November 21, 2025

We had the chance to chat with Subtronics ahead of his six-night run at Shrine Expo Hall about the 360° sets he has in store, playing Coachella next year for the first time, and his upcoming album, Fibonacci.

What can fans expect from your upcoming six shows at Shrine LA?

I’m preparing sets with their own theme, intertwining the album throughout each one, and plan to strike a balance between super high energy, introspective, and emotionally compelling. I really do aim to hit every single throwback I can think of. With six nights, I'd love to play every single song I’ve ever made at least once.

Each night at Shrine LA has a different set of special guests — how do you approach curating those lineups to make every show its own unique experience? What’s your creative vision for making each performance night distinct?

I have become very accustomed to preparing for multi-night events, most of my shows are now more than one night, so this is kinda familiar. I’m prepared and ready to put together cohesive sets that span the spectrum of what I do. A bunch of artists also plan to stop by, which gives each night its own personalized extra bonus. I’m sure I’ll be making tweaks and new songs between now and then. When all is said and done, every show will have its own fingerprint in a way.

What can fans expect from your upcoming Coachella set, both sonically and visually?

I really aim to summarize the entirety of my project into the most captivating and thrilling live experience I can put together. I hope to elicit entire ranges of emotions and facilitate an escape to an alternate reality. Plan for an audio/visual rollercoaster ride through the fabric of spacetime.

How did growing up in Philly shape your sound?

Philadelphia is a hip-hop city through and through, and I have found parallels between rap music and bass music. Both are driven by low-end and 808 beats that knock your chest and tilt your head. The cadence and timbre of someone's voice can really be compared to the signature sound design and rhythmic signature of your favorite artists. There's a lot of overlap, so when I fell into the world of electronic music, I naturally shifted towards dubstep. It combines my love for UK-inspired music, bass music, hip hop, and dark underground culture. It was just the coolest thing to me. Philadelphia as a city has a lot of urban decay and graffiti, just a general feeling of all around angst, and counter culture artforms have a tendency to thrive. The corner of dubstep I came from felt like a counter culture to the norm of mass-appeal dance music at the time. Getting my start as a local in the Northeast region, most of my friends were people I met online in 2015 and were scattered everywhere between DC and NYC.

What production elements are you excited for fans to experience at your Shrine residency?

We’re taking a different approach and putting the focus in the center of the room, so the entire venue is the stage. To say it's immersive is an understatement, we’re heavily using the ceiling and lining the room with all the bells and whistles. I love the raw energy 360° shows bring and the production is going to make it that much more special.

What was the collaboration process like with ILLENIUM and Royal & the Serpent on “I Got Away?”

It was awesome, and easy. It’s special when you get to work with someone who is just so pleasant and has a steady stream of brilliant ideas.

Nick and I were passing demos back and forth for some time. He sent over the first pass of the song, and it grabbed my attention instantly, was totally up my alley – my exact type of tune. I got the project file, quickly got to work, and had something I was really excited about right away. I sent it to Nick and he hit me with fantastically insightful notes. Working with another artist usually has rounds of exchanging feedback, but every single thing Nick caught just blew the doors open, and made the tune dramatically better. It was the first time I’ve had an experience like that and we were able to have something fast. Though, the second drop wasn’t finished until months later. I have to say, working with Nick and Royal & The Serpent was so cool. So efficient, friendly, and just all around wonderful.

How has your sound evolved since TESSERACT?

As I’ve gotten older, my tastes have shifted to songs that have a bit more restraint to them. I still love a nuclear blast/wall of sound tune here and there, but I’ve found myself exploring an entire spectrum of music that I love even more, digging deeper into what I grew up listening to and what shaped me as a person. A lot of my favorite songs over the course of my life have all been very introspective and honestly, kinda sad, while still maintaining an optimistic sensation. I feel like I’m finally starting to tap into that. There have been hints of it throughout my work, but with every album, I grow and evolve my skills to more accurately express my truest self in audio format. Fibonacci is my most musical work yet, it’s for sure an evolution into what I love the most. I want to write music that I can keep listening to forever and still enjoy. Writing dancefloor bangers is always a fun challenge, and I will always release that kind of music, but it is such a dream of mine to write truly timeless songs.

What was the concept behind Fibonacci?

The Fibonacci Sequence is a spiral formula/ratio for all of the natural world, which is just such a fascinating phenomenon. It feels like it summarizes all of existence. This album is my attempt at encapsulating the entire world that I have developed as Subtronics thus far.

What can fans look forward to on Fibonacci Part 2: Infinity?

A wide range of styles and vibes. Yes, there are high energy bangers, but also a lot with deeper substance and sentiment tied into the project as a whole. Some of these songs might feel like something totally unexpected, or new, given my past music. It all sounds distinctly like myself, and honestly, the ones that are the most different from my usual stuff, in a way, sound more like me than anything else previously. I am exploring what is possible with my sound and how far it can go. I love to learn new things, evolve, and showcase progress.

Favorite part of the dance music community?

I have many favorites, but I’d say one of the things that warms my heart is how people who might be lost in life, lonely, or struggling, find love, peace, and meaning through the community. A lot of people really gain family for life by sharing their favorite artists and festivals. I get a lot of messages about how music and the scene has helped them through depression or tough times. That to me is the most impactful thing.

You’ve cited Hans Zimmer as part of your dream blunt rotation. What would a Zimmer x Subtronics collab look like? If you wrote a film soundtrack, what would it sound like?

OH man. I can’t even imagine yet I can at the same time. I try to incorporate orchestral and soundtrack type themes into my music, and to work with Hans would be like super-injecting the single greatest instance of that into a project. It would absolutely be my favorite piece of music to ever work on. Orchestral, while also being experimental, and realistically most appropriate for a sci-fi movie soundtrack.

What's the best totem you’ve seen?

The ones where they have a screen up there and give controllers to people around them in the crowd to play Mario Kart and various games.

What’s your post-show routine?

When I get off stage I take a minute to decompress, head to my green room to sit, and make sure I drink water. Once I catch my breath, I grab hummus and pita, my post-show snack, and go through all my mental notes of what worked and didn’t work. If I need to chat through anything with my team, we will. Then I pack up and go to the hotel. Might order food, watch a movie – it’s pretty chill.