Subtronics

Musical artist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jesse Kardon, better known by his alias Subtronics, is an American electronic music producer and DJ from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] He began playing drums as a child and continued through grade school, before discovering EDM in high school. He has toured internationally, headlined major festival stages, launched his own annual festivals in North America, and released multiple charting albums. In 2020, he founded his own label, Cyclops Recordings.

Born
Jesse Kardon

(1992-12-23) December 23, 1992 (age 33)
GenresDubstep
Occupations
  • Disc jockey
  • record producer
  • composer
Quick facts Background information, Born ...
Subtronics
Background information
Born
Jesse Kardon

(1992-12-23) December 23, 1992 (age 33)
GenresDubstep
Occupations
  • Disc jockey
  • record producer
  • composer
Instrument
Years active2013–present
Labels
Websitesubtronics.net
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Subtronics' freshman album Fractals released in January of 2022 and charted at No. 4 on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart and trended globally over K-pop on Twitter/X.

He is known for his song "Griztronics", a collaboration with Michigan-based electronic music artist GRiZ that peaked on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs at the No. 9 position in late 2019. Kardon peaked at No. 10 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart in September 2019. Kardon is married to fellow producer and dubstep DJ Sonya Broner, also known by her alias Level Up.

In 2024, Subtronics released his second album Tesseract, which peaked at No. 5 on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart.

Career

2017–2020

On April 28, 2017, Florida-based dubstep producer Midnight Tyrannosaurus collaborated with Kardon to release the song "Revenge Of The Goldfish" via Never Say Die Records' Black Label imprint.[2] The song was released for free as part of Never Say Die's sixth Black Friday compilation extended play and sampled a speech originally by Klaus Heissler during an episode of the American animated sitcom American Dad.[3]

Subtronics released a mix series called Now That's What I Call Riddim from February 2017 to January 2020. He stated the mixes are not riddim, despite the name. On April 20, 2018, Kardon released his seventh extended play Wook Laser via Never Say Die's Black Label sub-label. The 4-track extended play was well-received, with it being described as encapsulating "everything that is right in bass at the current moment" by an EDM Sauce editor.[4]

On July 6, Canadian electronic music duo Zeds Dead and American DJ and electronic dance music producer Jauz released a remix album of their song "Lights Go Down".[5] Kardon's remix of the song was featured on the album, alongside remixes from by Sikdope, Duke & Jones, Gentlemans Club, Jarvis, Lick, Sqwad, Awoltalk, and Spirix.[6]

In mid-August, Kardon's SoundCloud account was hacked and as a result, had various unreleased and private songs stolen and published by the hacker. Before, he had received a message from Los Angeles-based dubstep producer Megalodon, asking him to repost a song uploaded by an unfamiliar account. After privately messaging him, Megalodon told Kardon that he was hacked and soon blocked him. The same account later published a song by Kardon that was previously only accessible from his hard drive and private SoundCloud account.[7] On October 19, American record producer Herobust released a remix album of his previous song "WTF". The album, titled WTF VIP + Remixes, featured Kardon as a remix artist.[8] In November, multiple producers had most or all of their songs removed from online audio distribution platform and music sharing website SoundCloud for wrongful copyright claims.[9] Among these producers were Kardon, who had lost 23 songs due to these claims.[10]

In the same year, Depth Perception EP was released on SubCarbon Records, and Thermal Expansion EP on Disciple Round Table. Kardon announced his “Headline Tour: Warp Drive Tour” during the same time period. Later on, Wook Laser EP was released on “NSD: Black Label”.[11][12]

On April 17, 2019, Australian dubstep producer PhaseOne released "Demon Hunter", a collaboration with Kardon, as part of his album Transcendency via Disciple.[13] EDM.com's Phil Sclippa commented on the song whilst reviewing the album, stating that it featured Kardon's "insane sound design and electronic music elements, along with some entertaining samples."[14] On July 7, Kardon released his ninth extended play Cyclops Army via his record label Cyclops Recordings.[15] The four-track extended play included the songs "Cyclops Army", "Glitch Fight", "They Call Me", and "Loopholes", most of which were previewed in the fourth volume of Kardon's mixtape series Now That's What I Call Riddim.[16][17][18][19][20] A fifth installment was released in January 2020. Kardon marked it as the last in the mix series and included songs by Skrillex, Excision, Doctor P and Boogie T.[21] On July 23 Canadian producer and DJ Excision released a remix album based on his fourth studio album Apex. Kardon was featured on the album with his remix of the song "Vault".[22] While reviewing the album, Jayce Ullah-Blocks of EDM Identity briefly touched on Kardon's remix, noting that he had retained elements from the original while "fully capturing Subtronics' diverse sound palate."[23] On August 2, English dubstep producer Rusko collaborated with Kardon to release the song "Bounce" via the latter's record label Cyclops Recordings. The song debuted during Kardon's DJ set at Electric Forest Festival and Rusko's set at Camp Bisco earlier in the year.[24]

