We don’t know what you were doing when you were 11 years old, but for us, it began and ended with Pokemon. Young Rhys, aka Black Summer, on the other hand, has been busying himself getting airplay on Triple J, getting shout outs from Flume, and collecting groupies.

Rhys has been producing electronic beats for “five or six years” already and it’s at this point that we must reiterate, he’s only 11 years old. After uploading three tracks to a Triple J Unearthed account, Rhys quickly began generating notoriety among peers both schoolyard and industry alike.

Triple J recently sent a camera crew to meet the young EDM prodigy and spoke with his parents, teachers, and siblings. Rhys took the crew into his studio, which also doubles as his dad’s home office. By his own admission, he spends hours in there fine-tuning his bangers.

A fan of “dubstep sounds” and the work of fellow Aussie EDM young gun Flume, Rhys is just an all-round music fan. “You’d hear Metallica blaring out of his room, then he’d be singing along to Pink Floyd, then he’s on the computer making electronic music,” Rhys’ dad recounts.

In addition to getting props from Nina Las Vegas, Triple J even arranged a quick video message from Flume himself who complimented the 11-year-old’s productions and advised him to keep experimenting. “Try new things and make mistakes,” he urged.

“When he figures out the nooks and crannies of what he can do, and he gets more plug-ins and programs… look out,” his father predicts, and it looks like Rhys is indeed poised for the big time. After one of his tracks was played during a school assembly, a female classmate screamed out, “I love you, Rhys!”

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