By Zachary Swickey
Earlier this year, we saw the WTF pairing of the millennium when Jack White teamed up with the loud and crude Insane Clown Posse for a one-off track. In another perplexingly rando collab, it appears that the surviving members of The Doors have gotten together in the studio with dubstep king Skrillex.
The collaboration comes compliments of a new documentary, "RE:GENERATION," which finds five popular DJs/producers working with artists from five very different genres: Pretty Lights got country with Leann Rimes and Ralph Stanley; DJ Premeire joined Nas for a composition with the Berklee School of Music Orchestra; digital masterminds the Crystal Method spent two days in Detroit recording an R&B number with Martha Reeves; and super producer, Mark Ronson recruited Erykah Badu along with some members of the Dap Kings to join Trombone Shorty in his home town of New Orleans for a jazz tune.
Somewhat surprisingly, Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek hit it off wonderfully with Sonny Moore – the 23-year-old we know was Skrillex. “[Sonny] plays his beat; all he had to do was play the one thing. I listened to it and I said, ‘Holy s**t, that’s strong,’” Manzarek told Rolling Stone. “Basically, it’s a variation on ‘Milestones’ by Miles Davis, and if I do say so myself, sounds f**king great, hot as hell,” he elaborated excitedly.
Although, not all the collabs were smooth sailing. Pretty Lights, aka Derek Vincent Smith, ran into a few issues with one of his country partners. “When Ralph showed up, I tried to tell him what I wanted to do and his response was, ‘I think we’ll just do it my way,’” Smith told the magazine. No word on how much Rimes was feeling Smith’s digital prowess.
The project is being co-produced by the Grammys and directed by Amir Bar Lev (who did the playful documentary "My Kid Could Paint That"). The trailer was just released and the film is expected to premiere in early 2012 as it will be a big part of Grammy week, including the DJs/producers conducting “Remix Labs,” an event at the Grammy Museum and, of course a screening.
