While other DJs are spinning their craft in front of distracting LED lights or overdone pyrotechnics, BYNX works best in front of Los Angeles traffic. It’s one of those things that perhaps could only work in the TikTok age.
His followers number in the millions, with videos that show off his musical and comedic talents. One is a remix of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” with the tagline “There was plenty of room on that door for Jack,” playing on the popular Titanic meme. Another remixes Skee-Lo’s “I Wish,” focusing on the line “I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller,” with the tag “Short King Anthem.” These are just a couple of viral hits BYNX is known for, and why he’s one of 2024’s artists to watch.
Aside from conquering the cutthroat world of short-form video, BYNX is perhaps most known for his collaboration with deadmau5 and Benny Benassi for 2023’s mega hit “The Veldt Cinema,” which has accumulated over 100 million plays since its release. BYNX is currently in the midst of his first North American tour, and he sat down with Playboy to talk about his rise, his creative process, and his secrets to social media success.
Playboy: Can you touch a little on your rise to music production stardom?
BYNX: I’ve been playing instruments since I was 10 years old, my dad got me into it. I was playing the bass, guitar, piano, drums…just anything that was kind of laying around in the house. And I started DJing around 2008. I actually applied to DJ at Coachella around 2010.
I won this competition to perform a Coachella and it wasn’t like a main stage or anything. And once I did that, it kind of put me on the map to a lot of promoters in LA and I just started doing local shows at Hollywood clubs and everything like that.
Playboy: So it’s been a dream decades in the making.
BYNX: Well, around 2017 I got a little bit burnt out because I felt like I was getting a little bit stagnant and I wasn’t really going anywhere. So I took a little bit of a break. But when 2020 came around, when Covid hit, I feel like everyone had so much more time on our hands. So I felt like getting back into my passion projects, which includes music. But I wanted to have a different approach on the whole thing to see if it would lead me even further. Either way, I was just having a good time with it. That year I put out my first song as BYNX in July of 2020. And since then I’ve worked on it every single day. I think March of 2023 I quit my job.
Playboy: That must have been harrowing, taking the dive like that.
BYNX: Yeah, when I quit my job it was definitely one of the scariest moments of my life because I’ve always worked a nine to five. Working in the tech industry. But I thought it was definitely time to try something new to see if this could last and it’s always been a little… I don’t know. I just feel like I’ve been chasing this dream ever since I was 10 or 17 when I got into DJing and I’m just glad I’m doing it.
Playboy: Can I ask if there was a catalyst that sort of helped you jump to I’m gonna do this full-time?
BYNX: Yeah, so, in the tech industry, I would always know when people are hiring a lot of people or they’re gonna have a lot of layoffs. So I said to myself “I’m just gonna ride the wave of this tech company as long as I can and save up as much as I can and eventually when there’s tech layoffs, I’m just going to go full-time BYNX then.”
And so I knew it was going to happen. There was a mass tech layoff in March 2023, and I was a part of it. I felt a little bit more comfortable, though, because a lot of family and friends were supporting me with the idea of it and they’re like, “You should honestly just run with it.”
That day I got that notice, I was obviously excited and I was really really nervous at the same time. The next morning I woke up to a message from Benny Benassi, who is an absolute legend. I have been listening to him ever since I started…ever since LimeWire days. I was just like, “This is crazy.” He’s leaving me voice notes and he heard a mix I did of his song and a deadmau5 song and we were already in the works of possibly putting it out with Ultra Music. My manager was talking to his team and deadmau5’s team seeing if this could possibly be a thing and then I heard from Benny that it was going to be a thing. That was literally the next day after I got laid off.
[Benny] is like “I’m playing in Los Angeles. You should absolutely come out to the show. It’s going to be a good time.” And I went out to the show, met up with Benny. And he brought me out on stage to premiere the song. I feel like this is definitely a moment where I can feel that I definitely got a lot of motivation from being pulled out on stage with Benny and people singing the song and everything like that. But yeah, it was definitely a moment.
Playboy: What song was it?
BYNX: “The Veldt Cinema.” It’s a mix of a deadmau5 song and a Benny Benassi song. When I was growing in the midst of Covid, the big thing that I’ve noticed on social media was nostalgia. People were always reminiscing the parties and concerts they’d gone to because everyone was stuck in their house. So I mixed these two songs that were a little over a decade old.
I’ll get messages from friends, like videos of them recording the radio, and it’s on the radio in all these different states. I still have yet to hear it on the radio live, but it’s just absolutely wild. That’s the world I’m in at the moment.
Playboy: Can you tell us about your production process?
