BFFs Taking Over the Chicago House Music Scene ft. PODS - #006

Mike and Dom of House Music Duo, Pods, share their remarkable journey from preschool best friends to rising artists in Chicago's electronic music scene, performing at major venues and playing alongside artists such as Noizu, Tchami, Flume, and more.

Here's what to expect:

• Childhood friendship that evolved into a music partnership
• The origin of their name "Pods"
• How Louis The Child's 2014 Lollapalooza performance inspired them to pursue music
• Their favorite cities to perform in, including Miami Music Week experiences
• The creative process behind their production
• Balancing personal sacrifices with professional growth in the music industry
• Their approach to different sub-genres within house music
• Upcoming shows include North Coast Festival's 15th anniversary
• Advice for aspiring artists to release music regardless of perfectionism

Find Pods on all social platforms @podsmusic and check out their recommended tracks, including "Set You Free," "Power to the People," "Blueprint," "Poison," and "Hypnotherapy."

💿 Hit play, subscribe, and follow us on TikTok & IG!

Instagram: www.instagram.com/mindfulmayhempod

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www.mindfulmayhempod.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:00):
100%, we would literally text his iPod first
and if it didn't see deliverbecause he wasn't in Wi-Fi, we
text his normal phone to get ahold of him.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
That was like a really good era for music, I
think, and that really drew ustowards like that electronic
scene.
It kind of all shifted fromthere, I think, and just seeing
that what they could achievelike we, we can do the same.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
so the first two, like mixes, are kind of like can
we get through those two please?

Speaker 4 (00:24):
And then we're flowing and then we're flowing.
What is up, everybody, andwelcome to the Mindful Mayhem
podcast, and we're just going toget right into it.
We have two amazing guests whowe've had the pleasure of

(00:47):
knowing in our previous clublife era.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
From seeing them DJ at some of the lovely Chicago
staples, including Joy District,hubbard Inn, prism Chop Shop,
radius the Salt.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
Shed and even the wonderful basement in Rock.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Bar.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
They've gone on to play tons of shows, land on
festival lineups and open forartists such as Chami Twin,
flume, disco Lines and so manymore.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
And now tomorrow's a crazed show at recess, to name a
few.
They've released so much musicover the years, including songs
like Foolish Hypnotherapy,poison.
A recent EP Nonstop with Shermand their top hit Get Down.
A recent EP non-stop with Shermand their top hit Get Down,
while making remixes of two ofthe hottest tracks Ain't no
Other man and Mac Miller'sLadders.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
We are so happy and lucky to introduce two best
friends turned house musicbaddies traveling the world.
Please welcome Mike and Dom,also known as Pods.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Thank you, what an intro, much appreciated.
Happy to be here, lovely introright.

Speaker 4 (01:47):
We're going to drop back a lot of memories.
We're excited to be here.
How's it going?
It's good, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
We're really happy to be here.
I'm glad we could all gettogether.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
I mean, this is something we were talking about
a few months back so now we'rehere, and for having us Long
time coming we are so happy.
Talked about it on the way.
Here too, we go back.

Speaker 4 (02:06):
Yeah, it feels like just yesterday we were down in
the clubs doing our thing, andnow you guys are doing all these
bigger, better things.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
You just had a show at Concord.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
We did.
That was amazing.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
That's wicked we were with Noizu.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
That was our first time playing there too.
It was definitely a bucket listwe were able to check off.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yeah, solid Chicago State.
Yeah, it was awesome.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
We saw that.
A lot of memories with you guys.

Speaker 4 (02:31):
Absolutely Well, we're just going to get right
into it and we're just going toget heavy into the trauma
already.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Let's do it, let's talk about it.
Seep into the mayhem.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
Let's rewind back because I know you guys have
been friends since preschool.
Yep Pres, mayhem.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Let's rewind back because I know you guys have
been friends since preschool,yep Preschool.

Speaker 4 (02:45):
So what was the relationship and friendship like
back then?
And how did you guys turn intopods?

Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, I mean we literally go as far as we can
remember.
We went to St Emily's gradeschool in the suburbs out in
Mount Prospect and we're bestfriends ever since that first
day of preschool, from when Ican remember.
And just over the years, likewe just became like closer and
closer and then we found that weboth have a love for house
music and everything.
So just like through ourcollege experiences and

(03:21):
everything like that, we wereable to put our love of music
towards this like project andidea we had and uh, yeah, it's
just been kind of foot on thegas from there and I think after
covid that's when we reallystarted like we want to start
playing in the city and havevenues and yeah, it's just been,
like I said, foot on the gasfrom there it's been easy too.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
I mean to today.
I see his backyard from mine.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Oh, wow, yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
It is.
I see him more than my family100%.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
Well, you are family, basically, at this point,
different blood 100%, though.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
No, it's been the easiest, it's been the most fun
project I've ever done.
I mean it's just been sofree-flowing.
I mean it's just been so freeflowing.
I mean it's, it's, it's been ablast.
I mean he covered most of it,but we've we've been best
friends since you can remember.

Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
And it's never going to change.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
So which one of you popped the question to be like
hey, we should do this yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
He got on one knee.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
I remember, I remember the moment I was at
school, literally in my room,and I was in the scene at school
and then he was like makingmusic, and he's like, why don't
we just start our own?
And it was literally a text andit was simple as yes, and
obviously we started aligningour goals and what we wanted to
do and it was the easiesttransition.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
How old were you, guys, when you did this?

Speaker 3 (04:42):
I think it was junior year of college.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
Right before we turned 21?
Yeah, before we actually got tobe able to go to bars and stuff
In the clubs.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
Like we're going to do the clubs the right way,
Starting from the bottom.

Speaker 3 (04:54):
But now we're here Exactly but yeah, it was like I
was making more like hip-hopbeats just for fun that's just
something I grew up enjoying todo, and beats just for fun,
that's just something I grew upenjoying to do and then, like
you, always expressed interest,so the idea just came together
like over weeks at a time andI'm like no it like we see all
these people at Lollapalooza,that was it.

(05:15):
That was a big inspiration,like Louis the Child Day.
They were a big inspiration tolike let's just try it and see
where it goes.
So that's kind of howeverything started there.
I haven't looked back.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
What is the meaning behind pods itself?
Oh geez, do you want to give it?

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yeah, so freshman year of high school I had an
iPod Touch and that's how I wasin group chats I didn't have an
iPhone yet and our other bestfriend who, who we grew up with,
he just started calling me pods, like out of nowhere and like

(05:50):
when we started making music andand all of that.
It was like, okay, now we haveto think of a name, and pods
just like kind of it, just itjust kind of stuck out right
away, yeah, um, but yeah, it wasliterally as simple as an iPod
touch.

