Dubstep needs a cowboy.

Every journey has a beginning, but this one happens to start in a sweaty, space-octopus-painted garage. Five twenty-somethings on the wrong side of a year of social distancing flail to a clipped 808. In the distance, sirens.

This might be an atypical origin story, but for Quin Thompson, these were atypical times. His recently-discovered taste for west coast bass was cut short by a global pandemic, and all of a sudden the Asheville, North Carolina native found himself on the other side of the country, bumping Griz and Subtronics on his first-gen Airpods, and missing home.

Hence, octopus garage. 2 Amazon par lights, a fog machine, and a woefully underpowered 10-inch PA later, womp had his first gig and, more importantly, his first fans. Endless energy on “stage” complimented a yee-haw approach to performance, and, eventually, the 1-car garage wouldn’t cut it anymore.

But, even though the venue, the speakers, and the crowd have grown a little since then, that garage is still at the center of both his production and performance, and seeks to replicate that simple, yet so human experience every time he gets on stage.