Skrillex: My collaborations are whimsical

Ahead of his concert in the city, superstar DJ Skrillex gets talking about music and wanting to work with a certain Mr Yo Yo Honey Singh.
READ: ​Skrillex: I’d like to make music with Honey Singh
Listen to songs of Skrillex on Gaana.com
From an angsty 13-year-old who’d sneak into clubs to listen to IDM (intelligent dance music) to becoming one of the top DJs of the world, Skrillex (aka Sonny Moore) has had one hell of an interesting ride on the way to international fame. Starting his music career as lead vocalist for post-hardcore band From First to Last in 2004, Skrillex came into his own when he decided to go solo as electronic music producer and DJ in 2008.One of the most searched names on the internet today, Skrillex’s musical arc hit the sweet spot in 2012 when he won three Grammys — for Best Dance Recording, Best Dance/Electronica Album and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. He repeated the feat in 2013, winning three more Grammys in the same categories. While his critics may not be too complimentary about the ‘brostep’ sub-genre of dubstep he’s spawned, the DJ, music producer and singer-song writer continues to fill stadiums from New York to Hong Kong and Japan. On October 8, Skrillex will be performing in Bengaluru as part of Vh1 Supersonic Arcade.
‘ENJOYED JAMMING WITH THE DOORS’
A serial collaborator, Skrillex has jammed and produced hits with musicians across genres — from Korn to The Doors, to Diplo and Justin Bieber. On the projects he is currently working on, he says, “I’m doing a lot of collaborations with different artists. I’ve been working on other people’s records. Obviously, I’m doing a lot of stuff from the new Bieber album and working with The Game on some stuff I’m excited about, A$AP Ferg, Peter Gabriel... the list goes on.” While he enjoys the cerebral work that collaborating with other musicians entails, Skrillex admits that he doesn’t really have any criteria when it comes to selecting whom he wants to work with. “You know, it’s crazy because everybody works differently and I just like that no matter who you are collaborating with, you always learn something new about yourself and how to approach making music,” he says. On collaborations that he has enjoyed, he says, “collaborating with Diplo (with whom he works under the moniker Jack Ü) is fun because when we go into a session, it’s normally never really a session. We’re just kind of hanging out and ideas pop out randomly. Doing Breakin’ A Sweat with The Doors — they were the strongest ones. Robby (Krieger) and Ray (Manzarek) were just jamming together, so I made a drum loop, and we pieced stuff together from there. That’s how they like to work. A lot of the collaborations even happen online; it’s kind of the new way of collaborating.”
PRODUCING MUSIC IS ABOUT JUST DOING IT
In 2011, Skrillex turned producer, starting his own music label OWSLA along with Tim ‘Bitvargen’ Smith, Kathryn Frazier and Clayton Blaha. About the experience of turning producer and what he’s been learning on the job, he says producing music “is as easy as doing it right now, and becoming one hundred percent confident with who you are. That’s all it is. That’s the one thing that will make or break someone in anything in their life. It’s just deciding that you are doing it for your friends, your crew, yourself and not giving a f@$%, and just saying, ‘I’m going to do it.
Quick Qs
A musician you’d love to collaborate with today...
I don’t really have a wish list. I get just as excited about working with people who are unknown, who I don’t know, or who no one knows as much as I am working with established artists. I think the most exciting collaborations have always happened in a whimsical moment where you weren’t planning it and all of a sudden sh*$ happens. You know who I want to work with, for real? Yo Yo Honey Singh. Shout out, bro.
What are you listening to?
Right now, I’m just listening to Dej Loaf’s EP; it’s my favourite thing outright now that I listen to over and over again. But there is so much great stuff out there right now. I have such a mixed catalogue of music that I like to listen to. A shoutout to Skrillex Selects, check it out on SoundCloud or on Spotify— for real though, you want to hear what I’m listening to, you go there and that’s what I’m listening to.
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