Skrillex at Gramercy Theater, NY. Taken by Jason Ano.

Behind the Music Video
When i first met sonny last September in New York City, I instantly knew that he was going to be a game changer and I’m not even talking about his music. I was pleasantly surprised from his genuine humbleness and love for his art. Already shooting at clubs and struggling to get exclusive clips with artists, I was accustomed to being shrugged off and expecting nothing in return. We (the crew) was there to get an interview from Sonny for the upcoming Electro Wars 2, but we were so intrigued with his inviting personality that Stephen and I decided to stay to hang out for a bit. We were all jamming out backstage to Sonny playing “Father Said” off his laptop. He opened up for Atari Teenage Riot at Gramercy Theater (September) and what I witnessed was nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Prior to this venue, we were filming at Electric Zoo and I thought dubstep was monstrous then, but Skrillex’s bass were genocidal.

So began our epic journey with Skrillex and during this adventure, we’ve encountered so many talented and inspiring artists, which are sprinkled all throughout the video.

New York City
He returned a few weeks later to NYC to sign a deal with Atlantic/Big Beat. We documented this three day event and it ended with his performance at Roseland Ballroom, opening for Deadmau5. The Deadmau5 appearance from the video was taken backstage. He returned shortly again, this time at Webster Hall and NYC just got its first taste of Skrillex. I’ve never seen NYC rage so hard! A good portion of the music video takes place at Webster Hall, including one of his most viewed stage dives. Prior to his performance, Skrillex had an interview at MTV studios with our good friend, Adam Stewart. We also walked around St. Marks in the East Village, visiting Trash & Vaudeville, where we had fun rummaging through clothes with Sonny. He told us that he use to play at the Continental with his old band, From First to Last, even before they became famous. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to film many acts at Webster Hall, so be sure to check those out, most notably Zedd and the Project Blue Book tour with Tommy Lee, Sofi and Porter Robinson.

Skrillex loves St. Marks

Across the USA
We later traveled to Baltimore for a Skrillex headliner show at Bourbon Street, where Smash Gordon, Ben Hogan and the rest of the Steez Promo crew showed us how B-More gets down. Steez is a crew that sure knows how to party and I believe that they started the whole crowd rafting bit. The clips with the alien blow up dolls, lasers, Smash Gordon’s “Smash” ring and the crowd rafting were all filmed in Bourbon Street. You can also catch a few glimpses of the Vacay Vitamin crew there. It was also the night I showed Skrillex the first take of the Rock N Roll music video. His initial reaction to the video led us to get blessings from his manager, Tim Smith, to go on a mission to make this epic tour diary a reality one day.

After one more NY show with Project Blue Book, there was UMF. Ultra Music Week came with plenty of madness and good times. We actually have a documentary film on Miami Music Week coming out soon, showcasing what exactly went down. Be on the lookout for that with plenty of appearances and antics from Skrillex. We (Stephen, Carmine and I) stayed with the Skrillex crew in Miami and met The Juggernaut, Alvin Risk, and Zedd for the first time there. Following Ultra was Coachella, the last USA show for Skrillex. He left for an extended stay in Europe afterwards. Stephen and I traveled in Skrillex’s tour bus and as expected, Coachella was filled with good people and good times. We also had a random, but awesome chance to hang out with Tommy Lee in his house right before we all had to leave for home. You can see the crew: Tim Smith, The Roadhog, Stephen, Sofi and Skrillex lounging around in the hot tub in the video. We were sure that the video was near completion at this time.

Back in the USA, we followed him for Starscape in Maryland and ultimately in Hartford, CT where we worked with Skrillex on cutting the final edit of the video. There were many times when we thought that the video would never happen, but in the end, everything came together and it pulled through. We spent hours with an extremely enthused and focused Skrillex finalizing the video in his hotel room. Days later… we submitted the video and now we are eagerly awaiting the response.

From Left: Tommy Lee, Sofi, Tim Smith, Stephen Vasquez, Skrillex, Jason Ano. Taken by The Roadhog.

The video doesn’t mark the end of the journey with Skrillex.. it only indicates the beginning. We have many more on going projects, including the summer OWSLA tour, so be sure to stay tuned. In the meantime… ROCK N ROLL!

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You can also buy the Rock N Roll video from iTunes
http://www.youtube.com/theofficialskrillex
http://www.skrillex.com

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• Zedd in New York City
• Skrillex at Camp Bisco