Two years ago, “Selfie” officially became Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year and the term has been bandied about so much that The Chainsmokers made a song out of it.
And yes, it is that #SELFIE song that managed to get lodged in your head – until today.
In case you missed it, #SELFIE kings, The Chainsmokers recently made their first trip to Kuala Lumpur for a one-night gig at Gravity Club KL. Based in New York City, Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall also known as The Chainsmokers rose to fame with their 2014 infamous hit #SELFIE.
Before the well-deserved limelight shone on them, the twosome was formed as EDM DJs in 2012 under the management of Adam Alpert in New York City. With their outstanding talent, they grew a loyal fan base by releasing remixes of indie bands. Their music was supported by some of the biggest names in the EDM industry including Nicky Romero, Steve Aoki, Pete Tong, W&W, Afrojack and more.
Now that the #SELFIE kings have garnered an international fame, they’ve put their remixes aside and have since released a number of soulful tracks including “Let You Go” featuring Great Good Fine Ok, “Kanye” featuring SirenXX, and “Good Intentions” featuring BullySongs. The duo work hand-in-hand to produce what they’re passionate about, and it is not surprising to know that this has catapulted them into mainstream fame.
After a long 7-hour flight from Japan to Malaysia as part of their Asia tour, the boys were fatigued but lucky us, we got to catch up with them shortly before their show started in Gravity Club KL. It was truly a remarkable experience and trust us when we say, they are the cutest 😉
Here’s what went down during the interview:
Hey you guys! It’s your first time here in KL, yes? Are you guys excited to be here?
Alex: Hey! Yeah. Of course.
Andrew: Of course! Really excited, it’s exciting to go new country!
Now, we know #SELFIE has been one of your biggest hits so far and your other releases – “Kanye”, “Good Intentions”, and “Let You Go” have taken on a different path as #SELFIE. Any reasons why?
Andrew: Selfie was kinda like a joke for us, they got really popular obviously.
Alex: That was a good different path, those 3 other ones are way more than what we always wanted. Everytime when we released a new song, I feel like it gets closer and more comfortable. But I feel like those 3, having had their releases over the time, the pressure on who’s expected what and when, became kinda like an asterisk next to them. And now, the songs that we’re coming out with now are really natural to us, it feels so good that #SELFIE was definitely the weird one.
We hear you guys are planning to release a new single every month, anything else you can tell us about these upcoming releases – are they collaborations/originals?
Andrew: Some of them are collaborations and some of them are just us, We made the 3 really strong EDM records that are collaborations with other big DJs and we are super excited about our own originals because they are not really EDM, they are dance-y and pop-py. The soundtrack, we wrote all of them and I’ll be singing on our next song. It’s more like honestly who we are and what we think is cool and different.
From your recent AMA reddit session, we’ve learned that you sang on one of your originals and it doesn’t fall under the EDM genre. Can you tell us more about it?
Andrew: That song is coming out in 2 weeks. It’s called, “The Roses”, and it’s uhm, you’ll hear it. That song we’re both really really excited about, because even you said that “Kanye”, “Let You Go” and “Good Intention” are way different from #SELFIE, they are still the same tempo, they are still high energy, but this song is chill and slower, It is one of the most beautiful songs that we’ve ever made.
Cool, we can’t wait to hear! So, what was it like performing at Tomorrowland and Ultra?
Andrew: That’s like a dream!
Alex: They are the best festivals! Those 2 are like easily the best festivals in the world besides from Coachella maybe, which we haven’t played. I mean, Tomorrowland its like the Europe continent’s beacon for dance music. It sets the tone essentially for who’s gonna have a big year and who people are most excited about. Ultra is where electronic dance music started, and the main stage for the world to see. When you look at the festival grow from stage size to the complexity of the line ups and the size of it. It’s the coolest sh*t you can play.
What’s the one thing you love most and one thing you hate most about travelling?
Andrew: Being tired sucks, and not being able to eat. I’m perpetually tired and when I wake up I’ve got load of things to do and should do, but I’ll be in a bad mood and I don’t wanna make decisions and rush things. It sucks, like finding a balance for it and then I gotta go play a show and not be..bad. We want to party cause fans only get to see us once a year and we want to give them an authentic experience. Yeah, that’s the most important thing of all, e-mails can always wait.
Alex: The best part is just, travelling. Cause we get to go everywhere and see the world. For the both of us, the more of the world we see, the smaller it becomes and the bigger our imagination of what we can do and what it becomes.
What else is in the pipeline for you this 2015?
Andrew: Touring.
Alex: Yeah, touring. we have built up a really big show but honestly we’re not sure how it’s going to look like yet cause we’re going into rehearsals in a week and a half. But we’re going to spend a lot of time trying to design something to accompany all the new music that we’re making and that we can travel with. It should be really cool. So it’s that, and obviously the new music that you already know. These are the 2 main things at the moment.
Lastly, use only one word to describe each other.
Alex: All I want to say now is tired. That sounds like a true word. Uhm, I would say thrilled.
Andrew: Wow, I was going to say that too. We’re both thrilled on different things. I don’t even like my e-mails, I don’t even look at it, so not very thrilled about it.
Alex: Like DJ sets, I might start out more energetic and gradually I get tired, and he takes over and gets energetic.
Thank you so much for your time guys!
Andrew & Alex: No problem!
We had a blast catching up with The Chainsmokers so shout out to our friends at Gravity Club for arranging this interview session for us.
Don’t forget – their new song “The Roses” will arrive in 2 weeks’ time! Till then, enjoy “Good Intentions” by The Chainsmokers featuring BullySongs 😉
For more on The Chainsmokers, stalk them via these platforms: Website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
