This past year, I’ve fallen in love with Australian DJ Ninajirachi’s self-proclaimed “girl EDM” sound — a blend of older electronica from the 2000s and modern hyperpop. After first discovering her 2024 EP “girl EDM (disc 1)” last April, I became entranced by her high-tempo, eclectic mixes. On Jan. 16, I had the pleasure of experiencing Ninajirachi’s discography live at the EQ San Diego. On tour for her first full-length album, “I Love My Computer,” Ninajirachi’s first show in San Diego sold out completely and proved just as vibrant and euphoric as her music.
Opening her set with “London Song,” Ninajirachi took her audience on a journey — reminiscing on growing up with the internet and exploring the world via a computer screen. She made a few pitstops with several songs from “girl EDM (disc 1),” showcasing fluttering instrumentals of her previous work. Sparkling, high-tempo tracks like “Undo U” and “Ninacamina” –– the latter performed with opener Izzy Camina –– rang out across the crowd as a CAPTCHA-stylized animation of the word “girledm” played on a screen behind them.
Playing almost every track from “I Love My Computer,” Ninajirachi presented both the joys and sorrows of growing up in the digital age. Against a backdrop of blue lasers, she bounced and twirled behind her DJ deck as tracks like “Infohazard” recounted the trauma of exposure to adult content as a youth and “Delete” painfully described the embarrassment of posting for a crush on social media. To my delight, two of my favorite songs from her album –– “[F—] My Computer” and “iPod Touch” –– were also spotlighted at her concert, transforming a night that began with her complex feelings for her machines into one of ultimate adoration for them.
With its evocative title and cheeky lyrics, “[F—] My Computer” and its crunchy, dubstep-inspired beat sprinkled with computer error sound effects energized me throughout the summer. “I wanna [f—] my computer / ‘Cause no one in the world knows me better,” Ninajirachi declares — every word and punchy note reverberating through the small space. I recalled everything I’ve poured into blog posts, video games, and messages to friends over the years. Who would know me better than the combined hard drives of my computers, from the family desktop on which I played Poptropica and created magazines for my friends, to my current MacBook that stores my programming assignments and writing projects? Just as the buzzy prechorus came to a crescendo, the DJ interrupted my thoughts.
Suspending the vocal chops, Ninajirachi beckoned the audience to create a circle in the center of the room. A mosh pit quickly formed as everyone waited in anticipation for the beat drop. When the chorus finally arrived, the air was electric; glistening with sweat, everyone shouted the sparse lyrics in unison and jumped with each strum of the digital samples over the same buzzing bassline. Energy coursed through the entire room with each new track in the setlist, mirroring Ninajirachi’s overflowing passion up on stage.
As someone who grew up in suburban Australia, Ninajirachi has said that reaching fans across the world has been a dream. Her excitement was felt through every pulsing beat and melodic line of the night, accompanied by visuals referencing early 2000s anime, the cell towers that represent worship points of internet access in her personal canon, and even blueprints of Australia’s first digital computer, CSIRAC.
Closing the night with the airy “iPod Touch,” Ninajirachi shared her memories of finding her own music taste through listening to songs on her iPod Touch and messing with FL Studio as a girl. Remembering my own penchant for carrying around my parents’ old iPod Classic in elementary and middle school, I was delighted to hear my own experiences of falling in love with music for the first time represented in a song. Like Ninajirachi, many songs evoke certain moments, similar to an auditory Proust effect. Hearing this song live was a full circle moment for me as I heavily soundtracked the past year with her music, and I felt myself growing teary-eyed as the chorus of “iPod Touch” played.
As someone who is rarely moved to the point of speechlessness by music, I get emotional at my inability to share my feelings for a work of art. However, in the EQ’s main room that night, wordlessness didn’t matter. Without many lyrics to sing along to, we expressed our passion through dancing; I felt one with the room as we jumped, headbanged, and spun to songs about our ubiquitous machines. A certain divinity was bestowed onto the computer, dancing the night away with the audience in front of gorgeous displays revering totems of our digital era.
With the imminent artistic and intellectual threat of AI and the dulling of our sensations due to the barrage of cheap dopamine hits vying for attention through our phones, Ninajirachi’s music deifies the computers we take for granted. After all, as an EDM artist, her instruments, mixing software, and production equipment all originate from her computers. Viewing them as creative tools, digital escapes, and even personifying her own computer, Ninajirachi reminds us what these machines were meant for –– art, discovery, and joy.