Speaker 4 (06:04):
so shout out that iPod touch very nostalgic, you
me, I iPod iPod touch.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
I message on my iPod.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, we would literally text his iPod first
and if it didn't see deliverbecause he wasn't in Wi-Fi, we
would text his normal phone toget a hold of him.
So I just had a meeting behindit and we were just like, I mean
just a great alias.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Just kind of close.
That's sick.
It's simple, easy.
Well, and it brings yourchildhood that you had together
into this project, which issuper cool, I mean we still call
him, like all of our friends,call him Pods too.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
And sometimes.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
I had to get and be like, oh no, you're talking to
Mike, never mind.
So yeah, that's good.

Speaker 4 (06:46):
Yeah, Tell us about that Lala moment.
We did some research and Lala2014 was your kind of aha moment
, Like what set were you at?
What were you feeling in thatmoment?
What was that?

Speaker 2 (07:01):
What did that look like?
Louis the Child, 2014 Lala Palthat moment.
What was that?
What did that look like?
Lewis the child, 2014lullapalooza.
Lewis the child changed the waywe looked at music, at least in
my eyes.
Just their sound, everythingthey did, being the hometown
kids.
They went to new trier, rightdown the road from where we live
, you know, it was just thatchilly moment of like we could
do this, you know, like we wantto do this.

(07:22):
And then we said we went totheir friends giving that they
had at Aragon after and it wasjust a done deal.
From there they were a huge,huge inspiration.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
Yeah, just seeing like them at that age and like
them being like the producersthat they are, we kind of just
took a lot of inspiration Likeokay, if they can do this, like
we can do this and let's justsee how far we can take it, type
of thing.
But that future bass era, whenthey were really massive with

(07:54):
it's Strange, those songs, thatwas a really good era for music,
I think, and that really drewus towards that electronic scene
.
So it kind of all shifted fromthere, I think, and just really
drew us towards like thatelectronic scene.
So it kind of all shifted fromthere, I think, and just seeing
that what they could achieve,like we can do the same, yeah,
yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
What has been your guys' favorite city to play in
outside of Chicago, if you'vehad the chance.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
I went to school in Arizona so we played with Chami
down in Arizona.
Oh sick and it was obviouslybecause I had my fraternity at
school, so that was just areally full circle moment for me
because I was our social chairand that's when I really got
introduced to everything.
Our first booking was Weathin.
We had 4B, we've had Slanderand I was like this is awesome,

(08:42):
I want to be making this music.
Like seeing you know the effectyou have on the crowd when you
play that type of music andpeople love it.
You know, like I want people toreign with that also, and
that's when you know heobviously reached out to me.
I'm like we're doing this, um,but playing in Arizona.
Uh, it was just a full circlemoment for me and I love the
state outside of Illinois.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
It's my favorite state yeah, you were that guy
there.
It was so fun.
It was they.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
They hit us up like hey, do you want to come play
with Sean?
I was like yeah no questionsasked.
We're there a hundred percent,so that that was cool and then I
mean are you gonna say Miami?

Speaker 3 (09:15):
yeah, we just played Miami for the first time so um
this past music week yeah it was.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
That was so much fun.
Yeah, we didn't know what toexpect early but we were there.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
I think it was three or four days, just like Tuesday
to Friday.
But, we were doing somethingevery single.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Was that your first music week?

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, next is Ultra.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Oh, hell yeah, In terms of just attending.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
We haven't even attended it.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
Or playing.
We're putting that into thefuture for you.
Yeah, for sure 100%.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Thank you, it's on the bucket list Manifested.
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (09:47):
So walk us through Miami Music Week.
When were you guys playing andwhen were you guys having fun?
And what did it look like?

Speaker 3 (09:55):
We got there Tuesday, tuesday and then Wednesday we
had a set at 1-800-LUCKY.
If you guys know that venue.
It's a cool area.
They have like a record shop upfront and then it's like a
sushi place in back and thenit's like a courtyard with a
booth and everything and therewere some really good shows

(10:15):
there.
So it was with Retail RecordsBlack V-Neck.
They have their labels, so theyinvited us to come out and be a
part of the showcase.
They had labels, so theyinvited us to come out and be a
part of the the showcase theyhad um.
And then Thursday we were withum.
They're called Dialed Records,they're they're newer, they're
smaller, but they have a reallygood thing going and they
invited us to play on this um.

(10:36):
It was like a pretty massiveyacht but it was like it was
stationed.
it was docked the entire timebut, um, it was like a smaller
private party but it was so muchfun just being like all day on
a, on a nice boat like that, andthen we just went to space.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
We had to check out space, saw Fisher like early
morning.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah, what time did you leave space?

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Some of our friends woke up like really early and
went, you know like maybe took anap and then when we were just,
we wanted to be a little bitmore ready for our set too, so
we slept in a little bit more.
We left like what Nine ish, 930.
And we're there till like, yeah, till, like our set was at 12
on the boat which was right downthe street, so we basically
there's like 1130, 1145.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
This is am pm.
Am am we're talking, yeah, yeahsun was.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
The sun was up, they had breakfast.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
You know that that whole thing um yeah, I've heard,
time doesn't really exist thereno, yeah, you get a lot for
sure.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yeah, night before for sure saw some people we knew
who were like going there thenight before.
I'm like you guys have beenhere for 12 hours at least.

Speaker 4 (11:46):
Wait, you guys just added a yacht show here, though
didn't you Okay, yep.
So is that like kind of goingto be a stationary thing on Lake
Michigan, or what is that?

Speaker 2 (11:57):
No, that's going around.
It's going to the river andthen the lake too, oh wow.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
So I think it's like four hours or so, three and a
half or something, the wholeduration.
We have two people going backto back before us and then we'll
end the set on the boat kind ofgoing around the river, and
then it'll dock.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
Wow, that's super cool.
As Chicago locals, like to havea set.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
No, we're going.
No, we're going.
You know what.
We'll be there.
If you want to come, let usknow.
Yeah, next week you guys.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
Next week.
That's super sick.
It kicks off kind of thesummertime shy too.
Yes, we're excited for it.

Speaker 1 (12:31):
Absolutely Down the river is sick.
Yeah, that's super cool.
So you guys have a lot of bigheadlining events coming.
I mean, you've already donethings in the Burbs on house
calls calls.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
You've done volleywood um, now that you're
back doing north coast 15th yearanniversary.
That's super cool.
I know you're excited about ittoo.
Oh yeah, I love north coast.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
But is this like a full circle moment for you guys,
getting all these cool in thecity opportunities?

