Hello again, to all my friends
Together we can play some rock and roll

I remember sitting on the grass freshman year one lunch period with a pair headphones, scrolling through my invariant library when a friend of mine passed by, donning earbuds jacked into his own music player. I watched as he began to propel his head quite subtly forwards, sometimes side to side, but overtly enjoying whatever he was listening to. I took a seat next to him, asking what was playing. With a knowing glance, he yanked one side of his buds out and handed it to me. “Bro, have you heard this guy? He makes dubstep.”

Sonny Moore, aka Skrillex, pioneered my life and the future of electronic dance music as the 21st century graduated into its first decade. At the same time I got my first smartphone, I was always downloading the top hits I heard on the radio, classic and alt-rock influences from my parents, and a handful of old school hip hop and R&B throwbacks from growing up in Oakland, CA. Somewhat of an eccentricity in my early repertoire, like a jewel hidden between rock, I treasured the Discovery album I ripped from my mom’s original iPod by the French duo Daft Punk and a bit later found the “église” of Justice. In middle school, I danced to Austrialian DJ S3RL’s hardcore and hyper melodies, while I searched everywhere for the lyrics “Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA” belonging to Swedish singer and producer Basshunter. I loitered in my friend’s cool older brother’s room, hoping he would play more of Japanese DJ Shinichi Osawa’s bright, bouncy beats. With limited resources at the time, feeding my affinity for artificial rhythms and their distinct ingenuity to harmonize with our primal desires to dance and move was a fickle task. Maybe it was good timing that American EDM was catching up with the rest of the world by the time I turned 18 and started frequenting shows and festivals.

Skrillex ignited this evolution under mau5trap with his two EPs Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites and More Monsters and Sprites, instating dubstep’s emphemeral popularity with listeners in the US (coined brostep) as he topped 2011 music charts and reached the eardrums of high schoolers like me and my friend. He has won eight Grammy awards, holding the record for any electronic dance music artist. Formerly 1/2 of Jack Ü, Skrillex has collaborated with the likes of Diplo and Justin Bieber, winning him one of those awards in 2015 with Where Are Ü Now’s convergence between trap, pop, and EDM. By 2014, Skrillex marked the culmination of dubstep’s success with Recess; the album title’s name a reflection of his break from substantial projects. Meanwhile, the likes of Calvin Harris, Zedd, David Guetta, and The Chainsmokers were emerging in the mainstream after Skrillex’s wake. These artists found their success back in the more temperate subgenres of dance-pop and house, methodically featuring timeless icons such as Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Sia, Nicki Minaj, and Coldplay. Skrillex continued to make singles and collaborate with music titans both in the US and overseas. As contemporary mainstream mutates and diversifies, Skrillex adapts his sound to accomodate to demand, both drawing in new fans and drawing back earlier generations.

After more than nine years, Skrillex released Quest for Fire and Don’t Get Too Close in tandem last month in February. He gave the EDM community a taste with the initial release of Rumble, a potent collaboration between trail-blazing prodigy Fred again… propelled by MC Flowdan’s heavy and menacing vocals. Coalescencing to the rest of QfF’s track list, Skrillex’s 2023 studio album percolates with house-forward rhythm and style leading the latest EDM today. Analagous to the rollercoaster that EDM really is, RATATA features Missy Elliot’s effervescent intonations that amplify its kinetic groove, while the interlude Warped Tour ‘05 with pete WENTZ pays tribute to his roots in emo rock and rap, solidified in Don’t Get Too Close.

Skrillex’s debut back into EDM, perhaps a reinvention, is just one permutation of his seminal and authentic identity as an artist. In an interview with Future Music, Skrillex divulges tips and tricks to budding DJs and producers, detailing the remarkable simplicity of his accesible mixing software and tools and the same gear setup since Kill Everybody.

Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain On Music, reveals the “parlor trick” prevalent throughout Western classical music called “deceptive cadence”. Cadence indictes a chord sequence that establishes a predictable pattern until the rhythm breaks with a completely unexpected chord. Like a true composer, Skrillex has mastered this methodical formula comprehending the main structural elements of the intro, breakdown (percussion drop out), build up (rising pitch or faster percussion), and the notorious drop (my favorite) throughout his ground-breaking tracks. Welcome back Skrillex, I’m ready to Rumble.

DJ, pull up the tune, bun up the room, straight to the moon again

Listen to Skrillex’s new album, Quest for Fire on Spotify or Apple Music.