Genre-blending DJ Austin Millz keeps adding to his list of accolades. During the final weekend of Miami Art Week, he gave attendees a mind-blowing experience at the Meta Sonic Listening Party at Gallery Art House on Star Island. The event was a first-of-its kind mixed reality jam session that aimed to inspire music enthusiasts everywhere to leverage mixed reality technology to enhance their artistic expression through new mediums.
The evening featured live art by contemporary artist Cristina Martinez, who captured her creative process hands free using the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, the Gallery Art House Creator Lounge, and star-studded guests that included Raven Varona, Ugo Mozie, Vashtie, and the 10x Grammy Award-nominated singer/songwriter Victoria Monét. As the sun set Jaguar II creator set off the party of taste-makers taking the stage alongside Millz in order to unlock new musical skills and collaborate on the keys. She also surprised the live crowd with an intimate waterfront set and performed her viral hits “On My Mama” and “How Does it Make You Feel.”
As part of the Meta’s “It’s Your World” campaign, the Sonic Listening Party gave creators and talent the opportunity to untap new musical skills using PianoVision and Meta Quest 3, learn more about the future of music and tech, and explore new forms of artistic expression amidst the creative atmosphere of Art Basel.
“I love Meta’s platform,” Millz tells ESSENCE of his collaboration. “It’s something I’ve been using for ages, and I think it aligns with me. I just want to keep innovating technology when it comes to music and culture. Meta makes sense for me.”
As part of the Meta’s “It’s Your World” campaign, the Sonic Listening Party gave creators and talent the opportunity to untap new musical skills using PianoVision and Meta Quest 3, learn more about the future of music and tech, and explore new forms of artistic expression amidst the creative atmosphere of Art Basel. Austin Millz sat down with ESSENCE to discuss the program, new music, future endeavors, and more.
ESSENCE: I wanted to congratulate you on headlining your first tour next year. Can you speak to me about your excitement about that event coming up, man?
Austin Millz: It’s going to be a really good experience. I’m pretty excited because—you get to see fans and just people that I’ve seen interacting with my music online, and to finally see them in person is such a fulfilling experience, and just to bring the energy that I bring digitally and on the social media platforms, to bring it to life is going to be such a great experience. I can’t wait for the fans to finally experience it so I can actually get to see it. It’s just such a fulfilling thing.
You just spoke about your presence on social media platforms, so I wanted to ask you: How critical and important do you think social media has been to your career?
It’s been very instrumental because it just allows me to connect with people all across the world. To see people gravitating towards it, it’s such a gratifying, a real gratifying thing, and it’s been so important to my growth and to connecting with people all over the globe.
I want to talk about PianoVision and Meta Quest 3. Can you explain to someone that might not be familiar with the application, or who may not be a musician–what is that experience like, and how does it compare to using the actual keyboard?
It’s really great, for all musicians and people on all types of levels. I think it’s an amazing platform because it allows people to really feel comfortable using the keys. Everyone hears piano every day. Sometimes, it’s really intimidating. You see pianos, guitar, things of that nature are very intimidating for the novice person. Metavision just makes it very easy and just a very palatable experience.
Being a musician, how does it feel to be a part of this kind of art-centric weekend, and have you found your place in it?
It’s amazing because music and art are cousins, so I think it intertwines, and it goes hand-in-hand. It’s a great weekend. I’ve been coming to Basel for a while, and I think you get to see people, other like-minded creatives from around the world. For us all to come together for one weekend is amazing. It’s so innovative, and just seeing the beauty and the art, it inspires me every time I come out here.
Outside of your upcoming tour, man, what’s next for Austin Millz?
I’m working on a lot of great music that I can’t wait to release. Also, I’m enjoying pushing the genre of dance music forward. I can’t wait to see what the world thinks of my new stuff, so stay tuned.
