Two years ago, something stirred inside his newly 18-year-old self as he watched Flume perform on stage at Splendour in the Byron Bay hinterland.

"I turned to my friend and said: 'Bro, I'm not taking this wristband off till I'm performing up there.'

"I was a bit drunk at the time," he said.

A man of his word, the wristband stayed on for an entire year, coming off only when it was declared a bit of a biohazard.  One year later, Ned performed to a crowd of 10,000 at none other than Splendour in the Grass.

Today, Ned strums his guitar in Canberra's Bar Rochford, chatting to me in a husky voice that's as much from singing with Sydney producer LDRU as it is from "screaming every lyric of Kendrick Lamar's set" at Splendour.

He's sporting some dark circles, but he's got shiny blue eyes that make you squint up to check whether Canberra's really that sunny today. Call it that post-performance glow, or call it being only 20.

A regular performer at local venues Public, Hopscotch and Edgar's, the former Marist boy still can't get over his weekend: "Oh my goodness. Never experienced anything like it."

On stage, Ned was struck by two things: his dream becoming reality, and the roar.

"The first thing I thought when I got up on stage was that Flume moment I had in 2016. It was happening.

"I also got these in-ear headphones which I've never used, and they basically block out the noise of the crowd. At one point I took one out and I could just hear this roar. You can't even see the end of the crowd, there were people spilling out all the way to the left of the tent."

Like all great performers, the Weston Creek local wasn't going to let the moment slip by without working the crowd.

"I thought hey, I'm the guy in control here, so I started trying to make people clap. Everyone was doing these ones."

He waves his hands about and a tiny wave of Splendour FOMO hits me.

"I had my best friends of all time in the front row, some of them on shoulders. They were my Canberra friends who I had known for 10 years, just getting squashed."

During our chat, Canberra pops up often. While Ned travels for his music, performing in places like Auckland, London, parts of France and even Vanuatu, it's Canberra he always comes back to.

"Canberra is great because it's a safe place. I just go down to the lake with my guitar and write my songs. Canberra's great for that.

"I also really value the support network here. I'm a Canberra fan. Even meeting mates outside of Canberra, from all over Australia, I always try bring them down here.

"I'm not saying there's an amazing array of clubs or things to do, but there are good people here. It's home. I want to come back here and build a family."

He admits that the low-key nature of the city shaped his songwriting, with fewer distractions meaning he could stay in a creative headspace.

"As fast as a moment comes, it goes. So it's good to ride that creative wave and put myself in environments where I'm forced to create. The environment very much shapes the song I'm writing.

"More often than not, my best songs aren't planned. These are the ones that come about in 20 minutes.

"I love that about music, it's forever changing. Songwriting is fascinating because it's so short-lived, it's a moment that you think is special, and you've got to block all else out.

The same year Ned made the pact to perform at Splendour, he won hearts at my brother's wedding in France. The guests simply couldn't get enough of this Ed Sheeran-esque Canberra dude.

A few years on and Ned is somewhat of a pro. A little bit more comfortable in his skin, and with a refined storytelling ability that goes well beyond songwriting, he's set for big things.

"LDRU and I have got a song coming out called Too Late. The first time we performed together was Sydney's City Limits, which gave me a taste for it. After that he asked me to join him at Splendour. It was all very exciting.

"A few weeks before, anytime someone would mention the festival I'd get instant butterflies. For some reason on the day of the festival, I wasn't nervous at all. I was excited. I was ready."

For a young one, he's got his head screwed on tight. But just like us normies, he's not immune to being star struck.

He admits it was tough to wrangle "being a superfan" while conveying that he was still "familiar, a musical peer."

During the event, he had a fellow Splendour artist jump on stage and dance with him, spent time with Gang of Youths and chatted with 15-year-old singer/songwriter Ruel.

So what's next for Ned?

"Our song Too Late will most likely be officially released later in the year. It's a pop and dance song, but it's in the hands of his label Sony. I'm hoping if all goes well, I'll be touring with him.

"We shared a moment on stage at Splendour, the music reached the drop, everyone in the crowd lost their minds and started dancing. We looked at each other as if to say: 'Dude, this is special.'

"I'm working on songwriting sessions. I've never released my own song yet! My friends are getting fed up with me. I've got a song graveyard, just 200-300 songs that may never see the light of day. But that's just the songwriting reality."

It's his friends who seem indispensable to the young musician, the "family" he's put together along the way. Which is probably why he likes keeping it local.

"This year is the year of 21sts. It's non-stop gigs for my friends' birthdays."

His next local gig will be slightly bigger than a 21st when he takes to the stage with LDRU at local dance dungeon Mr Wolf on September 12.