Skrillex talks about EDC, his residency and why he loves Vegas

By Mark Adams

Friday, June 24, 2011 | 1:42 p.m.

Dropping his first album under the Skrillex moniker only a year ago, Sonny Moore has already managed to catch the eye of a few of EDM’s most powerful players. In the 12 months since My Name is Skrillex hit the web, he’s signed on to tour with Deadmau5, landed a residency at Encore’s Surrender Nightclub (playing next on September 2) and was invited to play Identity and this weekend’s much-anticipated Electric Daisy Carnival.

So before you catch him at the Speedway this Saturday (Neon Garden, 3-4:30 a.m.), learn about his rocker past, his thoughts on EDC and why he thinks Vegas is the perfect place for EDC.

Is it Sonny or Skrillex?

Skrillex has been a nickname for a long time for me. People who don’t know me at all call me Skrillex and people that kind of know me call me Sonny, you know what I mean? Because they know me. And then a lot of people who are really good friends call me Skrilly or Skrill.

So what’s it like to be playing the country’s largest dance festival?

Man, it’s pretty awesome. I went last year just to hang out in LA and it was definitely a spectacle ... it’s a pretty cool thing to be a part of.

What do you think of the move to Las Vegas?

Oh dude, it’s perfect. I mean, there’s no red tape at all. In LA there’s so much red tape. The tragedy that happened really kind of fucked everything up ... it seems like the perfect spot for that, it’s definitely a party mecca, for sure.

Are you going to have time to catch any shows while here for EDC?

I’m playing on Saturday ... depending on the schedule, I’m trying to catch as many people as possible, for sure.

After your time with From First To Last and the Blood Monkeys, how exactly did you end up producing electro and dubstep?

I’ve been producing all my life, man ... I’ve been listening to electronic music ever since I’ve been listening to music, beyond 12, 10 years old.

You’ve stated that you don’t want to be in a traditional band like From First to Last again. What is it about your solo career that encourages that thought?

I just love being able to do everything myself, and if I want to collaborate with someone I can. If I’m not really down to the protocol of working a certain way I can slow it down and do whatever I want. Not to say that’s the only way to do it or the best way, it’s just what I prefer.

You released My Name is Skrillex as a free, online download. We’re seeing a lot of artists do this. What was your motivation behind doing that?

I just wanted to do it ... I was like “Fuck it, let’s just give it out for free. They’re going to download it anyways, might as well just give it out.”

It’s been one year since My Name is Skrillex dropped and you’re already playing EDC. Many would say you’re “blowing up” in the EDM scene right now. How have the last 365 days been for you?

Incredible. Not only incredible, but like just an absolute adventure. I can’t believe the things I’ve seen and the places where I’ve been ... like, one minute I’m in Budapest, the next day I’m in Austin, Texas and the next day I’m on Loch Ness in fucking Scotland playing a festival and the next day I’m somewhere else. The people I meet and the things I see and the crowds and the opportunities, it’s just insane right now.

What was your most memorable set this past year?

I can’t say there’s a best set, because the sets have been so good. Ultra was pretty cool, the show I played at Loch Ness, which is the Rockness festival in Loch Ness in Scotland, was amazing. And they all were just so good, every one just gets better and better.

EDM’s popularity is rising at rapid speed. Why do you think that is? What is facilitating that?

I don’t know, I think the idea of dancing is sort of in everybody. I think the reason it’s rising more is that the EDM scene I think was a bit more segregated in terms of who would play what record, who would produce what record, you know what I mean? You would never see Tiesto drop a Skrillex record or a dubstep record however many years ago. There’s certain people playing with other people together now and I think everyone is becoming a bit more unified ... the more everyone embraces each other and the more these festivals become more diverse, the more everything just gets bigger.

You just signed on as a resident at Surrender. Did Surrender approach you or were you looking to have a residency here?

Um, kind of both. You know, we always planned on doing it and they were definitely the first guys to be very persistent on getting us. A lot of the clientele they have, the residents they have are a bunch of friends of mine that say the parties are really good so we decided to do it.

Why do you like playing Surrender?

Vegas is kind of just Vegas. They’re all cool, I won’t be playing just at Surrender, I’ll be playing at some other venues as well. But I think it’s a cool club, I love the Encore ... It’s feels very Vegas-y ... it feels like you’re in Miami or something like that, being outdoor, and the pool and shit, so it’s fun.