| Skrillex | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | January 15, 1988 |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres |
Dubstep,[1] electro house, Moombahton, glitch music,[2] Post-hardcore, emo, metalcore, (with From First to Last) |
| Occupations | Musician, DJ, singer, guitarist |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Big Beat, Mau5trap, OWSLA |
| Associated acts | From First to Last, Korn, Kaskade |
| Website | www.skrillex.com |
Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), better known by his stage name Skrillex, is an American electronic music producer and former singer–songwriter. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles, California, Moore joined the American post–hardcore band From First to Last as the lead singer in 2004, and recorded two studio albums with the band (Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount (2004) and Heroine (2006)) before leaving to pursue a solo career in 2007.[3][4] He began his first tour as a solo artist in late–2007. After recruiting a new band lineup, Moore joined the Alternative Press Tour to support bands such as All Time Low and The Rocket Summer, and appeared on the cover of Alternative Press annual 100 Bands You Need to Know issue.[5] After releasing the Gypsyhook EP in 2009, Moore was scheduled to record his debut studio album, Bells, with producer Noah Shain. However, he ceased production of the album and began performing under the name Skrillex. After releasing the My Name is Skrillex EP for free download on his official MySpace page, he released the Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP in late–2010 and More Monsters and Sprites EP in mid–2011. Both have since become a moderate commercial success. On November 30, 2011, he was nominated for a total of five Grammy Awards at the 54th Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist.[6] On December 5, 2011, the BBC announced that he had been nominated for their Sound of 2012 poll.[7] On December 12, 2011, he was also named MTV's EDM Artist of the Year, ranking in front of successful acts such as David Guetta and deadmau5.[8]
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Moore grew up in Northeast Los Angeles.[9] In 2004, Moore contacted Matt Good of From First to Last about playing guitar for the band on their debut album. After flying out to Georgia, Moore was heard singing by three studio producers, Derrick Thomas, Eric Dale, and McHale Butler, and was then made lead singer, with Good playing guitar. In June 2004, Epitaph Records released the band's first full-length record with their new bandmate, Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count. After performing on several successful tours, two being the Vans Warped Tour and Dead by Dawn tour, they began recording their second album, Heroine with producer Ross Robinson. The album was released in March 2006 on Epitaph. With high record sales once again, the band found themselves part of many successful tours, until Moore started suffering vocal problems, causing the band to resign from several tours. After going through a successful vocal surgical procedure, Moore informed the band he would be permanently resigning to work on a solo career. FFTL's last show performed with Moore was in their hometown of Orlando at The House of Blues while touring with Atreyu.
Moore announced he had left From First to Last to pursue a solo career. He then launched a Myspace page displaying three demos ("Signal", "Equinox", and "Glow Worm"). This led to Moore's first performance since his leaving From First to Last. On April 7, 2007, alongside harpist Carol Robbins, Moore played several original songs at a local art building.
After months of releasing demos via Myspace, Moore played on the Team Sleep Tour with a full band. The tour also featured supporting acts Monster in the Machine and Strata. Moore made several demo CDs available on this tour, limited to about 30 per show. These CDs were tour exclusive, and were packaged in "baby blue envelopes", each with a unique drawing by Moore or bandmate.
In February 2008, Alternative Press Magazine announced the second annual AP Tour, with All Time Low, The Rocket Summer, The Matches, and Forever the Sickest Kids, as well as Sonny Moore. The tour started in Houston, Texas on March 14 and went through North America, ending in Cleveland, Ohio on May 2, with the majority of the shows being sold out. All bands playing the tour would be featured on the cover of Alternative Press Magazine's annual 100 Bands You Need to Know special, and would be interviewed on the Alternative Press Podcast. During this tour Moore's line-up consisted of Sean Friday on drums, Christopher Null on guitar, and Aaron Rothe on keyboards.
On April 7, 2009, he released Gypsyhook EP, a digital EP, which featured three songs and four remixes. Also included was a Japanese version of "Mora" entitled "海水". Physical copies of the EP were available at his shows. After going on tour with Innerpartysystem and Paper Route and opening for Chiodos on their European tour, Moore performed at Bamboozle on May 2. He performed on Bamboozle Left's Saints and Sinners stage on April 4. He toured with Hollywood Undead in April 2009 performing under the band name Sonny and the Blood Monkeys, with Chris Null (electric guitar), Sean Friday (drums, percussion & beats) and Aaron Rothe (keyboards, synthesizers, programming & turntables)
Although no official statement has been given regarding the album, Moore has been reported in interviews and at events saying Bells will no longer be released.
In 2008, Moore began producing and performing under the alias Skrillex (but before that, he was known on the internet as Twipz) at clubs in the Los Angeles area. . On June 7, 2010, Moore released his official Skrillex debut EP, My Name is Skrillex as a free download.[2]
Moore provided programming and vocals for UK metalcore band Bring Me the Horizon on their third studio album "There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret".[10] Later in the year, Sonny began a nationwide tour with Deadmau5 after being signed to mau5trap recordings and released his second EP, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.
Moore kicked off the "Project Blue Book Tour" in 2011 with support from Porter Robinson, Tommy Lee and DJ Aero as well as appearances from Sofia Toufa for a new song titled "Bring out the Devil." Skrillex unveiled several new songs on this tour including "First Of The Year" (formerly known as "Equinox"), "Reptile", and "Cinema" (remix of a Benny Benassi track). "Reptile" was featured in the TV commercial for Mortal Kombat 9, and "First of the Year (Equinox)" is featured on his follow up EP and remix companion to Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, titled More Monsters and Sprites.
In April 2011, Spin Magazine premiered an exclusive new track from Korn that Skrillex produced. Korn made this track, titled "Get Up," available for free download via their Facebook page.[11] On April 15, 2011 KoRn joined Skrillex on stage for his set at Coachella 2011.
On April 18, 2011, SCEA development studio Naughty Dog released a trailer[12] for the multiplayer component of their PlayStation 3 game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, featuring "Kill EVERYBODY" from Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.
In June 2011, "More Monsters and Sprites" was released on Beatport, an EP consisting of three original tracks, including "First of the Year (Equinox)" and two versions of his original track "Ruffneck". A leaked track entitled "Ruffneck Bass" had been leaked on the internet months prior which used the same sample as in the new "Ruffneck" tracks on the EP. Skrillex released a music video for "Rock n' Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain)" on his official YouTube page on June 20, 2011.[13]
On August 17, 2011 Skrillex announced his label OWSLA. "The label's first releases will come from Bristol-based dubstep producer Koan Sound, electro-house newcomer Porter Robinson from North Carolina, singer/songwriter Alvin Risk, and San Francisco based M Machine (formally Metropolis)."[14]
Skrillex released a music video for "First of the Year (Equinox)" via Spin.com on August 19, 2011.
In late August 2011 it was released that he would be appearing Knife Party's first release, collaborating on a Moombahton style track entitled "Zoology". A preview was released on Youtube. In late September 2011 he created the track "Syndicate" as promotion for the video game of the same name.
Kaskade's 2011 album "Fire & Ice" features a collaboration between Kaskade and Skrillex entitled "Lick It"
The video for Skrillex's song "First of the Year (Equinox)" appeared on the first episode of the Beavis and Butt-head revival.
On November 8, Skrillex confirmed the EP entitled 'Voltage'. Skrillex gave fans more info about Voltage in RockSound Magazine after a photoshoot for the cover and doing an extensive interview on his tour.
Skrillex will play nine dates in the UK from the 10th - 20 February.
On December 21, 2011, Skrillex unveiled the Bangarang EP for a Beatport release on December 23.
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