United States

Somewhere Nowhere

From Fan To Contributor: Wax Motif’s Ultra Debut

Wax Motif’s Favorite Classic House Tracks

Wax Motif Came Full Circle at Ultra Miami

 has become a major orchestrator in the exhilarating G-House sound, but his artistic vision reaches far beyond one genre. With influences spanning R&B, disco, and UK bass, Motif brings a unique and sought-after style to the studio.

Throughout his journey, Motif has released tracks on renowned labels such as Diplo's Mad Decent, A-Trak's Fool's Gold, and Steve Aoki's Dim Mak Records, showcasing his versatility and ability to captivate diverse audiences. He has also crafted captivating remixes for artists like YG, Kid Ink, Chromeo, Deadmau5, and Warren G, adding his signature touch to their original sounds.

Motif's collaboration with Destructo on Interscope's album introduced him to a whole new world of music, working alongside acclaimed artists like Ty Dolla Sign, YG, Freddie Gibbs, Problem, and Kurupt. His contributions to this project displayed his prowess as a producer capable of creating dynamic and memorable tracks.

With an impressive list of support that includes Diplo, Major Lazer, A-Trak, RL Grime, GTA, Oliver Heldens, Jauz, Knife Party, and more, Motif has garnered widespread acclaim for his talents. The anticipation for new music from Motif is high, and fans will be delighted to know that he is currently working on fresh material set to be released later this year.

In late 2019, Motif founded his own label, Divided Souls Records, which has become a home for his scorching solo originals and exciting collaborations with artists like Diplo, Matroda, AC Slater, 220Kid, Euro Trash, and many others. This venture showcased his entrepreneurial spirit and his commitment to nurturing and promoting emerging talent within the industry.

In 2022, he made appearances at notable festivals including Electric Forest, Hard Summer, Electric Zoo, Illfest, ARC, and CRSSD, delivering electric performances that left fans craving for more.

, released in 2022, garnered over 33 million streams, serving as a testament to his ability to seamlessly blend electronic music euphoria with hip-hop swagger. The 17 track LP takes listeners on a journey through various house music sub genres, ranging from meditative and chilled-out vibes to energizing dance floor anthems.

Beyond his musical achievements, Motif's live shows have garnered immense acknowledgement, selling out prestigious venues like the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. His passion for connecting with audiences and showcasing his latest ideas continues to drive his ambition to reach even bigger and more diverse crowds.

Drake - Massive (Wax Motif Remix) by Wax Motif

As we look into 2023, Motif has released "Traga" featuring STO Cultr on Repopulate Mars and "La Samba" featuring Riordan on Nervous Records along several additional tracks waiting to be unleashed upon eager fans.

Australia

Wax Motif

Sweden

Adam Beyer

Cirez D

ANNA

Germany

Ann Clue

Azzecca

Ben Böhmer

Boris Brejcha

United Kingdom

Carl Cox

Carl Craig

Belgium

Charlotte de Witte

Netherlands

Chelina Manuhutu

Chip E.

Chris Lake

Claptone

Cloonee

Spain

De La Swing

Derrick Carter

DJ Hyperactive

DJ Lady D

Italy

DJ Tennis

Eats Everything

Enrico Sangiuliano

Fatboy Slim

Gene Farris

Get Real

Giolì & Assia

Gorgon City

Hiroko Yamamura

Honey Dijon

Joseph Capriati

Justin Martin

Brazil

Kasablanca

kryptogram

Lane 8

Maher Daniel

Mike Dunn

Moritz

South Africa

Nora En Pure

Öona Dahl

Pan-Pot

Paco Osuna

Chile

Ricardo Villalobos

Richie Hawtin

Ron Carroll

Palestine

Sama’ Abdulhadi

Seth Troxler

Skream

Tini Gessler

Vintage Culture

ARC Music Festival is a relatively new addition to Chicago's rich festival scene, celebrating house and techno music. Hosted at the historical Union Park in Chicago, this festival aims to gather top-tier artists from these genres, giving attendees an immersive experience in the world of electronic music. Reflecting the city's deep-rooted house music culture, ARC Music Festival stands as a testament to Chicago's legacy and continuous contribution to the electronic music world.