Speaker 2 (12:54):
for sure.
I mean, it just reminds you,like, why you do this.
It's that fulfillment you know,like sometimes, when you know
it's the peaks and valleys, youknow you work really hard,
sometimes you don't get what youwant, it happens.
And then when you do, it justreminds you why you work so hard
for everything.
And with those late nights, theno sleep, sometimes it's so

(13:14):
fulfilling and we're so excitedto be back.
We loved that festival.
We were there last time.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
Especially starting from parlay and dress.
It's always been a part of thevision but, now we're like
starting to get a taste of likewhat we've envisioned from the
start yeah.
It's just like a lot ofleveling up and stepping stones,
like when we first got bookedfor joy district, we thought it
was like the coolest thing ever.
And which was like a really bigopportunity to like get in the

(13:44):
circuit and everything, and nowwe're just continuing to like
try and level up each year.
So I think this summer is goingto be probably our best and I'm
excited for it.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
I always think about Rock Bar Basement too.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
You kind of got to start with the basement and then
it's parlay and you knowthere's tears to this Playing
the four-hour set till close.

Speaker 2 (14:04):
And then now you know , we get a daytime set on the
house stage at North Coast.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Again, you just look back and you're like it just
feels so good.
It's like all that extra workyou know you put in.

Speaker 1 (14:19):
Well, and North Coast , like you guys were saying how
Lala was kind of that startingpoint.
I mean, this is a tier below,I'd say, when it comes to
Chicago festivals.

Speaker 3 (14:24):
Most definitely.

Speaker 1 (14:25):
Manifesting again next year for you guys.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
I will cry Lala's coming, it's coming.
Yeah, I don't cry.
That is our bucket list.
Chicago goal.
It's like top of the list.
That childhood you go to LalaPlus you're like I want to play
here, so bad.

Speaker 4 (14:40):
Do you guys feel like playing Chicago shows is more
pressure than when you guys areout of state playing shows?

Speaker 3 (14:46):
Great question yeah, yes and no.
I think it depends the venuereally and, I guess, the type of
show, because sometimes we haveto play like softer sets and
then sometimes we just like getdown and dirty with it.
But yeah, I mean, there'spressure when it comes to like
radius, usually that's a littlemore pressure, just how big the

(15:08):
the stage is and everything.
But, um, when it's like asmaller, I don't know like a
rooftop set or something, justwith our friends.
Like.
That's when those are sometimesthe most fun.
But we try and treat everythingas like same level, wise and
like what we play and how weplay.
We just kind of have fun withit every time, that's.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
That's really all that matters playing a venue for
the first time gets, you knowit's, it's like uh, I wouldn't
say anxiety, it's just likeanxiousness of like I really
want to play it, you know, andwe have something to prove to
being there for the first time.
Um, also, but I think I thinkout of state is just a little
more pressure, because we'rejust trying to expand so much

(15:47):
more.
So, you know, making a lot moreof like being in Miami was like
we really have to put our footforward as far as we can to make
a name out here, to be able tocome back here, you know.
So, out of state, I think, alittle bit more.
I mean, I think, you know, in away, or like we're just so
comfortable here.
It's like our city in a way.
So, um, I think I think out ofstate just a little bit more,

(16:07):
just because where we're tryingto reach, yeah, you know, put
the first impression, yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (16:12):
Yeah, I figured being here would make more pressure
if I was a DJ Cause.
I'd be like oh my God, everyoneknows me and I.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
Another thing, too, we always talk about.
You know they, no one wants tosee you fail in the crowd.
They're all here to also likewe want a gig, we want to dance,
we want to see you succeed.
So that's something we alwayshave to remind ourselves.
Like they're here to see ussucceed, so we're gonna kill it.
But it brings that anxiousnessof, like you know, first time
playing somewhere.
There's a lot more people.

(16:40):
When we played radius one time,I remember looking up and I was
like whoa just imagine that wasthe most people at that time
we've ever played it from.

Speaker 3 (16:47):
I looked down like whoa I'm like, wow, so like we
had the door slot, yeah, so likeit was no one.
And then like, next thing youknow, it's like 4 000 people.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
People fill that place quick yeah, so it was like
back to the bathrooms.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
Back there I was like whoa, yeah, that's sick you
guys look up real quick.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
That's one of those moments where, when you're a kid
, they're like oh, just imagineeveryone's in their underwear
and you're like this is harderthan I remembered it being,
basically that's something Itell.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
It's like no one wants to see you fail, like you
know, like they're in theirunderwear out there, you know
like it's that wave these are mypeople, we're good, yeah, yeah,
there are many times whereit'll be like mid-set and I'll
just literally say to dom I'mlike there's bodies out there
it's filled up so quick at times, like concord was it felt like

(17:33):
five minutes and it wasjam-packed bump it.

Speaker 4 (17:36):
Yeah.
Yeah, we always wondered whatdj's thought on stage.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
But that's our favorite part of it.
And there's times too, we'lljust kind of talk like what are
you talking about up there?
I'm like literally anything.
Sometimes, obviously when we'rein the moment, like certain
music stuff.
But there are times we likelike look, look to the right
side, like look at, look at thatview over there.
You know, like we just havethis conversation.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
Sometimes it's it's great you have prime totem
viewing yes, yes, 100 and it'sfun that there is two of you, so
it's not like I feel like therewould be more of an anxiety if
it's like alone with your ownthoughts, but like to be able to
bounce those ideas and likelaughs off each other is
probably refreshing, for sure,we talk about that too.

Speaker 2 (18:16):
I was like imagine if we had to do this alone, like
in the moment, like thank god,we have each other for this
right now.

Speaker 3 (18:20):
Yeah, there's been like one set where he got really
sick the day of and I had toplay it by myself and I was not
a fan of it.

Speaker 4 (18:28):
I was like it just feels weird.
Well, what's pods without thetwo P's?
Yeah, Exactly.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
I remember he texted me immediately after.
It was like I was sitting thereand I'm like.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
He texted me like I didn't like that and I was like
you've just finished, yeah,right, like you did it, but we
will try not to do that againHopefully never again when it
comes to that.
To bounce into another thing,how do you guys tackle
creativity and with growingtogether at such a young age?
How do you expand yourcreativity as you get older?

(19:00):
Have you ever had a crossroadswhen it comes to making music
and the style you want to go for?

Speaker 3 (19:06):
Great question.
Yeah, it's always like agrowing creative process.
That's what we've realized overthe years, but I mean growing
up together.
It's it's so easy to work witheach other just because we know
how each other operates andcertain like tendencies we have
and like strengths andweaknesses.
So I think just we really havea good workflow with the

(19:28):
production itself.
And then when it comes to likebuilding DJ sets, like we are
very on the same page of how wewant the vibe to go, like bring
it up and down and all of that.
But there's never been momentsof like clashing or just like
bitching at each other, stufflike that.
Um, it's just been a consistent,steady like common ground that

(19:52):
we have that's cool when itcomes to the creative process,
and we love bouncing ideas offof each other and, um, kind of
like turning those ideas into,like, new ideas.
It's it's a whole whole process, but it's it's very easy to
work with each other.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, I mean just from earlier saying how, like
being best friends and doingthis like there's been no hitch
in our step, you know the wholeway through and, like Mike said,
like we know each other'sstrengths and weaknesses, so we
keep the strengths to eachother's strengths and where our
weaknesses come together, wework heavily together on it.
You know what I mean.
And we're always obviouslytrying to perfect the craft and

(20:27):
we always keep the eyes and earsopen of everybody else.
We're always taking notes,we're always here for, you know,
constructive criticism and Ithink that's the biggest way to
like evolve your sound, you know, be able to be told what's not
good or what's your strengthhere and your music and what you
need to work on.
And and that's something as wegrow like looking back on music,
we just did it recently, like ayear or two ago we're like, wow

(20:49):
, we used to sound like that.
Like you know, so it's just,it's a real easy workflow.
I think what makes us be ableto take, you know, that step up
every time we just feed off eachother so easily.

