Bruce Johnston
How Skrillex Influenced The Weeknd’s “Dawn FM” Album
In the music industry, there’s seemingly only a few degrees of separation between Skrillex and any given hit. One such track on The Weeknd‘s new Dawn FM album stands as a prime example. The story of how Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys came to be involved with the project is something of a butterfly effect—with Skrillex playing a pivotal role. Johnston, now 79, tells the Los Angeles Times that he was out surfing at Zuma Beach and decided to stop in at the nearby Shangri-La Studios afterwards. There, the legendary musician met Skrillex, who was working with multi-Platinum producer Rex Kudo and renowned guitarist Heavy Mellow at the time. Johnston explains that Skrillex and the artists in his orbit at Shangri-La have an unrelenting work ethic, likening them to “the Wr...
