Jackal—born Mikey Pennington—creates music that’s borne from his drum ‘n’ bass, dubstep, hip-hop and even metal influences. His signature move is taking the beats per minute down a notch, making his downtempo style of trap one of the “heaviest vibes in the game.”

It’s resulted in dynamic EDM such as his booty-bouncing Buygore Records debut, “Netflix and Kill.” “Animal Style,” was one of the label's most streamed releases of the year and was licensed to various TV shows and commercials. Jackal has performed at Coachella, EDC Las Vegas and Electric Zoo—and he’s ready for an even bigger 2016. “I’m about to tour Australia and New Zealand again and I’m beyond stoked.”

Hometown: I grew up in a small town in England called Lee-on-the-Solent

Homebase: Hollywood, CA

What’s with the name Jackal?

My friend Ben suggested it years ago, I hated it, I think i still do, but I still can't come up with anything better.

Describe your music to someone who's never heard you before.

Big, raw and aggressive.

Did you always know you were going to be a DJ/producer?

I remember making music at like age 7 with a crappy little keyboard thing and I used to record stuff on it. My dad was really supportive growing up and would buy me software like eJay and electric guitars as a teenager.

You’re from England and live in LA, right? How does where you grew up and live in influence your music?

I’ve always been way more into American culture than my own, ever since I was a kid. I love the UK scene but it doesn’t influence me like American music does. Honestly, I’m just glad to be living somewhere I’ve always wanted to live; its a dream come true.

Do you remember the first song you ever wrote? What was it about?

It was probably some kind of Nirvana rip off with my guitar when I was a teenager, I couldn’t tell you what it was about though.

What's a piece of musical gear that changed your life?

After struggling to form a band with people I went to school and college with, I got really into using Cubase to make music by myself. I loved it.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Kanye West for sure, but also Alunageorge because Aluna’s voice is so amazing.

Way to go on “Netflix N Kill.” How’d you come up with that?

It was something Tony (Dr. Fresch) came up with jokingly whilst we were in his studio making the track. It just kinda stuck and we went with it. We just wanted to make something super high-energy whilst merging our very different sounds, im stoked how it turned out.

Name some of your biggest musical influences.

Kanye West, Baauer, Nirvana, Skrillex, Pantera, Job for a Cowboy, Flume… I could go on.

Do you have crazy experiences as a DJ?

I think the craziest experience of my life was filling in for Showtek for 20 minutes on the mainstage at Escape last year. There was a sea of humans in front of me, it was so inspiring to be up there, the adrenaline was real.

Give me an awesome Myspace-related story as a musician.

I just remember always using the heaviest death metal track I could find as my profile song to piss people off [laughs]. My profile still exists—but no one is allowed to know it for very good reasons.

What do you do for fun?

Interviews for Myspace! Just kidding—for fun I make more music. [Laughs]

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#shitjackalsays