Porter Robinson opens up about ‘Shelter’ anime
Porter Robinson’s love for anime and Japanese culture is boundless, first materializing in his debut LP Worlds and the corresponding art direction. His dreams manifested themselves further into reality more recently, however, with the release of his first anime film which he produced in conjunction with A-1 Studios as a music video for his single “Shelter” with Madeon.
After receiving enough buzz to the point of being mobbed in Tokyo, Porter granted his fans with a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind the emotive video clip. The passion he expresses is infectious as he discusses the feeling of awe over watching his own story be brought to life at such a high caliber — so much so that even the animators at A-1 stated that they felt the most exciting part of the project was Robinson himself. The main reason they decided to work with him, according to the interview, was his arduous description of his film idea and love for anime in the first place.
Forbes also sat down with Porter about his first anime endeavor, where he divulged even more details on the project and his musical inspiration. “Japanese entertainment culture, for me, was the whole reason I started at this. It was just really formative to my taste,” said the rising star, who’s stated in the past that Dance Dance Revolution was his first introduction to electronic music. When his idea began transforming into reality, he stated his gratitude: “I can’t believe the whole involvement I was allowed to have and it really was a true collaboration and honestly, probably my favorite thing I have ever done working on this project.”
Will he continue down this road? Possibly. “It’s something I would love to do, but I don’t see it being on the immediate horizon. It’s gonna depend partly on the reception of this animation and it’ll also depend on how I feel in the future,” he admitted. If he does expand his anime, he’ll be looking into a short episodic series: “If I had infinite time and money I would absolutely want to make, maybe not a full-length film, probably more of an episodic series or short film.”
Finally, he ended the interview on a selfless note, describing how he lives a humble, frugal life in order to better share his creative joy with fans and build a connection. “I feel like I have a lot of goodwill from the people who follow me and I want to fulfill that faith by then spending that money on an experience I can share with them. That’s kind of how I see the project, I never bought a Ferrari, I never bought a mansion, but I am buying basically a short film that we can share together,” he concluded.
Read More:
Watch Porter Robinson’s first-ever anime: ‘Shelter the Animation’
Watch 5 amazing videos from Porter Robinson and Madeon’s first ‘Shelter’ show
Porter Robinson and Madeon share teaser for Shelter Live tour