Union Park

ARC Music Festival

Dateless

Viviana Casanova

The Knockdown Center

Wax Motif & Guests

Switzerland

Andrea Oliva

J. Worra

Layla Benitez

MEDUZA

Curaçao

Shermanology

OCHO Episode 3

The Roof at Superior Ingredients

Anabel Englund

Ukraine

ARTBAT

Biscits

Martin Ikin

Indonesia

Bleu Clair

France

Born Dirty

Carola

Disco Lines

David Guetta

David Morales

Dombresky

Duke Dumont

Eli Brown

Andy C

James Hype

Patrick Topping

FISHER

Loco Dice

ACRAZE

AFROJACK

Alok

Dom Dolla

Michael Bibi

Kaskade

Hot Since 82

Mochakk

Noizu

Mau P

Ferreck Dawn

Westend

The Martinez Brothers

Canada

Zeds Dead

Chase & Status

Martin Garrix

Yellow Claw

Will Clarke

Finland

Yotto

Deeper Purpose

Dennis Ferrer

Franky Wah

Joshwa

Sonny Fodera

Marshmello

Chris Lorenzo

DJ Minx

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

EDC Las Vegas 2023

Ninetoes

LEFTI

Musica

Wax Motif Fashion Week Edition

Baby Weight

DJ Merlon

FreeSurf

Sasha Carassi

Harvard Bass

Extrawelt

EMBRZ

Flume

 show will tell you it’s an absolute ripper of a time. Tongue-in-cheek samples seamlessly skate among brain warping production while chest-thumping 808s shake the hips and stomp the feet of every listener in earshot. The spell of the music is hopelessly irresistible, and fighting it only prolongs the inevitable party that awaits.

Wax Motif's exclusive set for OCHO by Gray Area on Diplo’s Revolution - January 2022.

Known as a leader in G house and UK Bass, Wax Motif has more recently established a wider range of sounds. His recent release "Koalack" on his Divided Souls imprint shows a softer, more reflective side. And while Waxy continues to move dance floors with his trademark dirt nasty bass house, his emerging diversity proves his talents in the studio. He's also recently stepped out as a leader in blockchain and community building as one of the first dance music artists to create his cryptocurrency, $WAXM. The industry-leading move gave fans access to exclusive music, one-on-one Zoom sessions, and even the chance to collaborate with the producer who has released on labels like Confession, Night Bass, and Musical Freedom.

Tracklist: https://1001.tl/17g9z3rk
SOHMI - Time
Wax Motif - Tribe
OFFAIAH - Up All Night
Latmun - Who Knew
Dubesque - Push It 
George Smeddles - Tell Me
Raumakustik - Dem A Pree (Patrick Topping Remix) 
CID - Duro
Max Chapman & ThreeSix - Make A Move
Mason Maynard & Eli Brown - Jungle Cry
Eddie Sone - The Scream
Max Styler & Kyle Walker - Give It Up
Wax Motif ft. Diddy - Divided Souls 
Tom Flynn - La Plassa
Wax Motif - Koalack

Gray Area's mission is to build a bigger house music community in North America by helping fans discover exciting house music artists, event brands and festivals that are new to them.

Connect with Gray Area:  
www.grayarea.co/
www.instagram.com/entergrayarea/
www.facebook.com/entergrayarea
twitter.com/enterGrayArea
www.twitch.tv/entergrayarea

Wax Motif - Exclusive Set for OCHO by Gray Area [1/2022] by Gray Area

But how did Wax become the G-house giant of today? How did Danny Chien from the sleepy suburbs of Sydney, Australia, become one of dance music’s heaviest hitters? The answers to those questions start with his parents—the son of two immigrants who modeled a tireless work ethic for Danny from a young age.

“My parents weren’t crazy into music… There are some people whose parents are composers. My parents weren’t that musical or anything. They were immigrants. They were just working a lot,” Chien recounts.

Left to his own devices, Danny started down a path of music discovery in high school. Platforms popular at the time like Limewire and Napster meant easy access to seemingly bottomless wells of sounds old and new.

“That was when I started finding rap shit and dance music. I would just find heaps of shit and suddenly I knew every word to ‘Juicy’ by B.I.G,” he laughs.

Danny sheepishly shares that the first dance music that captured his interest was trance and progressive house. A distant sound from the carnal bass-driven beats for which he's now famous. But those themes would prove to be mere introductory stepping stones, soon giving way to beats more in line with his affinity for hip hop.

