Amidst the controversial โbutton pushingโ debate stirred up by none other than the outspoken Deadmau5, big daddy of Dubstep โ Skrillex recently had quite a lot to say on the matter.
First, letโs refresh our memory. Back in July 2012, Joel Zimmerman caused quite the shit storm by calling out himself and his fellow EDM musicians as people who did nothing more than โpress playโ on stage.
โItโs no secret.ย when it comes to โliveโ performance of EDMโฆ thatโs about the most it seems you can do anyway. Itโs not about performance art, itโs not about talent either (really itโs not) In fact, let me do you and the rest of the EDM world button pushers who fuckin hate me for telling you how it is, a favor and let you all know how it is.โ
-deadmau5
As expected, this lead to an intense and (never-ending) internet dialogue where many and we mean MANY EDM virtuosos gave us their insight.
However, recently as part of the panel for the Billboard Touring Conference, Skrillex made sure to address the topic of live shows and even talked about his own process.
โI donโt just hit play on the space bar and let it play the whole set. I mix every songโand I do mess up. Iโm changing my set every night and producing new records on the tour bus to test out โ so it is very much in the moment.
Deadmau5 has a programmed set, with MIDI triggering all of his lights. Itโs a beautiful show, but his show is the most โpress-playโ show there is because heโs running Ableton Live. Iโm not against itโฆBut people like to see him, because heโs Joel. Heโs an artist and he has a personality. I think thatโs the superior part about being an artist.โ
–ย Skrillex
And while we donโt necessarily disagree with the outspoken Mau5, Skrillex does put some things into perspective. Maybe it is subjective and differs from performer to performer.
What do you guys think? Tell us.