The Sydney-based artist grew up between Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and northern New South Wales, and has been performing live since 1994. He has been an advocate for unusual music and has been a key figure in Sydney's underground music scene since the early 00s.

Abela became involved in turntablism while filling in for a friend on a graveyard radio shift in the early 90s. Oren Ambarchi happened to tune in and catch Abela’s antics and subsequently invited him to play the What is? Music Festival. Abela’s early noise works involved dismantled sewing machines, power tools and a combi van. The glass performances were refined over a nine-year period beginning in 2003.

Recent work includes sound installation pieces like "Vinyl Rally", a work where gamers are invited to mess around in reengineered, old-school racing consoles and operate remote control cars equipped with cameras and styli that send back audio and video signals as the cars drive over a track constructed from disused vinyl records.