Great minds, we’ve been led to believe, think alike. And cracking young artists, it would appear, hail from New South Wales’ Central Coast.
Ninajirachi and Boy Soda are two of those cracking artists who, on the eve of the ARIA Awards, enjoyed a full circle moment.
Both are poised to play a big part at the ARIAs, with Ninajirachi (real name: Nina Wilson), the rising EDM star, leading the pack with eight nominations, and Boy Soda (Brae Luafalealo), a vocal talent, chasing best soul/R&B release and set to perform.
On Tuesday morning, Nov. 18, the pair shared their respective journeys with a packed room of special guests for a pre-ARIAs gathering near Centennial Park, a short stroll from Hordern Pavilion, the site of the recording industry’s flagship awards night.
Both are alumni of Gosford High School, where they were separated by a year. They found each other through their mutual love of music, and even collaborated in the school grounds. Australia, a small world of 25 million folks.
Ninajirachi has won the Australian Music Prize and the triple j J Award for album of the year in quick succession, and could clean up at the ARIA Awards with her debut album I Love My Computer (via NLV Records).
“I actually finished most of it this year,” she said of her LP, which dropped Aug. 8. “I had at least half the songs at the end of last year,” including the title, “but I really kind of did most of the work between maybe April and June (of 2025). It that was definitely the most dense work period on the album. I feel like since it’s come out I’ve lived 100 lives and done a lot of shows, it’s definitely been a different year to any other before.”
Speaking with New York-based Australian music journalist Sam Murphy, Ninajirachi confirmed she’s the type of artist who loves setting her personal bar high, and clearing it each time.
“I’m actually never really thinking about moving the needle forward in terms of the world. That’s such a crazy undertaking. If I was holding myself to that, I would just never make a song again,” she responded with a laugh. “But I am always trying to impress myself and outdo myself and think, what have I not done?” She added, “I’m just trying to make my favorite music.”
Where I Love My Computer is themed around Ninajirachi’s connection with her device, Boy Soda’s Soulstar LP is a sonic plate of healing, and self-expression.
“It’s been that big process of catharsis. There’s 13 songs on there and they all kind of fix or address a certain thing within myself. They all represent different moments in my life or just different places that I’ve found myself on this kind of emotional spectrum in the last year of wanting to talk about that,” he remarked. “About not feeling like you have to change the world, just take the pressure off this.” Those songs capture “what my mornings sound like to me, what like a bad day sounded like for me, what a sexy day sounds like to me.”
Boy Soda completed the brunch event with a four-song showcase, closed out with album track “Lil’ Obsession,” a song that “has changed my life this past year,” he enthused.
He’ll get another chance so show off those caramel-smooth tones at the ARIAs, when he performs alongside his fellow best soul/R&B release nominees Larissa Lambert, PANIA, Jerome Farah, Jacotene and a 15-piece band, for a special salute to Australia’s soul and R&B community.
Sponsored by Spotify, the 2025 ARIA Awards ceremony streams live from 5 p.m. AEDT on Nov. 19 via Paramount+, with additional coverage across ARIA’s official social channels.
