Porter Robinson

 Hey guys,

In my previous post, I have mentioned Porter Robinson a lot; and I figured I should just share the paper I wrote on him for my Inspirational Person paper. Hopefully, those who care to read it are inspired as well! I can't find a way to insert my pdf, so I am just going to copy and paste it here: 

 Porter Robinson: Love Letters to Reality 

    Music is an incredible blessing we are able to enjoy in this world today. It has the power to connect one to the world, to connect one with people, and to connect one to themselves. As time goes on, music continues to grow into more styles and genres; from the Beatles to contemporary rap music, there’s a preference for everyone, filled with unlimited nuances and flavors. Electronic music emerged during the 1970s and became popular during the 1980s. This idea of using technology to produce music was fascinating to certain creators and opened a new world and genre of music. After falling off a bit in mainstream culture, EDM, or electronic dance music, found a new popularity in the 2000s. With more advanced technology, people were able to push the bounds of the genre, pioneering even further into what it could behold. When it comes to the genre of electronic dance music, Porter Robinson was a revolutionary. 

    Porter Robinson was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on July 15, 1992. With a loving, supporting family, Porter was able to foster his love for hobbies such as sports and music. At a young age, Porter discovered the game “Dance Dance Revolution (abbreviated DDR),” a game that involved dancing while a song played in the background. The experience of “Dance Dance Revolution” exposed him to electronic music, Japanese music, and more. Because he enjoyed the game so much, he started to edit/remix people’s music to start making DDR content. Through this, he was already creating music around the age of 12. He continued to make music and post to online music forums. At age 14, through these forums, he met Hugo Pierre Leclercq, also known as Madeon. Madeon was 12 at the time, and he and Porter slowly stopped interaction over time, they kept in touch with each other. Madeon will come back in the story of Porter. 

    Although Porter was 15, just starting high school, he started to find a lot of success in music. One thing Porter was always mindful of was the idea of popularity. To him, it was never about being a popular DJ – it was about making music he liked. He was fascinated with the genre of music called “Eurodance,” and in 2008, he was able to sign a record deal in Germany. This was one of his very first opportunities where he made a name for himself. Porter traveled to Germany with his father and DJ’d in a nightclub where the audience loved his music – he felt as though they believed in him. After this experience, Porter would continue to go to high school and DJ on the weekends. He would keep an eye on beatport.com, a website that would rank songs in a top 100 chart. He would try to incorporate aspects of successful songs, and he very quickly found himself with a number one song on the website. As the years passed, Porter would continue to find success, touring with popular band Skrillex as well as collaborating with Zedd on the hit song “Clarity.” During this period of his life, he started to dislike the state of the electronic music genre. He also didn’t want to be associated as a pop music artist, so he asked Zedd to remove his name from the song Clarity. At this point in his career, Porter started to feel inauthentic – the songs he was making, although loved by everyone else, were not received in the same way by himself. 

    Desiring to be authentic and create something true to him, Porter wanted to quit EDM as he knew it. He decided to make Worlds. He was ready to disappoint all his fans, risking his career in order to create this new album. The album Worlds was a narrative, telling a story about fictional worlds in which people often find themselves. These worlds can range from video games to movies, books and so on. He wanted to capture the beauty of these universes that can be so beneficial to people in today’s world. Luckily for Porter, the album was an instant success. Porter would go on tour with Worlds, receiving an overwhelming amount of praise and joy from his audience. Often considered as a genre defining album, Worlds is still highly praised in Porter Robinsons repertoire today. 

    After touring Worlds, Porter Robinson felt as though he discovered his sound, and was ready to create more music; however, he continued to run into a problem. Whenever he would sit down to create music, he was unable to create anything that he considered good – every time he was in the studio, he would leave in disappointment. Because of this, Porter decided that he needed to work harder. He started spending less time with friends, consuming music and media, playing video games, everything he used to do with his free time. Despite doing this, he still was unable to create good music. Porter later reflected on these decisions and behaviors as mistakes. In an interview, when discussing his feeling of needing to prove himself and work harder in the studio, Porter said, “Real creativity comes from a place of exploration, and play, relaxation, where you’re just messing around with something to show the person in the other room, or just as a joke and then you realize its good and somehow get it across the finish line.” He points out that creating music was not something he could white-knuckle, and approaching it with a mindset of “I must prove myself” was a recipe for failure. The idea of “exploration and play” along with spontaneity were aspects he acknowledges to be a key part of the creative process. He continued in the interview to address how he closed off from the world around him in attempt to make better music by using the idea of soil and connecting it with life experiences. He says that life experiences are equivalent to gathering soil together, good – bad, fecund – barren, creating a place in which seeds can sprout. The seeds in this circumstance are creative ideas and pursuits. Porter effectively stopped gathering this creative soil when he stopped interacting with the world around him. Because of this realization, he now places an immense significance on life experiences and their place in the creative process. 

