November 25, 2024 • 21 mins
Celebrating the success of “Body Say” w Gigi Grombacher and her new song “I’m Going Out” w Steve Aoki, Sam Feldt, Nile Rodgers, & Zak Abel, XANDRA joined us for the first time on America’s Dance 30!
She shared w us how both smashes were born, how long ago she started working on them, and how many Vs there were of them before their release!!
We also got to know XANDRA better w #FinkysFirsts!
Find out about:
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
She shared w us how both smashes were born, how long ago she started working on them, and how many Vs there were of them before their release!!
We also got to know XANDRA better w #FinkysFirsts!
Find out about:
- if music was the first thing she wanted to get into growing up
- if ‘XANDRA’ was her first choice for her artist project name
- the first show she ever played
- her first single
- when she first realized she was going viral
- the first thing she does when she doesn’t have to go out
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we officially start. I know I'm about a month late,
but happy birthday to you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Happy birthday, dear Sandra, Happy birthday to you.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Okay, swee, let me bay.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Look at that.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I hope you made a good wish.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I definitely did. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
We belated birthday.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Dance, counting down the biggest dance songs in the country.
This is America's Dance.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Thirty, Xandra.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
It is so awesome finally meeting you. Welcome to America's
Dance thirty for the first time.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Congratulations on all the success, not only on body Say,
but also your brand new song I'm going out, Thank.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
You, Thank you. Super excited about it.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yeah, I can't wait to talk about both of these
songs and find out how they were born. But since
this is the first time chatting on America's Dan's thirty,
let's get to know Xandra a little better with Thinky's first.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Oh gosh, okay, I'm ready.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Why does everybody get scared by that?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I don't know, because my brain works in a very,
very weird way, so I get nervous.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
So what you're saying is this is going to be
very good.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Okay, it could be, It could be.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So I always love finding out the origin story of artists.
I read that you actually got into djaying after you
saw Alis in Wonderland play live and when you were
in high school.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yes? Yes?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
But was music the first thing you wanted to get
into or was there something else you wanted to be
when you were growing up?
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Oh my gosh, well there was. I feel like everyone
kind of has their random little things that they wanted
to be, like an astronaut, firefighter. I mean, my dad
was a dentist, so I kind of thought that would
be cool because obviously I thought my dad was the
coolest person in the entire world. But ever since I
was younger, I really wanted to be a singer. But
(02:24):
trust me, you do not want to hear me sing
the same So I remember being in choir and then
my mom was like, no more choir. I was like,
oh cool, cool, cool, So yeah, pretty much yeah. Since
high school. I mean, I saw also Wonderline performing and
I was like, this is this is it, this is
what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
And if you had a chance to meet her yet,
oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Yes, I met her actually at coach Hella this past year.
She did a set at the Do Lab and it
was absolutely insane and I was in the green room
with her and I was just looking at her in
all I was like, you are my everything, like you
started as a whole entire thing. So it was. It
was really amazing. And she's such a supportive, amazing person,
(03:09):
especially for the females in this industry.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
And that's what makes it all better is she is
such a great person. She is so nice.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Now, Xandra, of course is a take on your real
name Alexandra. But when you were thinking of an artist
project name, was Xandra the first name you were going
to go with?
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Or were the other names you were considering?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Oh my gosh, I went down the rabbit hole. When
I was trying to figure out a name. I was
looking at so many because I like, I'm German, I
was looking at like German, it takes my name and
so many other things. And I never really when I
was in high school, I always had nicknames growing up
(03:48):
because Alexandra was always such a long name, so people
would always just try to cut it and call me
alex But my mom did not want that name. Like
I remember going into kindergarten and they were like her
name and I was like Alexandra, and then she she
was like, okay, perfect, we're going to call you alex.
I went home and told my mom. I tattled sorry,
(04:08):
and my mom walked back into that kindergarten room and
was like, you are not going to call her alex
Her name is Alexandra. If I wanted her to be
called that, that would be her name. So everyone called
me Alexandra. High school, a grade school, people called me
a pole, and then high school ap and then college.
(04:28):
I pretty much came up with the name Xandra. I
changed my Instagram handle to Xandra pol And when you're
in college, everyone calls you by your Instagram handle, like
that is your name, and so everyone just knows me
by Exandra and that was it.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Can I just say I love how real your mom is.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I mean obviously not pushing you down singing when she
saw that you couldn't sing and doing that in kindergarten.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Oh yeah. I grew up in like a very real family.
