Thomas Michael Purcell, known professionally as Wave Racer, is an Australian musician, multi-instrumentalist and music producer. The name "Wave Racer" is adapted from the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...

game ''

Wave Race 64 is a 1996 racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. Gameplay involves the player racing on a personal watercraft on a variety of courses while successfully manoeuvring the vehicle around various buoys. A multip ...

''. His debut single, consisting of two songs, "Rock U Tonite" and "Stoopid", was released in 2013. The same year, he signed with Australian independent record label

Future Classic Future Classic is an Australian independent record label, artist management team, touring agency, and music publisher that was founded in 2004. The label's current roster includes Flume, Flight Facilities, Ta-ku, Jagwar Ma, Seekae, Panama, ...

, who also signed other electronic artists including

Cashmere Cat Magnus August Høiberg (born 29 November 1987), known professionally as Cashmere Cat, is a Norwegian DJ, record producer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for producing songs for artists including Kanye West, The Kid Laroi, Selena Gomez ...

and

Flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

. His "Flash Drive" EP was released in 2015, featuring a guest appearance by Lido. In 2021, he released his debut full-length album, ''To Stop From Falling Off The Earth''. He has performed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Ultra Music Festival Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is an annual outdoor electronic music festival that takes place during March in Miami, Florida, United States. The festival was founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes. It was first held on Miami Beach, ...

, on

Mad Decent Mad Decent is an American record label founded by Diplo. The label has helped introduce Brazilian baile funk and Angolan kuduro to clubs around the world. Recently, it has popularized moombahton, a genre of electronic dance music created by D ...

's Block Party Tour and in support of

Chromeo Chromeo is a Canadian electro-funk duo from Montreal, formed in 2002 by musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel. Their sound draws from blue-eyed soul, dance music, rock, synth-pop, disco and funk. , the band has relea ...

on their "Frequent Flyer Tour". Australian festival highlights include

Splendour In The Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near ...

, Field Day, Groovin' the Moo and

Falls Festival Falls Music & Arts Festival (commonly known as Falls) is a multi-day music festival held annually in Lorne ( Victoria), Marion Bay (Tasmania), Byron Bay (New South Wales) and Fremantle (Western Australia), Australia over the New Year's Eve an ...

. He has also toured in support of Disclosure during their Australian tour in 2014, and

Porter Robinson Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ, record producer, musician, and singer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Robinson began producing music in his childhood. He signed to Skrillex's record label OWSLA at the age of 18, ...

during his Australian tour in 2015, alongside

Cosmo's Midnight Cosmo's Midnight are an Australian electronic music duo formed in 2012 in Sydney, New South Wales. The duo consists of twin brothers, Cosmo and Patrick Liney. Their debut studio album, '' What Comes Next'' (2018), peaked at number 36 on the ARI ...

Early life and career

Purcell was born in Sydney, New South Wales on 26 April 1992. He has cited his start in electronic dance music production as being part of a disco house duo with his friend called "Pablo J & The Lobsterettes". Speaking about the comparison of his music to the likes of

and Hudson Mohawke, Purcell quoted them as massive influences and said "...people often describe my music as

future bass Future bass is a style of electronic dance music which developed in the 2010s that mixes elements of dubstep and trap with warmer, less abrasive rhythms. The genre was pioneered by producers such as Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, Lido, San Holo an ...

". In 2014, he released the stand-alone single "Streamers". It was described as a 'tropical, glitchy tune' with elements of trap and futuristic indie-dance. In 2015, he released the songs "Flash Drive (featuring B▲BY)" and "World Record (featuring Lido)", as singles for his debut EP ''Flash Drive''. The EP consisted of 4 tracks and was released on October 15, 2015. The title track, "Flash Drive", was featured in the official soundtrack for the 2016

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

Forza Horizon 3 ''Forza Horizon 3'' is a 2016 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One and Windows. It is the ninth instalment in the ''Forza'' series and the third instalment in its spinoff ''Forza ...

. In 2017, Wave Racer's remix of

Flight Facilities Flight Facilities is an Australian electronic producer duo that also performs as Hugo & Jimmy. In 2009, they began mixing songs by other artists before crafting their own original material. The duo consists of Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell. Th ...

' "Stand Still" was sampled without clearance by

Fetty Wap Willie Junior Maxwell II (born June 7, 1991), better known by his stage names Fetty Wap or Harlem Fetty, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence after his debut single " Trap Queen" reached number two on the U.S. ''B ...

in his song "Way You Are". On April 24, 2021, Wave Racer performed live as a part of

's virtual festival Secret Sky. The performance featured Wave Racer playing his original music with a live band. On August 6, 2021, Wave Racer was featured on

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

's "

Like A Version ''Like a Version'' is a weekly segment on Australian youth radio station Triple J. It involves Australian and international artists playing two songs live in the Triple J studio, one of their own songs (an "original") and then a cover version, h ...

