BAYNK

BAYNK, the project of New Zealand musician Jock Nowell-Usticke, first drew wider notice after uploading the original track “Sundae” to SoundCloud in 2015. The response led to an invitation to perform at Auckland’s St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival and helped launch his touring career.

Nowell-Usticke began learning piano, saxophone and guitar at a young age, later teaching himself music production while studying chemical engineering and playing in a small band. Inspired by Flume, he developed a sound spanning electronic pop, downtempo production and synth-led songwriting. In 2016, BAYNK released a remix of gnash’s “i hate u, i love u,” included among eight remixes on the singer’s Spotify playlist, and issued his first EP, featuring earlier tracks including “What You Need” and “Poolside.” His 2019 project Someone’s EP II followed.