Ephixa (CA)

About

Also known as: Epixha, James Aurther Leusink

Ephixa, the project of Ontario based producer James Leusink, built his reputation on some genuinely unexpected combinations. His "Zelda Step" EP took tracks from Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker into dubstep territory, and Complex picked his remix of the Lost Woods theme as the single best video game remix out there. Then came the "Charlie Sheen Bi Winning" dubstep remix, which racked up over 700,000 views in two days and briefly made him one of YouTube's most talked about uploaders. That momentum pushed him to number 11 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart in November 2011. He was also a co founder of Monstercat, and his track "Dubstep Killed Rock n Roll" holds the distinction of being the label's very first single. After leaving in late 2012 and taking a hiatus, he returned to the label in 2016 with "Matches", a collaboration with Stephen Walking featuring vocalist Aaron Richards, which fans voted into Monstercat's Best of 2016 compilation. His sound has ranged across dubstep, trance, hardstyle and beyond, with influences including Showtek and hardstyle producers he cites as early inspirations.