Drax Project

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.

Drax Project
Drax Project at the B96 Pepsi SummerBash 2019
Background information
Origin	Wellington, New Zealand
Genres	Pop R&B jazz hip hop
Years active	2014–present
Labels	Universal 300 Entertainment[1]
Members	Sam Thomson Shaan Singh Matt Beachen Ben O'Leary
Website	http://www.draxproject.com

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').^[2][3] Drax Project mostly performed pop song covers while busking at Courtenay Place, Wellington and performing at local bars and events.^[4][5] 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.^[2][5] All members were jazz students at the New Zealand School of Music, except for O'Leary who studied music at Whitireia New Zealand.^[4][5]

In August 2014, the band released their first extended play to Bandcamp.^[6] A friend of O'Leary's produced the extended play as a part of his final year assignment for music school.^[4] The exposure from the extended play allowed Drax Project to be booked for summer festivals in 2014–2015.^[4] In 2016, the group released their second extended play, T/W/OO, through Universal.^[3] It was produced by founding Shapeshifter member Devin Abrams.^[4] 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.^[3] In 2017, Drax Project opened for Lorde's Auckland concert of her Melodrama World Tour in November 2017,^[7] as well as New Zealand band Six60.^[8]

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.^[9] 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).^[10][11] By April, "Woke Up Late" had been certified Platinum by the RIANZ.^[9] In March, the band were featured on "Light", the third single from U.S. rapper Famous Dex's 2018 album Dex Meets Dexter.^[12] In June 2018, the group opened for the European leg of Camila Cabello's Never Be the Same Tour.^[13]

In January 2019, a new version of "Woke Up Late" was released, featuring American singer Hailee Steinfeld.^[14] In June 2019, they released the single "All This Time".^[15] The group opened for Christina Aguilera during her 2019 European concert tour. In September 2019, the group released the single "Catching Feelings" with Six60.^[16] Their debut, self-titled studio album was released on 27 September 2019.^[17] They released the single "Firefly" featuring Fetty Wap and AACACIA in October 2020.^[18]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Certifications
		NZ [19]
Drax Project	Released: 27 September 2019 Label: Drax Project, Universal Format: CD, digital download, streaming	2	RMNZ: 2× Platinum[20]
Upside	Released: 24 November 2023 Label: Drax Project, Universal Format: LP, digital download, streaming	33

Extended plays

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Certifications
		NZ [19]
Drax Project EP	Released: 3 August 2014 (2014-08-03)[6] Label: Drax Project Limited Format: Digital download, streaming	—
T/W/OO	Released: 1 April 2016 (2016-04-01) Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming	18
Covers (Live)	Released: 26 May 2017 (2017-05-26) Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming	40
Noon	Released: 8 June 2018 (2018-06-08) Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming	10	RMNZ: Gold[21]
Noon (Acoustic)	Released: 26 April 2019 (2019-04-26) Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming	—
Diamond	Released: 8 July 2022 (2022-07-08)[22] Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal Format: Digital download, streaming	—
Blind Beat	Released: 9 December 2022 (2022-12-09)[23] 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 [19]	NZ Artist [24]	AUS [25]	US Pop [26]
"Cold"[3]	2016	—	15	—	—		T/W/OO
"Came to Me"[27]		—	—	—	—
"Falling Out of Sight"[28]		—	14	—	—		Non-album singles
"So Lost"[29]		—	—[A]	—	—
"Woke Up Late"	2017	15	1	—	—	RMNZ: 6× Platinum[31]	Noon
"Toto"	2018	—	3	—	—	RMNZ: 2× Platinum[31]
"Woke Up Late" (featuring Hailee Steinfeld)	2019	35	1	18	29	ARIA: 5× Platinum[32]	Drax Project
"All This Time"		21	1	—	—	RMNZ: 2× Platinum[31]
"Catching Feelings" (featuring Six60)		3	1	43	—	RMNZ: 8× Platinum[31] ARIA: 2× Platinum[32]
"Relax"[33]	2020	—[B]	14	—	—	RMNZ: Gold[31]
"Firefly" (Drax Project & Fetty Wap featuring Aacacia)		27 [35]	10	—	—	RMNZ: Platinum[31]	Non-album singles
"Tukituki Te Manawa"		—[C]	—	—	—
"Over It"[37]	2021	—[D]	15	—	—	RMNZ: Gold[31]
"Crazy"[39]	2022	—[E]	—	—	—		Diamond
"Mad at You"[39]		—[F]	—	—	—
"Fashion Sense"[42]		—[G]	—	—	—
"Ka Taria" (Rob Ruha and Drax Project)		—[H]	20	—	—		Non-album single
"Gameboy Color"[45]		—[I]	—	—	—		Blind Beat
"Atmosphere"	2023	—[J]	11	—	—		Upside
"Disrespect"[48] (featuring Charley)		—[K]	13	—	—
"Oh My"[50]		—[L]	20	—	—
"Luxury"[52]		—[M]	16	—	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

