Eddie Benjamin Talks Working On His Debut Album and Justin Bieber’s ‘SWAG’ At the Same Time: ‘We Do Life Together At a Beautiful Level’

Growing up in Bondi Beach, Australia, Eddie Benjamin was born into a laid-back environment. His love of music — especially “spontaneous performance rooted in real expression,” such as blues music — inspired his own Haze Trio group, with whom he gigged around Sydney in his teens. Yet, Benjamin had his sights set on an even bigger scene, and career: “I just wanted to do everything myself, honestly,” he asys. “I was so young, but I was hungry to really sit in music. Not only conceptually, but physically and really get into the nitty gritty of making records.”

He followed that feeling to Los Angeles, where he earned early co-signs from artists including Sia and Justin Bieber and scored a record deal at just 17 years old. Now, the 23-year-old multihyphenate has grown both his own discography and his list of credits — most recently working across a number of tracks on Bieber’s SWAG, including Billboard Hot 100 hit “Daisies.” As Benjamin recalls: “It was a potent day. I remember all of us were really like, whew, in our feels.”

Ahead of his own as-of-yet untitled debut album releasing this fall, Benjamin discusses how he built a creative community and support system halfway around the world that he now calls “family.”

Foundation

When Benjamin was 6 years old, his father bought a CD of the Black Eyed Peas’ The E.N.D. “I was so amazed by the world they created,” he recalls. “It was really futuristic and I was so little, but I was into powerful stuff.” Growing up in a musically inclined family, Benjamin would scroll the 85,000-plus songs his dad had downloaded to iTunes, becoming especially interested in Miles Davis and the composer Bach. At 10, he saw Prince in concert and was inspired to learn bass. By his teens, he was gigging around Sydney with his blues-rock band, Haze Trio, before moving to Los Angeles in 2020 at 18.

Discovery

One year prior to moving, in 2019, he signed a record deal with Epic. “I have a vivid memory of my dad and I walking into [Epic chairwoman/CEO] Sylvia Rhone’s office,” he recalls. “I had a little amp and my bass and just plugged in and sang.” Once in L.A. permanently, Benjamin says Instagram was his biggest ally. He would post videos singing or playing bass, including one playing an upright to Sia’s “Chandelier” that prompted her to DM him. Benjamin says Justin Bieber was the second artist to reach out. “I felt really protected and safe from the jump,” he says of finding a creative community in a new city. He released his debut EP in 2021 (featuring Sia on “Diamond Eyes”) and a second in 2023. Last year, he co-wrote and co-produced on Willow’s Empathogen and Shawn Mendes’ Shawn.

Future

While working on his as-yet-untitled debut album, Benjamin was heavily involved in Bieber’s SWAG, co-writing and/or co-­producing 11 songs and featuring on the title track alongside Cash Cobain. “Justin’s flow state is the most powerful I’ve seen,” Benjamin says. “Music is such a fluid expression, and when you’re really close with a community of people, you can just be in it together… We’re family.” Benjamin is now finishing his album before opening for Mendes on tour this fall. How will he celebrate the release of his debut? “Just be with my friends making more music.”

A version of this story appears in the Aug. 16, 2025, issue of Billboard.