Porter Robinson

[WIP]

About

Porter Robinson is an American electronic music producer and DJ from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. First garnering attention in the early 2010s with gritty electro tracks, dubstep, and house music, he would later make a change to a more subdued, yet noted indie-pop and synthpop sound in 2014 with his debut album Worlds, before eventually starting the Virtual Self music project, where he would release music inspired by game soundtracks from Dance Dance Revolution and other rhythm games

History

Porter Robinson came to prominence in 2010 with his electro house single "Say My Name", released by Glamara Records at the age of 18. A self-taught producer since age 12, he had been producing hands-up trance music under aliases such as Ekowraith, being inspired by the soundtrack from Dance Dance Revolution before releasing tracks under his own name. The track reached number 1 on music distribution site Beatport which gave him significant attention in the electronic music community.

The buzz generated from "Say My Name" would catch the attention of dubstep musician Skrillex, who signed him to a single EP deal on his vanity label OWSLA that resulted in the first release of the label and Porter's debut EP Spitfire on September 11th, 2011, which would crash Beatport servers upon release.

In 2012, Porter released the single "Language" through Big Beat Records, which would later get an EP package through Ministry of Sound and a music video garnering over 10 million views in the following years. In 2013, he released "Easy", a collaboration with British electronic music producer Mat Zo that was featured on Zo's debut Grammy-nominated album Damage Control. An accompanying animated music video was uploaded around the time of release garnering over 14 million views in the following years.

Worlds

On February 10th, 2014, Porter uploaded a 10 hour looped video announcement for his debut album Worlds. Very little details followed during this time until March 4th, where during the Oscars, he released a series of tweets discussing his thoughts on topics current electronic music scene and creative restrictions while producing music, culminating in the premiere of the first single from Worlds, titled "Sea of Voices." The album was preceded by three other singles: "Sad Machine," featuring a duet between Robinson and the vocaloid AVANNA, "Lionhearted," featuring indie pop group Urban Cone, and "Flicker," featuring chopped up Japanese vocal samples, before the album was released on August 12th, 2014 through Astralwerks.

Shelter

On August 11th, 2016, Porter released a collaborative single with French producer Madeon titled "Shelter". Released as a way to celebrate the friendship started between the two back in their teens, it would later receive an anime short film released as the song's music video produced by A-1 Pictures on October 16th. An accompanying live tour followed the release of the single.

Virtual Self

Virtual Self is a side project of Porter Robinson inspired by the music and aesthetic from early 2000s media and video games, such as Dance Dance Revolution. The project made its debut with the single "EON BREAK" and featured two hooded figures under the aliases technic_Angel and Pathselector. The project would later release a debut 5-track EP featuring the aforementioned single and the song "Ghost Voices", the latter of which was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Dance Recording" in 2019.

Nurture

On January 28th, 2020, Porter uploaded a short trailer announcing his second studio album Nurture. Though Porter was active with other projects and endeavors, such as the Virtual Self project, the Shelter live tour, and curating his Second Sky music festival, this marked the first piece of new music from Porter since 2016's "Shelter" with Madeon and his first solo release under his own name since 2014's Worlds. The trailer was followed up by the premiere of the music video for the lead single "Get Your Wish" the next day on January 29th. Described as "a song about finding a reason to keep going, even if it's not for your own sake," the song was generally received positively by the electronic music community

Reputation

Online Relevance

Fandom

Personal Life

Porter Robinson was born on July 15th, 1992 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His older brother, Nick Robinson, is a former content creator and journalist for gaming news website Polygon.

Fan Art

Search Interest

External References