Check Out Mike Torres’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Torres

Hi Mike , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Florida and I took an obsession to music pretty early. I played in band called Us Vs. Them in my high school and college years. This is where I cut my teeth and learned the ropes for a lot of my later adventures. We played in the back of this amusement park called King Richards, It was a literal castle with a moat with gators. It got bulldozed and is like a car dealership now. Our first shows were on the floor outside for probably 75 kids, which grew to decking out the lazer tag room and removing the barriers for shows of around 500 which eventually led to building a festival style stage outside castle for around 1000 kids which looking back on is honestly completely insane. These shows we created gave us the opportunity to bring in bands from other areas and for us to eventually tour around the region. Through this journey I learned the importance of 1. having a place to play where you can consistently drive your idea and 2. the importance of community, putting on other musicians and how connected everything is.

I grew up on rock and pop punk music. From AC/DC to Rancid, Rise Against, Anti-flag, A Day to Remember the list goes on, but around 2011 something changed. After being exposed to artists like Skrillex, Flux Pavillion, Adventure Club, Krewella and more I went to Ultra, my first electronic music festival. I was quickly engulfed in festival culture. I loved the energy, the people and more than anything the music. I remember seeing Slash play with Chuckie and just being like wttfffff is this.

I loved playing in Us Vs. Them but as with most young bands we eventually dissipated for various reasons. A few years later, I decided to ramp up another project. I loved electronic music and the energy it brought but also missed the vulnerability and storytelling aspects of rock and pop punk music. I wanted to do something different that I hadn’t seen before.

This begun the long road toward blending rock and electronic music the way I saw it. ATHRS was born in 2014 with the first track on Soundcloud titled “Original”

I ran around in Orlando for a while recording, learning production, putting out songs etc. In these years I put out a track with Craig Owens called Vehicle, and several others I’m proud of. I was lucky enough to play a couple festivals like Imagine Music Festival and Sunset Music Festival but generally I received a lot of confusion and backlash from both communities. “Why is he playing guitar?” “why does this song have a drop” “you should pick one”. I’ll always be grateful for my time in Florida but it had gotten stale to me. I had lived in Florida my whole life and as is the typical story, I had always imagined moving to LA to “pursue my dreams of being a rockstar”. I felt I had hit a ceiling where I was and almost in an instant I moved to LA in 2019.

LA is crazy place. One minute you’re running into Dillan Francis at Target (this happened) or driving by Will Smith on the boulevard doing a premiere randomly (this also happened) (he didn’t slap anyone). But LA is also a very dark and difficult place. It’s extremely expensive, riddled with crime and homelessness and as you would imagine the whole “move to la to be famous” crowd and Hollywood in general doesn’t always come with the best types.

The first year-ish was extremely difficult. I was working as a server and at a call center selling tools. I was doing my best to make music and meet people but obviously it takes time to get acclimated in a new place. I went through a difficult break up at the time and honestly my mental was at an all time low. I have some friends from my years in Florida who had moved here prior who invited me out to their place in Sherman Oaks. This is really where things started to shift.

LA is a party city. There’s no denying that. Coming from Florida and the culture I grew up in, it almost felt like I had trained for this my whole life lol. Ironically though, almost every monumental thing that has happened, happened directly because of the music I put out.

I was asked about my song Vehicle, while I was playing it at a party, because of its rock influence. Rock at the time was still sort of a dirty word at certain events. being alternative wasn’t cool, so the song stood out to this guy Dane who introduced me to this guy Taylor. Little did I know, these would become some of my best friends and an epic journey was ahead of us.

Taylor had been in the trenches in Utah like I was in Florida, and we shared very similar ideals on the state of rock music, what needed to happen and where things were going. Because of our DIY backgrounds we both understood the importance of community and artistry to make waves, especially still being “uncool” in the general state of things. We started producing together for other artists, going to events and just running it. Taylor had an idea for a concert called Xposure World that would highlight upcoming innovative rock acts and echo the raucus soundcloud scene of earlier years and asked me to help with it.

The first Xposure world was April 30th 2021 and the line up was ATHRS, HVDES, Nathan James, Jeris Johnson, Sueco and Lil Xan. It was at a warehouse downtown, and it was fucking lit.

So I had begun working on events and putting out music and things were kind of moving but as I mentioned. LA is a party city, a very under the surface city. You’re not going to experience the real LA without meeting someone who gives you a secret code to a warehouse or the address to a mansion in the hills.

We needed a place. A place like King Richards, where we could consistently push our idea, give others a platform to play and generally run shit up.

Around this time I was also introduced to Bentley, a DJ/Producer by the name of Pixel Terror. I had been a fan of his music and by this time a culture had started to develop around the “rocktronic” kind of sound with acts like Kayzo, Phaseone & Sullivan King.

It turned out Bentley also shared a love for rock music and innovation of the genre. We had similar ideas on where things were going and where we wanted to be in that picture and just started making hella music together pushing each other to grow from opposite sides of the musical spectrum. We were throwing around names for what to call it, because rocktronic, punkstep, wobs and roll all sound kinda lame lol, and in that conversation Hyperpunk was born.

