Sometimes the old you has to die so the new you can be reborn.
For Grabbitz, the multi-faceted vocalist, producer, and instrumentalist, the start of 2026 wasn’t just a reset, but a blood bath disguised as radical rebirth.
Landing like the first strike of war, his new single, Blood On My Hands, sent shockwaves through the bass scene with an earth-shaking force. But this just wasn’t another release. This was a battle cry signaling the end of what was and the start of what’s to come.
Over the past several years, Grabbitz has emerged as one of the most versatile acts in electronic music. With a rockstar-like aesthetic and vocal forward approach, he transcended genres, infusing everything from bass, electro, rock, and alt pop into one electrifying sound.
He captivated audiences with electrifying live performances, dropped massive chart-topping collabs with artists like Subtronics, Rezz, Deadmau5, and Illenium, and even found himself with an alternative radio hit. But all that is of the past.
At the start of 2026, the artist born Nick Chiari did something few established producers are willing to do. He not only wiped the slate clean, but he burned it all down. Entering a bold artistic reset, he wiped all his socials, shaved his head, and killed the old version of himself so a new version could live.
Reemerging with a new yet familiar identity, he returned to his roots, flipping his focus back to raw, unfiltered bass music.
Of course, this isnt by any means a retreat. This is a rebellious hard reset after years of chasing inspiration into new corners, new genres, and new sounds.
Overall, it’s a choice to test limits again, to step back into the bass-fueled chaos that made Grabbitz in the first place. Pushing both sound and self further, he found that old fire where it had always been, stashed inside the noise.
“I’m always trying to push everything to its limit, whether it’s music, visual art, or even myself artistically. I think the saturation of bass music, plus a bunch of personal stuff in my life, made me want to rebel against it and do something completely different, so I did,” he explained in an interview with The Daily Frequency. “Recently, however, I rediscovered my inspiration for the genre and just how far things can be pushed within it.”
That rediscovery set the stage for what he describes as a new era defined by intensity and intention. If previous chapters of Grabbitz’ career blurred genre boundaries, this one arrives with a clear message, louder, heavier, and unapologetically extreme.
When Blood On My Hands finally arrived on January 30, it didn’t just ease listeners into this new direction. It exploded onto the scene with a fierce energy that couldn’t be ignored. And, for Grabbitz, that was exactly the point.
“I just felt like ‘Blood’ was so extreme that it makes a statement perfectly aligned with what I’m trying to say right now. Everything big, everything extreme, no subtlety. It’s like when the opening scene of a movie is an epically intense fight sequence. Fight now, context later.”
Serving as both an introduction and a warning shot, the track is a declaration that this chapter of Grabbitz is leaning fully into the raw power that first built his following in the bass world. But, beneath the aggression sits something more thoughtful. The chaos isn’t random. It’s carefully constructed.
“I have been playing with the idea of chaos vs. catharsis. It’s more than just dubstep ear candy. It’s controlled chaos. I am really trying to take listeners on a well-crafted ride.”
That philosophy, balancing explosive energy with emotional payoff, has quietly been a thread running through much of Grabbitz’s catalog, and now, it’s taking center stage.
Before fans ever heard the first bass drop of Blood On My Hands, the signs of transformation were already unfolding online.
Entire timelines disappeared, and a new aesthetic emerged. One that felt less like a rebrand and more like a new frontier.
“It all plays into what’s been inspiring me most lately, that of the extreme, dramatic, and drastic,” he noted. “Wiping my socials and taking an entirely new approach to social media has helped me in many ways. I want to have control over the media I put out there, and I want it to look and feel exactly how I want it to. I was, and still am, essentially burned out from the rat race of 10 videos a week, hooks on the screen, and the ‘look at me’ approach. I look at it more like an art gallery now, where I get to hang the pieces I want.”
For an artist navigating an industry increasingly shaped by algorithms and content cycles, that shift represents a deeper change in mindset. It’s not about feeding the machine anymore. It’s about building something intentional.
While this moment marks a return to bass music’s heavier edge, Grabbitz’ path here has been anything but linear. Over the past several years, he leaned heavily into a vocal-forward, rock-infused sound that brought a different dimension to his artistry. Tracks built around soaring hooks and guitar-driven energy helped expand his reach far beyond traditional bass audiences.
“I am a rock kid, and always have been. Honestly, that rock and roll energy, plus the intense new noises, is what drew me toward dubstep. But rock music makes up the very DNA of my soul. I leaned into it because I have always kind of chased my inspiration wherever it takes me. I was just being myself and making the best material I could at the time. I still make all of this material frequently.”
That willingness to explore different sounds also led to collaborations with some of the most influential artists in the scene, including Subtronics and GRiZ. Those experiences not only changed his trajectory but ultimately shaped how he approaches music today.
“Whenever I talk to aspiring musicians, I tell them that in order to get out the sounds that are in your head, you need to sharpen all of your tools. I have basically dedicated my life to that very sharpening, which includes creating all different types of music. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that once your tools are sharp enough, you can go with whatever inspires you, and you will attract the right collaborators and listeners alike. Now, I’m still sharpening, and my inspiration has led me to Blood On My Hands and this new batch of music.”
And that transformation isn’t just limited to the studio. With a packed year of touring ahead, including stops alongside Excision and Said The Sky, the new era of Grabbitz will also take shape on stage.
“You can expect a rollercoaster of a show that I have been on a never-ending journey of trying to get perfect. Bass, melody, chaos, catharsis, fun, serious, topped off with a bomb rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.”
It’s a fitting description for an artist who has spent years balancing theatricality with technical precision, and if the start of 2026 marks a rebirth, the months ahead represent something even more personal.
And, for Grabbitz, this chapter isn’t about chasing trends or competing with the noise of the internet. It’s about reconnecting with the reason he started making music in the first place. The past version of himself may be gone, but what comes next is louder, sharper, and more alive than ever.
“For me, 2026 is about serving my long-term fans, connecting with myself as an artist, having fun creating, and sharing the process the best I can. That’s why I have been live-streaming more, to let viewers in on the studio portion of my life, which is normally very private. Overall, I couldn’t be more excited for it.”