking off with an eagerly awaited show at London’s Islington Assembly Hall on May 17, 2025.

From their humble beginnings busking on the vibrant streets of Wellington to sharing the stage with global superstars like Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello, Lorde, and Christina Aguilera, Drax Project has taken the music world by storm!

With chart-topping hits like “Woke Up Late” (featuring Hailee Steinfeld) and “Catching Feelings,” they’re on the brink of a staggering one billion streams collectively.

Meet the dynamic members of Drax Project: Shaan Singh: The powerhouse of lead vocals, saxophone, and keys

Matt Beachen: The heartbeat of the band on drums

Sam Thomson: The multi-talented bassist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist

Ben O’Leary: The guitar aficionado and backing vocalist extraordinaire

Gary had the opportunity to sit down with Sam and Ben ahead of their highly anticipated UK and Ireland tour.

Hi guys thanks for taking the time from your busy tour schedule to talk to us. Let’s get stuck into our first question. Tell our readers a bit about yourselves, How did you all meet?

So, the band kicked off with just Shaan and Matt busking on the streets of Wellington, New Zealand. That’s actually where we got our name, “Drax,” which combines the first part of “drums” and the last part of “sax.” A year later, the rest of us joined in. We all met while studying music at university, and now it’s just four of us having a blast playing together.

Last year, we hit the ten-year mark! It all started kind of randomly—Shaan and Matt were just out there busking, and suddenly they were getting gigs for toga parties and 50th birthday celebrations. From there, we landed a few spots at festivals, and things really took off.

Back then, we had only one original song and mostly played covers. But over the years, we’ve written and released a bunch of our own music, and the mix has definitely changed. We were playing a lot of medium-sized shows in New Zealand when we dropped our song “Woke Up Late,” and that took off!

Opening for Ed Sheeran for three nights during his New Zealand tour was totally wild—especially only a couple of months after releasing that song. That whole experience opened doors for us to perform in the U.S. and Europe, sharing stages with artists like Christina Aguilera and Camila Cabello. It’s been an awesome ride!

Please describe what your sound is like for those who haven’t heard you before.

We totally see our music as R&B Pop, but a good chunk of the band has a jazz background. We’re really inspired by artists like Justin Timberlake and D’Angelo, plus we love a lot of electronic music. Our live shows are a mix of different vibes and super high energy; we try to vibe like EDM, building up to a big drop. So yeah, if we had to sum it up, we’d say R&B/ Pop.

How do you go from busking to being a 35x Platinum Act on your way to a billion streams?

It’s been an amazing journey, and we’re not looking to end it anytime soon. We actually met our manager when Shaan and Matt were busking outside his apartment. He heard them and thought, “These guys don’t suck.” Back then, he was organising shows around the city, and that’s how we started getting our first gigs from this random dude who dropped $20 into Shaan and Matt’s case. He ended up becoming our manager, and he’s still with us today.

What has been the smallest and what has been the largest gig you guys have played to date?

We’ve played to some super tiny crowds, like just the bar staff, and then we’ve rocked out in front of over 50,000 people opening for Ed Sheeran. Oh, and we also opened for Six60, the biggest band in New Zealand, who even featured on our song “Catching Feelings.” That track is probably the second most popular after “Woke Up Late.”

Since we dropped “Woke Up Late,” things have just taken off, which has let us travel and perform in different parts of the world. We’re really dedicated to what we do, and I think the mix of our music is pretty unique. I mean, you don’t see a sax and drums jamming together on songs like “Firework” by Katy Perry busking very often!

We really love all our shows, but some of the best have been the small ones. Like when we played in Glasgow at a place called Broadcast, we only had about 40 people there if that. We always think back to that gig because it was so special. Sometimes, those smaller shows are just as awesome as the big ones. The vibe is totally different—the audience feeds off us, and we soak up their energy, creating this amazing push and pull!

Do you think it’s tougher for Kiwi artists to break into the international music scene?

Yes and no. New Zealand has some incredible acts, bands, and artists that have done really well here, and quite a few of them have made waves internationally too. Maybe a decade ago, that wasn’t as common, but with the internet and social media now, anyone from anywhere can find an audience.

It really boils down to two things. First, having something unique—like a New Zealand band coming to play somewhere else, which seems to catch people’s attention. People are generally keen on Kiwi artists. Second, coming from a smaller market means you get more initial eyes on you. If you can break through in the New Zealand scene, it gives you the experience to really make the most of being overseas.

There are ups and downs in the music industry no matter where you’re from.

