Skrillex, A Look Back At The Most Influential Artist of 2011
Unless you have been hiding under a rock or on another planet then you have most likely heard the name Skrillex. If you don't know who Skrillex is then here is your chance to get a glimpse at one of the hardest working people in music today. Skrillex is Sonny Moore, a 23 year old DubStep/electro DJ from LA. He has taken the music word by storm with his hard hitting, head banging & aggressive music.
Over the last year and a half Skrillex has gone from a relatively unknown DJ to one the biggest names in Electronic music. Some would say that he is responsible for the popularity of DubStep music here in the U.S. and I would have to agree.
He has been on a non stop mission to take over the music industry. He has done remixes for some of the biggest names in music including The Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg & Bruno Mars just to name a few. In June of 2010 he released his first EP “My Name Is Skrillex” which sold 83,000 copies and counting.
Not long after that DJ/Producer deadmau5 took notice of Sonny and quickly signed him to his label “mau5trap records” where he soon released his sophomore EP “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” it was an instant success, since it's release it has sold more than 500,000 copies in the U.S alone. It was not long before it held 8 out of the top 10 spots on Beatport.
In an interview with Neon tape deck he stated that he made the EP at home on his laptop. He released the companion EP to “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” titled “More Monsters and Sprites” in June of 2011. GoPro Action Camera's used the song "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" in one of it’s TV ads. Also, in November the album was certified gold in Canada, and it is set to be released on CD on January 17, 2012.
In early 2011 he embarked on the “Project Blue Book Tour" of North America with long time rocker Tommy Lee & DJ Aero, Sofia Toufa, and rising star Porter Robinson. On April 15th 2011, KoRn joined Skrillex on stage at Coachella Music Festival one of the world's largest music festivals. Skrillex produced the track “Get Up” for them and Spin Magazine premiered it that same month. Also in April "KILL EVERYBODY" was featured in the PlayStation 3 game “Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception”
Skrillex also performed at several Music festivals this summer Including Electric Daisy Carnival, Hard Summer, Bonnaroo, & Electric Zoo just to name a few.
In August he announced that he was launching a label called “OWSLA" with his manager Tim Smith, along with Clayton Blaha & Kathryn Frazier of Biz 3 Publicity out of Chicago. The first to sign with his new label were none other than rising superstar Porter Robinson, Dubstep producer Koan Sound, M Machine (formally Metropolis), & singer/songwriter Alvin Risk. He also released the music video for "First of the Year (Equinox)" on spin magazine's website
In September 2011 he set off on the “Mothership Tour” which spanned the globe. On tour with with him were superstars 12th PLANET, Foreign Beggars, Flux Pavilion, Nadastorm, Feed Me, & Koan Sound. The tour ended in Belfast on December 3rd.
In early December, Skrillex made history again when he was nominated for 5 Grammy awards Including Best New Artist, which is a first for a DJ, Best dance recording for “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites", best dance/electronica album for “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites", best remixed recording (non-classical) and best short form music video. You can watch the Grammy’s February 12th, @ 8/7c on CBS.
He was also named MTV’s EDM Artist of the year, beating out the biggest names in Electronic Music including the likes of David Guetta, mentor deadmau5, Swedish House Mafia, Afrojack, Avicii, Calvin Harris, Kaskade, Tiësto, & Martin Solveig, an A list of the best DJ's in Electronic Music.
On December 23rd Skrillex released “Bangarang” his fourth EP. Later that day he posted on his Facebook page encouraging his fans who could not afford to buy the album to go ahead and Pirate it so that they could have it. Saying "happy holidays just like I promised.... just like i always say, go pirate it if you don't have money..i just want you to have it... or you can buy it here..either way I'll love you". download bangarang here
Skrillex shows no sign of slowing down in 2012 with a full tour schedule including 6 shows here in Los Angeles starting at the end of January, Los Angeles Dates Here followed by the Grammy’s where he could make history by being the first DJ to win "Best New Artist of the year". Then there is the re:generation music project which he is doing with the three remaining members of the Doors along with DJ Premier, The Crystal Method, Pretty Lights, & Mark Ronson. regeneration music project link
So what can we expect from Skrillex in 2012? Field Of Noise expects him to continue to push the limits of the music industry, and to continue to show us how music is always evolving. We are also excited about what will come from his label OWSLA. He has been the most influential artists of the last year and we look forward to more of his originality and hard work behind the decks & in the studio.
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