Skrillex has given his first formal interview in over 10 years, opening up about the evolution of the rave community and warning against the emotional emptiness of AI-generated music.
The pioneering electronic music producer spoke with Ecco2K for the Summer 2026 print issue of 032c, the influential culture magazine based out of Berlin. The conversation ranges widely, but one exchange stands out for how directly it addresses an existential question now facing every working musician: what happens to the meaning of a song when AI can generate one in seconds.
Skrillex, whose real name is Sonny Moore, told Ecco2K that he’d been turning the subject over in his mind when a realization struck him. He said he came to believe that the worth of a piece of art can be measured by whether or not it makes a listener “feel seen.” The DJ pointed to his own experience returning to records by Justice, Daft Punk and Metallica, saying those songs still land because they carry something recognizable that had never quite been done before, the sense that the artist is speaking directly to the person hearing it.
“It makes you think: ‘They get me. They’re on my wavelength. They’re speaking to me,’” Moore said. “Maybe there are some AI songs that can go viral, but you can’t have that feeling of being seen if there isn’t a human on the other side.”
Ecco2K described Skrillex’s curiosity and appetite for new work as remarkably intact given the scale of scrutiny he has faced over the years. He suggested that the producer’s refusal to compromise, paired with a genuine desire to reach listeners, was what separated him from acts dismissed as merely commercial.
Skrillex performing at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 11, 2026. Credit: Roger Ho
Moore recalled a bootstrapped marketing budget of $2,000 behind his breakout 2010 EP, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, far short of the industry machine some assumed was behind its rise. He attributed that success instead to timing and organic word of mouth. Asked how he had avoided becoming jaded, he pointed to a modest underlying goal.
“I just wanted people to come see me live, jump around in a room, and create a real, shared space – that is all I want my music to do,” he said. “With Skrillex, in every era, I have this moment where I think, ‘Okay, victory lap, fuck it, let’s just do something’ – and I keep coming back to that mindset. It always brings me where I need to be.”
Moore also recalled the skepticism that met his desire to produce music for Justin Bieber, with whom he ultimately released the chart-topping dance-pop anthem ‘Where Are Ü Now’ in February 2015. When he played an early version of the song for executives at Atlantic Records, the reaction was lukewarm at best.
“I remember playing the ‘Where Are Ü Now’ demo to some of the old regime at Atlantic and saying, ‘Guys, this feels like something!’ They were on their BlackBerrys like, “Justin Bieber, hmmm interesting,’” Moore recalled.
In late-2024, the dubstep icon revealed his plans to go independent after completing his Atlantic deal by virtue of his next body of work. He then released his fourth studio album, F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album.
You can purchase the Summer 2026 issue of 032c here.
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