Ephixa

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Ephixa
Ephixa's logo, depicting a penguin holding a rifle
Ephixa's logo, depicting a penguin holding a rifle
Background information
Birth nameJames Leusink
Born (1990-04-13) April 13, 1990 (age 34)
Ontario, Canada
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instrument(s)
[1]
Years active2007–present
Labels
Websiteephixa.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2008–present
GenreMusic
Subscribers446 thousand[2]
Total views142 million[2]
NetworkNone
100,000 subscribers2011
Last updated: 23 August 2022

James Leusink (born April 13, 1990), better known by his alias Ephixa (sometimes stylised as ephixa), is a Canadian electronic music producer who lives in Ontario, Canada. He is best known for his viral "Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning" dubstep remix, remixes of music from the Legend of Zelda franchise as well as various other remixes and original electronic music. Leusink peaked at #11 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart in November 2011. Ephixa is also known for the first ever single released by Canadian record label Monstercat, "Dubstep Killed Rock 'n' Roll".

Early life[edit]

Leusink was born on April 13, 1990. His interest in music started when he was 8 years old, playing the keyboard without prior lessons. He got his first guitar several years later, began taking lessons, and joined various bands. Leusink's work in electronic music began while he was developing video games in his spare time, desired to create a soundtrack for his various games. Originally influenced by hardstyle artists such as Alphaverb, Showtek, and Evil Activities, Leusink has used the digital audio workstation FL Studio to produce his music.[1]

Career[edit]

2010 to 2011: Zelda Step, "Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning Dubstep", and "Sanctuary"[edit]

On April 10, 2010, Leusink released his second EP, Zelda Step. The project featured remixes of "Lost Woods", "Song of Storms" and "Gerudo Valley" from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, as well as a remix of "Dragon Roost Island" from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The album received mixed to positive reviews, with Jade Royal of Sputnikmusic giving the EP a 3.5 out of 5 rating, stating "It's a thin line that Ephixa treads with 'Zelda Step', but one that ultimately pleases more than disdains".[3] Elton Jones of Complex later placed Leusink's remix of "Lost Woods" as the best remix of a video game theme song, finalising his review of the song with "The Legend of Zelda Lost Woods theme mixed with dubstep sounds incredible."[4]

On March 2, 2011, Leusink released "Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning Dubstep", a remix featuring footage of Charlie Sheen from an interview originally broadcast on American TV series 20/20.[5][6] Within two days of its release, the remix had been viewed over 700,000 times and received over 7,500 likes on YouTube, becoming one of the site's most popular and viral videos at the time.[7]

On September 19, 2011, Leusink released his dubstep remix of the song "Sanctuary", originally by English trance producer Gareth Emery. The remix was included in an extended play based on the original song, titled Sanctuary (The Remixes). When reviewing the extended play, a writer for DJ Mag commented on Leusink's remix, stating that he had gone for a "twitchy, spasmodic bit of dubstep-ery, which is ok, of the type".[8] In the week of November 5, 2011, Leusink entered and peaked at number 11 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart.[9]

2012 to 2015: Monstercat, Hiatus, "Catfish", and "Machina"[edit]

On August 3, 2012, Leusink released "Awesome To The Max", which the Your EDM staff described as "heavy but laid back, and a gift for fans of dubstep and Monstercat alike". On August 25, Leusink collaborated with American producer Varien and Canadian duo Project 46 to release "The Anthem". The collaboration was released alongside an animated music video to celebrate Monstercat's one year anniversary. Both "Awesome To The Max" and "The Anthem" appeared on Monstercat's ninth compilation album, Monstercat 009 – Reunion.[10] Both songs were later featured on Monstercat's Best of 2012 compilation album.[11]

In November 2012, Leusink left Monstercat, continuing to release music independently. On November 16, he released "Fuck The System", a mashup of himself, Deadmau5, TVDS, and Showtek. The song was released to promote "Fuck the 9to5 jobs".[12] On January 17, 2013, Leusink released "Unraveled Reality", which Steve Jacobs of EDM Sauce wrote that the track "offers a bit of a soothing feel along with some big drum sounds".[13] In 2013, Leusink went on hiatus. During a Reddit AMA, The Monstercat staff were questioned about what happened to Leusink, which they answered:

"Ephixa, as an artist, took some time off to focus on other projects and his personal life. However, word on the street is that he is back at producing and we are looking forward to hearing his new work."

