How Ninajirachi Built An Online Community

By Ben Madden

For Central Coast-born, Melbourne-based producer Ninajirachi, her trusty computer, and an Internet connection, have long been her connection to the outside world. Without it, things may have looked very different. “I always loved and played music as a kid but I only became truly obsessed with wanting to make my own when I discovered internet music. If not for that discovery, I'd probably have wanted to be a film director or do something with animals.” 

Set to release her aptly-named debut album, I Love My Computer, on August 8th, it’s the culmination of years of hard work. From heavy touring, like the Heaps Normal-supported annual touring festival Dark Crystal, a steady stream of releases, and an online presence that’s brought together fans from across the globe, she’s made the leap from cult favourite to one of Australia’s biggest electronic music exports. 

Image credit: Aria Zarzycki

Her debut album is littered with tributes to different aspects of the online experience, and follows on from 2023’s 4x4 and 2024’s girl EDM EPs. On album highlight ‘Fuck My Computer’, she sings that “no one in the world knows me better”, while on ‘Infohazard’ she captures the shock of seeing her first-ever snuff film. On the vibrant ‘iPod Touch’, she captures the experience of forming a music taste separate from anyone else: “I’ve got a song that nobody knows/I put it on when nobody’s home”, while on glitchy album closer, ‘All At Once’, she brings thing full-circle. “Fell into the screen like a star/As a girl/Found a world there and gave it my heart/Now we’re soul-bound.”

Authentically capturing the experience of being online during the early 2010s (I threw myself into the world of Tumblr, and discovered bands like San Cisco, The Jungle Giants, and Ball Park Music), I Love My Computer is diaristic without feeling insular. Instead, it comes from a place of reflection. “I’ve had access to a computer for as long as I can remember,” Ninajirachi explains. “The first one I ever used was the family pc in the ‘computer room’ and I used it to play Neopets, read DS game walkthroughs, eventually make music too. Buying a laptop when I was 14 was life-changing because from then my computer could come with me anywhere and I wouldn't have to wait my turn. My laptop was MY computer and my relationship with it became much more personal.”

Her life-long understanding of the online world has helped her build an army of superfans online, through platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Discord. Her Discord features more than 2000 members, and it’s a place where she can speak to fans more directly. The server is where fans hear about new music, live shows, and merch first, so they can stay informed. “I love my Discord server because it’s less about fans getting to know me and more about fans getting to know each other,” she says. “I share announcements and stuff in there before I post them anywhere else because I know the members will engage with it more than anyone else and I'm so grateful for that.”

One of the Discord’s most active members, Daisy, echoes Ninajirachi’s thoughts when reflecting on what the space means to her. More than just a place to learn about all things Ninajirachi, it’s a space for people to find like-minded friends. “Of course we talk a lot about Nina, but we also just talk. There's a really nice feeling of community that's fostered in that space. Every day we pop in and chat to strangers like they're friends, and it's easy because we all have that big thing in common. 

“There are dedicated channels where we can share music we love or give each other fashion tips, but there are also channels for things like event coordination and artist collaboration. The whole server is geared really well to bring us together.” Ninajirachi’s seen this bonding over her music in action, both in Australia and overseas. “I played my first London show last week and met a group of three girls who knew each other through my server and organised to go to the show together. Like they met IRL for the first time that night. That kind of thing makes me so happy that I want to cry, it makes me so thrilled to be alive in big 2025.”

When asked about how she’s built out her online presence, Nina says that it’s been genuine, not calculated. “Everything has been very instinctual. ILMC carries on from girl EDM which is an idea that lots of people connected with and I wanted to keep that going. girl EDM and ILMC both came from me and my taste and life experiences so I just do what my gut tells me and hope that other people might connect with it too. Massive shout out to John [You], Tom [Vanderzeil] and Aria [Zarzycki] who have been the most excellent visual collaborators and sounding boards for my ideas over the last year or two as well.”

In the lead-up to announcing I Love My Computer, Ninajirachi and collaborator Aria designed an alternate reality game (ARG) that combined elements like the 4562.world website, postcards, and more. Daisy explains, “In February, Ninajirachi told people in the Discord server to recite a secret code (4562) at her upcoming shows, and when we did she gave us a longer code that acted as a password on a secret website she and Aria built. She also asked us to email our home addresses to her, and then sent out cards with other passwords on them which unlocked different parts of the website.

“The different sections had all sorts of documents and audio files and links hidden in them, some of them leading us to real life locations where we'd find even more passwords for other parts of the website. When you reached the end of the maze, among other things was an early announcement of the album. The website had lots of scattered fragments of storytelling that built out a loose story involving phone towers and a sort of cult. A lot of the website, the story, and the discord messages of us working it all out are featured in the Infohazard music video which made it all feel like a big grand culmination.”

Image credit: Aria Zarzycki

While major label executives continue to earn their salaries by encouraging their artist roster to pump out more TikToks, Daisy explains that it’s the interactivity of spaces like Discord that truly engage her as a fan. "I love the little worlds that artists build in their online presences and the ways they tie it into their art.” Nina's music is very influenced by internet culture, so the way she uses the internet feels like a natural extension of her work.”

Being so accessible online isn’t an approach that’s going to work for every artist, however. Privately and publicly, artists regularly express their frustrations with online promotion, with many developing varying solutions to the conundrum of needing to be online. In 2024, British artist FKA twigs told a US Senate Judiciary subcommittee she’d developed an AI version of herself to interact with fans and journalists. She told the committee the AI “allows me to spend more time making art. Often being a music artist, or any artist in this day and age requires a lot of press and a lot of promo, a lot of one-liners.” Ninajirachi has a simpler method of dealing with online burnout, though. “I really enjoy it, so if I get tired, I just put my phone away and come back to it later.”

Having been around for the evolution from forums and fan clubs, to spaces like Discord becoming the norm, Daisy says being a music lover is easier than ever. “The barrier for fandom entry feels a lot lower and less intense now than it did when I was jumping on popstar forums as a kid. Discord servers are so much more casual and it's much easier to instantly feel like part of the community you want to be a part of. It's a really beautiful thing.” She adds that a space like Discord takes some of the onus off artists to entertain their fanbase. “I think a lot of people feel like being in a personal space like a Discord server opens up doors that it doesn't. It's so easy to get parasocial these days, but artists really don't owe that to their fans.

“There are moderators keeping the place in order so Nina only talks in the server when she wants to, and we all have the understanding that we're there for the music and the community and not so we can chat to her. I don't think a space like this one can function healthily without that understanding.”

Looking at the way Ninajirachi’s created spaces for her fans to gather online, it’s clear that she’s fostered a community that she herself would have thrived in back when she first discovered music. “Whenever someone tells me that they love my music and it really means something to them, or they have a nice story about how they found it, or they make fan art or kandi bracelets or anything like that, I want to show I'm grateful,” she says. “Sometimes I don't even know how to take it in or thank them properly.”

“I felt pretty alone in my tastes growing up, so now having people in all different countries enjoying what I've made means everything to me.”

Ninajirachi’s debut album 'I Love My Computer' is out on August 8th via NLV Records.

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