Wub Zero might be the rarest thing happening in electronic music right now. A legendary scratch master and mad scientist multi-instrumentalist collide to create a truly one of a kind experience. 

One part is Chris Karns, a DMC World Champion–level turntablist and long-time member of Pretty Lights Live band, widely regarded as one of the most technically gifted scratch artists of his generation. 

The other half is Honeycomb, whose loop-based performances rewired what live electronic music could look like, earning him global recognition and a reputation as one of the most innovative artists in the scene. 

Throwing away structure in favor of instinct and mutual respect, every set is built on stage, in real time, and left there once the night is over. It’s a format that only works when all players are operating at an elite level, which is exactly why Honeycomb and Chris Karns pull off the project so perfectly.

One year following the launch of Wub Zero, we sat down with the guys to talk about how they came together and what it means to experiment with music that has no repeats.

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An Interview with Wub Zero

Kaylee Leitzel, Electric Hawk: How did you first meet?

Gable Johnson III “Honeycomb”: We were actually just talking about this. It was a gig down in New Orleans. It was an all-DJ thing, but I was also playing – pretty interesting.

Chris: Yeah, we played one of the Pretty Lights afterparties in New Orleans a couple years ago. I saw the flyer and I was already a fan of Honeycomb from Instagram. So we rolled up, I saw the flyer, and I was like, “Yo, I hope this is that Honeycomb.” I walked in and was like, “Holy shit, it’s him.” And he was like, “Holy shit, it’s you.”

Gable: We basically just started fangirling over each other.

Chris: He mentioned he had a Denver gig coming up, so we connected. He came through, and we played together for the first time there.

Gable: That was with Borahm Lee, right?

Chris: Yeah. And we just kept it going from there. We had a great time, and now we’re best buddies.

KL: Where did the name Wub Zero come from?

Gable: Chris. And his massive list of band names he has in his notes.

Chris: I had this idea after we’d done a couple shows together, I was like, “I can picture us doing this on festival stages all over the world.” I asked if he wanted to start a project. He was down. We started brainstorming names, and the first one I threw out was Wub Zero. He was like, “I love it.” That was basically it. 

Chris: Yeah. Seems like people are responding well to it, you know, and we definitely like the name. 

Gable: Yeah, and obviously a play on Sub Zero for Mortal Kombat. Big gamer guys. 

KL: Did you have a few shows together before starting Wub Zero?

Gable: Yea, a couple. We played Red Rocks with T-Pain.

Chris: That was technically a Honeycomb show that I sat in on.

Gable: But it was kind of the jam before it became the project. The first official Wub Zero shows came after that.

Chris: We officially dropped the Wub Zero name almost exactly a year ago. Last Valentine’s Day 2025.

Gable: That tour Blake booked was the first Wub Zero run. Five shows down south.

Chris: Yeah, we made the pixel flyer in the car.

Gable: Those were really fun.

KL: Each set feels like it fits the vibe of the environment perfectly and can match the crowd’s energy at any moment. Are the sets curated beforehand or improvised?

Gable: Oh, it’s all improv.

Chris: Yeah, probably 99 percent. Even when we have an idea, it’s unpracticed. So it still counts as improv.

Gable: We might revisit something later, but it’s never going to be the same.

KL: With each set being different, how do you communicate the direction to go in?

Gable: For a while we were kinda talking over the music but without talkbacks – just kinda feeling it out as we go and it kind of just works. But recently we have implemented some talkback mics, inspired by Pretty Lights, so we can communicate things like who’s gonna do the looping, tempo changes, keys, vibe shifts. That kinda stuff.

Chris: Mostly we just crack jokes to each other. 

KL: Is one of you usually driving? Or do you go back and forth with that?

Chris: If we had to say somebody is driving, it’s definitely Honeycomb. And I’m kind of just hanging out the passenger window like a kid shooting spitballs at everybody, kicking it. [laughs] But you know, basically like he’s got the tools to lay down the framework. So it’s kind of like he’s baking the cake and then I’m decorating it. I’m putting on the icing, sprinkles.

