Drax Project are a New Zealand pop and R&B band that formed in Te Aro, Wellington in 2014. Recording a mix of jazz, R&B and pop music, the band came to prominence in 2017 with the single "Woke Up Late", which was certified triple platinum by RIANZ while the 2019 version featuring Hailee Steinfeld was certified triple platinum in Australia.
Background Drax Project's members are all originally from different towns in New Zealand; Shaan grew up in Kapiti, Matt in Upper Hutt, Sam in New Plymouth and Ben from Waihi Beach. Matt and Shaan met at a young musician's jazz programme in Wellington as young teens and played separately and together in high school jazz competitions around New Zealand as teens. Matt and Shaan started busking together in their first year of attending university at The New Zealand School Of Music's jazz programme. Sam and Ben joined as Sam also attended the same university school of music and Ben at Whitirea University's music programme not far from Wellington. Drax Project; composed of Shaan Singh on saxophone and Matt Beachen on drums (the origin of the band's name is a portmanteau of 'drums' and 'sax'). Drax Project mostly performed pop song covers while busking at Courtenay Place, Wellington and performing at local bars and events. Double bassist Sam Thomson joined shortly after, and guitarist Ben O'Leary joined the band a year after, when the band made the switch to creating original material. All members were jazz students at the New Zealand School of Music, except for O'Leary who studied music at Whitireia New Zealand.
In August 2014, the band released their first extended play to Bandcamp. A friend of O'Leary's produced the extended play as a part of his final year assignment for music school. The exposure from the extended play allowed Drax Project to be booked for summer festivals in 2014–2015. In 2016, the group released their second extended play, T/W/OO, through Universal. It was produced by founding Shapeshifter member Devin Abrams. The extended play's first single "Cold" was successful on Spotify, reaching #1 on their viral chart and being streamed over 160,000 times in three months. In 2017, Drax Project opened for Lorde's Auckland concert of her Melodrama World Tour in November 2017, as well as New Zealand band Six60.
In November 2017, the band released the song "Woke Up Late". It gained popularity over the next few months on Spotify and was widely played on New Zealand radio stations. In March, Drax Project opened for Ed Sheeran's three Auckland performances of his ÷ Tour in March 2018 (currently the largest-scale concert held in New Zealand as of 2018). By April, "Woke Up Late" had been certified Platinum by the RIANZ. In March, the band were featured on "Light", the third single from U.S. rapper Famous Dex's 2018 album Dex Meets Dexter. In June 2018, the group opened for the European leg of Camila Cabello's Never Be the Same Tour.
In January 2019, a new version of "Woke Up Late" was released, featuring American singer Hailee Steinfeld. In June 2019, they released the single "All This Time". The group opened for Christina Aguilera during her 2019 European concert tour. In September 2019, the group released the single "Catching Feelings" with Six60. Their debut, self-titled studio album was released on 27 September 2019. They released the single "Firefly" featuring Fetty Wap and AACACIA in October 2020.
Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications NZFor most entries: . For "Catching Feelings": Drax Project Released: 27 September 2019 Label: Drax Project, Universal Format: CD, digital download, streaming 2 RMNZ: 2× Platinum Upside Released: 24 November 2023 Label: Drax Project, Universal Format: LP, digital download, streaming 33
Extended plays Title EP details Peak chart positions Certifications NZ Drax Project EP Released: Label: Drax Project Limited Format: Digital download, streaming — T/W/OO Released: Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming 18 Covers (Live) Released: Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming 40 Noon Released: Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming 10 RMNZ: Gold Noon (Acoustic) Released: Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming — Diamond Released: Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming — Blind Beat Released: Label: Drax Project Limited Format: Digital download, streaming — "—" denotes an extended play that did not chart.
Singles As lead artist Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album NZ NZArtistPeak positions for Drax Project's singles on the NZ Artist singles chart: For "Cold", "Falling Out of Sight", "Woke Up Late", "Cry Me a River / Higher Ground (Live)", "Pony (Live)": For "Only Us": For "Toto": For "Prefer": For "All This Time": For "Catching Feelings", "I Moeroa / Woke Up Late": For "Smart Love": For "Relax": For "Firefly": For "Over It": For "Ka Taria": For "Atmosphere": For "Disrespect": For "Oh My": For "Luxury": AUSPeaks in Australia: "Woke Up Late": "Catching Feelings": US Pop "Cold" 2016 — 15 — — T/W/OO "Came to Me" — — — — "Falling Out of Sight" — 14 — — rowspan="2" "So Lost" — — — — "Woke Up Late"2017 15 1 — — Noon "Toto" 2018 — 3 — — RMNZ: 2× Platinum "Woke Up Late"(featuring Hailee Steinfeld) 2019 35 1 18 29 ARIA: 6× Platinum RMNZ: 7× Platinum Drax Project "All This Time" 21 1 — — RMNZ: 2× Platinum "Catching Feelings"(featuring Six60) 3 1 43 — RMNZ: 9× Platinum ARIA: 3× Platinum "Relax"2020 — 14 — — RMNZ: Gold "Firefly"(Drax Project & Fetty Wap featuring Aacacia) 27 10 — — RMNZ: Platinum rowspan="3" "Tukituki Te Manawa" — — — — "Over It" 2021 — 15 — — RMNZ: Gold "Crazy" 2022 — — — — Diamond "Mad at You" — — — — "Fashion Sense" — — — — "Ka Taria" — 20 — — "Gameboy Color" — — — — Blind Beat "Atmosphere" 2023 — 11 — — Upside "Disrespect" — 13 — — "Oh My" — 20 — — "Luxury" — 16 — — "Around U" (with Peking Duk and Kita Alexander) 2025 — — — — rowspan="4" "Summer Rain" — — — — "24/7" 2026 — — — — "DADA" — — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
As featured artist Title Year Peak chart positions AlbumNZHot "Castaway": NZArtistHeat.Peak positions for Unknown Mortal Orchestra's singles on the NZ Artist Heatseekers singles chart: For "Light": "Light" 2018 — 2 Dex Meets Dexter "Solace" 2022 20 — "Castaway" 2023 38 — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
Other charted songs Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications AlbumNZHotPeak positions for Drax Project's singles on the NZ Hot 40 singles chart: For "Only Us": For "Prefer": For "I Moeroa / Woke Up Late": For "Smart Love", "Relax", "Natural Selection", "Brain": For "Hollywood": For "In and Out": NZArtist "Cry Me a River / Higher Ground" (live) 2017 — 18 Covers (Live) "Pony" (live) — 19 "Latch" (live) — — "Only Us" 2018 38 10 RMNZ: Platinum Noon "Prefer" 8 8 RMNZ: Platinum "Sidebit" — — "I Moeroa / Woke Up Late" 2019 9 6 Waiata / Anthems "Smart Love" 3 6 RMNZ: Gold Drax Project "Natural Selection" 10 — "Brain" 5 — "Hollywood" 2022 4 — Diamond "In and Out" 24 — Blind Beat "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
Tours Supporting Melodrama World Tour (for Lorde) (2017) ÷ Tour (for Ed Sheeran) (2018) Never Be the Same Tour (for Camila Cabello) (2018) The X Tour (for Christina Aguilera) (2019)
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