Like she was not playing around. She was like, we're
not going to be delusional in this house. Okay, Like
I will support you. But she's like, there's certain things
that it's just she was like, you're really good at
certain things and other things are just not your strong suits.
So we're gonna we're gonna keep moving along, you know.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
And what does she think of your DJing career?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Oh my gosh. That And that was the craziest thing
because I came to her I was in high school.
I was wild in high school. Not a good girl,
you know what I mean. I was. I was like
the middle child, only girl. My older brother was a saint.
And so when I came home, I was always going
to music festival, super just involved in the music community.
(05:35):
And I came back after Lalla Blues and I was like,
I need a hobby. I really want to get into something.
I just saw Alice in Wonderland performing. I was like,
that's what I wanted to do. I want to DJ.
And my mom was like, thank god. She was like,
let's go, let's buy you a site, teach yourself, get
into it. And she was so supportive that I was
(05:55):
just passionate about something and she knew that I could
do it. Apply myself in that way, because you know,
I didn't have to sing. I just had to understand music.
But no, she was. She was very, very supportive in
that way.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
That's so incredible.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Well, I saw that when you were first starting out,
when you got into college, you were playing frat parties.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yes? The very first party I went to my freshman year,
I showed up. My older brother was in a fraternity.
And the reason why I chose University of Miami because
that's where I went to school, was because of their
music scene and their club scene. I knew that I
could really dive into it, and so I told my brother.
I was like, tell the social Share I'm going to
show up. And I showed up with my backpack with
(06:39):
a laptop as a freshman, literally first week of school,
and I literally told the boys. I was like, it's
my time to go on. I asked the social Share.
He said it was good. The boys were fighting me.
They were like, you have no idea what you're doing.
I was like, give me five minutes, and if I
stuck kick me off, that's fine.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
And I went up there. I DJ for five minutes
and the guy was like literally learning from me, and
I played the rest of the tailgate and then pretty
much did every single tailgate pool party after that.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
That is incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, did you teach yourself?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah? I self taught. I learned from YouTube, just honestly
watching videos, and I was like, very good. I've always
been like very musical. I've always loved it so much
so in very like mathematic so learning it took me
a while. My poor parents would blasted through these massive
(07:43):
speakers in my room all day all night. They were like,
my brothers are like.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Turn it all. Your mom's regretting.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Oh my gosh. Yeah, my mom was like, can we
just turn it down a little bit or maybe like
can you do this outside?
Speaker 1 (07:56):
That is hilarious, But that's awesome. Now we're going to
be talking about body say coming up. But is it
true that that was your first single?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Mm hmm very first single.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Wow, that's incredible to be having the success with it.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Yes, she's my baby. I've been talking about putting on
music for so long, and it was one of those
things because I've been djaying since I was in high school,
so I'm going on like seven eight years of djaying
and throughout my career, especially when I was in college,
everyone was like, put out music, put out music, and
I was like if I'm going to put out a song,
I need to feel one hundred and twenty percent about it.
(08:34):
I need to love everything because I only get one
first song, and I really wanted it to be super
special me. So, you know, working with Gigi and so
many other producers and we came up with Body Say,
and it has done amazing things and I'm so proud
of her.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
That's so incredible. Congratulations on that.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
And side note, even if it wasn't your first I mean,
since you were just starting out with music, you totally
had the right for it to so, which it doesn't,
but you had that right.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
I know. I think I played it for every single
person in my life at least like one hundred and
fifty times, and I was like, is there anything you
would change? Because I will go back in there and
I will. I mean, Boddy Say it was picked apart.
That song. We were working on for months and months
and months, and we were just every single day changing
like little things because I was like, it needs to
(09:25):
be perfect. Or also I was like, I will wait
forever to put out music. It needs to be perfect.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Well, we're gonna dive more into it coming up, but
think back to when you started DJing in high school.
Do you remember the first dance song that made you
fall in love with DM?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Ooh, I feel like Clarity what a song? What a song?
I mean, there are just some like that era of
like house music DM, like the Martin Garricks. Is that
like when they were like I mean, obviously they are still,
but when like the Clarities take Me Home, like Galants
run Away, when all those songs were coming out, it
(10:03):
just felt like that was my high school that was.
