Porter Robinson revisits the origins of ‘Worlds;’ plans to return to festival performances soon
It’s no secret that this year has been one of monumental change and exploration for Porter Robinson. With Worlds, the once electro-heavy producer jumped ship from the formulaic confines of ‘EDM’ and fashioned his own realm of emotive electronic music along with a goosebump-inducing visual counterpart to his live show. In a recent interview with UKF, Robinson reflected on the story behind the album.
Remaining true to his image as an creatively dedicated artist, the North Carolina native accredits many of his now cherished Worlds hits as happy accidents: “The simple straightforward idea I had for the album was that I wanted to focus on it being beautiful … Once I stumbled on a 90 BPM with a super melodic four on the floor sound, and I was like, ‘I’m going to do this again, many more times. This will be the sound of Worlds.'”
Robinson notes how most of his dedicated fan base have happily embraced his newfound sound: “I think people were really supportive of my change because they truly believed that this is exactly what I wanted to be doing and it was sincere.” The sharp veer away from his older catalogue was not meant as a statement, or his attempt to lead a movement. Rather, it was a reflection of his choice to follow his own intuition and feelings towards the genre: “For me, it was this move towards sincerity and casting off a lot of influences that shouldn’t have been there. Fundamentally, I needed to start making music that I love and in doing so, I totally fell in love with making music again.”
Worlds, both in sound and in show, is as personal as the audience can get with Porter. Legs shaking and even unsure of his own singing and stage presence ability, the 22-year old revealed how anxious he was in his own performance: “DJing for me isn’t this beautiful form of artistic expression, really it’s just super fun for me and I like doing it. People have this perception that I hate fun electronic music, and I don’t. It’s just not what I wanted to do with my own stuff.” His inspirations vary from Daft Punk to the infamous Kanye West. Rather than placing an artist’s music on a pedestal, he fixates on those with a unique philosophy in an effort to gain a new perspective.
“Daft Punk and Kanye West are my favorite artists in terms of their philosophy and their approach to music. They have this signature that embraces their own style in a way that feels really unique. They’re not doing corny ads or trying to hashtag viral marketing campaigns – they’re very tasteful in everything they’re involved with. Everything they do feels big. I was definitely reaching for that with Worlds.”
His Worlds Tour, currently finishing its last leg in Australia, will not be the last time fans will be able to see the previously elusive producer in show. Pre-Worlds, Porter remained averse to playing festival style events in attempt to truly prepare for a live show deemed appropriate for Worlds, but now, the possibility of festival dates have returned to the table.
“I was talking so much about how I wanted to do this other thing with my own music that to come out and DJ the biggest bangers at the biggest festivals was too much of a mixed signal for me to feel comfortable with. I decided I would return to festivals once I had a live show ready, and that’s why I took time off. I’m definitely not close off to doing those kinds of festivals at all. The first festival I’m doing is SnowGlobe with Flume, Skrillex, Disclosure, and me. It’s a festival that I would totally fucking go see.”
Via: UKF
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Porter Robinson continues behind the scenes look into his Worlds tour
Everything you need to know about Porter Robinson’s new live show
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