You’ve done some amazing acoustic covers over the years. Is there a song you wish you had written, and have you thought about covering it?

There are so many songs we play, but one we always come back to is Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River.” It is definitely one of our favourites. Instead of calling them covers, we like to say we do “burns” because we put our own spin on them. There are endless possibilities since we all vibe with different music across a bunch of genres, and “Cry Me a River” is definitely up there for us.

“Woke Up Late” featuring Hailee Steinfeld (which is an absolute banger!) has hit over 100 million streams. If you could pick any artist for a dream feature, who would it be and why?

This one’s a toughie. As a band and as individuals, we jam to so many different artists and genres that it’d be super hard to pick just one that fits us all. When it comes to features, we don’t really go out looking for them; they just kind of happen naturally. We’d be totally stoked to work with a bunch of artists, but for now, let’s say Justin Timberlake, Charli XCX, and SZA.

You’ve had the luck of touring with some huge names like Christina Aguilera, Ed Sheeran, Lorde, and Camila Cabello. What was that like, and can you share any stories from those tours?

Ed Sheeran

Honestly, out of all the acts we’ve opened for, Ed was the one we got to hang out with the most, and he was just the nicest guy ever. We only did three shows with him, but at the first one, we were all sitting in the catering room when someone burst in and said, “You guys need to get to the green room— Ed’s looking for you!” We dropped everything and rushed over. As soon as he walked in, he thanked us for opening and even apologised for the weather, which we thought was funny since it’s our country— shouldn’t we be apologising to him? After the show, he invited us to this Mexican place he found that had awesome wings. We were so excited that we actually ended up being the first ones there, and he gave us a hard time about being so eager! He ended up chatting with us for like 20 minutes, sharing some great advice from his own journey. The main thing we took away was how important it is for him to keep family and friends close and have them involved in different parts of his team.

Christina, Camila and Lorde

They were all super nice, but we got to chill with Camila a lot since we were on tour with her for a few weeks, and she had her family along. We spent time hanging out and talking with her, her mom, and her band in the catering area, which was really fun. Since we’re both instrumentalists, we had plenty to discuss with Camila’s band—swapping stories and ideas about staging, gear, and all that stuff.

This year you are going on your first headline tour of the UK and Ireland, what are you most looking forward to on the tour and what can the fans expect from it?

We’re super excited for our first proper tour around the UK and Ireland! The last time we were there, we did three nights in London, which were our first gigs since COVID, and honestly, we were a bit nervous about how it would go. The first show sold out, so we added a second one, which also sold out, and then we went on to play a few gigs in Europe before coming back for a third night that sold out too. We were blown away by how much love we got in London—it was such a blast! We can’t wait to do it all again and explore more of the UK and Ireland. Playing gigs is seriously our favourite thing ever, it feels like living the dream. We’ve heard the Irish crowds are going to be the loudest, and we love a rowdy crowd! Our shows are always high energy with a bit of variety, and no two are ever the same. We mix in a lot of saxophone, improvisation, and crowd interaction. Even though we have similar arrangements, every set is unique. We just want people to leave thinking, “Wow, that was an awesome gig!” If we can pull that off, then we’ve done our job right.

When you guys are on tour what do you get up to when not at soundchecks, interviews or playing the gig?

We love to get out and explore while travelling and try local foods! We’re super close friends, and when we’re stuck in the van heading to new places, things can get a bit silly and goofy. We play a ton of card games, and honestly, if someone were a fly on the wall, they’d probably think we’re complete idiots. We really enjoy hitting up local gigs to check out musicians, but the thing about touring is that you don’t always have time to explore unless there’s a day off between shows. The travel days can drag on sometimes. We also like to browse around local record shops. We’ve heard Dublin’s busking scene is off the charts lately with so many big names playing. Is Grafton Street far from the Workers Club? You might catch us jamming on Grafton Street if we get the chance!

You guys need to try Guinness and if you aren’t vegetarian you need to try Irish stew, both always taste better in Dublin,

After the tour what’s next for Drax Project?

We’re staying busy in our writing zone after just wrapping up our summer tour in New Zealand last weekend. We’ve been trying out some new stuff during the shows, and there’s definitely more music coming! We’re looking to add more dates potentially in Europe and might squeeze in a few more gigs in the UK and Ireland too. More music, more shows— no breaks for us because we just love doing this!

And finally, what are your socials for our readers who want to keep up with all your goings on?

We are on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Tiktock as: Draxproject, we put all sorts of content up all the time.