Subtronics released the Cyclops Army EP and the Wooked On Tronics EP on Cyclops Recordings. That year, he also dropped the single GRIZTRONICS, a collaboration with GRiZ, which went viral on TikTok and climbed to No. 9 on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart in late 2019. To top it off, he headlined the Up In Smoke Tour. Writing for Dancing Astronaut, Chris Stack noted the song's influence from earlier dubstep works, utilising Kardon's "stellar syncopation and sound design" alongside Rusko's "signature elated wobbles and groove."[25] On August 14, American songwriter and electronic producer GRiZ released his second extended play Bangers[2].Zip via Deadbeats.[26] A collaboration between GRiZ and Kardon was released as one of the three songs featured on the extended play, titled "Griztronics"; a portmanteau of the two artists names.[27] The song debuted during Kardon's DJ set at Electric Forest Festival.[28] Writing for Dancing Astronaut, Chris Stack described the song as appealing even to "the most stubborn of dance fans".[29] During October, the song became popular on video-sharing app TikTok, becoming the top trending song on the platform with over 259 million views in total. The song was associated with the hashtag #tastesdifferent, a similar wording to the song's pre-drop vocal "Ooh, this shit be hittin' different".[30]

Next, Kardon released the Scream Saver EP and the String Theory EP, both on Cyclops Recordings. In 2019, Cyclops Recordings grew into a full-service label, signing different artists. Then he began the Cyclops Invasion Tour as the year’s headline tour. On September 10, Quebec-based vomitstep producer Snails released "Snailclops", a collaboration with Kardon, via his record label Slugz Music.[31] In the week of September 14, 2019, Kardon peaked at number 10 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart.[32] On October 2, Kardon released his tenth extended play Wooked on Tronics via his record label Cyclops Recordings.[33][34] The extended play features 5 songs, including a collaboration with English music producer Moody Good.[35]

2021–2024

In 2021, Subtronics launched his first-ever Cyclops Cove, a one-day event with a single stage, and played at Red Rocks 2021, which was the venue’s first full-capacity event following COVID-19 restrictions.[36]

In 2022, Subtronics released his album Fractals. The album was released by his own recording label, Cyclops Recordings. The album itself encompasses several EDM genres.[37]

Then in 2023, he released his album Antifractals. The album remixes each song from the original Fractals album and some of his prior hits. These remixes were done by both Subtronics himself as well as other artists such as Peekaboo, Sullivan King, Zeds Dead, and his wife Level Up. The album reached number 4 on the Dance Charts as well as had over 50 million streams.[38]

Later in 2023, Subtronics released AntiFractals, an album that remixed every track from Fractals along with some of his earlier hits. The remixes were made by Subtronics and other artists such as Peekaboo, Sullivan King, Zeds Dead, and his wife, Level Up. The album reached No. 4 on the Dance Charts. Then he inked a Live Nation tour deal for the sold-out Antifractal Tour and also sold out the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. On February 16, 2024, Kardon officially released his 2nd full length album coined "Tesseract"; the album contains many collaboration with other artists, such as Excision, Rezz, Grabbitz and HOL!. The album consists of 16 songs. He launched the Tesseract tour, headlining major arenas such as Barclays Center, Cable Dahmer Arena, and State Farm Arena. Cyclops Cove expanded to a three-day event, and Subtronics was named Beatport's top-selling artist of the year. He also delivered a production at the Tacoma Dome and made his main stage debut at EDC Las Vegas. Kardon has been a winner at DJ Mag North America's 'DJ of the Year' 2023 and a three-time winner of Dubstep Artist of the Year.[39][40]

