The Melbourne-born, Amsterdam-based artist Bella Claxton is arriving at Freeform Festival in October as one of the country's most exciting electronic exports.

Over the past two years, Claxton has quietly transformed from a respected name within Melbourne's underground into one of Australia's fastest-rising DJs. Between headline shows selling out in minutes, an international touring schedule stretching across Europe, and stepping in to headline Pitch Music & Arts Festival after Charlotte de Witte's withdrawal, 2026 has become her breakout year.  

Before all of this, though, she was merely a teenager in Albury waiting for her friends to come home from Melbourne.

“They'd come back talking about all these clubs and festivals," she recalls. "Pitch and Strawberry Fields were still super underground back then. They'd bring all this music back with them, and I just became obsessed."

Electronic music runs deep in her veins—it was always blasting through the car speakers thanks to her mum's CD collection."I've always liked music that wasn't Top 40," she says. "Once I discovered electronic music properly, I just knew—that's what I wanted to do."

That obsession has since evolved into one of Australia's fastest-rising electronic careers. "I found my people in electronic music," she says. "It felt really community-based, and that's what kept me there."

After relocating to Amsterdam, Claxton experienced a club culture fundamentally different from Australia's. In Europe, she explains, dance music is woven into everyday life.

"You've got people in their fifties going to festivals because they genuinely love electronic music. It's not something you're expected to leave behind when you're older."

The contrast inspired her to rethink what she wanted Australian dance culture to become. "In Australia, it sometimes feels like once you turn 25, your clubbing days are over," she says. "Over here it's completely different. You'll see people in their fifties going to festivals because they genuinely love electronic music. It's a lifestyle."

Late last year she launched Cadence, her own record label, which has quickly become an extension of everything she believes electronic music should be. Named after the running term for "steps per minute", Cadence champions the groove-driven records that hold a dancefloor together, the tracks that keep people moving.

"I wanted to create a home for those songs that build the foundation of a set," she explains. "It's about keeping it rolling and keeping people dancing."

The label has already expanded internationally through showcases across Europe, featuring artists from Australia, France, the Netherlands and the UK, proving her influence now stretches well beyond home shores. She's becoming one of the few Australian artists actively shaping the future of club culture from both behind the decks and behind the scenes.

That vision feels perfectly aligned with Freeform Festival. Presented by Bizarro and Crown Ruler, Freeform has rapidly established itself as one of Australia's most forward-thinking electronic events. Taking over the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with four stages of world-class programming, this year's lineup balances international heavyweights, including Richie Hawtin, Barry Can't Swim, Ben UFO, Avalon Emerson and Interplanetary Criminal with some of Australia's most exciting local talent.

Artists like Claxton embody exactly what Freeform is trying to achieve—pushing electronic music beyond the festival circuit and celebrating the culture that surrounds it.

"I think people are looking for that connection again," she says. "They want functional dance floors, good music and spaces where everyone is actually there for the same reason."

After speaking to Bella, she is filling exactly the gap that young people in Australia are feeling lost in—we just want to connect with each other with good music playing. It’s a lost art that Bella is single-handedly bringing back, and I can’t wait to see her take over the world.