Speaker 4 (21:07):
Is there there?
Was there a switch up or anykind of mindset before you guys
started to now like and what?
Actually making it feels like?
You know, like before you guysget started or with any project,
it's like, well, I'm gonna bethe best, biggest thing, but now
you guys have like integratedyourselves, like, was there any
change up?

Speaker 2 (21:23):
or you guys have the same mindset uh, for me at least
, starting off like he startedproducing heavily and I was more
like the dj scene and, like youknow, booking djs and all that.
So for me, finishing college,and especially right now, like
I've switched my mind tostrictly producing and like
perfecting our craft on thatside of things, because that's
what's going to reach mostpeople.
You know they resonate with ourmusic.

(21:44):
So that's where my mindswitched to, you know, where I
like to say, like we know what aDJ, but it's always getting
better at our music, and I thinkthere's times just peaks and
valleys with this and there'smoments that are like feeling,

(22:12):
like you know the making it typeof feel.
But there's always more work tobe done.
You know we're never satisfied,but I think, you know, like the
Concord show, like that felt sogood, that felt like exactly
what we wanted.
It was the crowd we wanted, itwas bumping in there.
Um, you know, noisy was great.
You know it just reminds youlike this is what we wanted and
that's what.
I think those are the momentsthat push you the hardest 100,

(22:32):
definitely a marathon idea.

Speaker 3 (22:35):
That's yeah, like you hear, the marathon, not a
sprint.
Um, saying a lot, that'ssomething we've really trying.
We're trying to every, everyyear.
Just just continue with thatmindset, because if people want
overnight success, they're goingto be chasing that every time
and that's very rare thathappens especially in this scene
and how many people are DJingnow and all of that.

(22:58):
So it's really just focusing inon the music and just getting
1% better each day, type ofthing.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (23:07):
Some people go into it with, like I'm gonna make
just a couple tracks heavy hitand just kind of ghost or not
really actually enjoy the wholeprocess.
So it's really enjoyablehearing how much you guys do
stand behind your work and youguys are your own worst critics
when looking at your old music,but it's great and there's
always room for growth andsounds are always changing.

(23:28):
Old sounds from 10 years agoare coming back now.
So, maybe the old tracks willpop off again.

Speaker 1 (23:34):
You never know, tiktok, you never know.
And we were at some of yourfirst sets and I was always
having a good time.

Speaker 4 (23:42):
I always liked it when you guys were working my
shifts and stuff.
Yeah, seriously, that wasawesome, especially because we
were newer.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
It was like you two were people that when we would
work together, we're like okay,wait, we fuck with them.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
All right, let's get into it.
It's going to be a good shift.
We're going to probably getinto trouble tonight have fun.

Speaker 4 (24:07):
Same thing too rock.
We're like I wonder if taylor.
I wonder if taylor will bethere, like hopefully someone's
there, we know it was like youtoo, so that's that's a
full-scale moment.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yeah, literally.
Oh my gosh.
And now look at it.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
There we are, it's awesome well, you guys do have
the playground show at recesscoming up where you're opening
up for a craze.
Uh, are any of our listenerscoming?
Let's see.
Leave a comment below.
But this really is our kickoff,aside from that boat show into
Chicago summer.
And do you have any liketidbits that you'd like to share
with fun things other thanthose that you have coming up?

Speaker 3 (24:36):
We're still waiting on confirmation for a few.
We don't want to jinx anything,so that's something like where
we've ran into the past when wewere starting out is like
telling people about shows yeahit doesn't happen.
We're like oh god um that recessone is going to be a lot of fun
though um, I literally saw aclip of this last sunday.

(24:56):
They had one and the captionwas like chicago, chicago,
people are defrosting now it's Ithink it's the perfect time to
jump into that like springsummer transition.
So I mean we've never playedrecess either.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
Yeah, they more recently turned it into a music
venue I want to say there's onlybeen maybe two shows there I
actually went to the first one.

Speaker 2 (25:17):
How was it?

Speaker 1 (25:17):
It was actually really cool.
There's like a seated area inthe center, and so it's kind of
like a platform and everyonestands around you, which is
really, really cool, so you'llget to have that bird's eye view
of everybody, yeah, nicethat'll.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
That'll be a good show um, it's got a big outdoor
area excited for that one.
Yeah, hopefully the weatherholds up.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, I was gonna say it's kind of rain or shine
season like people are justsending yeah, that's true.
If there's a sprinkle of sun,I'm out there, yeah 100%,
especially now.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
But I wish there was a few things we could kind of
talk about, about what'supcoming.

Speaker 3 (25:51):
It's just nothing set in stone yet, but hopefully
some things to announce that youguys will see We'll probably be
doing some like more pop-uptype events I think that's
something we want to tap intothis summer is like those like
pods and friends type events, soyeah, just keep an eye out for
those, whether it's like I mean,you see all these coffee shop
pop-ups now yeah and then likethe rooftop.

(26:13):
So I think that's somethingwe're gonna really tap into this
summer.

Speaker 4 (26:16):
Yeah, you guys jumped ahead on on us for the pods and
friends but talking about it umwhat?
What is the concept behind podsand friends?
Is it?
You know what?
What brought it out to life foryou guys?

Speaker 3 (26:32):
um, it was just like.
It was an idea we've alwaysthought of having, but we didn't
want it to be in like thenormal club setting type of
thing.
So, um, first one we did was atuh, kismet studios I don't think
I think they're taking a breakright now from like hosting
events, but uh, it was just alocal art studio in like wicker
park that our friends theyoperated, they ran it all, so it

(26:56):
was like the perfect littleback room and then they had like
, um, it's almost one of thoselike photo, photo shoot yeah,
areas they have like differentthemes, themes and blocks and
stuff.
But we really just wanted to puton a good event with our
friends that are also on therise on the come up and just

(27:17):
really get almost like a houseparty feel, where it's not like
you don't have to go buy a drinkat a bar type of thing.
You could like a BY a bar typeof thing.
You could like it's like a byobtype type of thing, um, really
just kind of change it up fromlike our normal shows.
That's something we reallywanted to emphasize is like
you're not just going to a clublike any other night, um, and

(27:37):
the lineups were alwaysspecially crafted, so we're
excited to like.
The more people we we've metthroughout the industry now, the
more we can build these out and, uh, just make it better and
better each year.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
Biggest thing was the biggest part of doing positive
friends was also to, you know,get the chicago artists out
there as well, like including us.
Like this city is obviously youguys know it's so rich with
house music they don't carewho's playing to the point like
we just want house music andlike that's where we want to.
We want to put more artists onif we possibly can.

