Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Creative director/vocalist DPR IAN developed a fondness for music and performance at an early age. As a teen, he taught himself the drums and started a heavy metal band, playing and writing songs by ear.
He was later drawn to b-boying and breakdancing as a form of physical self-expression, skipping class to busk in downtown Sydney and documenting his freestyles on YouTube. His channel gave him an audience, and it even connected him with his future DPR
collaborator and friend Hong Da-Bin(also known as DPR LIVE).