    Although Porter Robinson was unable to create anything in the frame of time after Worlds, he was able to create the hit song “Shelter” with now-famous Madeon, his old forum-friend Hugo. A couple months after the song was released, A-1 pictures and Crunchyroll released the music video for the song. This music video took the world by storm and is highly regarded in the world of EDM. Porter Robinson traveled to Japan multiple times to work directly on the project with A-1 studios. Although this paper will not discuss much of the creative process of the song shelter, it is fascinating, and it is highly encouraged that the reader watch the video (available on YouTube), and do more desired research. Despite Porter’s inability to create his own songs, he was able to collaborate with Madeon and create an incredibly touching song during his time of creative struggle. 

    “The best advice I feel I can give other people who are trying to do creative work is to make your own favorite thing.” This is the opening quote from “Nurture Walk with Porter Robinson” on YouTube by Spotify. The video is in association with Porter Robinson and his most recent album Nurture, released in 2021. “Nurture” was the response to Porter Robinsons creative draught after Worlds. In an interview, Porter Robinson described nurture as a story of finding meaning in his life. It was an appreciation for what is close to us, the mundane. It was him learning to love life again. It was a way to express the significance of creative work, and why it is always worth doing. Porter Robinson said that he named the album “nurture” over “nature” because nature is what is within us – things that don’t change. “Nurture”, on the other hand, includes nature in a sense, while including the possibility of growth and change – hope. Going back to the quote at the top of the previous paragraph, Porter places an emphasis on creating things that the individual likes. In the video he goes on to point out that one fully knows what one desires, but is guessing when trying to meet someone else's preferences. Porter describes it as writing love letters in some cases: one is unable to write a love letter if that person is not in love with the subject of the letter. Porter encourages people to write love letters to things they love – create things that the individual will like. In an interview, Porter Robinson also discusses the idea of being uncomfortable and confronting the unknown. He associates growth and improvement with trying things that one is not comfortable with, and it makes sense: if a person continues to do the same thing, there will be no growth. If a person does something in the realm of our capabilities, there could still be an expectation to meet from previous experiences. If a person does something that is in completely uncharted waters, there cannot be any expectations holding them back. This is freeing to Porter Robinson, and from this unknown place is where he encourages people to create. 

    The content of the songs in the album Nurture shows a clear and unphased Porter. It shows a person who is confident in themselves and their purpose. In “Look at the Sky,” Porter says “Are you close? Shouldn't it come to you naturally? And everyone knows you're losing your gift, and it's plain to see, but then something must have changed in me. I don't fear it anymore. Now I'm sure. I'm sure.” In this reflection, Porter acknowledges his fear of failure and inability to create music after Worlds, but resolves the issue with a new confidence in himself. In the ending of the song “Mirror,” Porter says, “Sometimes, the inner voice is encouraging, Calling for you to run those final few yards. You're nearly there. Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. It will all be OK in the end.” In an interview, Porter Robinson discussed the destructiveness of being a harsh self-critic. He shared the experience of always thinking “what is the worst thing someone could say about my work” and how negative the answers were. He came to realize how unproductive and useless this habit was – how it caused him to live in fear. The ending of “Mirror” is a response to the inner voice that can be so critical at times. With 12 other songs, Nurture continues to be a beacon of light, hope, and inspiration for countless listeners. 

    Porter Robinson was and continues to be an influential player in the world of Electronic Dance Music, Indie Pop, Hip Hop, and other genres of music. From being a DJ to singing on his own tracks, he has refined his skills to create truly unique music, that of which is thoroughly enjoyed by the world today. Despite his astounding success in his relatively short life, Porter 

Robinson has not been without his struggles and mental battles, and his story and perspectives can be an incredible source of inspiration for people and creatives struggling themselves. 

Porter Robinson Portrait: 

Source: Songkick 

Worlds Album: 

Source: Spotify 

Shelter 

Source: Wikipedia 

Source: YouTube 

Nurture Album: 

Source: Wikipedia 

WORKS CITED 

[Zach Sang Show]. (April 23, 2021). Porter Robinson Talks Nurture, Why He Stopped Making EDM, Creating Clarity w/ Zedd & More [video]. YouTube. Porter Robinson Talks Nurture, Why He Stopped Making EDM, Creating Clarity w/ Zedd & More 

[Spotify]. (June 21 2021). Nurture Walk with Porter Robinson [video]. YouTube. Nurture Walk with Porter Robinson