Globally acclaimed Australian producer and electronic artist What So Not releases his new EP, I SAW A TRAP DJ AND IT CHANGED MY BIO CHEMISTRY, on August 14, available across all major streaming platforms.
The six-track project arrives after months of anticipation and a run of singles that introduced different sides of its creative direction. Those releases include “EVEREST” featuring Alina Pash, “MONA LISA” with Mr. Carmack and Benni Ola, and “Candy Flipping” with Jack Blom, NERVE and Alina Pash. Together, they set the stage for a project rooted in the sounds and experiences that first shaped What So Not while reflecting the perspective of an artist who has spent more than a decade moving beyond genre boundaries.
At its core, I SAW A TRAP DJ AND IT CHANGED MY BIO CHEMISTRY looks back at the sense of discovery that surrounded the formative years of internet-era trap and beats music. It was a period when producers were rapidly reshaping what electronic music could sound like, experimenting with unconventional rhythms, warped melodies, heavy low-end and ideas that travelled quickly through online communities and club culture.
Rather than recreating that period, What So Not uses it as a starting point. The EP brings those influences into the present through cinematic songwriting, bass-heavy production, analog exploration and collaborations that give each track its own character. The result is a body of work that connects nostalgia with experimentation without becoming defined by either.
The project also represents a personal reconnection for What So Not. After years spent searching for new sounds and creative directions, the producer found himself returning to the musical instincts that originally energised him. That process became less about revisiting a previous era and more about understanding which parts of that creative identity still felt essential.
Each of the EP’s previously released tracks reveals a different part of that story.
“EVEREST,” featuring Alina Pash, explores healing, unity and transcendence through Pash’s commanding vocal performance and What So Not’s expansive production. The track places emotional songwriting alongside a cinematic electronic framework, introducing the more reflective side of the project.
“MONA LISA” reconnects What So Not with longtime bass music innovator Mr. Carmack, alongside Benni Ola. Built around weighty production and an uneasy emotional atmosphere, the track examines excess and self-destruction while drawing on the experimental bass language both producers helped push forward.
On “Candy Flipping,” What So Not joins Jack Blom, NERVE and Alina Pash for a more introspective exploration of ego, duality and self-perception. The contrasting voices and perspectives create a layered exchange that moves between internal conflict and outward energy.
The full EP expands that world with “Wires and Webs,” featuring Jack Blom, Elohim and Christian Patey; “Trash,” with Losco, Michael Christmas and Caliph; and “Don’t Wanna Leave Yet,” featuring Alina Pash.
Taken together, the six tracks trace a broader creative arc. The project looks back at the disruptive energy that made the electronic music landscape of the 2010s so influential while asking what that same spirit can become when approached with years of new techniques, experiences and influences.
That philosophy extends beyond the recordings themselves.
The release coincides with What So Not’s intimate I SAW A TRAP DJ AND IT CHANGED MY BIO CHEMISTRY North American tour. The limited-capacity run moves away from spectacle for spectacle’s sake and places greater emphasis on smaller rooms, experimentation and a more immediate connection between artist and audience.
It is an approach that reflects the central idea behind the EP: electronic music culture has always been shaped not only by sound, but by the communities and shared experiences surrounding it.
Long regarded as one of the artists who helped shape the rise of cinematic trap and future-facing bass music, What So Not has continually expanded his creative vocabulary. His career has included collaborations with Skrillex, RL Grime, Oliver Tree, Killer Mike, Toto and Daniel Johns, alongside projects such as Divide & Conquer (2016), Not All The Beautiful Things (2018), Anomaly (2022) and the 2025 collaborative EP The Quiet That Hurts with Dutch producer Buunshin.
Now, I SAW A TRAP DJ AND IT CHANGED MY BIO CHEMISTRY brings that evolution back into conversation with the sounds that helped start it.
“For a long time I found myself running away from a sound I helped create,” What So Not says. “In my journey to always do the ‘next’ thing, I think I neglected ‘my’ thing.”
Reflecting on the artists and records that defined the period, he points to Rustie, Flying Lotus, Mr. Carmack, Flosstradamus and DJ Snake among the forces that transformed the way electronic music sounded and spread.
“‘Trap’, ‘beats music’, ‘future bass’, whatever the label, I remember how it changed me, rattled my core,” he says. “It was no longer pop radio vocals and ‘songs’, it was a vibration in-between scales, a revolt against the normal.”
That search eventually took What So Not from underground electronic experimentation to festival main stages, while expanding his performances to include vocals, drums, synthesizers, guitar and live collaborators. Those experiences now feed back into the new material rather than replacing the producer’s earlier musical foundations.
“But here I am… 2026, amplified, hungry, inspired,” What So Not adds. “I feel like I’m finally writing the music everybody wants from me, but on my own terms, on my own time, with the tools of a lifetime chasing ‘what’s next’.”
With I SAW A TRAP DJ AND IT CHANGED MY BIO CHEMISTRY, What So Not does not simply return to an earlier sound. Instead, he reconnects with the curiosity that surrounded it, bringing together years of experimentation, new influences and the communal energy that first made the movement feel transformative.
TRACKLIST
- “Candy Flipping” with Jack Blom, NERVE and Alina Pash
- “Mona Lisa” with Mr. Carmack and Benni Ola
- “Everest” with Alina Pash
- “Wires and Webs” with Jack Blom, Elohim and Christian Patey
- “Trash” with Losco, Michael Christmas and Caliph
- “Don’t Wanna Leave Yet” with Alina Pash
MORE ON WHAT SO NOT
What So Not is an Australian electronic music producer and live performer recognised as one of the artists who helped define the rise of cinematic trap and forward-thinking bass music during the early 2010s. Emerging during a period of rapid change in global electronic culture, his emotionally charged production and genre-blurring approach helped shape the sounds moving between online music communities, clubs and major festival stages.
Across releases including Not All The Beautiful Things, Anomaly, Motions and the 2025 collaborative EP The Quiet That Hurts with Dutch producer Buunshin, What So Not has continued to move beyond conventional genre boundaries. His catalogue brings together trap, drum and bass, cinematic songwriting, analog experimentation and melodic electronic production.
His collaborations span artists including Skrillex, RL Grime, Oliver Tree, Killer Mike, Toto and Daniel Johns, while tracks such as “High You Are,” “Jaguar,” “Gemini” and “Be Ok Again” have contributed to more than 1.3 billion global streams.
What So Not’s live career has taken him to major festivals including Coachella, Ultra Music Festival and Lollapalooza, with performances combining electronic production, live instrumentation, cinematic visuals and collaborative elements.
With I SAW A TRAP DJ AND IT CHANGED MY BIO CHEMISTRY, What So Not begins another chapter by reconnecting with the sounds and cultural energy that helped shape his earliest work, while applying everything learned through more than a decade of experimentation.
WHAT SO NOT: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube | SoundCloud | Instagram | Facebook | X | TikTok
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
AUG 14 | The Midway | San Francisco, CA
SEP 5 | Sunny Side Up @ Aussie World | Sunshine Coast, QLD
SEP 18 | Substation | Seattle, WA
SEP 19 | The Loft at Skyway Theatre | Minneapolis, MN
SEP 24 | Myth Nightclub | Jacksonville, FL
SEP 25 | Breakaway Music Festival | Concord, NC
OCT 2 | Art Club | Houston, TX
OCT 3 | Wish Lounge at Believe Music Hall | Atlanta, GA
OCT 9 | Otherworld | Philadelphia, PA
OCT 10 | Otherworld | Columbus, OH
WHAT SO NOT: SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC | YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | X | TIK TOK