I mean, those songs were massive, and I still lots
of time ends up playing them in my sets. They
still hit every single time, and they just they're so
euphoric feeling. So I definitely say.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That nothing against music now, but you look at those
songs and they stand up, whereas a lot of songs now,
you know, we just they go so fast they don't
really stand up exactly.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
It was just a different era. I don't even know
how to explain it. I feel like the music back
then obviously music right now, I mean there's a whole
new era coming out and there's so many more little
like genres of house music and EDM where I feel
like back then, like the big stuff that was on
the radio. It was very big room vibe, and I mean,
(10:51):
obviously there's still those vibes that I mean, Yeah, it's
really hard to find a song like the Runaways and
the Clarities like they're one of a kind.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Now, between TikTok and Instagram, you've got close to two
million followers over one hundred and sixty million views on
your content. But do you remember the first time you
realized you were going viral?
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Yeah? Actually, one of the first get Ready with me
is I ever did. I was going to a pool
party and I did a stupid little video just talking
about it, getting ready, having fun with my friends. And
I'm at the pool party and you know, my sneakers
with my song Bikini. I'm going up and down the
(11:39):
water slide, chug in tequila, and I'm looking at my
phone and it's like ten thousand more followers, ten thousand
more followers, like three hundred thousand years, four hundred thousand years,
like just going and seeing I'm like, what is going on?
I'm like, I'm like, oh no, I'm like I don't
even know what I said in this, and I'm like,
hundreds of thousand people are viewing this. Oh, it was crazy.
(12:02):
It was a crazy experience. What a time to be alive.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
I love that you say, oh no, because it's.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
One of those things where I and like, still to
this day, I post things to my social media and
I totally forget that because you see numbers, but you don't.
It's really hard to translate it to people, right into
actual people. And when you think about it, you know,
you're talking about millions of people, and I'm like, I'm
so like messed up right now, I'm hungover rolling around
(12:32):
in the mud. Oh like co oh no, I'm just
imagining you, like on a mic, saying this to millions
of people. I'm like, perfect.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Now was it overwhelming?
Speaker 3 (12:42):
It was very surreal. It's very hard to like I said,
it's just to me, it feels like you just see
numbers on your phone and it's really hard to put
that into perspective. I feel like it really, I mean,
it still doesn't hit me to this day when I
play shows and I see that men people come out,
I'm like, where are these people coming from? Like how
(13:03):
do they know who I am? You know what I mean?
So it's it's a surreal but definitely an amazing experience,
just to know that I have so many supporters out
there that have seen me over the years, you know,
go from a college student to now two years POSTCRAD, traveling, touring, djit,
coming out with music.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
It's it's crazy, and honestly, it's better if you don't
think about the numbers. You just think about the content
and that's it. Don't worry about the numbers.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Yeah, I do it for my like for my best friends,
my close friends, to keep them updated with my life.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Exactly why I do it now?
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Finally, in Thinky's first, in honor of your upcoming song,
I'm going out. What's the first thing you do when
you don't have to go out?
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Ooh? I always have to.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Go out, But if you do have a day off
to do nothing, what's the first thing you want to do?
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Ooh? I definitely. I love going on hikes. I love
being a nature I'm such like a walker girl. I
love doing that, going to the spa. If I'm not
DJing normally, I go full Zeno. Like there's a two xandras,
there's like DJ party girl up all night, and then
there's like going on a hike, green Juice Asai evil,
(14:18):
Like there's really no middle, you kind of get like
one of the others.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
So I'm the same way.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Like there's the Brian think that's on the radio all
hyped up, and then there's the Brian think that the
second the show's done, that's calling his mom, you know,
because my adrenaline is crashing and I'd rather just be
sitting on the couch with my cat. That's the Brian
think that I like, exactly. Let's talk about your music first.
(14:52):
Let's talk body. Say, how was this song born? With
Gig Grumbacher my first song ever?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I wanted to have a very strong, up coming female vocalist.
That was very important to me that I found somebody
that aligned with my views and kind of where I
was at my career. I kind of really wanted to
make this song with somebody that was going to appreciate
it just as much as me and really see the
(15:18):
project as a whole and understand what we're trying to
do for not just me, but also for the dance community,
you know, upcoming female DJs. So I she was sending
around a demo with that top line to it with
the DADA, and I was like, girl, we need to
meet up. Instantly followed her a dmtur. We started working
(15:40):
on the song. It's an interplation. Obviously. We found that
because I used to always loved this song called Buzzin.
