Champagne Bubbles and Polished Chrome

Wiley Webb is a freshman progressive house DJ from Malibu, California and his common app essay began "At my first rave".  I heard his two latest singles, 'Humour' and 'Ambrosia', shortly after they dropped in early April, so I jumped at the chance to sit down with him and talk shop. 

Stanford Arts Review: How would you describe your music?

Wiley Webb: Eclectic.  Fun.  Unclassifiable.

SAR: Ok.  How would you describe your music to someone deaf?

WW: Champagne bubbles and polished chrome.  Yeah.

SAR: Woah.

WW: Warmth.  Warm summer winds; not hot but energetic and playful.

SAR: Why do you describe your sounds in themes?

WW: EDM is more abstract -- with acoustic music, it's clearly defined.  EDM can be transformers having an argument, a romantic vacuum cleaner encounter.  Visuals are a big part of the production process.  I like to imagine things of a different sense and then try to translate it into another sense.  There's a detachment between you and what's creating the sound since it's all synthetic.  It allows for room for imagination

SAR: Why is EDM blowing up right now?

WW: To start, the technology is available and being used for music.  As that becomes more widespread, popular taste becomes accustomed to electronic music.  Honestly, it's more fun, it's more interesting, and to my aesthetic taste, it's superior music.  EDM is designed for live environments, and people are down with losing themselves in the moment.  In other types of music, you're forced back into reality in between songs at a concert.  Dance music shows, until very recently with the emergence of celebrity DJs,  were about dancing, and not about the performances.

SAR: Do you think the great musicians of the past would value EDM?

WW: Yes?

SAR: What would John Lennon like about your music?

WW: What type of hypothetical John Lennon are we talking about?  Like, has he listened to Skrillex?

SAR: Let's say this is an open-minded Lennon -- he's looking for positives.

WW: Lennon would love the sound design and cohesion. Cohesion is a big thing for my music.  As a producer, I'm working wit ha conglomeration of sounds.  I'm trying to sew them into a Frankenstein of melodies, where you can't see the seams.  Every sound should work towards the song as a whole, which is what separates amateur from quality producers.

SAR: What about Biggie?

WW:The booty bass  section of 'Humour'.  It's basically a fat kicking bass with a wonky synth over it.  And the main part is very rhythmically conscious.

SAR: Michael Jackson?

WW: The hook.  He'd like the hook.

SAR: You're generally not the biggest drinker or drug user.  Is it weird that there is such a strong drug culture surrounding the type of music you produce?

WW: Yeah, it's a little weird but never disconcerting.  It's never really been about that for me.  If you look at someone like Kaskade -- he's a 42 year old Mormon dude.  It can be done.

SAR: Kaskade is 40?  And Mormon?

WW: Yeah.

SAR: Interesting.  Who are you favorite artists right now?

WW: As for EDM, out of the big guys I likeKaskade, yeah,  deadmau5 and Daft Punk, of course.  As for lesser know guys, The M Machine, Madeon, Porter Robinson.  I opened for Madeon at Ruby Skye in January.  Outside of the genre, I'm getting really into the artsy electronica scene.  Flying Lotus, James Blake, Bonobo all came out with albums in the last three months, so I'm really happy.  They're starting to sway me towards stronger songwriting as opposed to straight production -- song, notes, melodies as opposed to sound structure, arrangement and mixing.

SAR: You think they'll influence your own work?

WW: Yeah.  I'm starting to use a lot of non-traditional chord progressions and my stuff is very melodically based.  If you're not starting on the piano or in some melodic way, it's just not really going to sound like music.

SAR: Do you always start from the piano?

WW: Yeah.  Or in the shower.  I thought of 'Humour' in the shower.

SAR: What's next for you, career move-wise?

WW: Here's where I'm at now.   I feel like I've developed a unique sound that I can call my own.  This summer I'm going to do a lot to try and release some tracks and see what kind of traction I can get with those.  From there, I'll try to figure out if I'd like to do my own thing as a producer/DJ or try to produce for other people.  I just met with a manager to produce for a pop-rock singer looking to expand her creative sound.  It will be a new experience to try to work within her style of rock while making in more interesting and danceable.

SAR: With Skrillex and Diplo doing testing their waters in hip hop, would you consider doing work in that genre?

WW: Yeah.  There's still a lot of room for individuality in creating hip hop beats, even if you're doing it for someone else.

SAR: Is working in hop hop selling out?

WW: It's a way to flex production muscles in a different way and in a different environment.  You dress up in different clothes to go to the gym than for dinner, but it's still you.  Different settings demand different applications of yourself.

SAR: Is DJ Wiley Webb different from Stanford kid Wiley Webb to construct a sort of brand?

WW: As far as I can tell, no.  It's a lot easier not to have to think about

SAR: Did you know DJrankings.com has you ranked as the 10,730th best DJ in the world?

WW: Nice.

SAR: What will it take to get you to crack 10,700?

WW: That's been my dream since day 1.

Wiley's two latest singles, 'Humour' and 'Ambrosia', can be streamed and downloaded at http://wileywebb.com/.  He'll be opening for 3lau at Ruby Skye in San Francisco on Thursday, May 30.