2025–present

On March 29, 2025, Kardon officially announced a two-part album on his social media platforms, Fibonacci. The first part, Oblivion, was released on April 4, 2025.[41] The EP contained the single "Final Breath", a collaboration with English singer and artist A Little Sound.[42]

Subtronics recently announced part one of a new album series, Fibonacci Part 1: Oblivion, during his mainstage debut at Ultra Music Festival. This was the first installment of a two-part series in the album.[43] He also kicked off his first-ever Las Vegas residency at Wynn Las Vegas.[44] Subtronics sold out six nights at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, which was the second-highest number of shows ever held at the venue, behind Fred again.. at eight.[45]

Discography

Albums and extended plays

More information Title, Details ...
Title Details
3K Free EP
  • Released: February 21, 2015
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: Digital download
Panic Attack EP
  • Released: May 4, 2015
  • Label: Prime Audio
  • Formats: Digital download
Impact
  • Released: January 18, 2016
  • Label: Blacklight Audio
  • Formats: Digital download
Cyclops EP
  • Released: December 6, 2016
  • Label: Prime Audio
  • Formats: Digital download
20K EP
  • Released: June 8, 2017
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: Digital download
Depth Perception[46]
  • Released: January 15, 2018
  • Label: SubCarbon Records
  • Formats: Digital download
Thermal Expansion EP
  • Released: February 23, 2018
  • Label: Disciple
  • Formats: Digital download
Wook Laser EP[47]
  • Released: March 4, 2018
  • Label: Never Say Die
  • Formats: Digital download
Pashmina Death Sauce EP[48]
  • Released: September 26, 2018
  • Label: Kannibalen Records
  • Formats: Digital download
Cyclops Army[49]
  • Released: June 7, 2019
  • Label: Cyclops Recordings
  • Formats: Digital download
Wooked on Tronics[50]
  • Released: October 2, 2019
  • Label: Cyclops Recordings
  • Formats: Digital download
Scream Saver[51]
  • Released: April 10, 2020
  • Label: Cyclops Recordings
  • Formats: Digital download
String Theory[52]
  • Released: October 9, 2020
  • Label: Cyclops Recordings
  • Formats: Digital download
Fractals[53]
  • Released: January 14, 2022
  • Label: Cyclops Recordings
  • Formats: Digital download
Antifractals[54]
  • Released: December 16, 2022
  • Label: Cyclops Recordings
  • Formats: Digital download
Tesseract[55]
  • Released: February 16, 2024
  • Label: Cyclops Recordings
  • Formats: Digital download
Fibonacci Part 1: Oblivion[56]
  • Released: April 4, 2025
  • Label: Cyclops Recordings
  • Formats: Digital download
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More information Title, Details ...
Title Details
Genius
by JPhelpz
  • Released: May 19, 2014
  • Label: Prime Audio
  • Format: Digital download
20K EP
by Bommer
  • Released: May 5, 2015
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download
Ripper EP
by Creation
  • Released: October 10, 2015
  • Label: Uplink Audio
  • Format: Digital download
Double U EP
by Ubur
  • Released: June 15, 2018
  • Label: Never Say Die
  • Format: Digital download
Soul'd Out[57]
by Boogie T
  • Released: October 23, 2017
  • Label: SubCarbon Records
  • Format: Digital download
Junkworld EP[58]
by Svdden Death
  • Released: February 26, 2018
  • Label: Never Say Die
  • Format: Digital download
2KFO[59]
by Boogie T
  • Released: June 15, 2018
  • Label: Drama Club Recordings
  • Format: Digital download
Transcendency[60]
by PhaseOne
  • Released: April 17, 2019
  • Label: Disciple
  • Format: Digital download
Bangers[2].zip[61]
by GRiZ
  • Released: August 14, 2019
  • Label: Deadbeats
  • Format: Digital download
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Charted songs

More information Title, Year ...
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Dance

[62]
"Griztronics"[61] 2019 9 Bangers[2].Zip
"Into Pieces"
(featuring Grabbitz)
2022 37 Fractals
"Tuba Demon" 43
"Womp Portal"
(with Ganja White Night)
2023 33 Non-album singles
"Black Ice"
(with Rezz)
2024 41
"Amnesia" 49
"Got Away"
(with Illenium featuring Royal & the Serpent)
2025 24
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Other singles

