Australia's 11-year-old electronic music producer has dominated his first live gig in Canberra.
Rhys Toms, better known by his stage name "Black Summer," pulled off a surprise set at Groovin The Moo festival on May 3. At Toms' age, most kids struggle to communicate -- but this one is pulling off all the right dubstep moves and keeping a crowd of 10,000 on their feet.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Here it is...Some of Black Summer's first set....pumping out his original track "Toxic Nirvana" to around 10,000 fans!!!!Posted by Black Summer on Sunday, May 3, 2015
The Canberra local was pushed into the public sphere by radio station Triple J's Unearthed competition, which brings unheard Aussie music to the mainstream. He has since gone from strength to strength, telling Mashable Australia the journey has been "fun but overwhelming."
"One day, Dad and I decided to upload some of my music to unearthed for fun and within a week we got an email from Triple J and it has been pretty crazy since then," Toms said. "I know I still have a lot to learn but I'm enjoying it."
Toms started playing music six years ago after his parents bought him equipment, he is now also taking piano lessons and DJ lessons to master his craft.
His dad, Rick, told Mashable Australia his son's talent was obvious from a young age, and they are just trying to keep him grounded as his popularity rises.
"He has always had an interest in music but I guess we really started to pay attention when he started playing around with his synth. We then encouraged him to try piano lessons which we have found he has picked up really fast," Rick said. "His feet are firmly on the ground but it is strange when people in our local mall ask for a selfie."
I invited Black Summer up to drop some bangers this arvo at @groovinthemoo today. He nailed it. What a lord. A photo posted by Zan Rowe (@zanrowe) on May 3, 2015 at 1:03am PDT
A photo posted by Zan Rowe (@zanrowe) on May 3, 2015 at 1:06am PDT
Toms' idol, Flume, an Australian EDM legend even gave the young producer a rap on Facebook. The young producer snuck in for a 10 minute set between the likes of San Cisco and Carmada, dropping tracks such as his original "Toxic Nirvana," according to ABC News.
Early reviews were positive. Simon Hogarth, who watched Toms in his first set, wrote on YouTube: "I saw this kid last night at GTM in Canberra for his first ever gig, he shredded the decks!"
Others were slightly more critical or encouraging, crediting Toms for his passion at such a young age -- but noting there is a bit of work still to be done.
"I want to start this off by saying you're ridiculously talented for your age, when I was your age I was struggling to change the font in Microsoft Word," one commenter wrote. "But one thing you could do better to make the song more 3 dimensional is have some bass lines ... That alone will help your songs.
"Keep producing little man, I'll be following your career!"
Another noted: "This is amazing for an 11 year old! You will only get better as the years go by."
Fellow producer Deadmau5 saw Toms' unique dedication to his craft:
"WHEN I WAS 11... THEY DIDNT HAVE SOFTWARE AND PLUGINS... AND WE HAD TO... wait.. when i was 11 i was saving up for a bmx.— deadmau5 (@deadmau5) April 15, 2015
Despite varying opinions on his beats, to be playing a festival at Toms' age is pretty impressive on all counts. Toms responded to the critics through his Triple J Unearthed video: "Some people say this person is better or the beats don't sound good enough, but just remember I am 11 years old."
Check out some of his videos below, including a awkwardly cool Lego clip.