words by Dio Anthony
This year two boys that have been at it for a while broke into the the music scene with their hit song ‘Roses,’ cementing their status as one of the year’s favorite and breakout Acts. The Chainsmokers, made up of 26-year-old Andrew Taggart and 31-year-old Alex Pall are the new cool kids in town, with just enough beat and melody game to take over an industry.
I feel like you guys have been in the game for a bit now. but just recently you’ve been everywhere. What do you think was the turning point, or shift for you guys in the past year or so?
Drew: We found our sound this year. It’s a sound that genuinely and inherently who we are, and everyone has responded to it positively, which is really what you wasn’t as an artist. You’re doing you, and everyone’s down with it.
How would you describe that sound if you had to?
Drew: Our music’s really gratifying. It’s honestly a collage of all our favorite artists. We’re big music fans and I’ve gone through extreme phases of different bands and genres that we’ve been into, and I feel like now our music is a mix of all of that.
Roses is amazing. can you take me back to producing the song?
Drew: Roses—Alex found Liz on Roses and we sent her a demo for her to write on. That Demo became Water Bed. We changed some of the words that she had written, to fit this new beat that ended up being the beat for Roses. We just jammed out for like eight hours and recorded everything. Starting with her verse, to just my beat, to the entire vocal recording, the entire production all in one bit.
How about Let me down? Another hit of yours?
Drew: For Don’t let me down, my friend gave me this. We were playing with it and wanted to write a drift that. We did a session with our really good friend Emily Warren who we’ve done a bit of records with now. Her friend Scott Harris who is an incredible writer. The four of us just sat there and banged out the entire top line in one afternoon.
You guys have been working on some new music. What can you tease?
Drew: It’s going to be a lot more personable. The content of the songs are more specifically about us. I feel like the songs that we’ve written in the past have been about us, but they’re bored and they can be about a lot of people. Roses was a bit specific because, we We could waste the night with an old film Smoke a little weed on the couch in the backroom. We wanted to talk about a great moment, and something that we care about. but going forward, they are definitely about us. The next song, I’m singing on, and I wrote with my buddy Sean Frank, and it’s about sleeping with your ex girlfriend. We wanted to write a song about a sex scene that’s almost unsexy because you know the person so well, and all of their flaws. But also knowing in the back of your head, everything that sucks about them.
Can you guys take me back a bit to how you met?
Drew: We just met through our manager, it’s not the most exciting story. He was finishing school, and I was doing in New York, and neither thing was super successful by any means. So it was a an opportunity to kind of meet up and txt something new. We’re really enthusiastic about Dance Music and the scene. We thought we could get in there and be apart of it, and it’s been pretty cool.
I feel like your music is very dancey, but it’s also the type of stuff you hear come on while you’re getting ready..
Alex: We call it classic EDM now. David Guetta, the heyday. Swedish House mafia,all that sound was so sick. It was very European. It was really exciting for us, and that’s what we thought our angle was. You know, bringing it to the Americans scene. I think we play a lot of dance and music festivals, and so many of our homies are Dance Music guys, because it seems like the best avenue to make a name for yourself as a producer. You don’t see Hip-hop producers playing festivals. I think that’s why Dance Music seems to be the producer avenue. You asked earlier what our Aha moment was and that was it— We realized we loved Dance Music, but also grew up listening to Blink 182 and The Fugees. So Why aren’t these other genres that we love apart of our music? Roses was the first time we really opened up and basically said, Fuck it, lets just mix this with shit that we like. And we’re really fortunate that it did so well.
You guys played Coachella this spring, which was a huge turnout. Any other memorable performances?
Drew: All the festivals we’ve been performing at this past year have been really awesome. Coachella was great.
Alex: Lollapalooza was a big turning point for us last year. I almost want to say Lollapalooza was better than Coachella, just because it was so surprising. That festival was a turning point in how our Festival sets were enjoyed and perceived. It was just more a of a surporse.
With Coachella, we didn’t know how dope it was going to be—but we put a lot of time and money into that show. Lollapalooza was like, we’re going to show up and do what we do, and it showed up to be a really big moment for us.
What bands are currently on your rotation?
Drew: I’m really into Alabama shakes. Right now I’m really into the old Phoenix Albums. There’s not a a lot of indie rock that I’m into right now. I love Phoenix, and Wolfgang Amedeus the most. I’ve been a fan of them forever,since like 2005 when I heard them on The OC again. So i’m kind of going back and listening to that
If you guys had to describe this past year in a past sentence how would you?
Alex: Two dudes having fun.
Photographer Maarten de Boer
Stylist Tiffani Chynel
Groomer Simone for Exclusive Artists Management using Oribe Hair Care and Sisley Paris
Video Arno Diem
Production Leslie Alejandro
Production Assistant Arthur Galvao
Special thanks to Avalon Hollywood