(28:10):
You know what I mean.
And having some of our friendson there, having our friends
come, it's, it's such a likefamily type of event.
So we, we really want to getback to those, especially this
summer, and, you know, just justreally start emphasizing the
chicago scene.
I think that's the biggest partof it.

Speaker 4 (28:25):
Well, before we get into our next segment, we're
going to take a short break.
We're going to get a little fun.
We're going to get to know youguys outside of just being pods.
So when you guys aren't pods,what are you guys doing?
What's your hobby?
What does a day-to-day looklike?

Speaker 2 (28:42):
Nine-to-fives immediately, we're in our
day-to-day.
Look like Nine-to-fivesimmediately, we're in our
nine-to-fives.
But outside of that, I meanI've gotten him into golf a lot
more and he's gotten me into alot of more combat sports.
So we're huge in the UFC, youknow boxing world.
Okay, we even did training alittle bit for it, just to train

(29:02):
, just in case yeah, no just toget in shape, like it's strictly
for what it's for.
But golfing is a huge, massivehobby for me.
And then obviously we playbasketball men's league.
We're just huge sports people.
Let's just cut to the chasethere.
Sports are like our biggestgetaway from everything, at
least for myself, and golfing isthe biggest therapeutic thing

(29:26):
for me next to music.
But outside of music it's.
You can find me on a golfcourse golf is in its era, right
, yeah, it is it is, and it'scrazy because I used to play in
high school and stuff everybodygo, you play golf.
How about now all of you gettingclubs all of you want to come
play now it's crazy.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, it's funny I can hit it down the fairway at
top golf that's all you need itis the moment, though, and with
the weather it's kind of nicelately a men's league, though.

Speaker 4 (29:51):
Is that like a week basketball?

Speaker 3 (29:52):
yeah, it's a week we literally play with like kids.
We went to grade school with,so we have a very like small
circle, but we've known thesekids since preschool, so yeah,
um, yeah, we just.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
Yeah, I know stm's gems.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
Yeah, preschool, it goes very far back um yeah,
we've been playing basketballsince fourth grade together, so
we just keep it going and we'lltake down your favorite dj, you
can.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
Yeah, we have playoffs that's a good skill to
have.
Considering your job titles,yeah absolutely.

Speaker 2 (30:27):
We love just being low-key, ordering a bunch of
food, watching sports all night.
That is our serenity, outsideof music, 100%.

Speaker 4 (30:35):
Typical dude.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
Exactly 100%.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
How about your top favorite artists when you were
starting versus now, Like bigthree?

Speaker 3 (30:48):
Starting out, obviously Lewis Childs, just
because they were such a biginspiration man, that's a loaded
question.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
Yeah, that is.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
Mac Miller Going back yeah, on the rap side of things
, I really like Foster thePeople.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Oh yeah were.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
They were like og class.
Yeah, they were at lala toothat that one year, but like now
it's now it's just like now,it's a lot of house people.
I mean chris lake is top of thegame right now.

Speaker 2 (31:15):
He's done who I said he's the don oh 100 I was like
don no.

Speaker 4 (31:21):
no, I'm sorry, no, he's the Don Don.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
Julio.
For me, I kind of like pairthese three, almost like in a
group together.
Like Abo Om Nom, Odd Mob.
Their sound is just so distinct, it's so good.
Crispy yeah, it's their basslines.
I would see them any day of theweek, three times a day.

(31:45):
They are a huge inspiration, atleast for us right now, just on
the way they produce music.
It's so good, it's fantastic.
Do you have anyone else?
I mean we could have a list100%.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
We were able to see a lot of our more like
underground people.
That was a good.
We were able to see a lot ofour more like underground people
.
That was like a good chance tosee these people live, because
they don't come to Chicago often.
But yeah, I mean it's changingLike the sound keeps changing
every year it feels like, orevery month, but love where
House is at right now like ingeneral as a sound.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
Also, we listen to a lot of Bellatron, A lot of
Bellatron.
He is killing the game rightnow too.
So, those are people we live byright now.

Speaker 4 (32:31):
I'm kind of not going to lie.
The only song I know is SmackYo.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
That's a good one.
That's a good one to know.
That's a fantastic one.
That's what put him on the mapreally really hard.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
But yeah, it's changing, it constantly changes.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
So, looking ahead, then, what is a dream
collaboration for you guys tohave?

Speaker 2 (32:51):
This year I would love to collab with Goodfella.
We met him in Miami, great guy.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
Is he a good fella?

Speaker 2 (33:02):
Yeah, he's a phenomenal fella.
Good one, nice one, nice one.
He would be great this year.
A long run we've been talkingabout recently um vandalux would
be really cool.
We played with him at lincolnhall.
Just the most down-to-earthdude.
But his sound is just veryaligns a little bit more with

(33:22):
with what we want to do, wherewe want to go.
So he would be.
That would be a realheartwarming collaboration.

Speaker 3 (33:28):
100 yeah more like tech house side of things.
Um, uh, biscuits yeah, I thinkwould be fun.
We've played with him a fewtimes now and he's like the
nicest guy ever and we lovewhere his sound is heading right
now.
It's very distinct, like youcan kind of tell when a Biscuit
song comes on.
And then, like Gene Ferris withlike the Chicago status, that

(33:52):
would be up there too.
There's a long list, like wewrite down a list every year
like start of the year for kindof goals or collaboration ideas
and it's just super, it's superlong.
So we could go on and on.

Speaker 4 (34:08):
Manifestation work.

Speaker 3 (34:10):
Yeah, exactly Gene.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
Ferris is doing that back-to-back with Jay Wara at
Taste of Random.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
Yeah, we were talking about it on the way down here.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:15):
I saw that I was like all right.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
Probably catch us there 100%.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
Yeah, 100%.

Speaker 3 (34:21):
No, he's awesome.
He's done a lot for the Chicagoscene and he's just a super
nice guy too.

Speaker 4 (34:27):
So these questions I'm going to ask you
individually that doesn't meanyou guys are in a headlock.
You guys can chime in wheneverif it's not for you.
But, dom, we'll start easy.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
Daytime set or nighttime set.

Speaker 4 (34:44):
Daytime Okay, mike, disco or deep house.

Speaker 3 (34:50):
Deep house Okay.

