Traveling through a dreamscape of many concepts, sounds, and sensations, cross-genre producer and DJ NGHTMRE is not one to stay in a specific lane. His new album, DRMVRSE, is a perfect example, containing moments of house-shaking beats (“Threshold”), seductive grooves (“Atmosphere,” ft. UPSAHL), intricate melodies (“Love”), and jungle excitement (“Another Dose”) that weave together. Like the images your subconscious channels in those moments of your deep slumber, DRMVRSE is multi-faceted, and though moments may seem discordant, everything fits together in a cohesive experience.
Yet, with so many music faces, who is NGHTMRE? The uninitiated may not know this talent (b. Tyler Marenyi), who first began life as a producer remixing his favorite tracks before becoming a star performer on the world festival circuit. NGHTMRE has worked with artists like Gunna, A$AP Ferg, The Chainsmokers, and Gunna – and he’s currently finishing up the DRMVRSE Tour (click here for details.) For those who are unfamiliar with NGHTMRE, he shares EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife seven songs that have come to define his sound, his style, and his attitude…including how he will shed definitions to remix everything you know.
Check out the following to get to know NGHTMRE better before streaming DRMVRSE and catching the final dates on his tour.
“Gud Vibrations”
“This is my most popular song, and I wrote it with some of my best friends, Slander. This song really helped jumpstart both of our careers and became the name of our record label. During the live shows, this is always a special moment. I generally play towards the end of the set, and it’s a happy moment where I tell everyone to grab their close friends, give them a hug, and enjoy being in the moment as much as possible. Vibes are always extremely high for this.”
“Street”
“For a few years when I moved to LA, I was just hustling and writing new music everyday. Somehow, Skrillex got his hands on this song before it was released and played in his Ultra main stage 2014 performance. It was the only song he played that no one knew what it was. The resulting hype around the song really helped it blow up and was another instrumental song in helping my career get a kick start. This song shows the heavier side of NGHTMRE.”
“Fear & Love”
“I am a sucker for melodic music. Even when I write my heavy tunes, I try to keep an element of melody to give it a bit more musical integrity. Fear and Love are two separate songs that stem from the same chord progression idea. One goes extremely dark and heavy, and the other beautiful and melodic. I feel these songs are a great representation of my style.”
“Lost My Mind (NGHTMRE Remix)”
“This was a remix I did for good friends Dillon Francis and Alison Wonderland. I’ve done a ton of remixes but this one always goes absolutely crazy in my live show every time. The plucky melodic chords I wrote during the breakdown keep the energy high even during the slower parts of the song. I really love how this one turned out, and I’ve even seen Alison and Dillon playing in their own sets before.
“Feelin’ Gud”
“This was the follow up tune for me and Slander that I just KNEW would do great. I had the idea for this song many years before I sat down to really write the idea. It really felt like the perfect follow-up for Gud Vibrations,’ and our fans reacted extremely well to it. This song has been gaining traction ever since it was released. Matthew Santos also is the vocalist on one of my favorite songs ever, “Lupe Fiasco – Superstar,” so it was amazing to have his voice on the record.”
“Redlight VIP”
“I grew up in North Carolina listening to tons of hip hop. A$AP Ferg was always one of my favorites. I still am a bit mind-blown that I had such an amazing opportunity to work with him on this song. This is another one that truly goes OFF during my live shows. I think it’s really hard to blend hip hop and EDM tastefully, and I feel this is my best work in that regard.”
“The One”
To balance it all out, this is a melodic song from the new album that I wrote with my brother Klaxx. Klaxx attended Icon Collective, the music production school in LA that I also attended. We linked up for a few different tracks recently, but this one just hits so hard while still being uplifting and happy. The vocal gives a bit of a nostalgic and euphoric vibe that fits perfectly into the album and my discography. Huge shoutout to AJ, aka Klaxx!!”