It has been 10 years since Taylor Mapes’ love of producing music overtook his obsession of downhill skiing.
Mapes, known as PØSTERCHILD, says his passion growing up was all on ski racing. Every weekend, he would go to Girdwood to ski, but it wasn’t until he discovered electronic music that his focus shifted.
He and his friends would sing and dance to music together in the ski club locker room to get pumped up for their races. All of the new electronic music they were finding and sharing with each other quickly became their “theme music.”
“I fell down the rabbit hole,” Mapes said. “My whole life before that was skiing, skiing, skiing, and then once I got Ableton, it just became producing, making music and just diving into this world of electronic music.”
In high school, Mapes became deeply invested in electronic music, going out of state to attend some music festivals. He says that’s where he became enamored with EDM music and started to DJ himself.
“While I was at these festivals, I physically saw the spectacle of electronic music — DJs playing incredible sets, huge stage production with visuals and lasers, and a loving and embracing community of people that shared the same love for electronic music as I did,” Mapes said.
Initially, Mapes started to DJ just as a hobby in his room for fun, but a year later, he got Ableton Live and took a crack at producing his own electronic music. In college, he would DJ at house parties and small shows in New Orleans, connecting with the underground dance scene.
After college, Mapes started his artist project, PØSTERCHILD, and returned home to Alaska and dove head-first into Anchorage’s music community. Shortly after returning, local production company Showdown Alaska announced an upcoming show for NGHTMRE, and Mapes emailed them with a full press kit of his work. He cold-emailed them, not sure if it was going to work — but it did. He ended up being one of several local DJs who opened up for NGHTMRE.
Since his first show opening for NGHTMRE, Mapes began his own electronic music festival in Anchorage, called RADIANCE, which takes place in June every year in the backyard of ACE Dispensary in Spenard.
“It was my first introduction to actually meeting the other local DJs in Anchorage. And now we are all really great friends and huge supporters of each other and leading the movement of the rising EDM scene in Anchorage right now,” he said.
Mapes has toured his home state, playing music all over Alaska, and has opened for STRFKR, Medium Build, Slow Magic, and Valentino Khan. His last big show was the First Tap Bear Tooth Theatre, which he said was a big moment for the local electronic scene.
“When I was a kid, I would have never thought that myself, or any local musician would ever play a first tap at Bear Tooth,” Mapes said. “It was really cool and I felt like it brought the whole city together.”
Mapes loves to DJ, but says producing has always been his true love ever since he got Ableton back in high school. Since he began the PØSTERCHILD project, Mapes has released a handful of dance records and is gearing up to release new music in 2025, playing more shows, and continuing to grind as an artist.
PØSTERCHILD will be performing Friday night, Jan. 3 and Saturday night Jan. 4 at The Sitzmark in Girdwood for the Pop It Drop It New Year Celebration. Their music can be streamed on all music platforms.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