— Monstercat staff responding to a user about what happened to Leusink[14]

On June 30, 2014, a year after he released "Unraveled Reality" and almost two years after he released "The Anthem", Leusink independently released "Catfish". EDMTunes' James Brannigan noted the song for its minimalist trance progression, later writing that as soon as "the drop hits, Ephixa brings back the sound he used to win all of our hearts with as he did in his dubstep remix of 'Song of Storms'".[14]

On February 5, 2015, Leusink released his remix of American electronic producer Dex Arson's song "Machina" as part of the latter's extended play Welcome to War. Writing for EDMTunes, James Brannigan noted the remix for its diversity and described it as "bearing a resemblance to Excision’s style".[15] Matthew Meadow of Your EDM wrote that Luesink had transformed the original song into a "genre-hopping, deep and rumbling tune bound to blow your speakers", later stating that the synths used were "wonderfully bubbly and sinister at the same time, allowing for an extremely diverse and layered track, just the kind of thing I live for".[16]

2016 to 2017: Return to Monstercat and subsequent releases[edit]

Main article: Losing You (Ephixa and Laura Brehm song)

On July 4, 2016, nearly 4 years after his last release on Monstercat, Leusink collaborated with Stephen Walking to release "Matches" as part of Monstercat's 5 Year Anniversary, featuring Aaron Richards as vocals.[17] The collaboration was previously featured in Leusink's 2014 mini-mix Wip Rip Reel under the working title "Old Dennis". At the time, Leusink stated that the track would "most likely never" be finished.[18] The song was later voted by fans to be featured as part of Monstercat's Best of 2016 compilation album.[19]

On February 2, 2017, Leusink collaborated with Laura Brehm to release "Losing You" on Monstercat.[20][21] Billie-Darian Hollyhead of Playing With Sound called the song a "beautiful progressive house track", noting Brehms' vocals as "truly stunning as they lay on top of the oscillating beats".[22] The song was later featured as part of Monstercat's Best of 2017 compilation album.[23] On August 19, 2017, Leusink appeared on Laura Brehm's remix album Breathe EP Remixes.[24]

On July 5, 2017, Leusink released the song "Skyforth" as part of Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 1, the first collaborative album between Monstercat and San Diego-based video game developer Psyonix. The song appeared in the in-game soundtrack of Psyonix's 2015 video game Rocket League, alongside 17 other songs by various artists including Slushii, Aero Chord, Vicetone, Tristam, and Rogue.[25]

On October 26, 2017, Leusink collaborated with Laura Brehm to release "Deja Vu" on the latter's own record label Electric Bird Records. Your EDM's Landon Fleury compared the song to Leusink's previous song "Skyforth", wring that the tack "sees Ephixa continuing down the house path in a similar way to his song 'Skyforth', but with a distinctly stronger groove and fresh vocal chops to top everything off". Fleury later noted Brehm's vocals as ones that "really soar, elevating the production to its maximum potential".[26]

On December 13, 2017, Leusink collaborated with electronic music producer Bossfight to release "Subside" on Monstercat. Writing for Your EDM, Landon Fleury wrote about the song's influences from various electronic dance music genres including chiptune, synthwave, bass house, and trap, stating that the song "sees Ephixa turning back to the heavier-leaning sound his musical career was founded on, diving into electro at full power" and concluding his review by writing "Simply said, it’s a variety of different sounds and styles that somehow fit together perfectly in the end".[27] The song was later featured on Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 4, the first compilation album released by Monstercat since their Uncaged and Instinct re-branding in January earlier in the year.[28] The song appeared on Monstercat's Best of 2018 compilation album.[29]

