Porter Robinson

Initially rocketing to stardom as a teenage EDM prodigy, Porter Robinson’s music has evolved into an ambitious, introspective form of futuristic electropop. Early in his career, he pioneered a glitchy, chiptune-influenced subgenre which he named complextro. He first reached mainstream chart success with vibrant electro-house tracks like 2012′s “Language,” a U.K. Top Ten hit. He was already a top-shelf international headliner by the time Astralwerks released his influential 2014 full-length debut, Worlds, after which he continued to branch out, earning a Grammy nomination for “Ghost Voices,” a song he released under his trance/hardcore-influenced alias Virtual Self. He has curated his own festival and founded a charity benefitting cancer patients in the African nation of Malawi. His long-in-the-making sophomore album, Nurture, arrived in 2021, representing his shift towards more personal songwriting. His gleeful third album, Smile! :D, appeared in 2024. Born in 1992 in Atlanta, Robinson began producing music at the young age of 12. Influenced by the sound of video games such as Dance Dance Revolution, he began to emulate these soundtracks by using Sony ACID Pro; his first production alias was Ekowraith. Learning and creating beats throughout his teens, he referred to his glitchy, intricately crafted style as complextro, a term that soon caught on with other producers and EDM fans as he became more famous. His first single, “Say My Name,” was released in 2010 (under his actual name). Success quickly followed as he signed a one-EP deal with Skrillex’s OWSLA label. He released Spitfire in 2011 and the level of demand crashed the server of a prominent online retailer. This period also saw him carry out prestigious remixes for high-profile artists such as Avicii and Lady Gaga. The following two years would mark the start of Robinson’s ascendancy, with more hit singles (“Language” in 2012 being a stand-out dancefloor smash that year) alongside the development of a fruitful relationship with fellow DJ Mat Zo. The pair released “Easy” in 2013, backed with some heavyweight remixes from Andy C, Botnek, and Lemaitre. Alongside producing, Robinson gained a steady reputation as a prolific live artist and DJ. Touring extensively across North America and Europe in 2012 and 2013, he rapidly gained a huge fan base and was soon regarded as a headliner in his own right alongside the likes of Skrillex, Tiësto, and Deadmau5. Worlds, his debut album, was released on Astralwerks in 2014 with contributions from Amy Millan (Broken Social Scene, Stars), Breanne Düren (Owl City), and Urban Cone. Although hard-hitting four-four beats remained part of Robinson’s arsenal, it reflected the producer’s desire to make more emotive and atmospheric material applicable for home listening, like that of M83 and Passion Pit. Worlds debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the publication’s Top Electronic Albums chart. Astralwerks released a remixed version of Worlds the following year that featured Odesza, San Holo, and many others. Robinson landed another hit with the Madeon collaboration “Shelter,” and following its 2016 release, the two artists built a co-headlining North American tour around it. Both the single and Shelter Live Tour received nominations at the inaugural Electronic Music Awards early the following year. Near the end of 2017, Robinson debuted a brand-new project called Virtual Self. A succession of singles, including “Ghost Voices,” appeared in advance of a self-titled EP, with the project’s live debut occurring that December. Proving to be nearly as popular as his eponymous work, Robinson toured as Virtual Self throughout 2018, hitting major festivals like Bonnaroo and Ultra Music Festival and earning a Best Dance Recording nomination for “Ghost Voices” at the 2019 Grammy Awards. He kept up his typically busy schedule for the remainder of the year, launching his own curated festival called Second Sky Music Festival in Oakland and touring both as Virtual Self and under his own name. In the front half of 2020, Robinson released “Get Your Wish” and “Something Comforting” as the first two singles from his sophomore solo album, 2021′s Nurture. Like his debut full-length, it topped Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart and marked a notable evolution from his club-driven early material to a more emotional electropop sound. He also released Secret Sky 2021 and Second Sky 2021, recorded live at his festivals. “Everything Goes On,” written for the video game League of Legends, appeared in 2022. Robinson collaborated with Skrillex and Bibi Bourelly on the song “Still Here (With the Ones That I Came With”), which appeared on Skrillex’s 2023 album Quest for Fire. Robinson released a Vocaloid 6 voicebank called Po-uta, as well as a showcase demo track titled “Humansongs.” His third studio album, Smile! :D, arrived in 2024. Robinson described his intentions to create a purely fun album which revels in absurdity, yet the songs turned out to be more emotional, like his previous release. ~ Aneet Nijjar & Paul Simpson