FOLIO
DJ Carnage is by no means humble. When asked about his new single, “Michael Jordan,” the electronic dance music producer told Folio Weekly, “He’s a great player. He’s a great role model. He’s a great person to look up to. But I want to be bigger than Michael Jordan.”
Dig further. In a recent interview with Vibe, Carnage said, “It’s just a legendary record, everything I make is legendary. I’m like a robot. … I honestly live a life of whatever I feel like doing. It’s spontaneous. If I want to make a rap record, I make it. If I want to make a house record, I make it. If I want to make some pretty shit, I make some pretty shit, you know?”
Carnage (aka Paul Mols), born in 1991 in Guatemala, was raised in Maryland from the age of 7.
“I heard a lot of Spanish music in my youth,” he said during a phone interview from Los Angeles. “I was introduced to American pop culture pretty late.”
Within time, Carnage took in the typical American diet of Nickelodeon, MTV and whatever was playing on the radio (he describes himself as a “big radio guy”). He includes rapper Kanye West and Dutch DJ Afrojack among his influences.
“I’m inspired that these guys came from nowhere and have gotten so big,” Carnage said. “I can connect with that.”
Currently based in LA, Carnage travels the world spinning at clubs and working the festival circuit — Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival and Ultra Music Festival, to name a few. He also has his own radio show on SiriusXM’s Electric Area channel (siriusxm.com/electricarea).
“Carnage Presents: Incredible” is titled after Carnage’s track of the same name with Borgore, an Israeli dubstep producer and DJ, who appeared at Pure Nightclub in October 2012. The hour-long show airs 3 a.m. Sundays (Eastern Time) and is rebroadcast during the week and via podcast.
“It’s just me playing music that I like,” he said. “Songs that I’m currently listening to or songs that I think deserve more recognition.”
Currently touring in support of his latest single, “Michael Jordan,” which dropped July 23 on Dim Mak Records, Carnage makes his way to Northeast Florida Aug. 28 for a gig at Pure as part of his Six Rings Tour. This will be his first time in our area.
Carnage’s climb up the EDM ladder has been relatively rapid. One of the young twentysomething’s first projects was a remix of Yuna’s “Live Your Life,” which veteran Tiësto started spinning on his Club Life podcast and genre-blazer Paul Oakenfold featured in regular rotation on his radio show “Planet Perfecto.”
The Guatemalan-American beat-maker began receiving serious support from some of the other biggest electronic producers around, including Avicii, Porter Robinson and Zedd. He’s also been featured in EDM media outlets like Beatport News, Dancing Astronaut and Hypetrak.
“The music I make is the music I like,” Carnage said. “I’m not just making music to be famous. It comes from my heart, but I do want my music to reach a large audience.”
Over the past few years, Carnage has produced for or remixed tracks by musicians like Theophilus London, A$AP Rocky, Hardwell, The Cataracs and Kat!e Got Bandz. Carnage is also an avid tweeter (62,000 followers and counting), impressive Instagrammer (21,000-plus followers) and the recipient of free burritos from Mexican cuisine restaurant chain Chipotle.
“I want to make loud, obnoxious music. That’s who I am — loud and obnoxious,” he said. “If you haven’t been to one of my shows, they’re pretty crazy. My shows are fucking crazy. It’s all about having a good time. Don’t come unless you want to have a good time.”
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