 “It moved pretty quick out of [trance and prog]. That was cool for like… experimenting. And then 

. Because I really enjoy like Armand Van Helden cuz the sampling shit was so—the texture and stuff—the feel was so organic,” Chien remembers.

His ears now fixed on a groove, a 16-year-old Danny soon found himself exploring the rave scene with his friends. One of those friends even acquired Numark turntables, and while one might think this would be the launching point of Wax Motif, Danny sings another tune.

“When I was 16 or 17 my friend bought decks and I went to his house and started playing with them… and I was so bad it was so difficult I was like ‘Naaaahhh, I’ll never do this,’” he chuckles. 

“I went through high school and I was playing sports, so music was never really in my mind, I was just playing sports the whole time.”

High school came and went, and as Danny graduated to college, so did his interests and exposure to the music scene. 

“I started going to clubs, like actual clubs,” he starts. “You’re not going to raves anymore cuz you can get into clubs. So it was around then I just bought some shitty turntables and bought like two records and would just go back and forth. I would just mix from one record back to the other back to the other. It was like a 

 record to a Chemical Brothers record into the same. Only had two vinyls. But yeah, so I was doing that but just for fun.”

But halfway through college, what started as a light-hearted hobby soon found new vigor when Danny and his friends spent part of a gap year in the United States. He humorously recounts the defining experience saying:

“Me and my two buddies came [to the U.S.] and did a season in the snow and while we were there we saw Kaskade. It was my first time ever seeing Kaskade. I think it was after that… but it wasn’t even a good show,” he cracks up.

“It was in Tahoe in some shitty nightclub. When you think about where Kaskade plays today where it’s like Staples Center like this wasn’t a good Kaskade show. But for some reason, it triggered something in me to be like, ‘When I get home, I’m gonna try and do that actually… And then I came home and tried but I wasn’t really that good… That was when the really long boring part started where I was just like trying and trying and trying and trying.”

True Joy

That “long boring part” would see Chien grinding for years to make headway in a sparse Australian dance scene. Sydney's open format parties allowed him to hone his now-famous party-starting energy and technical skill. They even led him to interact with fellow Aussie up-and-comers like Alison Wonderland and Flume (then in WhatSoNot). 

However, discontent with the resources available in his homeland, Danny began taking yearly trips to the US for two to three months of networking, industry studying, and production projects.

“There was no other way you could do it from Australia. I mean now there is,” he admits.

“Now there’s a couple kids who can be based out there and smash it. But back then we weren’t even on the map. The only two people I knew that had moved were Tommy Trash and 

... And that was right when Tommy was like really big. Like right before he did 'Reload.' I was with him when he wrote all those records when he was still in Sydney. So I got to watch all that happen in front of me."

Danny was fast becoming a rising star, and as he watched his Aussie friends make a move to the States, they urged him to follow.

"[Tommy] said, ‘You’re getting close to the limit, to the glass ceiling.’ And then Anna had just moved out here, she was killing it too, she was like, ‘Dude, you have to move.’ And I think I had just done the Mad Decent EP and did some shit on Dim Mak and Fool’s Gold and it just didn’t make sense to stay.”

Koalack

The consistent hustle in Australia combined with the yearly trips stateside had constructed the stage. Now, the move to L.A. positioned Wax Motif square in the spotlight. His reputation for no-nonsense production led him to work with artists from new walks and genres, even producing with artists like Ty Dolla $ign, Pusha T, Scrufizzer, and Diddy. His performance load hit new levels, selling out clubs across the country and headlining festivals the world over. Even the most casual club-goers have undoubtedly heard Wax’s work with tracks like “WET,” “Bunda,” and his remix of AC Slater’s “Fly Kicks” gracing the USBs of countless DJs.

Danny’s journey as Wax Motif has rocketed to the next level in recent years. He’s even taken steps to further ownership and agency of his career by founding his Divided Souls record label. Now at a professionally self-sustaining level, he looks forward, eyeing artistic growth as the next frontier.

