Perto (birth name Rupert Howarth, born January 30, 2002) is undoubtedly Australia’s biggest (and youngest) new export. His unique brand of electronic production has seen him release singles and remixes streamed millions of times, perform high-energy live sets around the world to thousands of listeners, and hit the studio with some of the world’s biggest artists.

The Sydney-born producer is a certified musical prodigy, whose output is mature beyond his years but as innovative and fortuitous as one would expect from an internet-fuelled savant with the world’s musical history at his fingertips.

Perto has been inspired by Skrillex ever since he heard Skrillex’s “Bangarang” on the radio at the age of 10, at which point got him interested in making music.

Skrillex is the reason I got into music, and then fast forward to last year and we’re singing Evanescence in a club in Myanmar together.

Ever since then, Perto’s life has been filled with twists and turns. He started making music with some of his musical heroes at 14, such as Flosstradamus and Valentino Khan, and was signed to Warner at 16, leading him to drop out of school at 17. He has since been seen in the studio with titans of the industry like Timbaland, Billie Eilish, and more, while counting fellow producers Diplo and Flosstradamus as mentors and friends.

I wake up and I make music, I don’t really do much else. From day one there was nothing else. I don’t know if I was naïve or just too dumb to realize how hard it can be to be an artist full time, but I never looked back or considered that it might not work out. There was never a backup plan.

Though he began his musical journey in the sphere of electronic music, Perto would shift his focus to synth-pop, preparing for the release of his debut EP, bozo. Despite production for bozo beginning in 2021, the EP would go through many revisions, with Perto stating that there have been over 50 songs on the project before it’s eventual release on December 1, 2023. This project would reflect on Perto’s self-identity and how he thinks of himself as a court jester—and would be a defining moment for his sound, being his first time releasing music featuring his own vocals.