Speaker 4 (34:54):
Always the deep house , maddie Dom back to you.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
What's one thing that still gets you nervous before a
show.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
I the first two transitions of our set 100
because once you, once you getthrough, you know mixing out of
the other artists and then youget your flow set up the board
how you want it and then you youdo your first mix in.
You know you really settle in.
So the first two like mixes arekind of like.
Can we get through those twoplease?

Speaker 1 (35:28):
and then we're flowing, and then we're flowing
and then mike what is your musthave on the rider uh, I mean,
gotta be a bottle of tequila,that's.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
That's the go-to you know it's sorry, I'm sorry, my
god, you're good.

Speaker 4 (35:42):
No, you guys are not in the headlock a big thing
that's becoming is a towel,literally like a hand towel for
the sweat for the nerves.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
There you go, get me through the first two
transitions and I won't need thetowel.
But, especially for a daytimeset.
I need a hand towel, oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
You're going to have to name a song Towels and
Tequila, yay.

Speaker 4 (36:03):
Now it's taken from disco.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
No, but like it's a different vibe, you know, yeah,
it's a different vibe, teachtheir own.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Absolutely.
That's awesome.

Speaker 4 (36:11):
Okay, mike, what is the biggest personal sacrifice
you've had to make to pursuemusic?

Speaker 3 (36:18):
Wow, that's a good one.
I think part of it was I playedcollege basketball and the last
year if I would have stayedwith the team, I would have had
to like do another year ofschool just for like credits and
all that.
But that was like when weagreed on the project and we

(36:40):
really started to take itserious, so just kind of like
stepping away from that.
I think that was something thatwas hard to do but at the same
time like it felt right.
So I'd say that.
And then just like missing somefamily events, I would say with
certain sets Like I have afour-year-old nephew now and one
that's turning one on the boatset Like I'm going to miss this

(37:05):
Really.
Is it that day?

Speaker 2 (37:06):
Nice, my sister wasn't too happy about that, but
she'll get over it ComeChristmas sister wasn't too
happy about that, but oh, it's,she'll get over it, that's okay,
he won't remember.

Speaker 3 (37:14):
No, yeah uh, but yeah , just I'd say stuff like that
okay, dom, that was also for you.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
Feel free to piggyback it's 100, some family
time, um I'm a huge familyperson, um, so there's
definitely been some times thatare, you know, we have to, we
have to do, but there's momentswith, with the fam and with the
siblings.
I definitely I can think aboutit right now that I've missed
and I'm like damn.
You know, it's tough but youmake up for it in some way.

(37:40):
You know the off weekends likeI'm with the family, we're with
the friends, but it's beenfamily time for sure.

Speaker 4 (37:45):
Yeah, it's all about the balance.
First 100% you, you can't holdyourself back from pursuing
something that you really love.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
Sometimes you have to sacrifice the people you love
Literally, yeah, that's what itcame down to.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
Well, to lighten the mood a little bit, Mike, what is
?

Speaker 3 (38:06):
a random skill that you have that no one else knows
about.
Oh jeez, oh wow.
There's this one game on Xbox360 we used to play.
It's called Doritos CrashCourse.
It's like Wipeout literally theexact type of game like that TV
show Wipeout, and I'm likeweirdly good at it.

(38:26):
That's like the only game Iwould play when we would hang
out.
I would just play for hours.
I got like top 20 in the world,or something.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
Where's my medal you?

Speaker 2 (38:37):
had some world records, you had some world
times.

Speaker 3 (38:40):
I should say Cut me busy 100%.
I haven't played in a while,probably that.

Speaker 1 (38:46):
And then, dom, what is your fun fact that you share,
when you're like when you werea child in school, when they
were like when you were a new ora child in school like when
they're like oh sure, some a funfact about you.

Speaker 2 (38:54):
Oh, geez but now you can use present day if you have
okay um, I mean it might soundbasic, but like I took golf very
seriously for a long time in mylife, to where, like I almost
went to college for it.
Oh, wow, yeah, like I lookedinto it, and so I think a lot of
people don't realize like Iwatch a lot of golf, like I I
could talk golf all day longwhat's your score?

(39:15):
what's your average?
So my handicap out of highschool?
Here's a useless fun fact.
I was all conference golfer inhigh school.
So there you go.
I was a seven handicap like outof high school.
So I wasn't good enough to likego d1 or anything crazy.
But I knew if I would have justlike gone, gone at it, I could
have got a lot better.
But the goal is to always shootin the 70s when we go out.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
Hey, that's pretty good.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
So, yeah, that's a small, useless fact.
His family also owns the bestbeef shop in Chicago.
Oh see that's huge too.
That's something.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
Yeah, I usually Jay's Beef.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
Yeah, jay's Beef hey we love a beef sandwich.

Speaker 4 (39:52):
Yeah, jay's beef, yeah, jay's beef.
Hey, we love a beef sandwich,yeah, yeah, anytime you guys
want to go, we'll go.
I was in here just the otherday eating one Dips.
Yeah, you like peppers?
You want cheese?
Sweet peppers for real.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
Yeah, absolutely no.
Yeah, that was I worked thereall of like high school.
Hey, Jay's beef, jay's beef.
Yeah, check beef if you justlike Chicago food in general.
Um, harwood Heights not in thecity technically, but take a
trip out one day worth it yeah,uh, we got.
We got rated the best beef acouple years ago by WGN, so oh

(40:19):
sick, oh wow, we won acompetition.
Yeah, that's legit so that wasthat, was there's another we're
gonna have to take a trip to theburbs yeah absolutely 100 um.

Speaker 4 (40:29):
This question is also for both of you.
What is the major red flag inproducers?
Like, you see a producer,what's the red flag?

Speaker 3 (40:42):
I think production flow, so like where you start
with a song, everyone startswith like either like a kick
drum, like just the drumsthemselves, I don't know.
You can start literallyanywhere, like if you have a
blank canvas.
But I think, just like workflowand different sample selection,
you can kind of pick up rightaway if you you can tell, like

(41:05):
they know what they're doing,type of thing, but everyone's at
their own rate.
So I'm not knocking anythinglike that, but that's where it
comes into.
Like everyone has their ownrate.
So I'm not knocking anythinglike that, but that's where it
comes into.
Like everyone has their ownstyle.
So it's just weird seeingdifferent styles and sometimes
when we're like collaboratingwith people, like we would do
something a certain way, butlike they do it a different way.
So it's just keeping an openmind, like that.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
Hey, that beef sandwich thing though it's
genuinely the best.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
Very serious.
If we can, we'll go.
I'll treat you.