2018 to present: "Dreamstate", "Sundance", and Monstercat's 8 Year Anniversary Adventure[edit]

On August 10, 2018, Leusink released "Dreamstate" on Monstercat.[30] A writer of T.H.E - Music Essentials described the song as a refresh of Leusink's style, writing that the song production has been made "very thoughtfully and yet, allows one to freely flow through its rhythms."[31] The song was later featured as part of Monstercat's second Instinct series compilation album titled Monstercat Instinct Vol. 2, alongside 39 other songs by various artists, including The Night, Fwlr, Julian Calor, and Vicetone.[32]

On June 11, 2019, Leusink collaborated with electronic music producer Heartful to release the synthwave song "Sundance".[33] The song was later added to the video game Rocket League as part the second phase of the latter's Radical Summer in-game event.[34] Leusink and Heartful were joined by other Monstercat artists included in the update, including 7 Minutes Dead, Desert Star, Televisor, Tut Tut Child, Varien, and Wrld.[35]

On July 1, Leusink collaborated with Canadian DJ and Producer Going Quantum to release the drum and bass song "Let's Roll."[36] The next day, Leusink collaborated with Stephen Walking to release the song "Problems". Both songs were released as part of Monstercat's 8 Year Anniversary album, titled Monstercat's 8 Year Anniversary Adventure, released on July 12.[37]

On November 17, 2020, Animated electronic music duo Half an Orange released their extended play Mostly We Grow Pt. 3. Their electro-rock collaboration with Leusink, "Time Travel Kool Aid", was included as the first song on the extended play.[38]

Discography[edit]

Albums and EPs[edit]

Title Details
The Beginning & Old School
Zelda Step[3]
Some Wobbles
Matches (The Remixes)

As a featured artist[edit]

Title Details
Sanctuary - The Remixes[8]

by Gareth Emery

Hello EP

by Going Quantum

Welcome to War EP

by Dex Arson

Smooth McGroove Remixed 2

by Smooth McGroove

Nope Remixes

by OMFG

Bipolar Rampage Squad

by Dex Arson

Breathe EP Remixes[24]

by Laura Brehm

Synthrunners

by Powercyan

Impression

by Road Lizard

Classics Remixed

by TheFatRat

Mostly We Grow Pt. 3[38]

by Half an Orange

Singles[edit]

Title Year Album Label
Bad Apple 2010 Non-album singles Self-released
Chipskream
Above the Lawl (Featuring DJ Cafe)
PianoDubs
Always Bored 2011
Give You Back Life (with Swifty & Starwarspunk)
Fall Silently (Featuring Veela)
Turret Error
Dubstep Killed Rock 'n' Roll Monstercat 001 – Launch Week Monstercat
Some Wobbles Monstercat 002 – Early Stage, Some Wobbles EP
Division Monstercat 003 – Momentum
Audiocidity Monstercat 004 – Identity
Substance (with Stephen Walking) 2012 Monstercat 005 – Evolution
Trance Chords Monstercat 006 – Embrace
Ideekay Monstercat 007 – Solace
Substance VIP (with Stephen Walking) Non-album single Self-released
Awesome to the Max[10] Monstercat 009 – Reunion Monstercat
The Anthem (with Project 46 & Varien)[10]
Unraveled Reality[13] 2013 Non-album single Self-released
Catfish[14] 2014
Chipstuff 2015
Awesome to the Max VIP
Depth (with Cidi)
Retrospect
Space Panda (with Cidi)
Dewpit 2016
Club Penguin
Matches (with Stephen Walking)[17] Monstercat 5 Year Anniversary Monstercat
Cobra (with Holder) Cheat Code 2.0 Ninety9Lives
Everlasting (With Jim Yosef) Non-album single NoCopyrightSounds
2080 (with Heartful) 2017 Ninety9lives 90: Care Package Ninety9Lives
Losing You (with Laura Brehm)[20] Monstercat 030 – Finale Monstercat
Skyforth[25] Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 1
Deja Vu (with Laura Brehm)[26] Non-album single Electric Bird Records
Subside (with Bossfight)[27] Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 4 Monstercat
Dreamstate[30] 2018 Monstercat Instinct Vol. 2
Easy (with Road Lizard) Impression Self-released
Sundance (with Heartful)[33] 2019 Non-album singles Monstercat
Let's Roll (with Going Quantum)[37] Monstercat's 8 Year Anniversary Adventure
Problems (with Stephen Walking)
Time Travel Kool Aid (with Half an Orange) 2020 Mostly We Grow Pt. 3
Bird Gun Dub 2024 Non-albun singles Party Animal

