Please, please, please get your parents' 1st reaction to Skrillex on video. It is hilarious and I will bet money that it will start the first conversation with the usual millennial bashing and regular resignation to technology that you have learned to love about them.
Dubstep is not too well understood by many people, and it tends to turn heads when you play it outside your inner circle. But it can have a much larger impact than what we believe. The art of Dubstep/Trap/EDM/etc… can actually supplements discussion in areas of biology, anthropology, psychology, history, and the list can go on. Through my limited experience, here are a couple connections I have made for you to explain to anyone why you love dubstep, because it tends to be an indescribable feeling.
It’s classical
And not just in the way you think.
A lot of western philosophy originates from the thinkers and innovators of the ancient Romans and Greeks. In fact, the 20th century English philosopher made the claim that “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato” who was a student of Socrates, the father of philosophy and some would say western thought.
But where did these thinkers get most of their original meaning and analysis? From the Greek gods. The tenants of Mt. Olympia produced one duality between two gods who shaped how we view storytelling: Dionysus and Apollo.
Apollo brings nothing but order. His art, his speech and especially his music. Think Yo-Yo Ma or Itzhak Perlman. The structure that it brings is a part of the beauty of classical music.
Dionysus-my favorite god and not because of the wine- is nothing but disorder. If Apollo feeds out superego with order and a higher aspiration, Dionysus is what our Id craves, pleasing our reptilian brain with nothing but chaos. This is where ACDC’s “we’re not gonna take it” can get to us.
These two, as philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche claims, are the driving force of drama, and what I would agree. There is a part of us that wants to rise above our stations and applaud people for their work ethic. There is another part of us that want to feed out primal instincts and just go nuts at a concert.
Where those Skrillex fit in all of this?
He has become the master of controlling the worlds. There is order in his chaos, and every beat, soundbite, and break are carefully planned. He interweaves multiple songs and remixes them for a continuing rhythm that transcends the traditional understanding of music.
We try to find the method to his madness, but at the same time, we really like the madness.
You’re going to be feelin' it
Whether you love it or hate it.
Try to find another genre that gets the same level of emotions. There’s a lot of people who hate dubstep or any similar genre. It makes sense, it's not anything we’re used to 20 years ago, it challenged the very concept of music, and it sometimes leads to permanent ear damage.
But you’ll also get people like me: headbangers who love the order, disorder, volume, and range of instruments played,… you get the point. There is an amazing mix of emotions whoever you are, and it becomes very difficult to find a middle ground.
The music demands some visceral, biological reaction, cutting through class, culture, and age.
