Making music has been such a fun journey for me. I love so many aspects of it. Conceptualising, creating, writing, performing and releasing.
I will always be making music and listening to it. However, as I enter the next chapter of my life I will be focusing only on University. I have been longing to study for so long. I didn't believe something I was so passionate about was a plausible option for me. I was going to study psychology, then youth work and then teaching. Eventually all 3 of those had to be put on hold while I got my shit together.
This gave me the time to realise that music was truly the only thing that kept me grounded.
As much as creating and releasing is fun, the business side of music fascinates me so much more. I've spent so much time analysing trends, numbers, tactics, etc. I have fallen in love with the promotion of music. After testing some of these tactics with my own music, I'm so excited to expand beyond what I've learnt from analysing billboard charts and learn more from my Music Business degree. That's where I am so grateful for every lesson I have had to learn. If it weren't for them I would've never had the guts to take this career path.
Thankyou to everyone who listened, helped, and contributed to making something I was passionate about. This project helped me reclaim a part of my life that held so much shame within me. This is act i of a trilogy that I am eventually planning to turn into my first mixtape.
I did have what I thought was the second act ready, I even released it. But after I moved to melbourne I realised I was removed from the universe the EP was created in. This caused me to become disconnected from the project overnight. I subsequently took it down along with any song with my voice.
I love singing, vocal production is one of my favourite things in the whole world. However I am not ready to release anything like that yet, and quite frankly I feel more content in releasing electronic projects. This is where I hope the next two years of Uni is going to help guide me to releasing the full mixtape. Vocal lessons, production lessons, even getting back into playing piano full time. It's a very exciting chapter that I am looking forward to.
I do feel as if I got a bit carried away. Some releases I wish you all never got to hear, others I am very proud of.
Thankyou to Mya, Oliyena, Teeani, Mia, Pixie and everyone else who worked on the most high project. Unfortunately it was mutually agreed the project was scrapped so we could focus on our own individual endevours.
Thankyou for that mexican radio station for hosting new chains. That's a song I want erased from the internet. But a win is a win lol.
bye for nowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww <3
DON'T DO DRUGS is the debut extended play by Australian artist Rupert Leonard, releasing July 3, 2026.
The project’s lead single, onetwentyfive, was featured in Happy Mag’s New Music Radar as one of the tracks worth throwing into rotation, marking an early introduction to the world of the EP. Created over a three year period, the six track project is heavily inspired by Leonard's experience with psychosis. Blending electronic production with personal storytelling, the EP explores themes of perception, identity, fear, and the feeling that something is not quite right beneath the surface.
Designed as a concept record, DON'T DO DRUGS follows a loose narrative centred around an unknown presence that slowly begins to alter the mind. Reality becomes harder to trust as memories shift, details disappear, and ordinary experiences take on new meanings. Rather than telling a clear story, the project leaves space for interpretation, inviting listeners to piece together what is happening for themselves.
Throughout the EP, electronic textures and distorted soundscapes are used to create an atmosphere of uncertainty. Moments of clarity are often interrupted by confusion, mirroring the psychological tension that runs through the project.
Rupert was interviewed to help promote onetwentyfive, the lead single from the project. The feature focuses on Leonard’s original track “onetwentyfive”, describing the release as a track that blends atmospheric electronic production with emotionally charged, experimental sound design. The interview explores both the creative process behind the track and the personal themes that influenced its development.
In the Wizard Water Agency interview, Rupert Leonard discusses his approach to music production and how he builds immersive sonic environments using layered synths, textured rhythms, and minimal yet impactful arrangement choices. The track review highlights “onetwentyfive” as a deeply atmospheric piece of electronic music that balances intensity with emotional restraint.
You can read the full interview here
Together, the EP’s six tracks form a personal body of work that reflects on some of the most challenging experiences of Leonard's life while transforming them into something immersive and open to interpretation.
DON'T DO DRUGS marks Rupert Leonard's first major release and the beginning of a larger artistic vision.
Tracklist: