Porter Robinson: His Talent Knows No Bounds

It’s an artist’s journey to navigate through life, exploring one inspiration after another. They like to keep it fresh and true to themselves and it takes us fans right along on their journey with them. We often see musical artists make slight variations in their brand and sound–the Miley’s of the world are rare gems.

In the case of Porter Robinson, the man who can do no wrong, he has made a full orbit from where he began. His descent to the top began at the ripe age of 13 when Dance Dance Revolution was sweeping the nation and peaked Porter’s interest enough for him to take a stab at his own dance beats. Fast forward five years and his iconic track “Say My Name” was created. The single shot to number one on Beatport’s Electro-House chart and people everywhere took notice. 18-year old Porter had never stepped foot into a club before and now this track single-handedly brought him and his dubstep to clubs all over the U.S. Get comfy, the epicness is just starting.

None other than Skrillex caught wind of young Robinson just as he was ready to launch what is now one of the most popular dance music labels, OWSLA, and made Spitfire, Porter’s first EP, his label’s debut release. Well-received doesn’t even begin to explain the reaction the community had. The EP made its way to Beatport’s #1 and held the ranking for 2 weeks. At this time, he proved he can kill it in dubstep but now he was ready to speak another “Language.”

The song that is physically impossible to not like, his 2012 hit “Language” broke the internet. It transcended any notion anyone had about the capacity of Porter’s talent. At the time it was anything anyone heard before and now it is a nostalgia-inducing ballad of euphoric bliss. We thought we had seen his best.

Then, Worlds happened. Worlds is a journey. A journey that takes its listeners into a 2-dimensional world of whimsy, grime, heartache, energy, darkness, solace, and about 50 other adjectives and nouns. It’s an unexplainable work of art that is one of the most beloved compilations in dance music history. Some of your favorite artists have attributed the conception of their music careers from the sheer inspiration that sprouted from this album. Yes, it’s that good.

Since Porter was able to check the box “create a cult following” on his career thus far, he deemed it time to venture down other genre avenues. In 2017 Virtual Self was born. Truly bringing his love for Japanese Anime and video gaming to the forefront, Virtual Self is not only a new moniker, it’s also an EP of 5 brand new songs that once again are nothing like we’ve heard before. I mean we had heard trance before, but never like this.  Similar to Worlds, the Virtual Self set tells a story. Although the story is individualized to each member of the crowd, it conjures this sense of unity that bonds you to the moment and the people around you.

Circling back to my comment about the man being a jack of all trades, this extends beyond crossing genre borderlines. From my best 4 paragraphs, I’ve explained Porter in a rather serious light, but that’s just because we’ve haven’t gotten to the part about his DJ set yet. The man can turn up. His residency at Jewel Nightclub in Vegas speaks to the hype he can generate. His DJ sets are special because you get a peek into his head and what music he likes. The man who can do it all has a set that has it all, and it’s something everyone should experience.

Life is coming full circle this year at Decadence. Porter Robinson is joining friend and fellow producer, Skrillex, this NYE for Decadence 2019. It doesn’t get much better than this; grab your ticket here.

Connect With Porter Robinson: Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud