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This producer reckons Skrillex could make music using a $40 keyboard from Toys R Us
You can give Skrillex a room full of million-dollar studio gear – or a bargain-bin keyboard – and producer Rogét Chahayed reckons the result will be just as impressive.
The Grammy-nominated producer Rogét Chahayed has heaped praise on the electronic music heavyweight, saying Skrillex’s greatest talent isn’t his equipment or plugins, but his uncanny ability to turn almost any sound into something musical.
The pair first linked up on the song Hydrate from Skrillex’s 2023 album Quest For Fire, alongside PEEKABOO, Flowdan and BEAM. They later reunited for Baby Royal, a blistering track from Skrillex’s 2025 album Fuck U Skrillex You Think Ur Andy Warhol but Ur Not!!.
Speaking to MusicRadar, Chahayed says Skrillex approaches the studio in a way few producers do.
“He’s one of the most enormous talents in the world and one of the only people who treats the computer like an instrument. You’ll graze a key by accident and he’ll say, ‘What was that?’ very much in the same way that Dre is very sensitive to sounds.”
“I could hit this table and he’ll make a crazy snare out of it, so he’ll take whatever’s available and make it work,” says Chahayed. “Sometimes we’ll be in a room with multi-million dollar speakers and he’ll be sitting on the floor listening to a song on the worst quality headphones with his laptop doing his thing. To me, that’s very grounding and cool.”
One session in particular drove the point home. Chahayed recalls turning up to Skrillex’s studio with little more than a beat-up Korg KROSS keyboard.
“There was a day when I went to one of his studios but was feeling kind of lazy and didn’t want to bring any crazy equipment. All I brought was a shitty quality Korg KROSS keyboard and a lot of those sounds are not good.”
“They’re very basic and in-your-face, but there was something about it that I thought could work and I remember making 10 different beats with him and every sound was hitting because Skrillex is really good at taking raw, fake sounds and making them pop out and cut through.”
According to Chahayed, the experience reinforced a lesson that plenty of producers could probably stand to learn – that great production starts with your ears, not your equipment.
“He really showed me that it’s not about what you have; it’s how you use it – I get the feeling I could go to Toys R Us, buy a $40 keyboard and he’ll just make something out of it. Skrillex really is proof that you don’t need anything but a good ear.”
The producer also praises Skrillex for his humility, noting that “there’s no ego there. Every time we work together it’s just this insane exploration of sounds, and he likes to keep it interesting and fun.”
“I’ve had some of my best days making music with him, and he’s always been a great collaborator and friend,” says Chahayed. “I’m hoping to get back in the studio with him soon!”
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