While only being on the electronic music scene for one year, nineteen-year-old Porter Robinson has already played next to DJs like Tiesto, Deadmau5, Benny Benassi, and Dada Life, and has performed at festivals like Electronic Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas to crowds of 30,000+.

“My goal was to make cool songs—that was it. I never wanted to go see DJs. I just liked that high-energy sort of song structure that translated into the way the crowds reacted to the music, so it ended up being good,” Robinson says his start in producing.

After releasing the hit “Say My Name”, Robinson’s life drastically changed from going to high school classes to touring the United States alongside the biggest names in electronic music. “I was 18 when that song came out, and it was sort of a tumultuous thing to go through, from being in high school and not going to college, and then be touring, and how it effects you.”

Robinson says he is unsure of when he made it as a DJ. “It’s more of a gradual realization. There’s several different checkpoints that you hit, like playing over a crowd of 10,000, or doing your first good billing on a festival, or getting good term placement on a website. For me, the thing that was always most important was getting some kudos from some of my idols.”

Robinson’s lifestyle is not the only thing changing with the take off of his career. He says his production goals have changed as well since “Say My Name.” “I always wanted to write to impress musicians. Now, I’m definitely writing towards my audience. I made that song more than a year ago and try to produce as much as I can, so there’s some inevitable changes that go on as an artist.”

Fresh off of Tiesto’s “College Invasion Tour,” Robinson describes the star DJ’s influence on his musical style, saying, “When you go on tour with somebody for two months it’s totally inevitable that they rub off on you a little bit. I’m still finding songs that I heard Tiesto play on that tour, and I’m like, oh man, I’d like to incorporate that into my set—his style, his presence, all those things he does.”

Robinson says his original influences helped mold the style of his sound as well as his objectives. “The big one was always Wolfgang Gartner. He’s really intricate—a lot of really fascinating electro that’s musically impressive and technically impressive, and he still maintains a high level of energy. I wanted to impress people in the same way that Wolfgang impressed producers across the board.”

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The result of Robinson’s career launch is his unique electro house sound, making for ideal dance music. “The music is first and foremost DJ music. It’s supposed to get as many people dancing as you can possibly get.” Describing his aims in the electronic genre, says that he has “experimented with several different styles of sound, but the scene I’m most known for is electric genre. I’d say more specifically, if I were to straight-up take the magic disc to describe my sound, in the past it’s been hard-hitting, aggressive, danceable—energetic is a big one.”

Carefully elaborating on this classification, he says, “The cliché is that the artist doesn’t want to label themselves because you sort of trap yourself into a box. I don’t know if I’ll always want to make music that’s 100% optimized like DJs play. I might want to write some stuff a little more musical for music’s sake.”

Even though Robinson has gained considerable attention for his music, his age has also contributed to his presence in the press and gained fans for him. “[My age] is a marketing goal. I know that’s a pretty pragmatic way of looking at it. It’s totally benefited me. I mean, its something people latch on to.” He says he has been emulated by his young fans. “I’ve had people tell me it’s motivated them to try and DJ and try and produce. I’ve had people say they feel they can succeed in a realm totally unrelated to DJing or writing music because of the success that I have enjoyed over the past year.”

His success has led to a busy working lifestyle that has inhibited him from producing anything since his last album. “I can only produce at home. I’m only capable of writing music when I’m at home, and ever since my last album Spitfire came out, I’ve spent basically every single day on the road. I’ve had six to eight days off since then. It’s been many months, so I haven’t written anything, and I’m dying to. I’m really trying to get back home. I’ve got some ideas I’m working on.”

Since ideas are all that Robinson has done in regards to his next project, he says he has not planned any collaborations. “I try to schedule my music more or less pretty reasonably. I didn’t want to agree a bunch of collaborations with people that I knew I wouldn’t be able finish because my number one priority is making my own music. So, no plans for now except hitting the ground running when I get time to work.”

The young DJ is set to perform tomorrow night at Club Ampersand. Robinson says he is bringing a new visual and audio style to his set in New Orleans. “We have a new visual element. We now have a video production that we’re rolling with on the road. I have my own “Porter Robinson” license that goes up on the screen. I’ve got all new tricks up my sleeve when it comes to my set and the shit that I’ll be playing around with on stage. I’ll be playing my new material as well. A whole bunch of new tricks and some shit like that.”

 

Porter Robinson plays Ampersand Saturday, November 19 at 9 p.m. Local DJs Beverly Skillz, Swiss Chriss, and Christoph Andersson open. The show is 18+. Tickets are $10 and are available online.