Wax Motif Is Taking Over Daer With a Blend of House and Hip-Hop

Wax Motif has had quite the journey. Initially coming off the popularity of the G-house movement that saw him mesh West Coast rap and house vibes, the Australian producer has become a staple in the ever-evolving scene.

Now years into his career, he counts on an ever-growing fan base and a slew of recent collaborations.

"It's really interesting to see that house music is finally one of the main focuses in the music scene today," Wax Motif tells New Times. "I noticed that new fans have been commenting and discovering some of my older tracks recently, and it's cool to see that people are excited about them."

Born Daniel Chien, the 39-year-old has been part of the scene for quite some time now, but the rise of tech-house brought in new listeners to his classic remixes of YG and Young Thug songs.

"My sound has always remained true at its roots, but I'm constantly learning to evolve with the scene and new things that inspire me," he adds.

Wax's hip-hop-inspired house sound earned him the opportunity to work on Ye (née Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign's collaborative album, Vulture 1.

"Growing up on hip-hop but having established my career in electronic music, this was a bucket-list moment for me," he says. "I've always included influences from the genre in my productions, but being able to commit to the sound fully was a really awesome experience for me. Every time I work with artists outside of dance music, it helps my production level grow, and I always learn a lot from the process."

He helped on one of the album's most memed tracks, "Back to Me," alongside producers AyoAA and 88-Keys. "As a Chinese kid growing up in Australia, I don't think younger me could've ever imagined this," he wrote on Instagram.
The collaboration just goes to show the growing intersections between hip-hop and house music as more DJs, such as Fred Again, connect with rap artists. This is also evident in Wax's work, whose "On the Low" is a clear rework of the Metro Boomin and Weeknd cover of Mario's "I Don't Wanna Know."

Although Wax has roots in hip-hop and house music, he's not afraid to experiment with other genres.

"I would love to work with Maleigh Zan — she's definitely about to blow up. Also, Pharrell. I actually played at his hotel, Strawberry Moon at the Goodtime Hotel, about a month ago."

No stranger to South Florida, Wax is set to return this weekend for a set at Daer Nightclub at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Saturday, June 22. He's been DJing in Miami for as long as he can remember, calling out hot spots like E11even and Club Space as some of his favorite venues to play at. However, one of his most memorable shows occurred at Wynwood's Mad Club during this year's Miami Music Week.

"With the crazy weather conditions, I felt like it made the party even crazier. Kaskade, Matroda, TroyBoi, and so many other DJs came out to support," he says. "I feel like that's the beauty of Miami Music Week. We're aiming to have loads more House of Wax takeovers in the future."

House of Wax is a showcase that helps him display his skills and promote the artists on his Divided Souls label.

"We have over 50 releases now, and we've been lucky to sign more and more artists over the years," he adds. "It's been incredible to uplift producers from places around the world such as Australia, Brazil, Russia, Poland, Italy, and more."

With a growing roster that includes Matroda and Sqwad, what does Wax listen out for where he's looking for potential signees?

"There aren't any criteria surrounding sound or social media following," he says succinctly. "I really just consider if the track is interesting and goes off in the club."

Wax Motif. 10 p.m. Saturday, June 22, at Daer Nightclub, 1 Lucky St., Hollywood; 954-779-4750; hardrocknightlife.com. Tickets cost $30 via tixr.com.