Get to Know the Emo-Electronic Style of Synova

Synova swung by to chat about his rise through the scene’s ranks, his latest album centered on the death of the internet, his emo-electronic style, and more.

In a dance music scene filled with artists who have conformed to certain styles and sounds, Synova has bucked all trends. This Los Angeles-based DJ and producer has a history in the community dating back over a decade, but he breathed life into his recent project in 2018 and hasn’t looked back since. In recent years, Synova has played plenty of shows and released two standout albums on bitbird, all while continuing to leave a lasting impression on a growing number of fans.

This year, Synova switched things up even more. His latest album, The Death Of The Internet, arrived earlier this summer and was released independently. This allowed Synova to layer in dynamic samples that would likely never be cleared while also being in full control of the rollout, bolstered by the thriving community he’s created.

Those hunting for fresh, forward-thinking sounds with a touch of emo on the side will easily come to love the sounds that Synova crafts in the studio. Luckily for us, he had some time to sit down for a chat to dive into his backstory, his recent album, where he plans to take the project next, and so much more. Listen to his exclusive guest mix that’s filled with IDs, and read on for the full conversation.

Stream EDMID Guest Mix 435 || Synova on SoundCloud:

Hi Synova, thanks so much for sitting down with us today, and congrats on the release of The Death of the Internet this summer. Let’s dive straight into this fresh album! It’s clearly inspired by the internet, but can you share your creative process for this release?

Absolutely! This record was my full dive back into EDM and DJ culture. I’ve been producing for more than 12 years now, but when I started Synova in 2018, the focus was more on songwriting. I got extremely inspired on this record to head back to what got me into producing in the first place: making songs that are extremely fun to make and fun to play out.

The other inspiration for this record comes from a theory I’ve had recently. That is, a major event will occur within five years that will change life on Earth forever. It will be a dark time, but on the other side, it will be one of the most prosperous and peaceful times that we’ll experience in our lifetime. That theory comes from the book The Fourth Turning by Neil Howe and William Strauss. However, I take it one step further by theorizing that the ‘major event’ will be the actual death of the internet.

The first five songs represent the death, while the latter five represent the rebirth.

Your previous two albums, Look For The Good In Others and Bubble Tape, landed on bitbird, but you’ve struck out on your own with a self-release for this one. What led to this decision, and did you face any issues with distribution or promotion?

Let me start by saying that the folks at Bitbird (San and Thor, especially) are some of the kindest and most supportive people in electronic music hands down. My route with this being self-release came down to a few factors.

First, this album contains an absurd amount of uncleared samples. No label wants to deal with this.

Second, I wanted to lean into the DIY nature for the entire rollout. Months before this album was released to streaming, tons of people purchased it as a burned CD. I wanted them to know it came from my bedroom and that they were seeing it before anyone else. It’s rough around the edges, it’s purely from my hands to yours, no one in between.

Third, I intentionally didn’t go with ‘the modern promo method’ in this album’s rollout. I really can’t stand focusing on landing playlists, getting pre-saves, making TikToks, etc. Success in that method is measured in views, but in my mind, views mean nothing. There’s zero connection in a view, and it can be done passively. As someone who’s never received millions of streams, I’ve never seen a dime from Spotify. However, dropping my album on CD and going on tour has kept me alive all year. Happy to report that it’s my full-time job right now.

Besides the album, you also dropped a pretty wicked mashup of Chase & Status’ “Baddadan” and CKY’s “96 Quite Bitter Beings” with MANSHN. Is there a fun story behind how this mashup came to life?

Absolutely! I was working on a demo at MANSHN’s house one day, and he played me a 30-second CKY remix idea that I couldn’t stop thinking about. I went home that day with that project file instead of the demo we worked on. Within a few days, I finished the CKY edit and played it live in LA. People went NUTS! I posted a clip of it to Instagram, and for the first time, I had gone semi-viral for my music, which was ironic since I was intentionally avoiding that. Unfortunately, though, I went viral for all the wrong reasons. By the hundreds, hate comments were coming in telling me how awful the remix was.

However, I knew this track was one of the greatest remixes ever, and I didn’t really care what anyone thought. I was on tour with GrooveCube, and he was humming the CKY riff on our way to a gig. In his beautiful vocal delivery, he was the one who first set it to the tune of “Baddadan.” While in the car on the way to the show, I turned that silly idea into a real playable track. GrooveCube filmed it that night. I posted it, and BOOM, the video had blown up instantly. All the comments were positive, and a few days later, I found emails from Subtronics and Dillon Francis in my inbox.

Digging a bit into your past, who were some artists who impacted you early on and led to you developing a passion for electronic music?

I will always credit Linkin Park when it comes to my first time hearing electronic music. I was four when I heard “Breaking the Habit” for the first time, and it changed everything. However, the first time hearing electronic music, as I view it today, is always credited to Skrillex. I was lucky enough to see him in 2011 at ID Festival in Pittsburgh, PA. One of my older friends put me onto his music just a few weeks after the Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites EP dropped. That record is probably the most magical thing our lifetime has ever witnessed.

You define your sound as “emo-electronic music.” How did you come to embrace those two sonic realms and bring them together?

There’s always been a side to me that’s deeply impacted by emo acts like Death Cab [For Cutie] and, more recently, this new band called Carly Cosgrove. I think that the emo scene inspires me equally as the electronic music scene. Music has had one of the deepest emotional impacts on me that I will ever experience, though equally I don’t think that it always has to be ‘that deep’. I argue half of my music comes from a deeper thought process, and half of it is just me fucking around and having fun.

What’s the biggest hurdle you’ve faced so far in your career? Have you been able to overcome it?

Comparing myself to others and jealousy. I’m thankful to say that I’m not really in those patterns of thinking anymore, but man, can that stunt your growth. Just because someone else is killing does not mean they took your spot. Forge your own path. No one is remembered for being a follower.

Many artists, including you, have begun to embrace Patreon as a method of connecting with fans. Have you seen the positives of being on this platform already, or is it still in its infancy?

Patreon is cool, but the Bandcamp Fan Club is where it’s at! The income there really helps support me, and I have a ridiculous amount of fun making the edit packs and mailing out the CDs every month. I don’t think everyone will have the same results, even if you have a million monthly listeners. You need REAL, dedicated fans to make this happen because you truly are asking a lot of them. But you only need a small amount to keep you in business. I’m extremely thankful that Synova fans aren’t passive listeners and are super engaged with me. Again, my album has 5,000 Spotify streams, but things like the fan club let me do this full-time.

If you want six new edits and mashups every month, join Synova’s Fan Club on Bandcamp!

Finally, what goals do you hope to achieve in the rest of 2025 and beyond? Are there any additional surprises in store this coming fall you can share with us?

Honestly, I’m prioritizing my health and social life more this year more than ever. I think all I cared about for a long time was trying to live off of music, and now I’m doing it comfortably and can’t really ask for anything more in that department. Once I reached that point, I realized how much I wanted to work on myself. I hope to keep making new meaningful friendships, going to the gym every day, trying new things, and surprising myself. Synova will exist beyond my time, but Jeremy won’t. Remember, kids, you gotta live like Larry.