This all came to a sort of culmination in October of 2022. With several of our friends and a lot of luck, Hyperpunk was given a home. Hyperpunk Estate in Mount Olympus. We began throwing rock shows and raves in the Hollywood Hills and it was the most insane year of my life. As we went through the rollercoaster we picked up 2 videographers Kris Gorr and James Dilg and what began as just a place to throw shows turned into a full on content operation with in house videographers and music studios by day to basically a small festival with multiple stages where I would walk out of my room and see a band playing in front of the city skyline and run into some of the biggest people in the music industry in my living room on a random Tuesday night.

Throughout this time frame I played guitar at Lost Lands with Pixel Terror, got to perform in Canada, got to play bass with Sueco and Travis Barker in a music video and countless other unforgettable musical experiences.

Eventually we were uhm removed from that first house because it was just way too crazy, but a legendary time for sure

In the time that followed I was forced to face a lot of the realities of the music industry from a financial side, a distribution side and plunged into figuring out what exactly makes a brand or project breakthrough and make sense from a longterm, lifelong, truly viable standpoint.

As fun as this all sounds, there are incredible difficulties in being an artist and as Notorious B.I.G. said, “Mo Money, Mo Problems”

The closest solutions to this I have found all lie in a couple things: Discipline, Repetition, Not ignoring the hard things and having an unshakeable belief in yourself and why you started, as well as technical aspects regarding fan engagement and retention and merchandising. I could go on forever but more than anything always putting the music first.

we are now in our 3rd Hyperpunk “Estate” and have thrown countless events. We’ve brought out a ton of LA bands and DJ’s like The 27’s, Eurotripp, Noah Cunane, Rankz, Depauli, The Living Proof and more. We did a sold out Halloween event at On The Rox. We’re growing a serious catalog of music videos like “Deathwish” by Micah Martin & Riot”, “Gravity” by Pixel Terror, my own “Medicated” by ATHRS and many more.

This year we put on our 8th Xposure World. New acts have included Landon Barker, Wesghost, Ryan Oakes, Brayton and more.

I premiered my songs Wake Up with Kreation and Darksiderz and Get Over It with Kreation and Micah Martin at EDC Las Vegas in May and performed at Apocalypse Festival with Pixel Terror a couple weeks ago.

I’m eagerly looking forward to 2025. I’ll be releasing an EP early in the year titled “How Forever’s Spent” that is the most mature version of my take on the Hyperpunk sound so far and will be releasing slews of content and music videos around that as well as multiple collaborations and singles.

In the future I hope to further push innovation in the rock and electronic world’s through both of these brands and to take my own project as far is it can go. We will be working to further platform newer artists to the best of our abilities and create ecosystems for artists to thrive and enjoy sustainable careers.

The biggest advice I can give to new artists and new people in LA are these.
1. Always put the music first. release your music. show people your music. believe in your music.
2. not everyone is going to like you and that’s okay. still be you
3. It takes a village. Be nice. Find your tribe.
4. focus heavily on making every piece of your puzzle make sense from the smallest pieces from the beginning. This will exponentially help you as things scale beyond where you expected.

LA is a party city, but it is also an extremely healthy city. It’s vibrant and full of life. There are hills to jog, all sorts of classes you can take and a big emphasis on mental health. Create as much balance in your life as your can, put your health and mental clarity first.

with the right balance of discipline, focus and care for your work and mental health, this city is full of magic and anyone who seeks will find, if you’re willing to go through the fire it takes to get there.

It’s the city of dreams and has certainly made some of mine come true. I’m excited to see where the new class of creatives will push everything too, especially with the current state of affairs.

I have a feeling its due for some major breakouts…..

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not. Everything is a DIY effort, from organizing shows to balancing logistics and growth. Blending rock and electronic music was met with skepticism from both communities, forcing me to stay resilient and committed to my vision. Moving to Los Angeles in 2019 brought new challenges—working odd jobs to stay afloat, navigating high costs, intense competition, and mental health struggles. Building Hyperpunk and Xposure World has required persistence through logistical and financial hurdles, but these experiences taught me discipline, adaptability, and the importance of staying true to my creative purpose.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a musician, producer, and event creator specializing in blending rock and electronic music, known as Hyperpunk. Through my project ATHRS, I’ve performed at festivals like EDC Las Vegas & Lost Lands and co-founded Xposure World and the Hyperpunk Estate—spaces for innovation and community in rock and electronic music. What sets me apart is my DIY roots and commitment to building ecosystems where artists thrive, bridging genres, and fostering creativity.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Be Here Now – Ram Dass

The Courage to Be Disliked – Fumitake Koga & Ichiro Kishimi

Countless content creators online that share valuable information, tutorials and fun advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.athrs.com
• Instagram: @athrsmusic
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/athrsmusic
• Twitter: @athrsmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/athrs
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/athrsmusic

Image Credits
Nathan James, JG Content, Kris Gorr, James Dilg, LML Films