28-year-old American DJ/producer Sonny John Moore, otherwise known as Skrillex, is an artiste who is the envy of his peers. He first started out as he lead singer of From First to Last, a post-hardcore band that he was a fan of, and recorded 2 studio albums before leaving to pursue a solo career in 2007.
Quite frankly, it’s one of the best (if not the best) decisions he has ever made.
It didn’t take him long to start performing under the name Skrillex.
In 2008, he began producing and performing at clubs in the Los Angeles area under that alias. His first release as Skrillex was an aptly titled, “My Name Is Skrillex” introductory EP, a free download on his official MySpace page. Without skipping a beat, he subsequently released the “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” EP in late 2010, followed up by a remix companion to “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” titled, “More Monsters and Sprites” EP in 2011.
“Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” became his biggest hit, with over 246 million views on YouTube.
His real big breakthrough came on 30th November 2011 when he was nominated for 5 Grammy Awards at the 54th Grammy Awards, including “Best New Artiste”. He swept a total of 3 awards: “Best Dance/Electronica Album” and “Best Dance Recording” for “Bangarang; “Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical” for “Promises”. That same year, MTV named him “Electronic Dance Music Artiste of the Year”.
To date, Skrillex has 8 Grammy Awards tucked under his belt, the world record for most Grammys won by an electronic dance music artiste. He’s not even halfway through the span of his career as a solo artiste yet but already, his discography boasts 1 studio album, 6 extended plays, 26 singles, and 23 music videos – and counting. On top of that, he has Jack Ü (a collaboration with Diplo) and “Dog Blood” (a side project with Boys Noize) on his impressive resume.
Did we already mention that he is an artiste who is the envy of his peers?
Next month, he will be bringing the “Bangarang” to the 2016 edition of IMS Asia-Pacific in Shanghai, China.
His “Meet Team OWSLA” session in IMS will include some of the key players behind the success of Skrillex and his OWSLA imprint; Tim Smith (Manager), Lee Anderson (Agent), and Blaise DeAngelo (OWSLA GM). The panel will discuss the strategies, successes, and challenges of taking their sound and style across Asia-Pacific. Key topics include: recording in Korea, the influence of Japan, synchs with Chinese film studios, touring strategy for South East Asia, and much more.
Skrillex will be joined by other global artistes, thought-leaders, and industry figureheads to explore the growing influence of electronic music and the issues, challenges and opportunities that face the industry globally and in Asia.
Interested? Get your IMS Asia-Pacific badges here. Meanwhile, more details for this year’s speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information on IMS Asia-Pacific, visit their website or Facebook page.
Sources: Skrillex Wiki, NME.
