Words by Lillian FlexMami Ahen
You guys know Skrillex, right?
Best known as the dubstep phenomenon, eight time Grammy-Award winner, owner of the oft-imitated (oft-ridiculed) undercut and the soundtrack to every switched on millennial’s #EDMTHOT stage. Is your most distinctive memory of this visionary’s discography is the faint melody of that one Justin Bieber collaboration? Do you remembers when ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites’ was peppered into every local festival set?
Cutting his teeth as a member post-hardcore band From First to Last, Skrillex surfed a spectacular wave of emo success, fulfilling all the quintessential band tropes. This resulted in abandoning ship to trial a solo project, which led to the inception of his dubstep moniker. Citing techno acts Aphex Twin and Squarepusher as one of his primary influences, his fidgety, turbocharged, hyperactive sounds are inimitable yet extremely polarising.
If not for his production credits on genre-defying tracks from powerhouse rap artists like Rae Sremmurd, The Game, Rick Ross and A$AP Rocky, it’s highly likely that Young Skrill would’ve dropped off my radar completely – or so I thought.
With the much-welcomed influx of ‘Melbournalities’ on my FB feed, this resulted in interspersed updates of Skrillex and his infamous Boiler Room Set, for reasons I wrongly assumed were satirical at best, ironic at worst. Assuming Boiler Rooms are generally a platform for local or underground talent, and seeing as the aforementioned set was filmed in Shanghai, surely this was a classic stitch up, right? WRONG.
When I dusted the metaphorical sleep from my eyes, I was able to clearly see that I was on the peripheral of a musical revival – one I was itching to understand. Some would say it was journalistic curiosity; others would chalk it down to pure nosiness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRlLNfKYm8U&feature=youtu.be
I contacted one of the core ‘Melbournalities’ and explained that I was not across this brand of meme, to which I was ensured that this was in fact not a meme, but an earnest display of appreciation. Top-shelf banter was exchanged to lighten the mood, for fear I had offended a key pioneer of Australia’s most hype Skrillex Boiler Room (SBR) appreciation group. This was well received and subsequently agreed that this beautifully unconventional compulsion should be shared and further explored through long form content on Life Without Andy.
Contrary to popular belief, this is not a snooze-inducing thinkpiece or an open letter to the blank faces and lifeless bodies that flank the DJ during boiler room sets. Instead a celebration of a key pinnacle of EDM culture.
Full disclosure, I did commit to watching the intimate 75 minute shoulder-bopping, toe-tapping, genre-defying performance, sprinkled with a huge injection of jersey club, rap, EDM and disco more than once. It’s safe to say that I’m renewed, my Spotify is satiated with a king-sized amount of new additions and I’ve a more holistic understanding of my peers. What a time to be alive.
I lost my mind at the 7-minute mark, but it’s probably best if you give it a good ol’ honest listen – if only to see him eloquently use four CDJs at once. For reference, most DJs use two and not as well. If you’re after the Cliff Notes, acquaint yourselves with a few of the key pioneers and distinguished members of the Skrillex Boiler Room movement.
*Interviewees are subject to anonymity for various, respectable reasons.
Who are you?
Elliott, 2012 Melbournality and predicted 2017 Syd-lebrity.
In 25 words or less, describe Skrillex’s Boiler Room set to someone yet to blessed (visually/sonically) by it?
I’ve cried with joy in parts after 30:50. If you need a quick intro because you’re non-committal, it’s truly flawless between 30 and 75min.
What was your first ‘encounter’ with Skrillex – the brand, the artist, the visionary?
I was in early high school & the only topic of conversation was Sonny Moore, which I didn’t pay attention because I was only listening to jazz radio and progressive rock. Did I just out myself? I had honestly never heard a solo Skrillex song before the Boiler Room set. I knew the Bieber phenomenon but October 2016 was my first introduction to EDM.
How did you come across this Boiler Room Set? Paint me a picture, what were you wearing, drinking, thinking?
I was in Sydney for one hot (literally) minute, about to start a 10 hour day retouching some equally hot (figuratively) content, when Joey (fellow distinguished member of SBR, who was also sitting right next to me) sends the link over. I’m skeptical, but I was in need of some serious bangers ahead of this 10 hours work sesh.