It basically has the same dun sound dunna. But every
single day when I was up north with my family
and I was like, wow, we really did take this
and then we need to turn this into a dance song.
(16:01):
And so then we all came together and then Body
Say was born.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Well side note, I love the name Gigi Grombacher. It's
just such a cool.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Name, I know, and she is like the coolest story
and she is so amazing and comes out with like
amazing music on her own, and the song did amazing
and so grateful that we were able to work on
it together.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Well, something I love to find out about songs is
how many different versions there are of the song, from
when you start working on it, all the tweaking that
goes on to when you finally put it out. Do
you remember what the final v was of Body Say?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Oh my gosh, like fifty something like the amount of
different drops that we had for the second line, like
what because we got It's one of those things where
you kind of start off with like a top line
in a sample, and then you build it from that,
and then it gets to a point where you just
(16:57):
keep adding and adding and adding, and then you're like
it's too busy, so then you strip it down and
then you're like, wait, you need more boom, you add more,
and then you're like, no, too much, bring it back,
and you're just I mean, we we had so many
versions of body, say maybe we'll just start putting them
all out, like bodies they want you through for.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Vib Like, it's so funny you talk about going back
to earlier versions because even like I was talking with
Tiesto and he talks about that too. You know, you
get so far down the line and then you go
back and you normally go to like early versions and
put that out.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Exactly because it's sometimes you just get so carried away.
And I just remember I listened to that song so
many times, so many different versions. I was like, I
need to take a couple of days off. No body
say for a couple of days, And then I was like,
which one am I really gravitating towards? Like which one
do I want to listen to right now? And then
(17:50):
that is how we ended up with the final version.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Well it turned out so well, congratulations on that. Let's
talk about the news smash. I'm going out? How was
that born? And with Steve Aoki, Sam Felt, Nile Rogers
and Zach Abel.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Oh my gosh, what a crew. Right, it's crazy. I
was like girl power and here it's just literally me
and a bunch of guys.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
But we're making it known though, That's all that matters, Yes, exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I mean I've known Sam for a couple of years.
I DJed with him in Visa opening up for Caigo,
and then Steve I've known for about a year now,
and my team kind of came to me and they
were like, we want to do something really cool with
Steve and Sam, Like let's come up with something. So
(18:39):
we all came together and then I'm going out also
a sample and interpolation. So we ended up working with
Zach Abel, who's the most amazing vocalist ever. And then
it was kind of one of those things where it
was like okay, Like I was like, oh, let's work
with Sam, and then Sam was like, oh, let's bring
on Steve, and then Steve was like, oh, let's bring
(19:00):
on Zach and then Zach was like, okay, we need
that help. It just ended up becoming a whole whole group.
But we've we've been working on this for a while,
and this is also another song that's had versions on
versions of virgin versions and so many zoom calls of
all of us working together, really collaborating to come together
(19:23):
to make I'm Going out. I'm really excited.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
That's so awesome.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, when Gean Carlow from Armada sent it to me,
I'm like, holy crap, how many names are on this thing?
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I know. I was like, how are we gonna how
are we gonna fit this?
Speaker 4 (19:36):
The album art is just all names?
Speaker 3 (19:39):
I know.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Well, congratulations on that. That is so amazing. What's next
for Xandra?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Oh so much. We're finishing up the Body Stage tour,
which is actually it's coming. Yeah, it comes to an
end this week, so or it just came to an end.
So I'm super super excited to take a little time
off for the holiday. And I have been working on
so much music in my free time. It's going to
be amazing that I have more free time because I
(20:07):
really want to focus on putting out so much music.
And we're coming out with some mixdes kind of you know,
do you remember the big booty mixes like two Friends.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Absolutely, we're coming out with some of those.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
We're coming out with March. Hopefully. We have some big
festivals probably coming up. Wink wink. Can't talk about it yet,
but we have some big festival plays and amazing shows,
and there's there's a lot coming. This is just the beginning,
just the beginning.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
So we're going to be seeing a lot of Xandra,
which is great.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Yes, a lot of the biggest thing that I'm super
excited about is the music, and it's We've been pretty
much NonStop touring for a year, so I'm really excited
just to sit down and focus. I have add so
me on the road. I'm a little like big, I'm like,
I need.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
To sit down and take a nice hike.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Yes, I need to take a nice I go to
a top of a mountain with my laptop and just
get on my zone.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Well, congratulations on everything that's been going on for you.
