walking upstream…
Skrillex
sourcesWikipedia · FACT Magazine interview
Sonny John Moore fronted the post-hardcore band From First to Last before vocal problems pushed him toward production; as Skrillex he fused the buzzing wobble-bass of UK dubstep with festival-scale drops, effectively popularizing 'brostep' and dragging American EDM out of the underground. His genre-splicing, maximalist sound design — equal parts glitch, industrial noise, and arena-rock catharsis — reshaped what a mainstream dance record could sound like and made him one of the most Grammy-decorated producers in electronic music.
the sound in question
2010
Scary Monsters and Nice SpritesSkrillex
walk the tributaries ↓
From First to Last2000s · Post-hardcore / Screamo / Emo
Before he ever touched a laptop, Moore spent three years screaming into a mic as From First to Last's frontman; the hushed-verse-into-wall-of-noise dynamic and the taste for aggressive, distorted textures he built there carried straight over once he swapped a guitar rig for production software.
listen: upstream & here
2004
Note to SelfFrom First to Last
2010
Rock N' Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain)Skrillex
listen forListen to From First to Last's 'Note to Self' for the quiet-build-into-scream structure, then Skrillex's 'Rock N' Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain)' — the same lurch from restraint to all-out noise, just rendered in synths instead of guitars.
Daft Punk1990s–2000s · House / French house / Electronic / Disco
Moore has said seeing Daft Punk's pyramid-stage show at Coachella in 2006 was what first pulled him toward electronic music — the scale of it, one filtered synth hook built to move a whole festival field at once, is a template Skrillex leaned on once he started producing his own festival-sized drops.
listen: upstream & here
2000
One More TimeDaft Punk
2011
BangarangSkrillex
listen forPut Daft Punk's 'One More Time' next to Skrillex's 'Bangarang' — wildly different genres, but the same faith in one huge, filtered hook doing the work of an entire arrangement.
Rusko2010s · Dubstep / Brostep / Bass music
The lurching half-step tempo, the distorted, cartoonish bass growl, and the sense that a drop should hit like a physical blow rather than a smooth build all trace back to the wave of UK dubstep Rusko helped popularize just before Skrillex started producing.
listen: upstream & here
2007
Cockney ThugRusko
2011
Kill EverybodySkrillex
listen forPlay Rusko's 'Cockney Thug' next to Skrillex's 'Kill Everybody' — same filthy, wobbling low end and the same instinct to let the bass distort until it barely sounds musical anymore.