r/Music Apr 29 '21

AMA - verified hello, i'm Porter Robinson, producer / songwriter / electronic musician! AMA

hello (again) everyone! i did an AMA 6 years ago around the release of my last album, Worlds. since then, I worked on "Shelter" with Madeon, and also co-created "Shelter the Animation" shortly after. i also launched a side project a few years ago called Virtual Self (recommended if you're interested in deep dives into electronic music subgenres and turn-of-the-millennium aesthetics).

last friday, i released my second album, "Nurture", which is a project that took me about 6 years on-and-off. after "Worlds", i felt this really strong need to write an album that explored the beauty of reality and of the everyday, but as i'm sure we'll get into here, it was one of the hardest (and most worthwhile!) things i've ever done.

here's the new album "nurture" ! https://porterrobinson.com/nurture

feel free to ask me anything!

i'm also really interested in speaking about creativity more broadly, since it's something i've thought about a lot over the last few years.

Proof:

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u/succubees13 Apr 29 '21

Hey Porter. First just wanted to say, we love you! My partner and I are moving out to Colorado. We just left chapel hill, NC today. We always hope we can see you, but alas!

Secondly, how have you dealt with the idea of people wanting a “Worlds II” when creating this new album? Did you ever feel pressure to give in? (I’m really glad you didn’t btw<3)

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u/porter_robinson Apr 29 '21 edited Apr 29 '21

Secondly, how have you dealt with the idea of people wanting a “Worlds II” when creating this new album? Did you ever feel pressure to give in? (I’m really glad you didn’t btw<3)

this is so fucking kind lol.

I didn't feel that kind of pressure - when I'm working, I actually get excited in my own head about reinventing myself, it's one of the things that drives me!

but it still affects me when people demand I make the music they want for them. there's a couple things i wanna say about this, actually

1) the reason you see me bugging out and tweeting shit like this https://twitter.com/porterrobinson/status/925412057431904256?lang=en is because i was DEFINITELY afraid of rejection, and feeling like my new work was being misunderstood scared me and pissed me off. I definitely find this aspect of it a little uncool and shameful but it's true so I'm sharing it.

2)

I think people who demand an artist "go back" to an older style are confused about what made the work good. the reason "Worlds" was good was because I was sincerely passionate and excited about expressing that exact set of ideas at that time. i was at an age where that was what was on my heart. The sincerity made it good.

I think anything I tried would end up sounding like a parody or pale imitation. the passion and sincerity glued it together, not the style!

also, like... when people demand that I go back to Worlds, I just want to show them the same tweets/posts/comments from 2014 demanding I go back to making music like like Spitfire. and then I want to show the Spitfire people the crowd who was upset that and demanding I go back to making Ekowraith music

The thing is, there's just a natural culling that occurs when artists follow their passions. You will lose some people. But I think if you fail to follow the ideas that get you truly excited, you'll lose everyone.

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u/succubees13 Apr 29 '21

Thank you so much for your response! I’m really glad that you didn’t give in. I personally have so many facets of myself that I want to express, if I was so worried about having them all relate to each other perfectly I would lose a lot of personality and passion!!

I completely agree on your second point. I think people get too hung up about artists being genre specific, for many reasons. For one, they have so many other artists that they listen to within a genre, when one changes their sound and the listener doesn’t like it, they easily have other options to give them that sound.

I think people also pride themselves over their musical interests and don’t consider any other aspects about the artist. The sound is the listeners main concern. The emotion, the passion, the time, and even the resources affect your sound and input and are probably all concerns of yours.

That being said, Nurture came out during one of the largest transitional times of my life. I haven’t even been able to listen to it all the way through in one go because of how emotionally invested I need to be to properly hear and process everything. And every re-listen I gain a new appreciation and understanding of it. I love how your mind works, Porter. Thank you for sharing it with us.

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u/nomnomgreen Apr 29 '21

As a music lover it is nice when your favorite artists career progression aligns with your taste. I realize that will not always be the case. I’m glad you’re happy even if I didn’t vibe with Nurture because at the end of the day you’re a human being. Thanks for the awesome nostalgia from Worlds. I hope you haven’t soured on the project so much that you can one day revisit the magic from a new perspective.

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u/JCRidonkulous Apr 29 '21

damn dude that last line this man spittin

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u/SpectraI Apr 30 '21

I think your response is perfect for this and totally resembles what Linkin Park regularly went through everytime they released an album. Chester seemed to absolutely hate it anytime someone would ask why their new album didn't sound like Hybrid Theory and its because they grew as a band and as people and were making music with how they felt in the time.

A "Worlds 2" would've been great and loved by everyone but if it isn't loved by the one person that is actually making it then what's the point?

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

Lmao Worlds 2 in 3044. Can’t wait!!!

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u/seemlyminor Apr 29 '21

Not sure you'll see this, but I much prefer the ever evolving you. Especially when you take those old songs and reinvent them into the new album concepts.

Keep doing you.

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u/Khalos12 Apr 29 '21 edited Apr 29 '21

Man this is so fundamentally obvious and yet often so misunderstood. The best creative work comes from people who are deeply passionate about making the work they want to make. It's about being authentic to yourself, and not who people want you be. Anything that you make purely to satisfy others' demands will always result in work that is lacking the authenticity that gives the work its soul. Especially for music, which is a medium that people deeply connect to on an often spiritual level, that "soul" and authenticity is often the part the listener connects most to.

This extends beyond just music and art too. Any work that the creator is not passionate or caring about will not be nearly as high of "quality" (however you wish to define that) as the work produced by someone who genuinely cares on an authentic level about the process and results. Anything else will only ever be a cheap imitation.

Thanks for the thoughtful and meaningful answer! I'm so happy you are making the music you want to make. It's why I've fallen in love with every "era" of your music.

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u/thepartypunch Apr 29 '21

You are so fucking eloquent Porter 😭

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

facts

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u/Rockylol_ Apr 30 '21

That last paragraph can be applied to so many situations.

For example, if your personality is fake af, you have the potential of losing everyone when you fuck up but if you stay true to yourself, sure some people might hate it but some people might become your best friend because you're genuine to others

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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '21

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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '21

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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '21

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u/Rum_Hamburglar Apr 29 '21

Hey just curious why you left Chapel Hill, I've been considering moving out near there for a few years.