Trevor McFedries facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Trevor McFedries
McFedries in September 2022
Background information
Also known as	Yung Skeeter
Born	November 27, 1985 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Disco hip hop breakbeat electro electronic pop
Occupation(s)	DJ music producer director A&R manager Brud co-founder
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Dim Mak

Trevor McFedries (born November 27, 1985), also known as Yung Skeeter, is a talented musician. He has worked as a DJ, music producer, and director for many famous artists. These include Ke$ha, Katy Perry, and Chris Brown. He even toured with Katy Perry on her California Dreams Tour in 2011.

McFedries has performed at big music festivals like Lollapalooza and Coachella. He also worked at Spotify early in his career. Today, he is the co-founder and CEO of a tech company called Brud. He also created the virtual pop star Lil Miquela. He helps guide the Southern California Institute of Architecture and Rhizome, which focuses on digital art.

Early Life and Beginnings

Trevor McFedries grew up in Davenport, Iowa. In high school, he was a great football and basketball player. When he was 16, his family moved to Los Angeles. He even got a scholarship to play football in college.

However, he decided to leave college and move back to Los Angeles. Since then, Los Angeles has been his main home. He started his journey as a DJ when he was 19 years old.

Music Career Highlights

McFedries first used the stage name DJ Skeet Skeet. In 2007, he met Shwayze and Cisco Adler. They formed a group and released a self-titled album in 2008. This album became very popular, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard charts. Two songs from the album, "Buzzin'" and "Corona and Lime," were big hits.

Their popularity led to a short TV show on MTV called Buzzin'. In 2008, Paper Magazine named DJ Skeet Skeet the "People's Choice Award for Best DJ." He was also the first DJ to perform at every show on the Warped Tour that year. He even appeared in Katy Perry's music video for "I Kissed a Girl."

Working with Top Artists

By 2011, McFedries had worked with many artists. He created remixes and produced songs for stars like Chris Brown and Ke$ha. In 2011, he was the opening act for Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour. He shared the stage with Perry and Robyn. McFedries and Perry were friends long before the tour. During this time, he also worked in A&R at Photo Finish Records.

In 2012, he changed his stage name to "Yung Skeeter." He continued to produce music for other artists. That same year, he directed his first music videos. These included Steve Aoki's "Control Freak" and NERVO's "We're All No One."

Since 2012, McFedries has been an Artist Advocate at Spotify. He also hosted a radio show for Dim Mak Records on iHeartRadio. In 2013, he became a spokesperson for VitaminWater. He performed with other artists as part of their "Make Boring Brilliant" campaign. He also appeared in ads for the company.

Yung Skeeter was the main producer for BANKS' first album, Goddess. He also produced the song "Wallace" on Azealia Banks' 2014 album, Broke with Expensive Taste.

Brud: Virtual Worlds and Characters

Besides his music, McFedries worked for J.J. Abrams' production company, Bad Robot. In 2016, McFedries co-founded Brud, a tech company. Brud creates digital characters and stories in virtual worlds. McFedries is the CEO of Brud.

One of their most famous creations is Miquela. She is a computer-generated character and model. Miquela uses social media to share her life, which mixes real and made-up events. Brud first created Miquela secretly. Later, they revealed themselves as her creators. They also made other characters, like Bermuda, to interact with Miquela online.

In 2018, Brud received $6 million in funding from Sequoia Capital. That year, Time magazine named Miquela one of the "Most Influential People on the Internet." By 2019, Brud had raised $25.5 million in investments. The company was valued at $144.5 million. McFedries and his co-founders made a rule: they would only accept money from investment firms led by a woman or a person of color.

On October 4, 2021, Dapper Labs bought Brud Inc. McFedries became the CEO of "Dapper Collectives." This new group focuses on making DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) popular. The first DAO they launched was "Brud DAO." This means the Brud project is now owned and guided by its community of fans and creators. McFedries explained that they are building tools for storytellers and creators to build the future of the internet using blockchain technology.

Friends with Benefits: A Social DAO

Friends With Benefits is a special type of online community. It is based on the Ethereum blockchain. McFedries created it in September 2020. It is known as one of the first "Social DAOs." This means it's a community where members can work together and make decisions.

Art, Technology, and AI

McFedries is a leader in combining art and technology. He was part of Rhizome’s 7x7 program. He also spoke at NYC Media Lab about the future of storytelling, art, and artificial intelligence (AI). He discussed how characters become real and relatable through their stories and personalities.

Community Involvement

McFedries has been involved in politics. He supported Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign in 2020. He also helped raise money for George Gascón. Gascón was running to become the District Attorney of Los Angeles County.

Discography

Solo Artist Singles and Remixes

Songs as a Member of Shwayze

Albums as a Member of Shwayze