Maple’s Pet Dinosaur

At just 15, Maple’s Pet Dinosaur is already carving out a space that feels entirely her own—raw, loud, and bursting with personality. What started as songs written in a bedroom has quickly snowballed into viral moments, festival slots, and a growing global audience. With a spot on this year’s Groovin The Moo lineup and a debut EP on the horizon, she’s stepping into a new chapter with fearless energy. We caught up with Maple’s Pet Dinosaur to chat festival highlights, the Newcastle scene, and what fans can expect from her chaotic, high-energy live show.

We’re so excited to see you’re on the Groovin The Moo lineup this year! Who are you most excited about seeing on the lineup this year?
It’s such a stacked lineup, I’m genuinely excited to just smash our set and just vibe out to the entire thing- from the chill vibes of Dope Lemon to the high energy Ninajirachi- it’s a super eclectic line up. I’ve been obsessed with Denzel Curry lately so that’s going to be an epic way to close out Groovin The Moo.

Have you spent any time in the Northern Rivers area before? Anything you’re excited to do while you’re in the area?
I’ve only ever stopped in while we’ve been on the way to Queensland for Good Things and Woodford, so my knowledge has only been stopping at servos because we had no time. I’ve been researching about Lismore and the areas around it and I’m super excited to explore such a beautiful area. My friends have told me I have to get some vegan food at The Garden Plate in Lismore, if anyone else has any recs slide into my DMs haha

Did you get along to any of the past GTM shows? Are there any lineups you look back on and wish you could have played on?
The last time GTM happened I was only 12 so I didn’t get to go along although I actually had tickets in 2024 when it unfortunately got cancelled. I was devastated because being from a regional area I know how important this festival is. I’m so stoked that it’s back and just as stoked that I’m playing it!
The line-up I would have loved to be on was 2019 when Billie Eillish played- she’s someone I look up to a lot because she started so young. I also would have loved to catch Regurgitator on that festival, Tu-Plang is one of my favourite Australian albums of all time.

What can fans expect from a Maple’s Pet Dinosaur show?
Fans can expect big vibes, big riffs, me singing my little heart out and the energy of a 15 year old girl lucky enough to be living my dream of playing songs I wrote in my bedroom on a big stage!
I also have a weird puppet on stage and I’m working on a pretty sick fit to wear on stage and around the festival!

You’ve had a huge few months since releasing ‘lego’ - highlights so far?
I had a whole plan to try and just get a couple of local gigs from the ‘lego’ ring camera video and it was just crazy how many people ended up hearing the music from it, months later I’m at Good Things Festival and getting to watch TOOL side of stage. It’s just so sudden and really trippy.
It’s also so amazing to meet so many creative people who share my love of music, it’s been so cool having people reach out to me from around the world sharing that ‘lego’ helped them deal with their own experiences with bullying.
With all that said, with the sudden impact of ‘lego’ I still feel like I have a lot to prove as a young artist and I’m super excited to launch this new era of new music at GTM and just grateful for the experiences that I’m yet to have.

The Newcastle scene has produced some incredible artists over the years - who are some other artists from the area you think we should keep our eye on??
Dude, the live scene in Newy is killing it right now. Dust are a sick band doing really good things overseas, Bardvarkk are a killer live punk rock band who are building a reputation as a ‘must watch’, Trophy Wyfe are an awesome 3 piece indie band who I like a lot and Filthy E and the Clean Teens are a brand new band with an amazing frontman- you guys should check all of them out.

What’s on the horizon for MPD in 2026
I’ve just finished recording my debut EP, I’m so hyped with how it’s sounding. I’ve been working with some amazing people including Declan White, Adam Alexander, Dan Stivens and Toby Peterson on the EP, I write all the songs at home and then we bring it to life in the studio and we’ve found a killer creative flow.
I’ve made heaps of visuals and videos and I’ve got a proper team helping me in 2026 whereas around ‘lego’ and ‘chorus’ I was just making everything up and figuring it out as I went along- so pretty stoked with how’s it’s going…also excited to push the music internationally which is a big goal for me.