More information Title, Year ...
Title Year Album Label
"Cataclysm" 2013 Non-album singles Ordinance Records
"Citadel" (featuring Imperium (Wa)) 2014 Riot Audio
"Buckshot" (featuring Imperium (Wa)) MultiKill Recordings
"Childs Play VIP" 2015 Self-released
"Suspekt" (with Dack Janiels) Artist Intelligence Agency
"Madness" (with SampliFire and Zaita)
"Nightmare" 2016 DirtySnatcha Records
"Spasm" Self-released
"Astrofang"
"Saw Blade" (with Ecraze)
"Trendz" (with Dack Janiels, featuring GloGangTwins)
"Pete's Song" (with Ubur)
"Spasm VIP"[63] Cyclops Prime Audio
"Wonderwall" Non-album singles Self-released
"Shredder" (with Emilian Wonk)
"Skank" 2017 Kill Your Ego
"Negative Space" Self-released
"LDA" (with Run DMT) Kill Your Ego
"Liberator VIP" Self-released
"Revenge of the Goldfish" (with Midnight Tyrannosaurus)[3] Black Friday Vol. 6 Never Say Die
"Two Faced" (with Skenz) Non-album single Self-released
"Hallucination Dub" Loud Speaker, Vol. 1 SubCarbon Records
"Particle Meme Weapon" Non-album singles Self-released
"Shock Value"
"Thunderdome" (with Squnto) 2018
"Omega Robot" (with Space Jesus) Deadbeats
"Headband" (with Ganja White Night) 2019 SubCarbon Records
"Bounce" (with Rusko)[64] Cyclops Recordings
"Snailclops" (with Snails)[65] Slugz Music
"Step Aside" (with Midnight Tyrannosaurus)[66] Bassrush
"Braincase" (with Kayzo)[67] Welcome Records / Cyclops Recordings
"Bumpy Teeth" (with Zeds Dead)[68] We Are Deadbeats Vol. 4 Deadbeats
"Nuclear Bass Face" (with Nghtmre)[69] 2020 Non-album singles Ultra Records
"Bunker Buster" (with Excision)[70] 2021 Subsidia Records
"Resist" (with Ace Aura)[71] Planet Cyclops Cyclops Recordings
"House Party" (with Marshmello)[72] Shockwave Joytime Collective
"Gravity" (with Slander and JT Roach)[73] Non-album singles Gud Vibrations / Cyclops Recordings
"Electric Noodle Soup" (with Ubur)[74] Cyclops Recordings
"Griztronics II (Another Level)" (with Griz)[75] FRACTALS
"Spacetime" (featuring Nevve)[76]
"Gassed Up" (with Zeds Dead featuring Flowdan)[77] 2022 Deadbeats / Cyclops Recordings
"Puzzle Box" (with Rezz)[78] Non-album singles
"Final Breath" (with A Little Sound) 2025 Fibonacci Part 1: Oblivion
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Remixes

More information Title, Year ...
Title Year Artist Label
Brooklyn Go Hard 2013 Jay-Z Self-released
Genius (with Obridium) 2014 JPhelpz Self-released
Thief 2016 Ookay Self-released
The Wonky Song 2017 Monxx and Walter Wilde Self-released
Walls 2018 Eliminate Disciple
2KFO Boogie T Drama Club Recordings
Lights Go Down[5] Zeds Dead and Jauz Bite This & Deadbeats
WTF[79] Herobust Busted Records
Vault 2019 Excision Excision Music
GodLovesUgly (with Zeds Dead)[80] 2020 Atmosphere Deadbeats & Rhymesayers
Do It To It[81] 2022 ACRAZE Thrive Music
Escape Kx5, deadmau5, Kaskade, HAYLA mau5trap Recordings Limited
Runaway (U & I)[82] Galantis Big Beat Records
It's Our Destiny 2023 IMANU Deadbeats
Black Out Days[83] Phantogram Universal Records
Touhou Riddim 2024 Virtual Riot Disciple
Gas Pedal Remix (with John Summit and Tape B)[84] Sage The Gemini Experts Only & Darkroom Records
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Awards and nominations

Accolades

More information Year, Publisher ...
Year Publisher Country Accolade Rank
2019 Billboard United States Next Big Sound[32] 10
2023 Electronic Dance Music Awards (EDMA) International Dubstep Artist of The Year[85] 1
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References

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