Gable: Well sometimes I’ll start a jam, get the loop going , then we’ll make it into something out of what he’s incorporated. So it kind of goes a little bit both ways. Yeah, maybe doing the drums or doing whatever, but I feel like it’s a split road there. 

Chris: You know, he’s just being nice. He’s doing a lot of work.

KL: How do you decide what doesn’t belong in “Wub Zero” when you’re on stage?

Chris: I mean, it all really comes together in the moment. There’s no discussion about what we’re going to do. It’s just green light, red light, green light, go. And as soon as that green light hits, we take off and see where it goes.

KL: What’s a wrong expectation someone could have going into a Wub Zero set?

Chris: Maybe that they could like, come up and request some live music or something. [laughs]

Gable: Or that they’re going to be looped or something like my Omegle videos. We’re not going to be doing anything like that during the sets.

Chris: If anyone is expecting something they’ve heard before

Gable: Ya, if someone thinks they have any inkling of what may happen, it’s probably not going to happen, because we don’t even know what’s going to happen.

Chris: Which makes it fun.

KL: For some concert goers, the music plays and that’s all that matters, but there’s quite a lot happening on stage. What does your basic set up usually look like, and what all is happening that the audience may not see?

Gable: I’m bringing my whole entire studio when I come out. We use a custom-coded looper built with python in Ableton that drives the entire system. Everything runs through it, and I’m routing Chris in and out in real time. I’ve been refining this setup for about four years, and it finally feels like I can create the ideas exactly as they exist in my head.

Everything you hear is played live. Nothing is pre-recorded. Nothing is preset.

Chris: And I basically just step in and go, “ Why can’t we do this?” which sends him down a rabbit hole that takes about six months to solve, while I sit back and play video games. [laughs]

Gable: Yeah, like, “How do we route this microphone through the effects so it’s processed, but not going through the looper?” That one sent me deep. Luckily, I’ve got my buddy Jules on speed dial, so I can just call him and he’ll talk me through it.

Chris: Shout out to Jules.

Gable: Jules Jenssen.

Chris: He saves us.

Gable: Yea. Jules is the man.

Chris & Gable: Jules. Jules. Jules.

KL: What does Wub Zero let you do that wouldn’t make sense in your solo projects?

Gable: Have more fun. Chris is the missing link for me in that sense. It fills in the gaps. I’m an instrumental artist, so having someone else’s flavor blended in, adding lyrics and textures that wouldn’t normally be there, opens everything up. It’s something that just doesn’t happen in my solo sets. Half the time, I’d rather be doing this than playing alone.

KL: What do you feel like you bring out in each other?

Chris: For me, it’s a situation where I honestly have the easier job. I get to go with the flow of whatever Gable is building. When I’m playing solo, or even with the Pretty Lights band, there’s usually a clear structure. Solo sets are fully mapped out, and Pretty Lights is maybe 75 to 80 percent planned with some room for improvisation. With this project, though, I have total freedom to go wherever my brain wants to go in the moment.

It doesn’t feel like a challenge so much as permission to be completely present. It’s more of a Zen state than a thinking exercise. It’s the difference between going on stage and reading a script verse going on stage and having an actual conversation, where new ideas come up naturally as it unfolds. It’s very fun for me as well.

Gable: For me, it pushes me to create ideas I wouldn’t normally reach on my own. When I play by myself, I tend to stay within a certain style and even the same keys a lot of the time. Chris’s influences pull me in different directions, forcing me to think outside the box and explore new spaces musically, which I really enjoy.

Chris: I’ll just throw out little prompts, like, “Let’s try something in F major.” We did that on a stream recently, and it turned into one of the strongest jams we’ve had. Neither of us would have found those parts if we hadn’t stepped outside our comfort zone and started somewhere we wouldn’t normally go. That’s where the magic happens.

KL: Are there any plans for an album? Or any published work since it is majority improv?

Gable: Yeah, for sure. We’ve got a few tracks we’re working on. Nothing we’ve really shown anyone yet. We did play one of them at a show, though.

Chris: We started taking some of our freestyle jam session stems and pulled them into Ableton, then started turning those into more produced pieces. So we have produced tracks in progress, but they all started as improv jams. I think we actually created some of them while live streaming. Catch us streaming on Twitch. We’ll have the link at the end of the article.