It is so awesome finally meeting you. Happy belated birthday,
Happy early holidays, Xandra. Thank you so much for your
time with us on America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Thank you so much. America's Dance Artie counting down the
biggest dance songs in the country AM America's Dance thirty
Before we officially start. I know I'm about a month late,
but happy birthday to you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Happy birthday, dear Sandra, Happy birthday to you.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Okay, swee, let me bay.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Look at that.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I hope you made a good wish.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I definitely did. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
We belated birthday.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Dance, counting down the biggest dance songs in the country.
This is America's Dance.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Thirty, Xandra.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
It is so awesome finally meeting you. Welcome to America's
Dance thirty for the first time.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Congratulations on all the success, not only on body Say,
but also your brand new song I'm going out, Thank.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
You, Thank you. Super excited about it.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yeah, I can't wait to talk about both of these
songs and find out how they were born. But since
this is the first time chatting on America's Dan's thirty,
let's get to know Xandra a little better with Thinky's first.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Oh gosh, okay, I'm ready.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Why does everybody get scared by that?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I don't know, because my brain works in a very,
very weird way, so I get nervous.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
So what you're saying is this is going to be
very good.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Okay, it could be, It could be.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So I always love finding out the origin story of artists.
I read that you actually got into djaying after you
saw Alis in Wonderland play live and when you were
in high school.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yes? Yes?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
But was music the first thing you wanted to get
into or was there something else you wanted to be
when you were growing up?
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Oh my gosh, well there was. I feel like everyone
kind of has their random little things that they wanted
to be, like an astronaut, firefighter. I mean, my dad
was a dentist, so I kind of thought that would
be cool because obviously I thought my dad was the
coolest person in the entire world. But ever since I
was younger, I really wanted to be a singer. But
(02:24):
trust me, you do not want to hear me sing
the same So I remember being in choir and then
my mom was like, no more choir. I was like,
oh cool, cool, cool, So yeah, pretty much yeah. Since
high school. I mean, I saw also Wonderline performing and
I was like, this is this is it, this is
what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
And if you had a chance to meet her yet,
oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Yes, I met her actually at coach Hella this past year.
She did a set at the Do Lab and it
was absolutely insane and I was in the green room
with her and I was just looking at her in
all I was like, you are my everything, like you
started as a whole entire thing. So it was. It
was really amazing. And she's such a supportive, amazing person,
(03:09):
especially for the females in this industry.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
And that's what makes it all better is she is
such a great person. She is so nice.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Now, Xandra, of course is a take on your real
name Alexandra. But when you were thinking of an artist
project name, was Xandra the first name you were going
to go with?
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Or were the other names you were considering?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Oh my gosh, I went down the rabbit hole. When
I was trying to figure out a name. I was
looking at so many because I like, I'm German, I
was looking at like German, it takes my name and
so many other things. And I never really when I
was in high school, I always had nicknames growing up
(03:48):
because Alexandra was always such a long name, so people
would always just try to cut it and call me
alex But my mom did not want that name. Like
I remember going into kindergarten and they were like her
name and I was like Alexandra, and then she she
was like, okay, perfect, we're going to call you alex.
I went home and told my mom. I tattled sorry,
(04:08):
and my mom walked back into that kindergarten room and
was like, you are not going to call her alex
Her name is Alexandra. If I wanted her to be
called that, that would be her name. So everyone called
me Alexandra. High school, a grade school, people called me
a pole, and then high school ap and then college.
(04:28):
I pretty much came up with the name Xandra. I
changed my Instagram handle to Xandra pol And when you're
in college, everyone calls you by your Instagram handle, like
that is your name, and so everyone just knows me
by Exandra and that was it.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Can I just say I love how real your mom is.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I mean obviously not pushing you down singing when she
saw that you couldn't sing and doing that in kindergarten.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Oh yeah. I grew up in like a very real family.
Like she was not playing around. She was like, we're
not going to be delusional in this house. Okay, Like
I will support you. But she's like, there's certain things
that it's just she was like, you're really good at
certain things and other things are just not your strong suits.
So we're gonna we're gonna keep moving along, you know.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
And what does she think of your DJing career?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Oh my gosh. That And that was the craziest thing
because I came to her I was in high school.
