Hailing from Sydney’s sunny Northern Beaches, L D R U – AKA Drew Carmody – turned to music production after suffering a debilitating back injury during his late teens. In his recovery, L D R U spent enough time finely tuning his compositions and ultimately engineered his distinct sound that would eventually go on to captivate his city, his country, and fans from all corners.
This distinct sound, what L D R U describes as “trapical,” bounced through his debut 2013 single "The Tropics" released via Sydney’s Future Classic label and a collaboration with Yahtzel "The Only One" is what caught the attention of Skrillex, A-Track, Diplo and What So Not. Eventually the pair formed the OWSLA duo Carmada and earned themselves a Gold Record (ARIA) for "Maybe".
Since then L D R U has released official remixes for Flume, Lorde, Jack Ü and Miami Horror. From one record to another, L D R U soon released "Keeping Score" featuring the defined vocals of Paige IV reaching 12 million Spotify streams, high rotation on Triple J, a DoublePlatinum Accreditation (ARIA) and coming in at a hot #22 on Triple J’s 2015 Hottest 100. The track also received 3 ARIA nominations for Apple Music Song Of The Year, Breakthrough Artist and Best Dance Releaseand was the highest selling Australian single in 2016. His latest single "To Be Free” has also reached 2.2 million Spotify streams and is not far off a Gold Accreditation (ARIA).
The past few years have seen L D R U tear up stages across major Australian festivals including Splendour In The Grass, Stereosonic, Field Day, Listen Out, Southbound and Falls Arts and Music Festival just to name a few.He as also graced his presence at iconic Aussie tastemaker boutique festivals and numerous headline tours across the Australian continent.
Solo career aside, Carmada’s debut EP Realise peaked #1 on iTunes and lead to North American tours with performances at Ultra Miami, Holy Ship!, HARD Summer, Electric Forest as well as official remixes for the likes of Major Lazer and Charli XCX as well as nods from the likes of Skrillex and Diplo and a #41 finish for Maybe in the triple j Hottest 100.
It’s important to keep a healthy balance between surf and music – but it’s all systems go for young Drew Carmody, with plenty more music, energetic performances and rule bending sets to make 2017 another one for the record books.