Gable: We save all the stems and bring them back in later, either replaying parts or using loops we already created. I used to do that with an RC-505 looper, saving everything inside the unit. Now with Ableton, we can keep the tempo locked and save every individual stem. Chris keeps track of most of the samples we’re using in the moment, building little crates so we can go back and pull ideas from past jams.

Chris: We’ve also got a song called “Faded of the Musik” coming out, featuring Pavan from Foreign Currency. He was formerly in Foreign Beggars and is now in Foreign Currency. He did vocals on that track. It should be dropping pretty soon, but we’re probably going to wait until after Honeycomb’s solo album comes out on February 13th.

KL: Can you talk more about Honeycomb’s latest album?

Chris: It’s a 20-track album, and it’s incredible. Definitely check it out. It’s called Disparate. There’s a really wide range of styles on it. It shows off so many different vibes and really highlights his versatility as a producer and composer.

Gable: I feel like a lot of people know me mainly from the Omegle videos, but there’s so much more to my flow than just looping someone’s voice and making a talkbox beat.

Chris: Facts. And I’m on the album too, right?

Gable: Yeah, the track’s called “Buzzin” with ProbCause.

Gable: And the album is called Disparate which means “without allowing comparison,” and that fits with all the different vibes across the album.

KL: In Wub Zero, will you incorporate any of your own music?

Gable: Right now, no.  in the set is happening in the moment, there’s no pre-recorded stuff or full songs dropped into the set. I do think it’d be cool to get to that point eventually.

Chris: Yeah, we’ll probably integrate that in the future. We’re not opposed to it.

Gable: It’s kind of a looper thing. With the way my setup works, if I try to play something pre-recorded right now, it messes everything up. Everything’s based on setting the loop at the beginning, so I’ve got to figure out the logic for that. But it’s definitely something I want to work toward.

KL: Because everything is happening live, you must have a pretty extensive library.

Gable: He’s got the library. I’m just making stuff up over here.

Chris: That’s actually why it works so well. We have complementary strengths. We’re not doing the same thing on stage. He’s got drums, beatboxing, all of that, and I’ve got a massive sample library and scratching. I’m trying to expand my side too, but that contrast is really the point.

Gable: Our skill sets complement each other really well.

KL: Valentines day 2026 is the one year anniversary. What are some of your favorite highlights from this year?

Gable: Secret Dreams was dope.

Chris: T-Pain was really dope. 

Gable: Yahn Dawn was fire. It was all fun. I feel like every time is a highlight. 

Chris: We just did a couple shows in Detroit and Chicago that both went really well. I mean, we’ve had probably less than 10 shows that we’ve done together so far to this point. So we’ve got to think the best is yet to come.

Gable: And then we really got this last Denver hang. We really dialed in a lot of stuff. So the one that we’re about to play tonight, I feel like it was the quickest sound check and both in the best headspace going into it. So, yeah, really looking forward to, like, more shows and getting it more dialed and locked in.

KL: What’s next for the project?

Gable: More shows, EPs, more hangs.

Chris: We definitely have a lot more ideas that we haven’t had time to tap into yet. The next step for us is really just staying the course and continuing in the direction we’re going, while slowly bringing in new ideas, techniques, and styles. It’s just going to take time, so we’re taking it in baby steps.

Gable: We just keep making it better. We don’t get a ton of opportunities to dial things in, so whenever we do, we try to get as much done as possible. That can mean doing multiple tech days just to get the sound right, but it’s worth it.

Chris: Totally worth it. And it’s going to be worth it for everyone listening too. We’re putting in a lot of work to make this idea as dope as possible. At the end of the day, we just want people to enjoy what they hear and have a great time at the shows.

KL: Last one. How do you describe Wub Zero in one line?

Gable: Improvisational electronic music.

Chris: Yeah, it’s kind of like if bass music and free jazz had a baby.

Wub Zero live from the Ogden Theater Denver on 1/30/26

Every show is a one-time event. Follow Wub Zero and be there when the next moment happens.

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