What So Not Visits Chinese Temple, Trains With Shaolin Monks Ahead of New Single

The Australian producer’s search for the “source of all creation” led him to a temple in China, inspiring his new single with Buunshin and Maiah Manser, “Threads.”

Sometimes inspiration hits in the most unlikely places. For What So Not, it came not in a music studio, but within the walls of a Shaolin temple in China.

The Australian beatsmith recently revealed that he spent time training with monks, studying kung fu and Chinese medicine under a strict and physically demanding regime.

Shaolin monks are revered for their extraordinary discipline, strength and fighting skills, a tradition that has endured for more than 1,500 years. Despite the peaceful teachings of Buddhism, they became legendary warriors, a way of life that What So Not now understands intimately.

“We were getting beat up every day,” he said in a video shared on his social media. “We were on such a strict regime, it was so intense.”

The experience wasn’t just about discipline or physical endurance, What So Not said, but about unlocking a path to his flow state.

“One of the biggest takeaways was this idea of the void, or nothingness, and how important nothingness is to us,” he explained. “We all tend to run away from it, we fill our lives with stuff because we fear it, because it’s uncomfortable. But I realized it’s a pregnant nothing. What would entering this void, drawing from the possibilities of the universe, and pulling back from that reality actually sound like?”

His experience became the creative spark behind “Threads,” his new collaboration with Dutch electronic music virtuoso Buunshin and surging singer-songwriter Maiah Manser. Due out Friday, October 3rd via UKF, the scintillating drum & bass track “was born out of that search,” according to What So Not.

Fans can hear a preview of “Threads” at the end of his Instagram video below and pre-save the new single here.