An Emerging Star Logan Will Make You Stop And Stare

Logan John Priest, aka Logan, remembers being six years old and seeing Michael Jackson perform the moonwalk for the first time.

"It's the Motown performance by Michael Jackson where he first did the moonwalk. I just kept replaying it and replaying it. Then we had no internet for the rest of the month, and I was in so much trouble," he laughs. "I was just trying to learn how he did that thing with his feet!"

Logan made a splash in May this year when he released his swaggering debut single 'Stop & Stare' and it's incredible one-shot video with his own moves on display. "Very sweaty after that. I was puffed," Logan says of the video shoot.

Since then, he's released two more fantastic singles ('Huh' and 'Famous'), made a great impression at Brisbane's BIGSOUND, and will be dancing up a storm as part of the Heaps Good Festival, sharing a stage with The Avalanches, Flume, and much more.



Dance has taken the Gold Coast-raised 21 year old far, from dance battles in Singapore to shooting commercials in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Logan was dancing to his own beats, crafting them in his bedroom. "I always wanted to be a singer," he says.

"Apparently, I was always singing as a baby, but dancing took over. It's just so tangible. Being in music is this thing where you have to make the music or play an instrument, whereas dancing is right here and I'm always able to dance, so it took over."

It was at "11 or 12" years old Logan downloaded an app on to his iPad and was finally able to craft his own beats. "I always struggled over the years to find someone to work on music with," he says.

"So, I was kind of like, 'Well, I'm not going to not make music'. I could feel it in my bones and I had to get it out somehow. I'd make beats and record my vocals into the iPad. I started doing that ten years ago.

"And then over time you build up a studio, you get a laptop, you get a midi keyboard, you get all the new equipment to record with. I've been doing that from my room pretty much the whole time and still do."

Not only is Michael Jackson an influence on Logan's moves, but also his music. He lists a number of artists who have inspired him, and they all happen to be fantastic dancers: Prince, Rihanna, Pharrell, Elvis.

"Oh yeah, Elvis, man! I watch back and I'm like, 'Is he a real person?'. He just had this unreal feeling, even in the earlier days. He's always had a cool flavour."

As for Logan's own flavours, he has cooked up some great recipes in his bedroom. After 'Stop & Stare', he released 'Huh' in July, and has just recently dropped his third single, 'Famous'.



"Man, it's exciting to put out ['Famous']," he says. "It's got a funny split meaning, that song. It's this confident brag, 'Why don't you treat me like I'm famous?'.

"But then on the other side it is about not fitting in and people overlooking you and not caring one bit about you. It's just a very funny song."

Recently, Logan has moved his music out of the bedroom and into the wider world. Down in a Sydney studio, he has been working on a pair of mixtapes with the likes of Sydney producer Tony Buchen, and artists Milku and Ben Swissa, the first due early 2024.

While Logan has a lot of experience making music, he has only recently begun performing live, with his first gig supporting Australian rockers Pacific Avenue.

The next chance to see Logan before what will likely be a massive 2024 is at the travelling Heaps Good Festival over the New Year. "It's really cool to see my name on the same poster as Flume and The Avalanches," he says.

"I'm pretty stoked, to be honest with you. I grew up dancing to Flume. He was one of the people who influenced me when I started making beats in my bedroom.

"[But performing onstage], for the first time in my life I feel really free to be myself. It's a feeling I never want to say goodbye to. And the beautiful part about it is that it's a different thing every night. How can you not fall in love with something like that?"

Logan 2023-2024 Tour Dates

Sun 31 Dec - Heaps Good (Melbourne)
Tue 2 Jan - Heaps Good (Brisbane)
Sat 6 Jan - Heaps Good (Adelaide)

Heaps Good 2023-2024 Line-up

Flume
Foals
The Avalanches
SBTRKT* Melb & Bris only
Basement Jaxx (DJ set)* Melb only
Declan McKenna* Adel & Bris only
Griff
Holly Humberstone
MAY-A
Sycco
Logan

Sound Archive lineup: Adelaide only

Mall Grab
KETTAMA
salute
Logic1000
RONA.
Denim