Michael Deeringer BIO Roots Music Career ROOTS Skrillex

Michael Deeringer

BIO • Roots • Music • Career

ROOTS Skrillex is the Disc Jockey stage name for the musician and song writer, Sonny John Moore Born in 1988, He was a California kid. Moore was raised in north Los Angeles and later in San Francisco Sometimes DJ’s are judged as not being musicians however Skrillex is an accomplished guitarist and singer. Such claims in my opinion are groundless If one looks at a computer like an instrument and can make artistic compositions with it the best term to describe them is Musician. What about his musical roots? A quote from Moore says it all; it is posted on the Skrillex website [(“I’ve been deep into electronic music my entire life. The first records I ever owned were ‘Fat of Land’ by the Prodigy and ‘Come To Daddy’ by Aphex Twin, ” raves Sonny Moore, better known as emerging electronic visionary SKRILLEX. “Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails were also early influences. I’ve been dabbling in making electronic tracks on programs like Fruity Loops since I was 14 years old. ”) ~www. skrillex. com/bio]

MUSIC From emo to Dub-Step (a recent type of electronic dance music), Moore’s musical career is unique, spanning across two styles in which most people don’t see many similarities. Skrillex sees music differently [(““Genre has never been important to me, ” he insists. “I’ve never thought about music that way. ””)~www. skrillex. com/bio] If forced to give it a box; a mixture of glitch and dub-step is how Moore describes his Music (the ‘genre’ of Skrillex). With his Slow wicked bass lines and off the wall electronic sound’s I’d say that’s a pretty fitting box.

ON A SIDE NOTE… WHY SKRILLEX? Skrillex is pretty new he is in his early 20’s and in the prime of his career. One of the Songs that I reported on “BANGARANG” was a brand new single when I found out about the paper, I couldn’t resist. I’ve only really actively listened to dub-step for less than 2 years. I Stumbled into the passion while listening to Pandora in My Car. Sounds a lot less intense than It is, Let me show you why I love dubstep more than other electronic styles http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=hfs 0 yi. VDOI&feature=plcp&context=C 444 cc 44 VDvj. VQa 1 Ppc. FP 2 ik. Gw. L Sx 89 k. Tonm 8 w. Oo 6 mroqnjho. H 1 r. M%3 D

CAREER He joined his first successful band From First to Last in 2004 originally with the intentions of being the lead guitar player. He actually ended up as the lead singer of the group with band-mate Matt Good as the guitar player. From First to Last released their first album that included Moore in 2004, it was called “Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count” released by Epitaph records. They went on multiple tours after the album was released Including the Vans Warped Tour. It was in 2006 when the Band released their second album which included Moore, it was called “Heroine” and under the same record label. The new album “Heroine” was just as successful as the first and it took off. With all of the popularity the band found themselves touring once again. Unfortunately in the midst of the tours Moore began to suffer from sever vocal problems and From First to Last had to resign from touring. Moore ended up completely resigning from the Band even after undergoing a successful vocal

CAREER CONTINUED On his Solo Career he began to promote his electronic Music. Sonny was known as Twipz on My. Space and on the internet. Simultaneously with his techno career in the forefront he also toured with Hollywood Undead in 2009 in a band called Sonny and the Blood Monkeys. It was 2008 when he dropped the internet name Twipz and Started preforming under his Producer name Skrillex. On his first Skrillex tours he offered his album “My Name is Skrillex” for Free he also had Demo CD’s that were only available to those who

CAREER CONTINUED Skrillex has become quite popular performing internationally at renowned dance clubs and venues. He was Nominated for five Grammy awards in 2012 and won three of them. His uplifting melodies as well as his dark melodies and powerful, complicated Baselines set Skrillex apart from other DJ’s. There are currently 4 Mainstream Skrillex albums (My Name is Skrillex, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, More Monsters and Sprites, and Bangarang). He has also done a large number of Remix’s and Singles Like “In for the Kill” by La Roux and “Reptiles Theme” for the latest Mortal Kombat Video Game. He will even do multiple remixes of his own songs.

CAREER CONTINUED His Albums are under the Mau 5 Trap (Mouse Trap) Label. Mau 5 Trap is a label under the DJ Dead. Mau 5 (Dead Mouse) who is very popular. His music can be similar to Skrillex but also can commonly add more of a Trance Vibe. Another DJ under Mau 5 Trap is Kaskade (from Salt Lake City).

SELECTED WORK • Bangarang • FIRST OF THE YEAR (Equinox) • La Roux - In for the Kill (Skrillex Remix )

BANGARANG The First song is Called Bangarang; it’s on Skrellix’s latest Album Bangarang. The album was released 12/23/2011 and the actual CD was available for purchase 1/24/2012. The Bangarang Album is a compilation of songs from the mothership tour. Bangarang is similar to earlier Skrillex music. It has a bit of rap mixed in built on a dubstep Base and has some voice modification. My prediction is that it will be a popular song for a while

FIRST OF THE YEAR (EQUINOX) Grammy nominated for Best Short Form Music Video, the second piece selected is called First of the Year (equinox). This song truly defines the style of Skrillex. This Piece follows true to dub step with a happy tune in the beginning including some light piano. The Glitch is apparent with some of the strange noises involved in this song (Even during the light Parts) There is a vocal part present through most of the song that you can almost understand, it is clear however that it is not intended to be understood, it is nonsense mimicking language. This song also includes an incredibly powerful dub-step bass drop accompanied by a “CALL 911 NOW!” transition. The nominated video First of the Year (Equinox) has been featured and joked about on the resurrected version of Beavis and Butthead.