I was wild in high school. Not a good girl,
you know what I mean. I was. I was like
the middle child, only girl. My older brother was a saint.
And so when I came home, I was always going
to music festival, super just involved in the music community.
(05:35):
And I came back after Lalla Blues and I was like,
I need a hobby. I really want to get into something.
I just saw Alice in Wonderland performing. I was like,
that's what I wanted to do. I want to DJ.
And my mom was like, thank god. She was like,
let's go, let's buy you a site, teach yourself, get
into it. And she was so supportive that I was
(05:55):
just passionate about something and she knew that I could
do it. Apply myself in that way, because you know,
I didn't have to sing. I just had to understand music.
But no, she was. She was very, very supportive in
that way.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
That's so incredible.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Well, I saw that when you were first starting out,
when you got into college, you were playing frat parties.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yes? The very first party I went to my freshman year,
I showed up. My older brother was in a fraternity.
And the reason why I chose University of Miami because
that's where I went to school, was because of their
music scene and their club scene. I knew that I
could really dive into it, and so I told my brother.
I was like, tell the social Share I'm going to
show up. And I showed up with my backpack with
(06:39):
a laptop as a freshman, literally first week of school,
and I literally told the boys. I was like, it's
my time to go on. I asked the social Share.
He said it was good. The boys were fighting me.
They were like, you have no idea what you're doing.
I was like, give me five minutes, and if I
stuck kick me off, that's fine.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
And I went up there. I DJ for five minutes
and the guy was like literally learning from me, and
I played the rest of the tailgate and then pretty
much did every single tailgate pool party after that.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
That is incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, did you teach yourself?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah? I self taught. I learned from YouTube, just honestly
watching videos, and I was like, very good. I've always
been like very musical. I've always loved it so much
so in very like mathematic so learning it took me
a while. My poor parents would blasted through these massive
(07:43):
speakers in my room all day all night. They were like,
my brothers are like.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Turn it all. Your mom's regretting.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Oh my gosh. Yeah, my mom was like, can we
just turn it down a little bit or maybe like
can you do this outside?
Speaker 1 (07:56):
That is hilarious, But that's awesome. Now we're going to
be talking about body say coming up. But is it
true that that was your first single?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Mm hmm very first single.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Wow, that's incredible to be having the success with it.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Yes, she's my baby. I've been talking about putting on
music for so long, and it was one of those
things because I've been djaying since I was in high school,
so I'm going on like seven eight years of djaying
and throughout my career, especially when I was in college,
everyone was like, put out music, put out music, and
I was like if I'm going to put out a song,
I need to feel one hundred and twenty percent about it.
(08:34):
I need to love everything because I only get one
first song, and I really wanted it to be super
special me. So, you know, working with Gigi and so
many other producers and we came up with Body Say,
and it has done amazing things and I'm so proud
of her.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
That's so incredible. Congratulations on that.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
And side note, even if it wasn't your first I mean,
since you were just starting out with music, you totally
had the right for it to so, which it doesn't,
but you had that right.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
I know. I think I played it for every single
person in my life at least like one hundred and
fifty times, and I was like, is there anything you
would change? Because I will go back in there and
I will. I mean, Boddy Say it was picked apart.
That song. We were working on for months and months
and months, and we were just every single day changing
like little things because I was like, it needs to
(09:25):
be perfect. Or also I was like, I will wait
forever to put out music. It needs to be perfect.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Well, we're gonna dive more into it coming up, but
think back to when you started DJing in high school.
Do you remember the first dance song that made you
fall in love with DM?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Ooh, I feel like Clarity what a song? What a song?
I mean, there are just some like that era of
like house music DM, like the Martin Garricks. Is that
like when they were like I mean, obviously they are still,
but when like the Clarities take Me Home, like Galants
run Away, when all those songs were coming out, it
(10:03):
just felt like that was my high school that was.
I mean, those songs were massive, and I still lots
of time ends up playing them in my sets. They
still hit every single time, and they just they're so
euphoric feeling. So I definitely say.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That nothing against music now, but you look at those
songs and they stand up, whereas a lot of songs now,
you know, we just they go so fast they don't
really stand up exactly.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
It was just a different era. I don't even know
how to explain it. I feel like the music back
then obviously music right now, I mean there's a whole
new era coming out and there's so many more little
like genres of house music and EDM where I feel
like back then, like the big stuff that was on
the radio. It was very big room vibe, and I mean,
(10:51):
obviously there's still those vibes that I mean, Yeah, it's
really hard to find a song like the Runaways and
the Clarities like they're one of a kind.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Now, between TikTok and Instagram, you've got close to two
million followers over one hundred and sixty million views on
your content. But do you remember the first time you
realized you were going viral?
