Alex Pall and Drew Taggart make up the duo called The Chainsmokers. Producers and DJs, they are bringing their Dynamic brand of electronic music to Brick Street Bar & Grille on Green Beer Day.
The Chainsmokers are artists whose popularity has grown rapidly, which can largely be attributed the song they released this past January titled "Selfie."
"Before we released the track, we thought, 'this is either the dumbest thing we have ever done, or the most brilliant," they said.
Dubbed by music connoisseurs, as "melbounce-bounce" music, "Selfie" is a hit and currently charting at No. 6 overall on iTunes.
The advancement of smartphone applications has given rise to the demand of spontaneous pictures that can be shared instantly on Snapchat and Instagram. Playing on our generation's frequent uploads of ourselves, The Chainsmokers' music video for "Selfie" took the world by storm led by their wittingly ubiquitous phrase, "Let Me Take A Selfie."
"We had a lot of the concepts and ideas in our minds," The Chainsmokers said. "But working with our home-girl, Alexis, we were really able to fine-tune them into the perfect nonsense we all hear each other say. Our goal was to keep the sayings relatable and not get too specific. The more general and funny we could keep it, the more people would be able to connect with it."
For DJs who had been building their reputation as sharp remixers of indie-based and alternative sounding music, "Selfie" was the first official track they released, through Steve Aoki's Dim Mak Record Label.
The Chainsmokers produced the "Selfie" music video using high-profile celebrities, including David Hasseloff.
"We wanted the whole thing to be relatable and interactive, so we thought 'why not have our fans and friends send in photos and at the drop we will flash them, then they will be intrinsically connected and want to share it with their friends," The Chainsmokers said. "We think because of that we put a lot of pressure on ourselves in a good way to do all we can to make an impact as the artists we want to be, they explained."
Prior to rolling out "Selfie", Pall and Taggart, who are from New York City and Maine, respectively, had quickly amassed double-digit overall No. 1 song's on Hype-machine high-traffic music blog.
"We think 17 No. 1's now. We produce and remix music we like. We never work on projects that don't interest us," The Chainsmokers said.
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As more listeners downloaded The Chainsmokers' chic and melodic style of dance music, their organic reach on social media platforms increased exponentially.
"It's the Matrix theory of using various people's networks as a jump off for more people to create as big a reach organically as possible," The Chainsmokers said.
From January until now, The Chainsmokers have moved along quickly in the scope of their live music careers as part of their 20-stop United States #SELFIETOUR.
Pall and Taggart shared the difference between spinning at intimate bottle-service clubs and globally attended music festivals like the first one they played, TomorrowWorld.
"Both are great, but at shows, you are the center of attention and people are coming to hear the music," The Chainsmokers said. "In clubs you may be the center of attention, but people are coming for lots of different reasons, like maybe getting laid, maybe to wing women etc., both can be hella' fun though."
The Chainsmokers are a duo who have grown out of producing small boot-legs in the caves of New York City studios, earning them twitter-mentions and radio shout-outs from Pete Tong, David Guetta and Tiêsto, among others. Their 130,000-plus Facebook following even sucked attention of away from Ellen Degenres' record-breaking twitter selfie at the Oscars.
The Chainsmokers shed sentiment about the struggles that come from living in New York City and even offered advice to aspiring producers.
"You have to work hard, be good at what you do, and really stay positive," The Chainsmokers said. "We think because of that we put a lot of pressure on ourselves in a good way to do all we can to make an impact as the artists we want to be. With that said, you really need to know who you are as a person, or NYC will chew you up: do your research, be gracious, be patient and if you don't ask you will never get an answer."
Pall Graduated from New York University and Taggart graduated from Syracuse's Brandier program, labeling The Chainsmokers' as an act with a four-year college degree. The Chainsmokers have planned the second phase of their #SELFIETOUR, being named headliners at music festivals including Miami's Ultra, and Mysteryland.
With such an interesting agenda ahead, I asked them what unlikely learning experiences have come about from being booked at these major gigs before they told me the city they're looking forward to playing the most this spring/summer is Australia.
"When we got Ultra, Drew and I turned to one another and said, 'I thought this moment would feel a lot crazier'. That's not to say it wasn't like holy sh*t, but it's funny because we are the type of guys who always want more like it's never enough. And we don't mean that we are un-grateful or don't enjoy it because come ultra we will be the happiest guys on the planet," Pall said. "But we were also like cool, next year we want a better stage, etc. On top of that and all these new bookings it's just about time management, a skill that is very underrated. In terms of what we are looking forward to most, we can't wait to go to Australia, neither of us have ever been."
March 20 marks the final stop along The Chainsmokers' #SELFIETOUR, which coincidentally is in Oxford, OH.
"Its not a Chainsmokers' show it's a Miami U show," they said. "We are your guests in your party, we aren't there to be watched, we want to rage with you all and make it our show."
Tickets for the 2 p.m. Chainsmokers show are $10 and are available online and at Brick Street.
* E.J. Blair works as a promoter for Brick Street Bar and Grille
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