Show Notes
Today's guest may be one of the most interesting humans on the planet. Whether it's doing 250 shows in a year, training with monks, not staying in one city for more than four days over a year and a half, exploring the world, or being a true pioneer in his music space — Chris Emerson, aka WHAT SO NOT, has done it all! What So Not is an Australian DJ and producer. He has just released a brand new collaborative EP The Quiet That Hurts with visionary Dutch artist Buunshin. Previously releasing their single Threads and a luminous new single Dancing In The Leaves featuring Lucy Lucy.
Emerging in the 2010s, What So Not has evolved into an in-demand artist across the globe, renowned for his innovation and signature style that blends bass, trap and melodic hues into a unique and unforgettable package. Releasing his debut album Not All the Beautiful Things in 2018, What So Not resoundingly showcased his versatility and revolutionary prowess, with tracks like Be OK Again featuring Daniel Johns and Goh featuring Skrillex building formidable momentum that would ultimately lead to a 2022 sophomore album Anomaly. A genre-less and relentlessly experimental artist, What So Not has spent his career collaborating with the likes of Skrillex, RL Grime, Killer Mike and Toto, with his releases and potent live performance effortlessly translating over to the stage including at Coachella and Lollapalooza, headline shows in Europe, North America as well as on home soil, and also cultivating over 1.3 billion streams and counting worldwide in the process. Opening with Threads featuring renowned American singer-songwriter and composer Maiah Manser, The Quiet That Hurts EP is undeniably a short yet sharply sweet full-bodied journey in avant-garde sounds and blissful delivery, with the EP growing from its opening track into quiet rumination and lush, ambient urgency via Tragic, featuring Ukrainian singer vocalist Alina Pash, pulsing with emotion alongside a high-octane foundation. From here, the EP dives into a hypnotic yet propulsive flow state (Dancing In The Leaves feat. Lucy Lucy), before oozing into bewitching melodics balanced between moments of instrumental sparsity and animated drum and bass (The One feat. Aiko), and, ultimately, closing out with sprawling soundscapes fused with narcotic beats and unbridled serenity juxtaposed against emphatic and raw lyricism delivered by Mara Necia.
Dancing In The Leaves is out now!
The Quiet That Hurts EP is out now! What So Not is also touring America and Canada soon, check it out! We chat about surfing and what it does for his soul, his new EP, consciousness and deep chats with AI, the void, Aussie revival dance tour and helping upcoming artists, the state of the music industry, ego, jumping off the rocket ship, art and completion, quitting accounting, creating new sounds plus plenty more!
Check What So Not out on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatsonot/
Tour dates/ tickets: https://laylo.com/whatsonot/rpWPU
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4AA8eXtzqh5ykxtafLaPOi?si=5rnOiDoJQNOns8iIST477Q&nd=1&dlsi=9c6369485b2c42c4 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_BCgUU6ufG0tKo34YwEYjw
The Quiet That Hurts ep: https://4mysanity.ffm.to/what-so-not-buunshin-the-quiet-that-hurts-ep
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