Love to the don dada @claudevonstroke & @dirtybirdrecords

Traxx:
- Dillon Nathaniel - Frequent
- LO'99 & Sinden - WGWN
- Dustycloud - Bold
- Malaa - Bylina
- Dombresky - Technikal
- Malaa - Contagious (Mercer remix)
- AC Slater & Chris Lorenzo - Fly Kick (Wax Motif remix)
- Dead Prez - Hip Hop
- Loge21 - Flip The Funk
- Taiki Nulight - I Mean
- Chris Lake - I Want You
- Major Lazer ft. Nicki Minaj & PartyNextDoor - Run Up (Wax Motif remix)
- Wax Motif - ID

Da Birdhouse mix  🐣 by Wax Motif

“Now I just want to make things that I feel inspired by in the moment. I think I got so used to making music that had a particular energy or particular vibe to it that it kinda became about making club single, making club single, making club single. Which I’m not against,” he adds.

“I think you gotta do that. But I think the point where I’m at it can’t always just be making music for other people. It has to be making it for myself. Obviously, I’m still going to have club records, and I’ve still got some in the bag that I’ll put out… But at a certain point, I need to do a few things just for me, even if people don’t like them, and then we’ll go back to the regularly scheduled programming.”

It is not difficult to lose sight of your starting point in the break-neck pace of the music industry. Being aware of the aforementioned career catch-22 and maintaining the fortitude to venture from the proven path of success is a constant struggle. However, reconnecting with why you do separates the good from the great, the transient from the timeless. It’s as if we see a reconciling of Danny Chien and Wax Motif when he ties this awareness back to his recent debut album, 

“It was just such a shame to have made so much of this music sit on my laptop and not go anywhere. The album is a collection of the older stuff (there’s new songs on there too)," he explains. "The reason there are some things that are maybe a little left of pocket was because I just made it with some homies and was like, ‘This is fire. I would listen to this…’ I don’t want people to sit there and judge it. This isn’t going number one on Beatport. I don’t care. That’s not what it was for. It was just, ‘I fuck with this.’ You can listen to this in the shower. You can listen to this in the car. You can listen to this hanging with your chick. There’s a song on here for each one of those occasions. That’s what it’s all about.”

Anyone who’s attended a Wax Motif show will tell you it’s an absolute ripper of a time. Tongue-in-cheek samples seamlessly skate among brain warping production while chest-thumping 808s shake the hips and stomp the feet of every listener in earshot. The spell of the music is hopelessly irresistible, and fighting it only prolongs the inevitable party that awaits.

But how did Wax become the G-house giant of today? How did Danny Chien from the sleepy suburbs of Sydney, Australia, become one of dance music’s heaviest hitters? The answers to those questions start with his parents—the son of two immigrants who modeled a tireless work ethic for Danny from a young age.

“My parents weren’t crazy into music… There are some people whose parents are composers. My parents weren’t that musical or anything. They were immigrants. They were just working a lot,” Chien recounts.

Left to his own devices, Danny started down a path of music discovery in high school. Platforms popular at the time like Limewire and Napster meant easy access to seemingly bottomless wells of sounds old and new.

“That was when I started finding rap shit and dance music. I would just find heaps of shit and suddenly I knew every word to ‘Juicy’ by B.I.G,” he laughs.

Danny sheepishly shares that the first dance music that captured his interest was trance and progressive house. A distant sound from the carnal bass-driven beats for which he's now famous. But those themes would prove to be mere introductory stepping stones, soon giving way to beats more in line with his affinity for hip hop.

 “It moved pretty quick out of [trance and prog]. That was cool for like… experimenting. And then French house. Because I really enjoy like Armand Van Helden cuz the sampling shit was so—the texture and stuff—the feel was so organic,” Chien remembers.

His ears now fixed on a groove, a 16-year-old Danny soon found himself exploring the rave scene with his friends. One of those friends even acquired Numark turntables, and while one might think this would be the launching point of Wax Motif, Danny sings another tune.

“When I was 16 or 17 my friend bought decks and I went to his house and started playing with them… and I was so bad it was so difficult I was like ‘Naaaahhh, I’ll never do this,’” he chuckles. 

“I went through high school and I was playing sports, so music was never really in my mind, I was just playing sports the whole time.”

High school came and went, and as Danny graduated to college, so did his interests and exposure to the music scene. 

“I started going to clubs, like actual clubs,” he starts. “You’re not going to raves anymore cuz you can get into clubs. So it was around then I just bought some shitty turntables and bought like two records and would just go back and forth. I would just mix from one record back to the other back to the other. It was like a Plump DJs record to a Chemical Brothers record into the same. Only had two vinyls. But yeah, so I was doing that but just for fun.”