As featured artist

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		NZ Hot [54]	NZ Artist Heat. [55]
"Light"[56] (Famous Dex featuring Drax Project)	2018	—	2	Dex Meets Dexter
"Solace" (Imugi 이무기 featuring Drax Project)	2022	20	—	Non-album single
"Castaway" (Spencer Coyle featuring Drax Project)	2023	38	—	Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Other charted songs

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Certifications	Album
		NZ Hot [57]	NZ Artist [24]
"Cry Me a River / Higher Ground" (live)	2017	—	18		Covers (Live)
"Pony" (live)		—	19
"Latch" (live)		—	—[N]
"Only Us"	2018	38	10	RMNZ: Platinum[31]	Noon
"Prefer"		8	8	RMNZ: Platinum[31]
"Sidebit"		—	—[O]
"I Moeroa / Woke Up Late"[59]	2019	9	6		Waiata / Anthems
"Smart Love"		3	6	RMNZ: Gold[31]	Drax Project
"Natural Selection"		10	—[P]
"Brain"		5	—[Q]
"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)

Notes

Notes

• The band opened for Lorde's Auckland, New Zealand show on 12 November.^[61]
• The band opened for Ed Sheeran's Auckland, New Zealand shows on 24–26 March.^[62]
• The band was the opening act for the European leg of the Never Be the Same Tour.^[63]
• The band opened for Christina Aguilera on select dates on Europe.^[64]

Notes

1. "So Lost" did not enter the NZ Artist Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 1 on the NZ Artists Heatseeker Singles Chart.^[30]
2. "Relax" did not enter the Official New Zealand Music Chart, but peaked at number 7 on the Hot 40 Singles chart.^[34]
3. "Tukituki Te Manawa" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 10 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[36]
4. "Over It" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number two on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[38]
5. "Crazy" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number two on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[40]
6. "Mad at You" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number seven on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[41]
7. "Fashion Sense" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 16 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[43]
8. "Ka Taria" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 17 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[44]
9. "Gameboy Color" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 10 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[46]
10. "Atmosphere" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number five on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[47]
11. "Disrespect" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 15 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[49]
12. "Oh My" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 14 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[51]
13. "Luxury" did not enter the Official Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 7 on the Hot 40 Singles Chart.^[53]
14. "Latch" (live), a cover of the Disclosure song of the same name featuring Sam Smith, did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 5 on the NZ Artists Heatseeker Singles Chart.^[30]
15. "Sidebit" did not enter the NZ Artists Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 1 on the NZ Artists Singles Heatseekers Chart.^[58]
16. "Natural Selection" did not enter the NZ Artist Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 4 on the NZ Artists Hot 20 Singles Chart.^[60]
17. "Brain" did not enter the NZ Artist Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 2 on the NZ Artists Hot 20 Singles Chart.^[60]