The Chainsmokers Interview

The Chainsmokers Interview

American DJ duo The Chainsmokers are the guys behind the viral single ‘#SELFIE’ that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and has accumulated 60 million YouTube views. We spoke to The Chainsmokers (also known as Alex and Andrew) about everything from New York bagels to being labeled the creators of “The Worst Song of 2014”…

How are you guys?
Great! We’re in the city right now, just hanging out.

How did you and Andrew meet?
Drew was in school and doing some production work for Interscope Records and I was DJing and working at an art gallery in New York City. We were both working with this guy respectively on different projects and he thought it would be a good idea if we met up and started working together. We met and started talking about what our plans were and what we envisioned. We just hit it off and that’s how it all happened!

How did ‘Selfie’ come about after your beginnings in remixing Indie music?
We’d been remixing Indie music for about a year, so that stuff had already been going pretty well. We were just building an organic fan base. When we made ‘Selfie’ we thought we either have something really smart, or we’ve just made the stupidest thing on the entire earth. We weren’t sure which one it would be.

‘Selfie’ currently has 60 million YouTube views. Did you ever expect the song to become as big as it has?
I don’t even know why, we can’t wrap our heads around that number for some reason. It just seems so stupid. When you reach a certain point, you’re almost put off by it, but then you see a Jason Derulo or Katy Perry song and you’re like “240 million? We’re not crushing it yet!” It’s really exciting, you know. We’re very happy and enjoying it, but the less we think about it, the better our mental state of health will be [Laughs].

You’re signed to Steve Aoki’s label Dim Mak. What’s it like to be backed by such a renowned DJ?
He’s awesome. It’s incredible. He’s been around since we both started listening to Dance music and he’s just a pioneer, both musically and as a businessman. To be signed to a label by someone we really admire, it’s just so awesome. He’s been so supportive by just blowing up the song and helping us out by putting it on his channels. It’s just been so cool.

What do you think of critics that say ‘Selfie’ is the worst song of 2014 and that The Chainsmokers will be a one-hit-wonder? Does it bother you?
Yes and no. I do agree, it is one of the worst songs of 2014 [Laughs]. But no, we’re not worried about being one hit wonders or anything like that. Those are people that have only heard ‘Selfie’ and don’t know that we’ve probably put out more music than anyone in Dance music in the past year. It all comes down to working hard, having a big label and just pushing songs on the radio. The music scene is very mechanical. For us, it’s like “will we make another ‘Selfie’?” But no, we have no interest in making another ‘Selfie’; we didn’t even think we were making a song this big. You hope you make something special, but when it happens you have no idea. For us, we’re not even stressing it. We’ll always be working, that’s what we got into this for. So it’s funny to think, “Oh, they’ll just retire off ‘Selfie’ and that’ll be the end of it.”

It was recently in the news that a young man in America wants to have a government crackdown on Selfies, due to the destructive effect it is having on young people and society. What are your thoughts on this?
I think it’s something the media just creates. There’s always some nonsense going on. Whether it’s buying Tickle Me Elmo’s at Christmas and parents killing each other for them, or kids not leaving World Of Warcraft and getting fat. We’re such a stupid society sometimes. To be a crusader for Selfies? It’s like whatever man, get a life. [Laughs]

If you could take a Selfie with anyone dead or alive who would it be?
Larry David would be pretty cool. Or Cara Delevingne, she’s pretty sweet.

Who are some of your favourite artists at the moment?
We just love Drake – we admire him a lot. Adam Levine is the man when it comes to pop music. Also, London Grammar and Schoolboy Q.

What are your musical guilty pleasures?
Taylor Swift! Her album is awesome. We listen to anything that’s just really good.

Wildest live show:
Our wildest show was in our hometown. It was just so cool. All of our friends came out and it was just nuts. It’s awesome to play in a venue that you’ve always wanted to play.

Who are your celebrity crushes?
I know Drew’s is Cara Delevingne. Mine would be Emma Roberts.

Where are the best places to hangout in New York?
We love our strategic group spots like Marquee, Tao and Gilded Lily. If it’s just getting food or something, it’s gotta be Rubirosa – it’s the best pizza, ever!

What’s the best New York bagel topping?
We love blueberry cream cheese. So good!

What has been your craziest fan experience so far?
Drew and I were in Lake Havasu (Arizona), which is like THE Spring Break spot. After the show we went to In-N-Out burger, which is just this fast food place. We walked in and I guess some kid noticed us. We were trying to be cool and just order our food, but he was like “Yo! Chainsmokers!” which suddenly turned into this huge chant and then a slow-clap [Laughs]. That doesn’t happen, ever! So it was pretty cool.

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