Sonny Moore From First To Last

Skrillex takes over The Venue in Scottsdale

(Photo essay by Aaron Lavinsky)

These words are being typed with dark circles under tired eyes and a horse voice. Despite the lack of sleep and inevitable crash twelve hours from now, the only word that comes to mind, the only word on the tip of tongue that could even begin to describe the Skrillex show on Thursday night in Scottsdale, is energy.

From around 8 p.m. until about 2:30 in the morning, electro/dubstep/house act Skrillex, along with guests ZEDD, Porter Robinson and Innerparty System made the walls shake at The Venue in Scottsdale.

I was 15 the last time that I saw Sonny Moore (Skrillex) on stage; he was the front man in the popular screamo act, From First To Last, passing through Cleveland on the Epitaph (Records) Tour with Motion City Soundtrack. (After Thursday’s show, Sonny laughed and said that by total coincidence, the bus driver from the Epitaph Tour was behind the wheel of his current bus.)

Flash forward almost seven years later and he still has that charisma and charm and a seemingly inherent ability to captivate an audience. Both his music and presence on stage speak to the effect that he is a true performer; foregoing the anonymous Internet DJ status and really becoming a producer of sorts.

The opening acts all paid tribute to the headliner, performing some of their own remixes to his songs alongside their original work. From progressive house or trance-esque electro to straight up dubstep, everyone on the bill proved capable of mixing different styles within the genre.

As I said before, the entire night, like the music itself, was a wave of energy. As soon as one set was done, there was no lag time; ZEDD would finish then boom—a quick light change and five minutes later, out walks Sonny. To get a feeling for it and to give these words some weight, search YouTube for Skrillex’s “Rock n Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain) video. It basically documents the non-stop tour that he has been on for the past year and should provide some insight into this “energy” that I keep talking about.

The biggest similarity that I can draw between this Skrillex show and seeing Sonny in his FFTL days is the crowd. The music is different, years have passed, but the faces in the audience almost look the same. Dubstep is taking hold of the youth culture and the scene is only getting bigger. Thursday’s show was completely sold out and according to “The Road Hog” aka Robert, Sonny’s tour manager and best friend; they’ve been selling out most of the other stops as well.

Rock N Roll (Will Take You To The Mountain)

Sonny has come along way from the little kid I used to tour with when he was in From First To Last so many years ago. In the context of electronic producers leading the vanguard in sound creation, Skrillex has quickly leapt into the forefront of the global conversation. The man creates music that’ll terrorize those with weaker hearts, while sending flocks of adrenaline-seeking youths into states of dancefloor delirium. His Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP launched him into the upper stratosphere of main room DJs/producers, expertly riding the line between the low-fi terror of dubstep and the squelching agitation of electro/indie house. Today the LA-based Skrillex (aka Sonny Moore) has dropped his first video, a sort of 3-minute mini-documentary look into the life of a globetrotting DJ as he toured America for the last 8 months — look out for cameos by Diplo, Deadmau5, A-Trak, Tommy Lee, Rusko, DJ Craze, et al. Looks fucking rough (+ copious beer drinking).

Sonny Moore

CMJ New Music Monthly

The Hollywood reporter

Across the Tracks, The Perils of Stuttgart

Billboard