Thursday Thoughts 037: Still Young

Hey Still Young, welcome to Dance Rebels! Please introduce yourself; where are you from, and how long have you been DJ/producers for? Also, how did you two meet to initially form Still Young?

Wassup Dance Rebels – thanks for having us. For people that don’t know. we are the Canadian duo – Still Young. Story goes, we met in our mother’s house back in the day and have been really close ever since. It seemed natural; almost second nature to work together under one roof. We have been fiddling around with sounds and DJing for quite some time now.

Your music is easily recognised within sets, always melodically and progressively strong, which is great. What track do you think really gave you your big break-through as Still Young? Did you expect such successes so soon too?

Exactly three years ago, at Ultra Music Festival in Miami was the first time that anyone had heard of us. Prior to the event Steve had asked us to try out a remix for another massive duo, Galantis. The track was called “YOU”. The remix completely went off during Steve’s Ultra set. Immediately after, the internet exploded with video clips, track rips, requests and questions about us. Kids picked up on the name pretty quickly after the Ultra set and tried to reach out to us. We were unheard of at the time. Come to think about it, we had no socials or even a press pic. It was overwhelming. Needless to say, our vision was always to reach our fans organically and through our music. It’s a blessing to have such a big record as part of our history.

You’re signed to Steve Angello’s ‘Size Records’, which has unveiled a new roster of artists including CYA and Corey James, how highly do you rate those artists? Would you be open to working with them on new tracks in the future too?

We don’t believe in a ranking system, especially when it comes to music. You either like it or you don’t but this has nothing to do with an artist’s talent. Do we like their music? Yes, they are both talented and have fantastic singles out that have done extremely well with Size. We would work with anyone if the project is right.

Also, having Steve Angello as a mentor, a legend in the music industry, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from him? What sacrifices have you had to make to pursue your career in the music industry too?

We have been close friends and family with Steve for a long time. We have quite an interesting history together. He trusts us and we trust him. He has experience and an ear like no other and tells it like it is. The best advice that steve has given to us is to believe in your music wholeheartedly. You don’t have to follow trends in music or do what the big labels are doing. Don’t be discouraged that major labels don’t want to sign your records. Don’t be discouraged that other artists don’t play your records. What matters is that you are proud of your productions and that one good track will go further with fans than pumping out one a month. Don’t rush it, don’t force it and be confident to play your music to the world! Our biggest sacrifice is not playing in front of our fans, but we feel the time is right and fans have grown to love our music. The time is right and this will all change soon.

You’ve just released ‘White Label (Is This Love)’ via SIZE, which has been doing the rounds in Steve’s sets for over a year now, how excited for this release are you? Also, how long did it take for you to produce the track?

We are very excited and so is the entire team at Size. It has been a lot of work for us and Size to get this track released properly. We never cut corners on this project from re-recording the vocals, clearance and even getting the blessing from Bob’s team for this release. The track was a project that we had been working on for quite some time but it was always tossed to the side. We kept revisiting it and making countless changes to the direction of the track. The melody and chords were there and that kept us coming back. Sometimes projects take hours and sometimes they take years. This was a couple of years from start to finish and about a year to deal with the vocals.

 The track also features Bob Marley’s vocals, which Steve suggested adding into the track, so, do you feel vocals are important in tracks nowadays, to give the track more ‘soul’, or do you think music as instrumentals can be as powerful too?

Vocals are important and do add another dimension to a track. Listeners can instantly connect with vocals and interpret the lyrics in their own way. It’s pure magic to find the perfect vocal for a track and a lot of luck. It does add soul and definitely takes the track to a wider audience through the lyrics. All our projects begin as instrumentals unless we are remixing and have been given vocals to work with. We try to create emotion and leave room in the production for future vocals. Instrumentals should and can be powerful, especially in electronic music but adding a great sounding vocal to a great sounding instrumental could be the difference of making it a hit record.

 What’s your personal favourite part of the track too? The part which makes it special to you, because its scooped up support from big names including Kyder, Tom Staar, Corey James and Matisse & Sadko already!

There so many parts, big and small that contribute to the overall sound and without them it does make a big difference. The melody and the overall feel good vibe, is what is important. When it’s good it makes listeners want to hum along to it and that is magical when it happens. The vocals are classic and people from all over the world understand the message it brings and sing along to it, even if it’s the first time they hear our version. This is why artists/DJ’s like to play this in front of their fans, it connects the dance floor together and delivers feel good vibes.

 Finally, nobody has yet to see you perform live, the mystery continues (are you sure you’re not Deadmau5 and Prydz in disguise haha), so, if you could headline Tomorrowland, and have pick 3 DJs as support, who would they be, and why?

Just imagine, if we had that genie in a bottle that could make anything happen. We would make it a night to remember for all fans of electronic music. We would get Steve, Axwell and Sebastian all on the Tomorrowland stage, all at the same time. This would be the ultimate fantasy and the press that we would be a part of would be completely outrageous. Still Young and the Swedish House Mafia on stage. LOL. Do you really need an answer as to why?