Soaring to success in the late 2010s as part of a new generation of EDM talents who grew up appreciating the bright, frenetic synth melodies of artists like Skrillex, American DJ/producer Julian Scanlan (born May 1st, 1997 in Mount Laurel, New Jersey) had in fact started out as a bassist for psych-pop group Deuteronomy prior to finding his calling as a dubstep and electro house aficionado. First dipping his feet into the scene in 2013 with a series of unauthorised remixes posted to SoundCloud under the name DJ Swoon, he soon discovered that his profile had been struck down for copyright violation, severing ties with his loyal fans in the process and effectively marking the project’s untimely demise. In the aftermath, Scanlan devised the new moniker Slushii, opting to sport blue highlights in his hair and adopting a cutesy cartoon emblem to complete the new persona. He soon rebuilt his following, rising to prominence in 2015 with a fan favourite entry in Zedd and Selena Gomez’s “I Want You to Know” remix contest and subsequently landing a single deal with EDM giants Monstercat. Going on to collaborate extensively with superstar DJ Marshmello, he landed increasingly high-profile remix work, and by 2016 had self-released a debut EP entitled Brain Freeze, which reached #18 on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart. Amassing tens of millions of streams on songs like “So Long” and “LUV U NEED U”, Scanlan has since returned with three independently-released albums – 2017’s Out of Light, 2018’s Find Your Wings and 2020’s Dream III – interspersed with standalone singles on Monstercat and major-label remixes for the likes of French Montana & Swae Lee, Maroon 5 & SZA and Charlie Puth.