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Yeah? Actually, one of the first get Ready with me
is I ever did. I was going to a pool
party and I did a stupid little video just talking
about it, getting ready, having fun with my friends. And
I'm at the pool party and you know, my sneakers
with my song Bikini. I'm going up and down the
(11:39):
water slide, chug in tequila, and I'm looking at my
phone and it's like ten thousand more followers, ten thousand
more followers, like three hundred thousand years, four hundred thousand years,
like just going and seeing I'm like, what is going on?
I'm like, I'm like, oh no, I'm like I don't
even know what I said in this, and I'm like,
hundreds of thousand people are viewing this. Oh, it was crazy.
(12:02):
It was a crazy experience. What a time to be alive.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
I love that you say, oh no, because it's.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
One of those things where I and like, still to
this day, I post things to my social media and
I totally forget that because you see numbers, but you don't.
It's really hard to translate it to people, right into
actual people. And when you think about it, you know,
you're talking about millions of people, and I'm like, I'm
so like messed up right now, I'm hungover rolling around
(12:32):
in the mud. Oh like co oh no, I'm just
imagining you, like on a mic, saying this to millions
of people. I'm like, perfect.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Now was it overwhelming?
Speaker 3 (12:42):
It was very surreal. It's very hard to like I said,
it's just to me, it feels like you just see
numbers on your phone and it's really hard to put
that into perspective. I feel like it really, I mean,
it still doesn't hit me to this day when I
play shows and I see that men people come out,
I'm like, where are these people coming from? Like how
(13:03):
do they know who I am? You know what I mean?
So it's it's a surreal but definitely an amazing experience,
just to know that I have so many supporters out
there that have seen me over the years, you know,
go from a college student to now two years POSTCRAD, traveling, touring, djit,
coming out with music.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
It's it's crazy, and honestly, it's better if you don't
think about the numbers. You just think about the content
and that's it. Don't worry about the numbers.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Yeah, I do it for my like for my best friends,
my close friends, to keep them updated with my life.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Exactly why I do it now?
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Finally, in Thinky's first, in honor of your upcoming song,
I'm going out. What's the first thing you do when
you don't have to go out?
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Ooh? I always have to.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Go out, But if you do have a day off
to do nothing, what's the first thing you want to do?
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Ooh? I definitely. I love going on hikes. I love
being a nature I'm such like a walker girl. I
love doing that, going to the spa. If I'm not
DJing normally, I go full Zeno. Like there's a two xandras,
there's like DJ party girl up all night, and then
there's like going on a hike, green Juice Asai evil,
(14:18):
Like there's really no middle, you kind of get like
one of the others.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
So I'm the same way.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Like there's the Brian think that's on the radio all
hyped up, and then there's the Brian think that the
second the show's done, that's calling his mom, you know,
because my adrenaline is crashing and I'd rather just be
sitting on the couch with my cat. That's the Brian
think that I like, exactly. Let's talk about your music first.
(14:52):
Let's talk body. Say, how was this song born? With
Gig Grumbacher my first song ever?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I wanted to have a very strong, up coming female vocalist.
That was very important to me that I found somebody
that aligned with my views and kind of where I
was at my career. I kind of really wanted to
make this song with somebody that was going to appreciate
it just as much as me and really see the
(15:18):
project as a whole and understand what we're trying to
do for not just me, but also for the dance community,
you know, upcoming female DJs. So I she was sending
around a demo with that top line to it with
the DADA, and I was like, girl, we need to
meet up. Instantly followed her a dmtur. We started working
(15:40):
on the song. It's an interplation. Obviously. We found that
because I used to always loved this song called Buzzin.
It basically has the same dun sound dunna. But every
single day when I was up north with my family
and I was like, wow, we really did take this
and then we need to turn this into a dance song.