" segment, in which he performed a cover of

The 1975 The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in 2002 in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Now based in Manchester, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew "Matty" Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer ...

's " It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)", as well as his single "Look Up To Yourself". On October 29, 2021, Wave Racer released his debut full-length album ''To Stop From Falling Off The Earth'' through Astral People Recordings, a co-operative record label formed with PIAS. The album contains 11 songs, and for the first time, features Purcell's own vocal performances and lyrics, as well as the prominent use of

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

and

synthesisers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. The album received 4 out of 5 stars in reviews from NME and

Rolling Stone Australia ''Rolling Stone'' Australia is the Australian edition of the United States' ''Rolling Stone'' magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture, published monthly. The Australian version of ''Rolling Stone'' was initially published in 197 ...

. The album also received praise from French electronic musician

Madeon Hugo Pierre Leclercq (; born 30 May 1994), better known by his stage name Madeon (), is a French DJ and music producer from Nantes, currently based in Los Angeles. He initially came to widespread public attention at 17 through a YouTube video, " ...

Awards

In 2013, Wave Racer was nominated for a

J Award The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple ...

in the "Unearthed Artist of the Year" category. In 2015, he won the FBi SMAC (Sydney's Music Arts & Culture) Award for "Best Producer".

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Remixes

2013 *

featuring Mickey Green – "Stand Still (Wave Racer Remix)" *

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

– "Always (Wave Racer Remix)" *

DCUP Duncan MacLennan (born 13 March 1985), better known by his stage name DCUP (pronounced "D-cup"), is an Australian record producer, DJ and remixer. He is best known for his collaboration with fellow Australian band Yolanda Be Cool on their inte ...

featuring Mereki – "Don't Be Shy (Wave Racer Remix)" *

– "The Dofflin (Wave Racer Remix)" *

Ghost Town DJ's Ghost Town DJ's (often stylized as Ghostown DJs) is an American hip-hop group from Atlanta, Georgia whose members consist of Dj DEMP, Rodney Terry, Greg Street and Kito, which recorded the 1996 hit single, " My Boo". The song was influenced by ...

– "My Boo (Wave Racer Remix)" 2014 *

Foster The People Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis. Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in ...

– "Best Friend (Wave Racer Remix)" *

Ryan Hemsworth Ryan Hemsworth (born 23 April 1990) is a Canadian record producer and DJ. He specialises in electronic music and sampling. He has produced tracks for Tinashe, Tory Lanez, Mitski, and E-40. Biography Raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Hemsworth a ...

– "Ryan Must Be Destroyed (Wave Racer Remix)" 2015 *

Duke Dumont Adam George Dyment (born August 1981), better known by his stage name Duke Dumont, is an English DJ and record producer. He is best known for his hit singles " Need U (100%)" " I Got U", " Ocean Drive" and " Won't Look Back" which both reached ...

– " The Giver (Reprise) (Wave Racer Remix)" * Snakehips featuring

Chance The Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape ''10 Day'' in 2012. He ...

Tinashe Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe ( ; born February 6, 1993), known mononymously as Tinashe, is an American singer, dancer, and actress. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Tinashe moved to Pasadena as a child to pursue a career in entertainment. Her notab ...

– "All My Friends (Wave Racer Remix)" 2016 *

featuring Kai – " Never Be like You (Wave Racer Remix)" 2017 *

Tkay Maidza Takudzwa Victoria Rosa "Tkay" Maidza ( ; born 17 December 1995) is a Zimbabwean-born Australian singer-songwriter and rapper. Biography Maidza was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. Her parents are metallurgists. In 2001, her family moved to Australi ...

featuring

Killer Mike Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. Mike made his debut on Outkast's 2000 LP '' Stankonia'', and later appeared on their Grammy-winning single "T ...

– "Carry On (Wave Racer Remix)"

Covers

2021 * "Seventeen" – cover of

No Rome Guendoline Rome Viray Gomez (born August 30, 1997), better known by his stage name No Rome, is a London-based Filipino musician. Gomez grew up in Manila before settling in London. He is currently signed to Dirty Hit, the same label as collaborato ...

* " It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)" – cover of

(performed live for

's "

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wave Racer Australian DJs Future bass musicians Musicians from Sydney DJs from Sydney Australian house musicians Electronic musicians Living people Future house musicians Electronic dance music DJs 1992 births