BYNX: When I’m making music I always move forward with songs that effortlessly fall out of me. If I’m stuck on a synth or a snare drum in a song I usually scrap it because that’s my body telling me that I’m really not inspired on the song.
I’m not always just trying to make the best song of all time. Just making a song that feels right to me, and then eventually I’ll show my team or the label I’m working with right now. We kind of handpick the ones that we think would flow with my audience the most. But I have to say, my process will always be changing because I feel like I can’t be doing the same thing forever. I always have to find new ways of approaching things. The industry that I’m in is always changing. I feel I as a musician also have to change as well.
Playboy: Rick Ross, deadmau5, Daft Punk. These music producers have an iconic sort of feel and sound to the music. Could you describe yours?
BYNX: Absolutely. I feel like the sound I’m trying to give off is very upbeat and emotional electronic music. That might make sense to me. It might not make sense for a lot of other people. But if you know me, I feel like I love songs that have a lot of emotion in them. Not necessarily the ones with the big drops. Something that’s more of a feeling. You can listen to it at a show or in your car. I just want something to put out that is a little bit more timeless.
I’m always listening to songs that are 10, 20, 30 years old. Songs that I’ve listened to when I was a kid that just stay with you. I always want to be a part of a timeless song. So my sound… It’s not like a new sound or a new wave of music. It’s just not my intention. I admire it so much that there’s a lot that has passed with dance music. For instance, do you know Porter Robinson?
Playboy: Yes.
BYNX: When I listen to Porter Robinson, I feel like he hits notes and sounds that I’ve heard before. It sounds very familiar. I couldn’t explain where or when I’ve heard them but the music just sounds right. What he’s doing is exactly what I’d like to do. Make a sound that’s new, yet familiar. Like when you hear a song so good it feels nostalgic to you already.
Playboy: Aside from your work in music production, your social media following is massive. What’s your secret to success on these platforms?
BYNX: When I put up my first song out in July 2020, I posted my first TikTok in October of that year. It wasn’t the greatest piece of content I’ve ever put out, but I was trying to figure out the flow of the app. There’s always these new flows and everything. I used to put videos to my music with Vine and I would kind of get an idea of what people liked.
I think it was around Thanksgiving weekend of 2020 when I had my first viral video. And I just noticed what made the video so successful. And I was like, “Okay. I’m going to have that same look and that same feeling as this other song but in a different way.”
I feel like we’re always trying to deconstruct what makes a great video. But you just have to try a bunch of things. You have to fail a bunch of times until you come across something where you can see a little bump in success. And once you see it…you should absolutely attack. So for me, I was DJing in front of a window. I tried out different areas. Now I DJ in front of traffic.
Playboy: When you’re behind the turntable, you have a very magnetic presence. But can you relay a time that a show was less than ideal, and stuff just did not pop off?
BYNX: The first time I played a show in downtown LA it was 21 and over, but I was only 20. And the bouncers knew that I was 20 years old and after my set, they kicked me out. And all my friends were at the show with their fake IDs and with their dad’s credit cards just buying bottle service. And they had the best night of their life!
There was also this time where I got hired to play a show in Northern California. This was the beginning of the whole BYNX project. A lot of people when they book a DJ they’re thinking “This guy can play anything!” Like they don’t really consider a type of style. When I walked into the specific club, I got there an hour early and noticed that the DJ was playing all early 2000s hip-hop, which is totally cool.
But after a full hour, it was still completely early 2000s hip-hop and I was thinking to myself that I was definitely in trouble because I didn’t have songs that match that. I went from having a full crowd in front of me to 10 fans who actually came out to the show to see me play and I completely cleared out the dance floor. Yeah, that happens sometimes you get misbooked.
Playboy: Is there an amazing performance that you’ll never forget?
BYNX: Before BYNX, when I was just going by my name (DJ Chris Patrick), I was always the opener and I was playing at these really, really cool shows playing with really, really cool names, but I never really went anywhere. I’d just get on stage and I would always be that opening DJ. And when this whole project started I was in this really cool spot around 2021. Live shows started coming back to the public after Covid. I gained a manager at the time who I’m still with, and we threw a show. The show sold out within two hours. I was blown away.
When I got to the show, I jumped on stage from the crowd. I didn’t even know where the backstage was. I just jumped on stage. It was super casual because that’s normally what I did back in the day. Jump on stage. But this time, when I got on stage, the whole crowd started clapping and roaring. The audience was just really excited to be there. And then they started chanting my name.
It’s something I’d never experienced before…people coming to shows to specifically see what I’m doing. Once I got on stage, I just realized that what I was doing on social media was actually a real life thing.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Benny Benassi’s name, to correct the title of “The Veldt Cinema” and to correct the date of BYNX’s layoff.