Sydney, Australia-born EDM producer Wax Motif (Danny Chien) emerged near the end of the 2000s with a euphoric yet not too excessive electro-house style that frequently referenced trap, hip-hop, and R&B. Credited as a major contributor to the G-house movement, he spent the next ten years releasing a series of EPs including 2017′s Tokyo and Forsaken before moving to Los Angeles and making his album debut with 2022′s House of Wax.
Chien began releasing Wax Motif tracks around 2008, with his percussive EPs Conga Junk and 808 appearing in 2009. Wax Motif and frequent collaborator Neoteric worked with Crookers in 2010, guesting on the track “Springer,” released on the Bust ’Em Up EP on Southern Fried Records/Mad Decent. Wax Motif’s sound continued to expand in 2011 with the more hands-in-the-air singles “Celine” and “Shimmy Shake.” The year 2012 saw the release of an EP of “Springer” remixes, as well as Wax Motif and Neoteric’s “Go Deep” single on Dim Mak Records, which received extensive airplay and significantly raised the duo’s profile. The duo released the “Das Machines” single on Main Course in August of 2013, and Wax Motif’s “Next to Me” (in collaboration with Yung Skeeter) appeared on Dim Mak during the same month. Wax Motif had a big year in 2014, with the successful release of “Hex” (his single in collaboration with Tommy Trash) on Protocol Recordings as well as remixes for Warren G, Galantis, and Deadmau5, not to mention numerous appearances at music festivals. After relocating to Los Angeles, Wax Motif returned to Mad Decent in 2015 with the release of the True Joy EP. Over the next two years he notched further collaborations like 2016′s “Get It All” with GTA before releasing two more solo EPs, Tokyo and Forsaken, in 2017.
Wax Motif remained prolific over the next few years with tracks like 2018′s “Unraveling” with Kaelyn Behr and 2020′s “Love to the World” with Diplo before delivering his debut full-length, House of Wax, in early 2022. ~ Paul Simpson