Cut to [SPOILER ALERT] 01:15 when I catch the Renegade Master intro and I’m hooked, followed by the true pinnacle event at 07:00; the El Chapo drop. It honestly needs its own paragraph. It’s a life affirming game changer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJVmu6yttiw
What is, in your opinion the most lit part of the set?
I refuse to answer but I will say the first break is arguably the most genius love-pop turned EDM banger of all time, a Benny Benassi ‘Cinema’ and Jeremih ‘Oui’ mashup [17:30]. Actual heart palpitations ensue. I don’t want to say genius, but I will at least four more times.
Can you describe the turning point of realising your obsession with SBR?
Somewhere between annotating key drops in my iPhone notes, requesting a think piece and organising a streaming party.
Parting words?
Listening to the music without the visual vs. watching the set lends itself to entirely different experiences. You’ve got to do both.
Who are you?
Chippy, SBR Enthusiast
In 25 words or less, describe Skrillex’s Boiler Room set to someone yet to blessed (visually/sonically) by it?
Now that’s what I call a drop.
Would you please elaborate for the real ones out here?
My favourite thing about SBR is how it’s simultaneously a massive troll of the concept of Skrillex playing a Boiler Room set AND a completely flawless, infallble Boiler Room set. The best thing they’ve ever broadcast and the most important cultural artefact of the 21st century.
What was your first ‘encounter’ with Skrillex – the brand, the artist, the visionary?
My sister opened for a young Sonny at 161 Melbourne (good riddance) years and years ago. He was really rude and a bunch of people rushed the stage when he started and trampled her. So he’s quite possibly an asshole or maybe fame changed him for the better? This set would suggest that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cXDgFwE13g
What is, in your opinion the most lit part of the set?
Contentious, because it’s so early on, but has to be the El Chapo two-parter from 6:45. Not only had I not realised that three kings — Skrillex, Bangladesh and The Game — came together to make a banger, but it’s pitch-perfect bait and switch trap on the drop.
Can you describe the turning point of realising your obsession with SBR?
It took about half a day from first being sent the YouTube link to our group chat being renamed SBR. Love at first sight. It was and is absolute unequivocal elation to the point where I now defend Skrillex to my sister, the same one who was trampled by his fans.
What is the optimum environment to listen to the set?
With your group chat crew, doing 65km/h down Footscray Road, windows down, factory-issued speakers red-lining.
Who are you?
Darcy, artist, Skrillex fan since age 11.
In 25 words or less, describe Skrillex’s Boiler Room set to someone yet to blessed (visually/sonically) by it?
At once a critique and celebration of contemporary EDM, Skrillex Boiler Room is the whole spectrum of human emotion distilled into 75 minutes of masterfully executed drops.
What was your first ‘encounter’ with Skrillex; the brand, the artist, the visionary?
When I was 11 I heard a song that stayed in my young, idealistic mind for a long time. “Even if I spend 2004/listening to Morrissey in my car I’m better off alone/than I would be in your arms.” 10 years later the artist formerly known as Sonny Moore now goes by Skrillex and has ditched the heartbreaking poetry for face-melting high-brow-brostep drops. His words, however, only become more important the older I get.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph9OpHxkjI4
How did you come across this Boiler Room Set? Paint me a picture, what were you wearing, drinking, thinking?
A dear friend had been extolling the virtues of SBR for about a week, but it wasn’t until I was forced into a car with the set on full volume, driving down Footscray Rd with the windows down and a smile on my face, did I truly hear it. From there, it was love at first sight.
Talk to me about origin story of ‘SBR’. Describe the turning point between liking and obsessing?
Like every great impressionist artist, Skrillex leaves incredible amounts of detail in his work for one to consume over a long period of time. Once you begin to piece together the narrative he’s telling over the course of the set, once you’ve engaged in debates with friends about what he’s shouting in the mic, once you’ve memorised every word to Lil Wayne’s ‘Steady Mobbin’ – that’s when you’re obsessed.
What is the optimum environment to listen to the set?
With a handful of close, trusted friends. Indoors, possibly sharing a cheese platter and/or sharing secrets, pausing only to wordlessly make nervous eye contact during key moments in the set.