But halfway through college, what started as a light-hearted hobby soon found new vigor when Danny and his friends spent part of a gap year in the United States. He humorously recounts the defining experience saying:

“Me and my two buddies came [to the U.S.] and did a season in the snow and while we were there we saw Kaskade. It was my first time ever seeing Kaskade. I think it was after that… but it wasn’t even a good show,” he cracks up.

“It was in Tahoe in some shitty nightclub. When you think about where Kaskade plays today where it’s like Staples Center like this wasn’t a good Kaskade show. But for some reason, it triggered something in me to be like, ‘When I get home, I’m gonna try and do that actually… And then I came home and tried but I wasn’t really that good… That was when the really long boring part started where I was just like trying and trying and trying and trying.”

That “long boring part” would see Chien grinding for years to make headway in a sparse Australian dance scene. Sydney's open format parties allowed him to hone his now-famous party-starting energy and technical skill. They even led him to interact with fellow Aussie up-and-comers like Alison Wonderland and Flume (then in WhatSoNot). 

However, discontent with the resources available in his homeland, Danny began taking yearly trips to the US for two to three months of networking, industry studying, and production projects.

“There was no other way you could do it from Australia. I mean now there is,” he admits.

“Now there’s a couple kids who can be based out there and smash it. But back then we weren’t even on the map. The only two people I knew that had moved were Tommy Trash and Anna Lunoe... And that was right when Tommy was like really big. Like right before he did 'Reload.' I was with him when he wrote all those records when he was still in Sydney. So I got to watch all that happen in front of me."

Danny was fast becoming a rising star, and as he watched his Aussie friends make a move to the States, they urged him to follow.

"[Tommy] said, ‘You’re getting close to the limit, to the glass ceiling.’ And then Anna had just moved out here, she was killing it too, she was like, ‘Dude, you have to move.’ And I think I had just done the Mad Decent EP and did some shit on Dim Mak and Fool’s Gold and it just didn’t make sense to stay.”

The consistent hustle in Australia combined with the yearly trips stateside had constructed the stage. Now, the move to L.A. positioned Wax Motif square in the spotlight. His reputation for no-nonsense production led him to work with artists from new walks and genres, even producing with artists like Ty Dolla $ign, Pusha T, Scrufizzer, and Diddy. His performance load hit new levels, selling out clubs across the country and headlining festivals the world over. Even the most casual club-goers have undoubtedly heard Wax’s work with tracks like “WET,” “Bunda,” and his remix of AC Slater’s “Fly Kicks” gracing the USBs of countless DJs.

Danny’s journey as Wax Motif has rocketed to the next level in recent years. He’s even taken steps to further ownership and agency of his career by founding his Divided Souls record label. Now at a professionally self-sustaining level, he looks forward, eyeing artistic growth as the next frontier.

“Now I just want to make things that I feel inspired by in the moment. I think I got so used to making music that had a particular energy or particular vibe to it that it kinda became about making club single, making club single, making club single. Which I’m not against,” he adds.

“I think you gotta do that. But I think the point where I’m at it can’t always just be making music for other people. It has to be making it for myself. Obviously, I’m still going to have club records, and I’ve still got some in the bag that I’ll put out… But at a certain point, I need to do a few things just for me, even if people don’t like them, and then we’ll go back to the regularly scheduled programming.”

It is not difficult to lose sight of your starting point in the break-neck pace of the music industry. Being aware of the aforementioned career catch-22 and maintaining the fortitude to venture from the proven path of success is a constant struggle. However, reconnecting with why you do separates the good from the great, the transient from the timeless. It’s as if we see a reconciling of Danny Chien and Wax Motif when he ties this awareness back to his recent debut album, House Of Wax.

“It was just such a shame to have made so much of this music sit on my laptop and not go anywhere. The album is a collection of the older stuff (there’s new songs on there too)," he explains. "The reason there are some things that are maybe a little left of pocket was because I just made it with some homies and was like, ‘This is fire. I would listen to this…’ I don’t want people to sit there and judge it. This isn’t going number one on Beatport. I don’t care. That’s not what it was for. It was just, ‘I fuck with this.’ You can listen to this in the shower. You can listen to this in the car. You can listen to this hanging with your chick. There’s a song on here for each one of those occasions. That’s what it’s all about.”

Words by: Austin Miller

Wax Motif

Articles

Other artists