Speaker 4 (41:35):
I'll drive Deal, deal , please, please, biggest red
flag for you.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
It's.
I don't know how to like exactlydescribe it, but it's kind of
like the atmosphere in thestudio of, you know, obviously
we have our own techniques don'tDJ producing and you know,
obviously we have our owntechniques don't DJ producing
and you know, obviously it canbe like a little bit of a clash,
like one person does it one way, one does another, so like we
kind of will go our separateways and finish it, but like
being in the studio anddifferent vibes are happening,

(42:06):
you know, it's kind of like, isit going to be hard to work
together in a way we can get thesong done, but it might just
have to be kind of like, is itgoing to be hard to work
together in a way we can get thesong done, but it might just
have to be kind of like on ourown times, you know.
So I just think some people work, yeah, some people are, like
this, ready to go wheresometimes we're like, you know,
hold on, like let's work on thisfor a second, you know.
And so I think getting the vibein the studio itself is a huge.

(42:31):
It's a layout for what's aboutto happen the rest of the day.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
Just kind of like chopping it up before you
actually get to work, likecatching up on like normal life
things instead of justspearheading right away.
I think that loosens everyoneup, like it creates a much
better vibe when it comes tothat.

Speaker 2 (42:48):
You can tell when it's going to be a little more
of a personal experience too.

Speaker 4 (42:52):
Yeah, I always got confused how collaborations work
especially with two differentsounding artists, which
typically do you feel like it's?
Do you feel like you guyspressure or not even pressure is
the word but like on, pushyourself out of the uncomfort
zone to collab with somebodythat doesn't have a similar
sound as you, or do you feellike that's almost easier to

(43:12):
collab with people?

Speaker 3 (43:14):
yeah, we I mean we love like testing out all
aspects of like the house, housemusic scene.
So sometimes we'll work withpeople that make much harder and
deeper stuff and then some willwork with like a euphoric vibe.
So we really like kind ofdipping our toes in every aspect

(43:36):
of the house scene right now.
But it keeps your mind open toowhen you meet someone for the
first time and you don't reallyknow where the studio session is
going to go, but by the end ofit usually nine times out of ten
it's a great experience.
So just really keeping an openmind with different sounds and

(43:57):
and styles.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
So that's gonna help evolve your music too.
Yeah, to places you neverthought it would go, um, but I
do credit a lot to to jake shore.
Um, but when he used to livehere, he really helped us get
outside our comfort zone, um,you know, because you know he
just kind of introduced us todifferent, you know, producing
styles and he was like you guysgot to really, you know, he
never asked us to do things weknew we were completely

(44:19):
uncomfortable with, but he'slike I'm going to push you guys
a little bit more and he did andit has really helped.
You know, we can notice momentswhere, like we're going to be
outside our comfort zone herebut it's going to do nothing but
help us, um, so sometimes Ithink it's hard when you see it
coming, or like you might beanxious about like I don't know
what's going to happen heretoday, but as you really get
into the workflow of it, you'relike this is, you know, it's

(44:40):
less stressful type of deal yeah, it starts to feel right, right
, exactly.
And then you get that workflowwhere it's just like almost
unspoken yeah, you guys, justyou, just rip it out it's good
to have mentors like thatbecause, some people gatekeep
and other things especially inthis industry, it's like who's
the people that are gatekeepingtheir stuff?

Speaker 3 (44:59):
you know, 100 yeah, absolutely, having mentors is
huge in this industry.

Speaker 1 (45:05):
So especially, like she said, with the gatekeeping.
It is like interesting to.
I'm sure you've met peoplewhere they are a little bit more
restricted, but having someonelike jake shore, that's like an
open book and not scared ofsharing how they grew.
In addition, because he waspretty small a few years ago as
well and has taken off, so it'slike you see that his ideas work

(45:27):
and that he knows what he'sdoing and you're like wait, I
got you in my back pocket, righthere it's.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
It's a cool thing.
It's a cool thing too to seewhen they start seeing him take
off.
You're like okay, what he saysis very true and it works.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
You know what I mean, so seeing that's a big part of
it too, yeah, okay, we have onemore question for you, each
individually, and then we'llwrap up that part of it.
Um for dom, what does successlook like for you personally
versus professionally?

Speaker 2 (45:53):
um, I think it's internally, personally, like
what makes us happy is that'swhat's successful.
You know, like it may not bewhere you want to be right now,
but are you happy with whatyou're doing and are you happy
with what you're putting out?
I think for me personally, likethat's the satisfaction for me
is I fucking love what we do, Ilove the music we put out and I

(46:16):
love the shows we do.
It gives that, you know, warmheart feeling inside, whereas
professionally it's a little bitdifferent because you can get
stuck with, like Mike talkedabout, like the numbers and your
streams and this and that.
So I think for us it's theprofessional goals of you know
we have goals of labels we wantto be on and we want to see that
.
But personally it's are youhappy with what you're doing and

(46:41):
how you're presenting it?
So, and I think that's thebiggest satisfaction internally,
Beautiful.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
And then, mike, how do you stay inspired and do you
think that the summertimeinfluences sound reinvention?

Speaker 3 (46:54):
Yeah that's nice.
Inspiration is, I think,something that's like crucial in
this industry and in this scene.
Like I, like personally at work, I'll just watch DJ sets random
DJ sets on YouTube and that'swhere I get a lot of inspiration
, like personally, random DJsets on YouTube, and that's
where I get a lot of inspiration, like personally, and
especially when seasons arechanging, like from winter it's

(47:16):
more, that I feel like it's morethat like underground scene
like that that feel the clubsobviously and all of that, but
with summer now it's moreoutdoor shows and and rooftops
and stuff like that.
So it's really just adapting tothe sound and like the scene as
itself, so seeing what whatsounds are like in right now and

(47:38):
kind of how we can put our owntouch on that with, like what we
want to make and what feelsright.
Um, so just really adapting asas the seasons go and and just
really making sure everythingfeels right on our end when it
comes to like producing andDJing as well.

Speaker 4 (47:55):
So when was hypnotherapy produced?
Because that puts me on anIsland.
Like so bad.
It's like that tropical islandyou want to just drive down like
a Hawaiian coast.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
That was a great song Like three years two or three
years ago.

Speaker 3 (48:11):
It was funny because that we made that song like
three years, two or three yearsago.
Yeah, it was funny because thatwe made that song in like two
days maybe, um, and like didn'treally think anything of it.
But I remember we were standingin our friend's driveway, um,
and I was like to dom I'm likewe should put this in the uh,
the insomniac, uh like demosubmission that we had.
So we literally had to log onto the web SoundCloud browser on

(48:36):
our iPhone to add it to theplaylist because we weren't sure
when it was going to belistened to, because labels take
a few weeks to actually listento demos.
So I'm glad that idea came upin the moment because they ended
up signing it and it was veryout of the blue.
Like one day they just emailedus hey, just want to check back

(48:57):
in.
I'm like signing hypnotherapyin rotation.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
That's sick.

Speaker 3 (49:02):
Yeah, that was a cool moment.

Speaker 1 (49:05):
If you guys could give yourselves like a subgenre,
what would you call yourselves?
Like yeah, You're like wait Ifeel like nowadays there's just
so many genres you know, likethey're kind of coming out of
every, out of the woodworks,everywhere.
So if you could create your ownsub-genre, that would be your

(49:27):
style of music.
What would it be called?

