RL Grime aka Henry Steinway has been one of the rising talents in the dance music scene over the past two+ years, gaining a huge amount of popularity for his dark and technical “trap music” remixes and original releases. Steinway recently sat down with Billboard in a recent interview to discuss the journey he’s undergone to get to where he is now, where he sees himself going, and his thoughts on the current state of the ‘EDM’ scene.
He discusses the point where he dropped out of college to pursue his career as an DJ/artist full time:
“I had to decide whether messing around on my computer was worth dropping out of college — it was surreal,” he says. “Landing my [2013] residency in Las Vegas made for this nice cushion because I could see exactly what my life would look like six months out, and that I’d have work.”.
He touches on the development of his VOID album, and planning the visual elements with artist David Rudnick before even starting work on the production aspect:
“We had a mutual fascination with the deep sea,” he recalls. “It’s this vast, mysterious area of nothingness that feels suspended in time but has beautiful creatures if you look hard enough. I was like, ‘That’s the world I want this album to live in — dark, but with these moments of emotion and beauty.”
Then touches on the EDM scene as a whole, stating that the genre is less about self-expression than it is about pleasing others:
“I’m totally not interested in that. My managers don’t tell me about super-cheesy opportunities because I don’t want them. Too many producers get caught up in whether or not a track is going to catch on.”
I’m going to have to agree with RL that 90% of the DJ/producer population tries to jump on the current “hot sound” and with that creates a lack of creativity within the scene itself. Artists that come with their own unique sound and approach to their music are the ones taking things to the next level and really making something worth getting behind. Skrillex coming with his chaotic yet melodic “brostep” sound and Porter Robinson with his newly inspired WORLDS album both come top of mind when thinking about artists carving their own unique path in the EDM scene.
Do you think RL on to something with the current lack of creativity in EDM right now? Let us know in the comments below.
via Billboard
Photo by Josh Brasted/Getty Images
>> Read more about RL Grime here.
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He's dead on. Much respect for this guy. Does he still do Clockwork?
agree 100% but at the same time music as a whole is like this. America is the worst for it simply because anything that is even remotely "hot" gets shoved down peoples throats (even animals was in Disney radio) so much so that it creates this need for people to be a part of that. the originals will usually shine though the masses but at the same time, some never even see the light of day. Sad but true.
Cool dude but I wonder how different this interview would have been had he not had the 'cushion' but years of struggle instead, between dropping out of uni and having the Vegas residency, hot management team and cheesy opportunities to turn his nose up at.