Remixes[edit]

Title Year Artist Label
3 2009 Britney Spears Self-released
Blue (Da Ba Dee) Eiffel 65
Song of Storms (Hardstyle Mix) Koji Kondo
Song of Storms (Dubstep Mix) 2010
Song of Storms (Zelda Step Mix)
Lost Woods
Aquatic Ambience David Wise
Sierra Leone 2011 Mt Eden Dubstep
Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning[6] 20/20
When I look at you (with Stephen Walking) Emalkay
Piano Tune (with Stephen Walking)[39] Bar9
Nyan Cat saraj00n
Night Vision Veela
Gerudo Valley Koji Kondo
Dragon Roost Island
Sanctuary[8] Gareth Emery (featuring Lucy Saunders) Garuda
Hello 2012 Going Quantum Monstercat
Run Away From Me DotEXE Self-released
Tristram Village Russell Brower
Gourmet Race Jun Ishikawa
Machina[15] 2015 Dex Arson
The Girl Hellberg (featuring Cozi Zuehlsdorff)
Waifu Dream Sushi Killer
Stone Tower Temple (with Will & Tim) Koji Kondo
Howling Fjord Russell Brower
Overwatch Main Theme 2016 Derek Duke
Victory Fanfare (with Holder) Nobuo Uematsu GameChops
Midna's Lament Toru Minegishi Self-released
Ride Astha (featuring Manny Rite)
Home Toby Fox GameChops
Zelda's Lullaby (with Will & Tim) 2017 Koji Kondo
Dr. Wily Stage Smooth McGroove
Let Go Deadmau5 (featuring Grabbitz) Self-released
Nope OMFG HappyToast
Rampage Dex Arson Self-released
Parallel[24] Laura Brehm Electric Bird Records
Plutocracy 2018 Powercyan Self-released
Monody 2020 TheFatRat (featuring Laura Brehm) The Arcadium

Awards and nominations[edit]

Accolades[edit]

Year Publisher Country Accolade Rank
2011 Billboard United States Next Big Sound[9] 11

