Exclusive Interview with The Chainsmokers

Siam2nite had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with The Chainsmokers, shortly before their Thailand Debut at ONYX RCA on 1st October.

Where are you answering these questions?

Right now we are in Edmonton Canada in our hotel room! Basically we are in the middle of a little tour across the country!

You are an American DJ & Production duo that was formed in 2012 – only 2 years later, in 2014, you entered the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs list (on #97). How did each of you get in touch with electronic dance music in the first place, how did you meet, what made you team up, and how did you get into DJing and music production?

We both had different experiences with electronic music first. Drew discovered it while in Argentina on an exchange program and Alex actually overseas as well but in Bristol England!

We met through mutual friend who thought that together we could achieve a lot more than what were doing on our own. So we met for a man date, and shared stories about things that we were passionate about and of interest to us and found we had a lot in common, and decided we would give it a try!

Alex was actually a DJ all around NYC and was making minor living doing that and Drew was producing for Interscope records which he used to intern for. So we both had something to offer each other…. It was a great partnership. With both though learned just from practice and experience. Lots of Youtube videos and late nights!

You play and produce Electro House & Progressive House. How would you describe your own music, what is distinct about it?

Honestly we cannot put a genre on our music. We just make music that we think is cool. Sometimes its electro and other times its far from it. However, it all has that distinct chainsmokers feel to it. We don’t like pigeon holing ourselves we like experimenting and trying new stuff out… our taste is always evolving and we like to have that freedom in our sound.

You are best known for your track “SELFIE” – the track has mind-blowing 363 Million views on YouTube, peaked in the Top 20 charts of 10 countries and received Platinum certifications in 5 countries (America, Australia, Italy, Canada & Sweden). Did you feel that the track would be a hit or did the success take you by surprise?

It took us by surprise. We knew people liked it but we had no idea so many people would. We are very grateful that it became such a huge track and has allowed us many great opportunities but also challenges. Lets just say its been a hell of a ride!

What other tracks, remixes or mix-sets would you recommend to someone that is not yet familiar with your music?

Of ours? Well check out our Ultra 2014 set, our Tomorrowland 2015 set, and maybe our Lollapalooza 2015 set… and for our taste in music listen to our Nice Hair mixes which we create every month, that are composed of all the music we like at the moment.

What is on your agenda for the near future and what are you currently working and focusing on?

A lot more music. At the moment we just put out a song with Tiesto who has been such a mentor for us… and our other single Roses is probably the song we have done that we are most proud of! But in the future we have some more really exciting collabs with Dvbbs and Tritonal and then a number of individual releases that we think will really draw people further into our sound.

What were the best and the worst gigs you ever played and what were the funniest things that occurred during any of your performances?

Man we have played so many shows its hard saying. Some shows with almost no people there and you feel so embarrassed by it. But it happens to everyone that’s what you need to remember. Doesn’t matter if your Guetta or Avicii we have all played rooms for no one and its part of the process…. But it doesn’t mean you have to like it hahah…. We hate to admit it but our memories are SO BAD we remember nothing, its like every day is so packed and crazy you almost have to live in the moment non stop… it’s a great way to live but terrible for any questions…

You are from New York City - the most populous city in the USA. What can you tell us about clubbing and nightlife there? Do you have any nightlife related suggestions for first-time visitors?

Well we love NYC, and the nightlife can be a lot of fun! We are spoiled on any night there are 5-10 of the best djs or musicians from around the world performing its incredible… and you can really seek out any type of music you want from underground to Top 40…. That said there is something about New York that lacks when it comes to a real music community and that is really unfortunate. NYC is such a competitive place that it seems like instead of everyone rallying around one another its more of a rat race…. But that’s more from a business perspective, from a hey lets go out and drink some beers and meet some girls, there are few places more fun!

You will make your Thailand Debut at ONYX RCA on 1st October. Have you ever visited Thailand before? What can the Bangkok crowd expect from your upcoming performance?

NOOOO and we are SOOOOO excited you have no idea! We have been begging our agents to get us over to Thailand so we can experience it so now that we finally are we really cannot wait! As for what to expect, we hope the crowd is just open minded about the music, we don’t like to play old shit, we want to move forward to come ready to party hard and stay up VERY late!