Who is Marshmello? An in-depth look at electronic music’s newest mystery

First and foremost — for those who may not have heard the name — Marshmello is an anonymous new producer putting out great music in the trap and future bass scene. As he himself has implied, that is all you really need to know about him; the artist has been pushing a “just enjoy the music, don’t worry about me” mantra since he first appeared. For those who are curious however, new information has surfaced over the past few months leading us to a conclusion as to his potential identity. Three months ago, Marshmello posted “WaVeZ” to SoundCloud. The profile at the time revealed little-to-nothing regarding who this new artist is, but one thing was for sure — the “new” producer on the block was receiving a ton of high-profile support. His track was quickly shared by a number of well-recognized artists, which led to mass coverage for Marshmello’s fresh production style on many major music publications. Our first taste of the anonymous artist came in the form of a groovy, synth-laced trap production that playfully fit the artist’s fluffy appearance. After just a few releases, news began to break regarding the unusual amount of attention that Marshmello had been receiving. From Miami Music Week bookings to a rumored involvement with the forthcoming Mad Decent Block Parties and Boat Party, the idea that Marshmello was likely an artist that was a side project of an already established artist began to grow legs. The bulk of the artist’s hype, though, would come from none other than Skrillex himself. Each week, Sonny Moore chooses a handful of tracks as his favorites of the week — he refers to these as “Skrillex Selects.” The week of April 5, Skrillex reposted Marshmello’s track “FinD Me,” a tongue-in-cheek track aimed at fans desperately looking for the producer’s true identity. Apparently Diplo shares Skrillex’s enthusiasm regarding the Marshemllo sound, because his first official release turned out to be remix duties on Jack Ü’s radio smash “Where Are Ü Now” featuring Justin Bieber. Fans and producers worldwide were left excited and confused, asking “Who is this guy?” and “How does one land an official Jack Ü remix with only a couple of tracks under his belt?” And that’s it. As far as available surface information goes, Marshmello’s identity remains a mystery.

Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want to know the alleged identity of Marshmello, stop reading now.

The story begins with a group of four artists linked by a management team – Kayliox, Dotcom, Sikdope, and Jauz. These artists, all of whom fall under Moe Shalizi’s management, have forever used the strategy of leveraging associated acts to promote new releases; if Kayliox were to release a new track, the other artists would repost on SoundCloud, Twitter, and other forms of social media. The first clue to Marshmello’s identity was the fact that each and every one of Moe’s artists showed lightning-speed support to all of Marshmello’s new productions. Moe’s management style is praised throughout the industry — his creativity and dedication to his artists is unmatched. It is also critical to note that often artists will give their management team access to their social media for official matters including the promotion of new tracks. If you were to check Marshmello’s followers on Twitter, you would find that he is not only followed by Kayliox, Dotcom, Sikdope, and Jauz, but they were actually all within the first ten people to like the profile. Using this information, we comfortably narrowed the selection of artists that could possibly be Marshmello to those that are managed by Moe Shalizi. To many, this information comes as no surprise, as fans have long suspected Jauz of being Marshmello, despite consistently denying the idea on social media. We believe Jauz is telling the truth based on information provided on Marshmello’s Facebook profile. Most artists leave contact information for their entire team (manager, booking agent, PR, etc.) on their Facebook. Marshmello is no different. The vital piece of information revealed by Marshmello’s Facebook is the fact that the booking agent’s contact is an email for Circle Talent Agency. Kayliox, Sikdope, and Dotcom are all signed to this agency, but Jauz falls in line with AM Only. Until yesterday, even the most dedicated Marshmello fan had a difficult time determining which one of these three artists may actually be Marshmello. Skrillex, one of his first admirers, filmed an interview with Katie Couric, and Marshmello phoned in for a quick chat. As the conversation proceeds, Sonny lets the name “Chris” slip, which we believe closed the case. Chris Comstock, commonly known by all as Dotcom, is our primary suspect. Judging by our evidence, we believe the glass slipper fits.

But what do you think? Are we wrong? Or perhaps more importantly with music this dope, does the name behind Marshmello even matter?

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