Skrillex has shared his perspective on artificial intelligence in music, arguing that while AI-generated tracks may achieve viral success, they cannot replicate the human connection that defines meaningful art. The reflections came as part of his first formal interview in a decade.
The US producer and DJ, born Sonny Moore, spoke at length about creativity, his early career, and the philosophy behind his recent live event series CONTRA.
AI and the absence of human feeling
“I was thinking about AI the other day when something hit me really deeply,” Moore said. “I think the value of art can almost be measured by its ability to make someone feel seen. Or at least that’s true for me, as a listener.”
He continued: “When I go back to Justice or Daft Punk or Metallica, it hits so hard because there’s something familiar that hadn’t been done before. It makes you think: ‘They get me. They’re on my wavelength. They’re speaking to me.’ 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.”
Early risks and the path to Skrillex
Moore also reflected on the creative risks that shaped his career, beginning with his time in the post-hardcore band From First to Last. “We weren’t hardcore enough for the tough hardcore crowd, but we were more aggressive than Fall Out Boy,” he recalled. “I had pink eye shadow and got called all sorts of things. I can’t tell if it was intentional or if I was just self-unaware, but I would always just go for it. I would open up the Legos and start building.”
He traced his production evolution from the 2009 track ‘Mora’, created in GarageBand under his Sonny project, to later work with Pro Tools and Ableton. “Songs like ‘Bangarang’ were made on Snowball mics or laptop mics,” Moore said. “Hearing it first in that dull, lo-fi version and then pushing the character out of it, that’s what gets you somewhere interesting. Starting from something imperfect forces you to end up somewhere you’d never expect.”
CONTRA and the search for authentic spaces
The interview also covered CONTRA, a two-day event Moore curated at Kraftwerk Berlin in late May. The line-up featured Ecco2K, Bladee, Blawan, Knock2, and a performance from Skrillex himself.
“This idea came from one of those ‘f*ck it, victory lap’ moments,” Moore said. “I wanted to create something genuinely unique. I wanted to reverse-engineer some of the best experiences I ever had. In this era of AI and smartphones, it’s more important than ever to create spaces where people can just be present together and feel something the way it’s meant to be felt. How do we break the mold?”
He added: “You can’t fake it, no matter how hot something is. That’s why Daft Punk don’t play shows anymore. I feel the same; I’d rather hang up the boots. I have to find an authentic place first. With CONTRA, the question became: how do we rethink what production even means and build something fresh with a line-up that reflects that?”
Independent era and recent output
Moore also recalled the modest origins of his breakout 2010 EP ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites’, which was released with a marketing budget of just $2,000. “People thought it was part of some massive machine that people were dumping heaps of money into, but it was just good timing and natural virality,” he said. “With Skrillex, I wanted to make music I liked to DJ. That’s it. I just wanted people to come see me live, jump around in a room, and create a real, shared space, and that is all I want my music to do.”
The interview arrives amid a prolific period for Moore. Following the surprise June album ‘SOMA’, he returned this week with the collaborative single ‘Rumpta’, alongside Solomun. Both releases follow 2025’s ‘F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3’ LP and mark his transition into an independent chapter after departing Atlantic Records.
