This is not your typical dubstep," says Skrillex "This is next-level." That's a huge statement coming from bass Jesus himself, so we had to look into this more. Who is MONSTA and how did they get signed to OWSLA? Turns out this trio of highly-trained musicians are not your average EDM act—their music is actually instrument based and is almost completely sample-free. We spoke to MONSTA about their music, how they met, and Skrilly, and they also gave us an exclusive mix to get us ready for their new single, "Messiah," which drops June 2.THUMP: Who is MONSTA?
MONSTA: MONSTA is singer and frontman Skaar and two producers Rufio & Rocky.How did you meet?
Rocky and I (Rufio) met studying Jazz in London…after a few years of touring and playing live around obscure Eastern European countries we decided to start producing. We heard some demos of Skaar singing and were amazed…we had no clue where he was from or who he was but eventually we tracked him down and persuaded him to come to the studio…he was fairly quiet at first but then suddenly started singing and we were floored, from that moment we knew we had to work together!Who is your favorite monster and why?
Obviously Cookie Monster has a very enviable diet but probably Frankenstein overall as he is made up of lots of different parts to from a supreme monster…which we could slightly relate to being in a band.Tell us about some of the inspirations for your new release.
We were very inspired by a lot of gospel and spiritual music but image wise we were definitely thinking about all things out of this world, aliens, spirits and so on. We wanted the lyric "Higher" to be able to be open to different interpretations.What's your best Skrillex story?
In many ways the first contact we had with him was the most incredible, as we were so excited and amazed he wanted to work with us. He spoke with our manager whilst he (Skrillex) was in Costa Rica and said he wanted to sign and remix our track 'Holdin On' - our manager then phoned us up about 2 in the morning to tell us all… i was completely shocked!…but then the next morning I was convinced I had been dreaming and was gutted - so had to call our him about 7 times to confirm it was all actually true!Who are your best friends on OWSLA?
Every single person we've met on OWSLA or who work as part of label have been the best of people. We got particularly close with Birdy Nam Nam, Nick Thayer and Kill the Noise on the OWSLA tour last winter, as we were all exhausted travelling around together playing shows. Alvin Risk and Dillon Francis are absolute legends and we love them- but it all stems from the top because Sonny (Skrillex) and his manager Tim are the best guys.What is the strangest thing that's happened to you at a gig so far?
There have been a few runners - which are basically people who, after indulging in various mood enhancers, completely lose their shit and as opposed to partying with the rest of the audience look around in panic and then decide the only alternative is to sprint as fast humanly possible to the nearest exit. The look of terror in their faces is incredible and on a few occasions whilst running they have lost control of all limbs a hit the floor at great velocity.If you could collaborate with anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be?There are so many…there are lots of older artists we would love to work with…sadly a lot of them are dead… but big voices like Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin etc really appeal to us, music-wise people like Herbie Hancock, George Duke (and other older innovators) and definitely all the OWSLA guys.What's one thing that no one knows about Monsta?
What Skaar is thinking.
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MONSTA: MONSTA is singer and frontman Skaar and two producers Rufio & Rocky.How did you meet?
Rocky and I (Rufio) met studying Jazz in London…after a few years of touring and playing live around obscure Eastern European countries we decided to start producing. We heard some demos of Skaar singing and were amazed…we had no clue where he was from or who he was but eventually we tracked him down and persuaded him to come to the studio…he was fairly quiet at first but then suddenly started singing and we were floored, from that moment we knew we had to work together!Who is your favorite monster and why?
Obviously Cookie Monster has a very enviable diet but probably Frankenstein overall as he is made up of lots of different parts to from a supreme monster…which we could slightly relate to being in a band.Tell us about some of the inspirations for your new release.
We were very inspired by a lot of gospel and spiritual music but image wise we were definitely thinking about all things out of this world, aliens, spirits and so on. We wanted the lyric "Higher" to be able to be open to different interpretations.What's your best Skrillex story?
In many ways the first contact we had with him was the most incredible, as we were so excited and amazed he wanted to work with us. He spoke with our manager whilst he (Skrillex) was in Costa Rica and said he wanted to sign and remix our track 'Holdin On' - our manager then phoned us up about 2 in the morning to tell us all… i was completely shocked!…but then the next morning I was convinced I had been dreaming and was gutted - so had to call our him about 7 times to confirm it was all actually true!
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Every single person we've met on OWSLA or who work as part of label have been the best of people. We got particularly close with Birdy Nam Nam, Nick Thayer and Kill the Noise on the OWSLA tour last winter, as we were all exhausted travelling around together playing shows. Alvin Risk and Dillon Francis are absolute legends and we love them- but it all stems from the top because Sonny (Skrillex) and his manager Tim are the best guys.What is the strangest thing that's happened to you at a gig so far?
There have been a few runners - which are basically people who, after indulging in various mood enhancers, completely lose their shit and as opposed to partying with the rest of the audience look around in panic and then decide the only alternative is to sprint as fast humanly possible to the nearest exit. The look of terror in their faces is incredible and on a few occasions whilst running they have lost control of all limbs a hit the floor at great velocity.If you could collaborate with anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be?There are so many…there are lots of older artists we would love to work with…sadly a lot of them are dead… but big voices like Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin etc really appeal to us, music-wise people like Herbie Hancock, George Duke (and other older innovators) and definitely all the OWSLA guys.What's one thing that no one knows about Monsta?
What Skaar is thinking.