IN FOR THE KILL The final piece selected is a remix of In for the Kill by La Roux. Elly Jackson is the singer in the Duo La Roux. Skrillex is not the only person to remix this song. There is a large number of remixed versions of In for the Kill Including a Kanye West feature and a Skream remix. My favorite is the Skream remix, It is slow with loud, long and low bass tones. The original has a driving upbeat pace and Haunting vocals. The driving pace is characteristic of La Roux especially if you take note of the syncopated bass drum pattern. The Skrillex version starts with an accompaniment that sounds like a strange mix of keyboard and Elly’s voice behind the original vocals. The Music is much slower paced at the beginning though the Vocals don’t change much in tempo. It has dub-step and glitch aspects and there is some heavy modification on the Voice of the singer at multiple points in the song. Her voice changes to a scream a couple of times, it appears to melt and to go backwards at different times as well.

LISTENING GUIDE In the Listening Guide I will use the Phrase “Bass Drop” as Form. A bass drop is hard to classify as a verse or chorus when both of those aspects are already present in the work. This section is commonly called “The Drop” or a “Bass Drop” by performers and fans alike

Bangarang: 3: 37 0: 00 – This song is in simple quadruple meter. The song starts out with a sixteenth note guitar pattern with an airy effects pedal noise. 3 measures in a beeping pattern begins accent the synthesized guitar. 0: 10 – Verse 1: A simple bass drum starts. A female rapper starts on (1 -e-and-a-2 -and) saying “Shout to all my boss boys” Then her voice skips directly after on the and of 3 with sha-sha-sha-sha until the end of the measure. The next measure starts exactly the same except after saying boys she says “We rowdy” on (and-4 -and). This repeats twice more except it never gets to the last “We Rowdy”. Part way through a longer toned pattern begins to build and at 0: 22 the bass pedal drops out to finish the last part of the phrase. A unison harmony sings “Bangarang” in 3 eight notes and then a male yells “Bass!” (This will be called a Bangarang transition) 0: 26 – Chorus A: There is a Scream of multiple voices simultaneous with a big bass hit on beat one. During this Bass drop there are three drawn out notes on the first 3 beats with no bass on 4. In the next 2 measures there are some electronic noises that mimic voice, a Wah noise and a sound that sounds like a door bell followed by swoosh noises ending in Bangarang in the same manner as before with the scream on the last off beat. This begins to repeat except at the end a woman sings “I feel good” in place of Bangarang. All for measures repeat until the male voice shouts Bass! On top of the woman’s word “good”. The entire eight measure pattern repeats again 1: 02 - Verse 2: The part without base comes again with the same lyrics as before starting on “boss boys”. Instead of “We Rowdy” on the second time around the standard Bangarang phrase is stated. The entire section repeats with the Guitar intro added. Next 2 screams synchronized with bass hit, then (Bangarang transition). 1: 19 – Chorus B. We hear a different Wah-wah Pattern and a noise that sounds like a laser gun and a squeal. The woman’s voice says “Feel good” at the end of every 4 th measure. 8 measures in the Effects begin to be stretched out and warped they also skip a little bit. When we expect to hear “Feel good” for the 4 th time again we hear (Bangarang transition). 1: 54 – Bridge A: The first Part has some chord changes accented off the beat that sound a bit like a distorted electric guitar changing every 2 measures the “Shout to all my boss boys” pattern is added but muffled 2: 12 - Bridge B: There is a lot of small things going on at once but they are all ever so light and none are overpowering. The bass becomes very quick and quiet with a simple melody giving a feeling of floating. Then there is an unexpectedly hard Bass hit and scream at 2: 21 The Low Bass kicks then a (Bangarang transition). 2: 47 - It acts like Chorus B for 8 measures and then chorus A for 8 more. 3: 22 - The song ends with an a cappella rap and then she starts talking about eating fun-dip and the song is over. FIRST OF THE YEAR (Equinox) 4: 21 0: 00 - The song starts out in duple simple meter. There is a simple kick-snare 1, 2 pattern. There are some syncopated notes on keyboard. After 7 measures there is building “ah” on measure nine some nonsense vocals that are clearly electronic begin saying Way-e-e-oh-ah-ah-ah-ee-oh. The voice continues through chord changes. 0: 40 - The keyboard and vocals cut out and a piano plays the same melody as the vocal part 0: 53 - The vocal part replaces the piano and a Strange bass effect begins. It sounds almost like a creature with drums playing accent parts. At 1: 01 the drums have a long complicate fill and then a Transitional Scream of “Call 911 Now!” 1: 06 is a Bass Drop Section full of complex noises. There is that strange bass effect but it switches from bass to high chirping to alto and just moves all over the place. This part kind of resembles a voice playing in weird rhythms and the drums kind of push the whole movement forward. There is also a Low Monstrous voice occasionally saying something you can’t understand. At 1: 19 it sounds like the vocal verse for an entire beat and goes back into the bass drop. At 1: 35 a High pitch 16 th note melody begins and changes to the strange effect like before and then the same pattern happens again a little lower in the background. A quick 1 beat vocal transition 2: 00 – The piano comes back in playing the same melody as before with the drums accenting and then back to the voice just like the last verse. It only

