Ian Evans often pulls from immediate inspiration for his art, so it’s fitting his melodic dubstep project, MIZE, has become so unique and personable. Evans grew up in the deep south; born in Dothan, Alabama and raised by parents fluent in classic rock and blues. As a teenager, he became obsessed with post 2003-hip-hop and trap (T.I., David Banner), even earning a nickname, “Skittles,” among friends due to his passion for the genre and culture. Through this and his love of video games, which slowly exposed him to electronic music (Matt Darey, ATB), Evan developed a broad, contemporary taste in music that’s prevalent in his career as a producer/DJ today. In 2012, he began diving into production as ‘ianqt’ (a name pulled from his World of Warcraft account), but in 2017 decided on MIZE, a new moniker to honor his late-grandmother and represent his new focus in Ableton bass production. Inspired by genre-coalescing acts like Tipper and Netsky, the MIZE project is aestheticized by a psychedelic blend of heavy bass music, ambient downtempo, and melodic dubstep with a clear hip hop influence blended in. His rise has been rooted in successful Soundcloud releases and cultivating an entertained audience via Twitter (where he regularly tweets about music, pop-culture and fellow artists with 12k+ fans), but MIZE is beginning to garner attention from throughout the music industry. He’s played before thousands at festivals like WAKAAN Music Festival and High Caliber, and this year’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. MIZE’s debut label release was a single with WAKAAN (“Thought Process”), and he plans to follow up with a debut EP later this year. Find MIZE at the crux of Electronic music’s ever-evolving scene, leading a wave of producers inspired by the world around them.