Sonny Moore (born January 15, 1988), professionally known as Skrillex, is an American electro house, fidget house, Breakbeat and dubstep musician from Los Angeles, California, well known for his role as the former frontman for the post-hardcore band From First to Last. In late fall of 2007 he embarked on his first tour as a solo artist, the Team Sleep Tour with Team Sleep, Strata, and Monster in the Machine. After recruiting a new band lineup, Moore toured North America on the Alternative Press Tour, supporting bands such as All Time Low and The Rocket Summer, and appeared on the cover of Alternative Press annual 100 Bands You Need to Know issue. In June 2008, Moore went into recording for his debut album, titled Bells, alongside producer Noah Shain. He recently released the Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP as a co-release between mau5trap and Big Beat record labels, and runs an imprint label called Owsla, named after an organization in the book Watership Down.
Childhood and early bands (1988-2004)
Born on January 15, 1988, in Los Angeles, California, Moore was raised by two adoptive parents, Scott and Francis Moore. Sonny has four siblings and his birth mother's name is Alejandra. After moving to San Francisco from Los Angeles when he was nine, Moore received his first guitar, on which he would write songs throughout his childhood. At age 12, Moore's family moved back to Los Angeles, where he started attending local concerts. Moore started a street punk band called The Riots when he was 13, along with friends he met at these concerts. His second band, Hazel-rah, experimented with a more ambient rock sound. He was also in the band At Risk before he joined From First to Last at age 16.
From First to Last (2004-2007)
Moore contacted Matt Good of From First To Last about playing guitar for the band on their latest record. After flying out to Georgia, Moore was heard singing by three studio producers, Derrick Thomas, Eric Dale, and Michael Butler, and was then made lead singer, with Good playing guitar. In June 2004, Epitaph Records released the band's first full-length record with their new bandmate, Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count. After performing on several successful tours, two being the Vans Warped Tour and Dead By Dawn tour, they began recording their second album, Heroine with producer Ross Robinson. The album was released in March 2006 on Epitaph. With high record sales once again, the band found themselves part of many successful tours, until Moore started suffering vocal problems, causing the band to resign from several tours. After going through a successful surgical procedure, Moore informed the band he would be permanently resigning to work on a solo career. FFTL's last show performed with Moore was in their hometown of Orlando at The House Of Blues while touring with Atreyu.
The band released a self-titled record the following year. They have also released a fourth album, Throne to the Wolves, in 2010, before going on an indefinite hiatus.
Solo career (2007-present)
On February 27, 2007, Moore announced he had left From First to Last to pursue a solo career. He then launched a Myspace page displaying three demos ("Signal, "Equinox", and "Glow Worm"). This led to Moore's first performance since his leaving From First to Last. On April 7, 2007, alongside harpist Carol Robbins, Moore played several original songs at a local art building. Clips of this performance could be viewed on Moore's Myspace.
After months of releasing demos via Myspace, Moore played on the Team Sleep Tour with a full band. Moore made several demo CDs available on this tour, limited to about 30 per show. These CDs were tour exclusive, and were packaged in "baby blue envelopes", each with a unique drawing by Moore or bandmate.
In February 2008, Alternative Press Magazine announced the second annual AP Tour, with All Time Low, The Rocket Summer, The Matches, and Forever the Sickest Kids, as well as Sonny Moore. The tour started in Houston, Texas on March 14 and went through North America, ending in Cleveland, Ohio on May 2, with the majority of the shows being sold out. All bands playing the tour would be featured on the cover of Alternative Press Magazine's annual 100 Bands You Need to Know special, and would be interviewed on the Alternative Press Podcast. During this tour Moore's line-up consisted of Sean Friday on drums, Christopher Null on guitar, and Aaron Rothe on keyboards.
On April 7, 2009, he released Gypsyhook EP, a digital EP, which featured three songs and four remixes. Also included was a Japanese version of "Mora" entitled "Kai Sui". Physical copies of the EP were available at his shows. After going on tour with Innerpartysystem and Paper Route and opening for Chiodos on their European tour, Moore performed at Bamboozle on May 2. He performed on Bamboozle Left's Saints and Sinners stage on April 4. He toured with Hollywood Undead in April 2009 performing under the band name Sonny and the Blood Monkeys.
Although no official statement has been given regarding the album, Moore has been reported in interviews and at events saying Bells will no longer be released.
DJ career (2008-present)
In 2008, Moore began DJing under the alias Skrillex at clubs in the Los Angeles area. On June 7, 2010, Moore released his official Skrillex debut EP, My Name is Skrillex as a free download.
In the summer of 2010, Moore provided programming and vocals for UK metalcore band Bring Me the Horizon on their third studio album There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret. Later in the year, Sonny began a nationwide tour with Deadmau5 after being signed to mau5trap recordings and released his second EP, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.
Currently, a CGI music video is in the works for the title track, and Moore has begun to talk about an upcoming full length. Skrillex also was the party dj for the 2011 Woodie Awards.
In April 2011, Spin Magazine premiered an exclusive new track from Korn that Skrillex helped produce. Korn made this track, titled "Get Up," available for free download via their Facebook page. On April 15, 2011 KoRn joined Skrillex on stage for his set at Coachella 2011.
On April 18, 2011, SCEA video game development studio Naughty Dog released a trailer for the multiplayer component of their upcoming Playstation 3 game, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception featuring a new edit of "Kill Everybody" from Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.
On April 28, 2011, Skrillex posted to his Facebook page about the new album and laptops being stolen, writing:
"Just gonna set it strait. I had 2 laptops and both of my hard drives stolen out of my hotel in Milan Italy last month. On those laptops and drives were all the project files of Skrillex. All gone now. Also I had a new album that is now gone too. I spent a week pulling my hair out but now im just focussing on the future and re making my album."
Source: Sonny's Wikipedia Page
|