Skrillex took some time away from the studio to participate in a 7-man panel at the Billboard Touring Conference to discuss their thoughts musical philosophies and just about everything else that has to do with it. The conference featured a case study centered around the rock band, Grateful Dead, who’s diehard fan base created a revolutionary whiplash of sustainable businesses that were merely impossible to accomplish during a time that social media was not prevalent in the 70s. The panel continued for a few minutes and Skrillex was able to freely speak his mind on the many topics that were brought up.
At his turn at the mic, Sonny had the opportunity to voice his opinions and beliefs on what live music performances should entail. It was quite fascinating to hear what Skrillex had to say about live performances, seeing as he comes from a very different genre and style of music compared to that of the Grateful Dead’s. Despite that difference in musicality, they both share one simple trait: fans around the world pay big bucks to see their live performances. As he continued his live panel speech, Sonny took a second to bring fellow friend Deadmau5 and his live shows into discussion. He mentioned that their performances are immensely different and contrasting, stating that the mau5 has a much more “press play” type of functionality, whereas he mixes every song right then and there (and occasionally messing up). With Sonny coming from different realms of music, it has allowed for him to grasp a unique perspective on the topics that were brought up. The whole conference is well worth watching, check it out below.
“I don’t just hit play on the space bar and let it play the whole set. I mix every song–and I do mess up. I’m changing my set every night and producing new records on the tour bus to test out — so it is very much in the moment. Deadmau5 has a programmed set, with MIDI triggering all of his lights. It’s a beautiful show, but his show is the most “press-play” show there is because he’s running Ableton Live. I’m not against it…But people like to see him, because he’s Joel. He’s an artist and he has a personality. I think that’s the superior part about being an artist.” – Skrillex