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Power Users - Ephixa (James Leusink)". Image-Line. July 6, 2016. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "About DjEphixa". YouTube.
  3. ^ a b Indigonowhere (February 12, 2012). "Ephixa - Zelda Step (album review)". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on February 20, 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  4. ^ Jones, Elton (August 9, 2011). "Down, Back, Shuffle: 17 Video Game Themes To Dance To". Complex. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  5. ^ Cal (March 3, 2011). "Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning Dubstep | Salacious Sound". Salacious Sound. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  6. ^ a b O'Conner, Brian (March 3, 2011). "Charlie Sheen goes Dubstep...But Not Really". DJ Times. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  7. ^ "Charlie Sheen 'winning' dubstep mix takes YouTube by storm". Metro. March 4, 2011. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c "Sanctuary (The Remixes)". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Next Big Sound 25". Billboard. United States. November 5, 2011. p. 48. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c "Monstercat 009 - Reunion [Monstercat Media]". Your EDM. September 13, 2012. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  11. ^ Jacobs, Steve (February 6, 2012). "Monstercat Releases Best of 2012 Mixtape by Going Quantum". EDM Sauce. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  12. ^ Jacobs, Steve (November 16, 2012). "Ephixa vs Deadmaus vs TVDS vs Showtek - Fuck The System". EDM Sauce. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Jacobs, Steve (January 21, 2013). "Ephixa - Unraveled Reality". EDM Sauce. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  14. ^ a b c Brannigan, James (June 25, 2014). "Monstercat's Ephixa Returns with 'Catfish' After One-Year Hiatus - EDMTunes". EDMTunes. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Brannigan, James (February 6, 2015). "Dex Arson - Machina (Ephixa Remix)". EDMTunes. Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  16. ^ Meadow, Matthew (February 5, 2015). "Dex Arson - Machina (Ephixa Remix)". Your EDM. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Grindrod, Nick (July 7, 2016). "Monstercat Is Celebrating Their Fifth Anniversary By Giving Away Free Music For Two Weeks". By The Wavs. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  18. ^ Fleury, Landon (July 4, 2016). "Ephixa & Stephen Walking - Matches feat. Aaron Richards [Monstercat]". Your EDM. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  19. ^ Wilson, Kate (January 11, 2017). "Best of Vancouver's Monstercat showcases EDM bangers". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  20. ^ a b Goldberg, Sydney (February 6, 2017). "Ephixa and Laura Brehm Make Sweet Sweet Music With "Losing You"". Noiseporn. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  21. ^ Schellhammer, Joshua (February 9, 2017). "Laura Brehm Gives Her Best Teaming Up with Ephixa for "Losing You"". RaverRafting. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  22. ^ Hollyhead, Billie-Darian. "Monstercat's latest release Ephixa & Laura Brehm – 'Losing You'". Playing With Sound. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  23. ^ Dexter, Robyn (December 8, 2017). "Monstercat unveils Best of 2017 results". Dancing Astronaut. Archived from the original on March 4, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  24. ^ a b c Jacobs, Steve (August 21, 2017). "Laura Brehm Releases Remix EP For Her Indie Folk Album 'Breathe'". EDM Sauce. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  25. ^ a b Fleury, Landon (June 6, 2017). "Rocket League Teams Up with Monstercat for All-New OST". Your EDM. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  26. ^ a b Fleury, Landon (October 26, 2017). "Your EDM Premiere: Ephixa & Laura Brehm - Deja Vu". Your EDM. Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  27. ^ a b Fleury, Landon (December 15, 2017). "Bossfight Debuts on Monstercat with Ephixa Collaboration "Subside"". Your EDM. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  28. ^ Fleury, Landon (March 2, 2018). "Monstercat Releases First Compilation Since Label Rebrand". Your EDM. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  29. ^ "Monstercat's unveils "Best Of 2018" album featuring this year's best releases!". T.H.E - Music Essentials. December 15, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  30. ^ a b Stone, Katie (August 10, 2018). "Ephixa - Dreamstate Out Now Via Monstercat". EDM.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  31. ^ "Ephixa comes back with new single - Dreamstate". T.H.E - Music Essentials. August 13, 2018. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  32. ^ Kumar, Pavan (November 12, 2018). "Stream Monstercat's new compilation for your daily dose of relaxing vibes". T.H.E - Music Essentials. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  33. ^ a b Dexter, Robyn (June 17, 2019). "Lunar Lunes: Alesso concocts a 'Sad Song,' DJ Snake taps J. Balvin & Tyga + more". Dancing Astronaut. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  34. ^ Saunders, Toby (June 24, 2019). "Rocket League 1.65 Update Patch Notes". GameRevolution. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  35. ^ Dedmon, Tanner (June 24, 2019). "New Rocket League Update Out Now, Here's What's New". ComicBook, LLC. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  36. ^ Dexter, Robyn (July 1, 2019). "Lunar Lunes: Alok and Sevenn sample Pink Floyd, Kidswaste remixes Kidnap + more". Dancing Astronaut. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  37. ^ a b Fleury, Landon (July 13, 2019). "Monstercat Celebrates 8th Anniversary with Stacked New Compilation, Comic Book and More". Your EDM. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  38. ^ a b Scilippa, Phil (November 18, 2020). "Half An Orange Completes the Trifecta With "Mostly We Grow Pt. 3" EP". EDM.com. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  39. ^ Jacobs, Steve (August 14, 2012). "Stephen Walking - Metal Edits". EDM Sauce. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
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