Porter Robinson – The Shock Drop

porter robinson interview

It’s hard to believe but for someone just approaching their 19th birthday, US DJ, Remixer and Producer Porter Robinson is far from a newbie to the world of Electro Dance music.

Say my name Porter RobinsonHe was making music before he could walk and producing while other kids were throwing things at each other in the sand pit. His first release in 2010, Say My Name was a hint of what was to come, he lives for ‘the drop’ and his drops are some of the best.

The last couple of years has been a blur, and he has just remixed Lady Gaga, currently on an All Star US tour with Skrillex and Zedd (see our interview here), he is living the dream.

Have you totally finished school now?
Yep! I’m completely done with high school and I couldn’t be happier about it. I can pursue electronic music and touring with my whole heart now, and it’s been massively beneficial so far.

What has been your fav night of the current tour so far?
It’s cliche, but: there are way too many to name. I would hate for any one community to feel left out. I can say that the last two nights were spectacular for me – I love Canada. London and Waterloo were SICK – the crowds were totally responsive.

Lady Gaga – The Edge of Glory (Porter Robinson Remix) by Porter Robinson

What do you listen to on the tour bus?
When Zedd, Skrillex, the tour crew and I are on the bus, we listen to a lot of Bigroom house, Tech house, Techno, Progressive House, Minimal, and Old school ambient dubstep. We save the super heavy stuff for the crowd.

gaga porter robinsonWhere do you get your new sounds?
My head and synthesizers. There’s nothing I want to do LESS than stagnate and stick to one sound. As you can hear with my Lady Gaga remix, I went for a “shock-drop”, as I’ve been calling them. A climax of the song that’s a little minimal and way unexpected. That’s more interesting than banging it out for every song.

What is your fav equipment in the studio?
Native Instruments Massive, LennarDigital Sylenth1, and Image-Line Sytrus. Vengeance is indispensable too.

What track are you most proud of so far?
One of the secret ones on the new EP for sure. But as far as released stuff goes, I love “Less Go“.

Do you think Dance music is the new Punk Rock in the way it allows you to be creative without needing to learn an instrument?
Dance music is the new punk rock in that it’s a revolution led and followed by renegades who love to go crazy. But I would disagree that the barriers of entry to dance music are in any way lower than those of punk rock. The learning curve is preposterous and requires an insane amount of work to overcome. I’ve been working on EDM since I was twelve, you know? It required a lot out of me.

Who is your fav DJ?
My favorite musician is Wolfgang Gartner.

porter robinson interview

While you were on tour with Tommy Lee, did he give you any advice about the music industry?
Hahahah, it was scarce. We talked about haters and venues and coming up in the scene a bit, but we had more fun joking and taking it easy between shows.

Spencer & Hill – LESS GO! (Porter Robinson Remix) by Porter Robinson

What do you want to be doing when you are 40?
It sounds kind of smartassy, but I want to do whatever my dream is when I’m 40. I hope that I’ll still want to do dance music then – and if so, that’s what I’ll do.

www.soundcloud.com/porter-robinson

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