(16:01):
And so then we all came together and then Body
Say was born.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Well side note, I love the name Gigi Grombacher. It's
just such a cool.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Name, I know, and she is like the coolest story
and she is so amazing and comes out with like
amazing music on her own, and the song did amazing
and so grateful that we were able to work on
it together.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Well, something I love to find out about songs is
how many different versions there are of the song, from
when you start working on it, all the tweaking that
goes on to when you finally put it out. Do
you remember what the final v was of Body Say?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Oh my gosh, like fifty something like the amount of
different drops that we had for the second line, like
what because we got It's one of those things where
you kind of start off with like a top line
in a sample, and then you build it from that,
and then it gets to a point where you just
(16:57):
keep adding and adding and adding, and then you're like
it's too busy, so then you strip it down and
then you're like, wait, you need more boom, you add more,
and then you're like, no, too much, bring it back,
and you're just I mean, we we had so many
versions of body, say maybe we'll just start putting them
all out, like bodies they want you through for.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Vib Like, it's so funny you talk about going back
to earlier versions because even like I was talking with
Tiesto and he talks about that too. You know, you
get so far down the line and then you go
back and you normally go to like early versions and
put that out.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Exactly because it's sometimes you just get so carried away.
And I just remember I listened to that song so
many times, so many different versions. I was like, I
need to take a couple of days off. No body
say for a couple of days, And then I was like,
which one am I really gravitating towards? Like which one
do I want to listen to right now? And then
(17:50):
that is how we ended up with the final version.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Well it turned out so well, congratulations on that. Let's
talk about the news smash. I'm going out? How was
that born? And with Steve Aoki, Sam Felt, Nile Rogers
and Zach Abel.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Oh my gosh, what a crew. Right, it's crazy. I
was like girl power and here it's just literally me
and a bunch of guys.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
But we're making it known though, That's all that matters, Yes, exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I mean I've known Sam for a couple of years.
I DJed with him in Visa opening up for Caigo,
and then Steve I've known for about a year now,
and my team kind of came to me and they
were like, we want to do something really cool with
Steve and Sam, Like let's come up with something. So
(18:39):
we all came together and then I'm going out also
a sample and interpolation. So we ended up working with
Zach Abel, who's the most amazing vocalist ever. And then
it was kind of one of those things where it
was like okay, Like I was like, oh, let's work
with Sam, and then Sam was like, oh, let's bring
on Steve, and then Steve was like, oh, let's bring
(19:00):
on Zach and then Zach was like, okay, we need
that help. It just ended up becoming a whole whole group.
But we've we've been working on this for a while,
and this is also another song that's had versions on
versions of virgin versions and so many zoom calls of
all of us working together, really collaborating to come together
(19:23):
to make I'm Going out. I'm really excited.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
That's so awesome.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, when Gean Carlow from Armada sent it to me,
I'm like, holy crap, how many names are on this thing?
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I know. I was like, how are we gonna how
are we gonna fit this?
Speaker 4 (19:36):
The album art is just all names?
Speaker 3 (19:39):
I know.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Well, congratulations on that. That is so amazing. What's next
for Xandra?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Oh so much. We're finishing up the Body Stage tour,
which is actually it's coming. Yeah, it comes to an
end this week, so or it just came to an end.
So I'm super super excited to take a little time
off for the holiday. And I have been working on
so much music in my free time. It's going to
be amazing that I have more free time because I
(20:07):
really want to focus on putting out so much music.
And we're coming out with some mixdes kind of you know,
do you remember the big booty mixes like two Friends.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Absolutely, we're coming out with some of those.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
We're coming out with March. Hopefully. We have some big
festivals probably coming up. Wink wink. Can't talk about it yet,
but we have some big festival plays and amazing shows,
and there's there's a lot coming. This is just the beginning,
just the beginning.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
So we're going to be seeing a lot of Xandra,
which is great.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Yes, a lot of the biggest thing that I'm super
excited about is the music, and it's We've been pretty
much NonStop touring for a year, so I'm really excited
just to sit down and focus. I have add so
me on the road. I'm a little like big, I'm like,
I need.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
To sit down and take a nice hike.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Yes, I need to take a nice I go to
a top of a mountain with my laptop and just
get on my zone.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Well, congratulations on everything that's been going on for you.
It is so awesome finally meeting you. Happy belated birthday,
Happy early holidays, Xandra. Thank you so much for your
time with us on America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Thank you so much. America's Dance Artie counting down the
biggest dance songs in the country AM America's Dance thirty
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.