FIRST OF THE YEAR (Equinox) 4: 21 0: 00 - The song starts out in duple simple meter. There is a simple kick-snare 1, 2 pattern. There are some syncopated notes on keyboard. After 7 measures there is building “ah” on measure nine some nonsense vocals that are clearly electronic begin saying Way-e-e-oh-ah-ah-ah-ee-oh. The voice continues through chord changes. 0: 40 - The keyboard and vocals cut out and a piano plays the same melody as the vocal part 0: 53 - The vocal part replaces the piano and a Strange bass effect begins. It sounds almost like a creature with drums playing accent parts. At 1: 01 the drums have a long complicate fill and then a Transitional Scream of “Call 911 Now!” 1: 06 is a Bass Drop Section full of complex noises. There is that strange bass effect but it switches from bass to high chirping to alto and just moves all over the place. This part kind of resembles a voice playing in weird rhythms and the drums kind of push the whole movement forward. There is also a Low Monstrous voice occasionally saying something you can’t understand. At 1: 19 it sounds like the vocal verse for an entire beat and goes back into the bass drop. At 1: 35 a High pitch 16 th note melody begins and changes to the strange effect like before and then the same pattern happens again a little lower in the background. A quick 1 beat vocal transition 2: 00 – The piano comes back in playing the same melody as before with the drums accenting and then back to the voice just like the last verse. It only goes through 1 full time before we get to “Call 911 Now!” 2: 25 - Back into the Bass drop chorus with changes in the Effects. There is some glissando and new effects added as well. 3: 19 - We hear the same vocals that were in the chorus the chord changes and the background are different though. A lot of the parts quit and there is a reggae feel with a syncopated accent note over simple drums and light weight wind-like chords this continues until the song hisses away into silence.

La Roux - In for the Kill (Skrillex Remix ) 5: 11 0: 00 – Verse 1. The song starts out with synthesized voice that is based off of Elly’s voice but it doesn’t say any real words. This voice begins like a question phrase and the original vocals come in clearly as answer statements. She states an answer phrase “we can fight our desires” Pauses for the synthesizer and sings “Ooh-ooh” in a haunting manner. With a very simple drum beat in the back ground the other music is just held background chords. At 0: 15 a fast paced light background track starts 0: 40 there is a quick drum fill and the drums become more present with high-hat added. 0: 54 - the parts drop out with a Low warping noise and Elly’s voice sounds alone singing another haunting melody 1: 08 – Chorus. It is still quiet there are unique low notes going on still maintain that warp like theme and The Chorus line begins. There is a light driving bass 16 th note pattern pushing the song along in a lethargic kind of way “I’m going in for the Kill. I’m doing it for a thrill. Oh I’m hoping you’ll understand not let go of my hand” on the word “understand” we hear a cymbal ring all sound dies out. She comes back in with “and not let go of my hand” and a fast rhythmic back ground part comes in on the word “my”. “y hand” Repeats like a broken record at 1: 26 a Driving bass drum comes in it goes double time shortly at 1: 30 and then really fast. At 1: 31 it goes back to the less fast chorus part and the Elly sings “and not lot GAAAAA-AAARRRRGGH!” This is where we hit a bass drop. 1: 33 - There is a cool synth noise that goes in a Long-short. Kind of pattern and then another sound similar to the previous one but fused with a siren doing glissandos on different notes. The rhythms get complex and the siren noise goes all over the place in pitch. That same siren noise plays a quick descending pattern at the end of a glissando at 1: 53. At 1: 58 Elly sings “and not let Go-owww” the last syllable melts downward in pitch and the section continues with ever-changing rhythms and added effects. A synthesized Elly’s voice says something that sounds like speaking Backwards. 2: 27 - Verse 2. This verse is very similar to the First one except we don’t the synthesized questioning voice, only the original vocals with more added Crazy Glitch noises. One of the noises can only be described as electric swatting. 2: 54 - we get the same lone voice haunting transition as before 3: 07 – Chorus. This chorus starts like before but when she says “Kill” it skips and fades out. The chorus plays out just like before ending on the same scream. 3: 32 - Back to the Bass drop. It has more variations on the same sounds as before. The same “and not let Goowww” phrase is stated again at a similar place. Some new noises are added in that are indescribable, and it ends