Speaker 3 (49:30):
Simple as like tech, tech, tech.
Deep house minimal, becausethere's like tech house and then
there's deep house.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
But I think we kind of blend those tech house in the
deep deep tech house either way, yeah, either way, you want to
put it deep in the tech, forsure yeah, we, we dip in in both
, so that middle ground, if wecan find a word for it people
always

Speaker 3 (49:53):
talk about like finding your sound as an artist,
but like we experiment so muchwith different genres so we're
always bouncing like.
Literally two days ago we madesomething very like euphoric and
had a really good vibe, andthen yesterday we made something
that was just like very deepand and like club friendly.
So we're just bouncing back andforth, but I think we do a
pretty good job of blending.
Yesterday we made somethingthat was just like very deep and
like club friendly.
So we're just bouncing back andforth, but I think we do a

(50:15):
pretty good job of blending thegenres together and just making
it our own.
It feels like our own stuff.

Speaker 4 (50:23):
As someone who has seen your set, yes that's very
true.

Speaker 3 (50:28):
Start off the movie and then it works.
It works Awesome.
So kind yeah, awesome, thankyou.

Speaker 4 (50:33):
So kind of diving into that if anybody listening
right now like wanted to kind ofstart their music journey or is
stuck on something like, whatadvice would you give to them
towards this journey?

Speaker 3 (50:46):
Yeah, I think, yeah, starting out, just go ahead, put
out your music, no matter howgood or bad it is.
Really, I think people get intheir heads too much about like
okay, this song isn't goodenough to release, so I'm just
going to let it rot on the harddrive and never see the light of
day.
So like there have been songsbecause you can always delete it

(51:07):
later on.
Like we've deleted manyprevious releases that were like
I can't believe we put this out, but no, it's, I think, just
putting out music, keepexperimenting, and like you'll
find what you like eventually.
So just doubling down on thatand trusting the process.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
So believe in yourself, buy in to everything.
Just just go all in and, likeyou said, release the music.
You do not know how anyone'sgoing to react to it if you just
keep holding on to music.
You know, like friends, that Ihave just send us music and it's
like what are you going to dowith this, I don't know?
Release it.
Why don't you release it Likeyou love it?

(51:44):
So then put it out.
It's the only way you're goingto get feedback.
It's the only way you're goingto gain confidence.
You just have to believe inyourself and you have to put it
out there.
It's scary, it's scary, butonce you get over that hump, you
know it's like I have theconfidence, I know what I want
to do, I know what I want tomake and I'm going to go all for
it.
So that's the only way you'regoing to actually know the path

(52:07):
you want to go down.

Speaker 1 (52:08):
Beautiful Thanks, thank.
I have a question.
So, as Kayla and I are a littlebit more in like the dubstep
realm, has it ever interest youin like trying to dip your toes
into that side of the scene orlike just pushing the boundaries
of your production and to likesee if you could?

Speaker 3 (52:26):
in like the dubstep scene?
Honestly not really.

Speaker 1 (52:32):
But not even like melodic dub type stuff.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
See that stuff's not bad.
I think those are great showsto be at live so you can
actually feel everything.
I personally love bass music.
Or if you know who Liney is, weopened for him when he was
smaller.
It was a few years ago.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
It in like a debonair basement and it was that was
gritty yeah but like that typeof music, like I love that like
the trap, like bass, yeah, well,that goes back to the hip-hop
roots and everything like thatexactly yeah, it's just like.

Speaker 3 (53:06):
It's refreshing and now like house djs are starting
to drop bass songs in their sets.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
We've done it a few times and it always gets a
really good reaction.
Have you ever thought aboutmaking a trap song or anything
like that, just to pushyourselves?

Speaker 3 (53:22):
Yeah, not recently, but the more we think about it,
the more we want to.
I think this year we'lldefinitely dabble.
I don't know if you ever see usrelease anything like that, but
we would never say never likethe more we want to.
So I think eventually this yearwe'll we'll definitely dabble.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
Yeah, I don't know if you ever see us like release
anything like that.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
But we'll we would, I mean never say, never, sprinkle
in a set yeah, it's uh, youknow it's something we'll.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
You always want to fine-tune, like your range.
You always just want to be able, because that also helps with
the exact genre you make, likeit opens your mind a little bit
more to the sounds, um.
But I just think the biggestthing too is like we never
really like listened to it as wewere coming up and coming up
like it was just house yeah soyou know, we're just not as like
big on it and educated on as weshould be um.

(54:03):
But I'm seeing you yeah, I'llnever forget north coast, like
two or three years, you know.
We sudden death, void mike and I, were like we got to be able to
say.
We said we seen a voice.

Speaker 3 (54:17):
We've been there.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
I had my patch meet on like I was in the crowd.
I'm Thousands of people.
You come walking by and you go.
Mike Dom, what are you doing?
Your house has, and we werelike stay there, Like stop, no
one needs to know that we'relike wait what's going on.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
We're trying to expand here.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
And we lasted about like 30 minutes.
Honestly, no hate, no shade, tosudden death.

Speaker 1 (54:41):
But the Voices are built different.
They are, I'm pretty sure rightafter I ran into you guys, I
was like, yeah, I got to go.

Speaker 2 (54:48):
I'm going to be at the stadium, literally I'm gonna
be at the stadium.
It was like what are you?

Speaker 1 (54:53):
doing here.
We're like I don't know.
You're like I don't know, Igotta go too.
I'm like all right, good luckout there.
That's so funny.
Yeah, I'll never forget that.

Speaker 4 (54:59):
That was great that was awesome all right, you guys
are both stuck in an elevator.
Who's inside of it?
Um you guys like like who elseis inside of it who's inside of
it?

Speaker 1 (55:14):
oh, you're in an elevator.
Who's in it?
Uh, but who's?

Speaker 3 (55:23):
stuck with you anybody, or like uh anyone like
music, like who would usually be.
How about both?
Okay?

Speaker 2 (55:29):
okay, music.
I'm gonna say martin garish,because that was my.
That was my guy growing up.
Like college, we just blastedthroughout the house.
I would pick his brain likecrazy in that elevator.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
Yeah, it would pop out to his Red Rock show.

Speaker 2 (55:43):
You are, I might oh.

Speaker 1 (55:45):
I thought who knows?

Speaker 2 (55:46):
I would do anything because I wanted to see him at
Spring Awakening a couple yearsago, and he broke his foot.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
And anything, because I wanted to see him at spring
awakening a couple years ago.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
He broke his foot, yeah, and like cascade replaced
him was great show, but I'm likeI literally bought these
tickets for martin, so I have alot of unfinished business with
him, so we gotta talk about thisyeah, it still gets to me, as
you can see, um, but he would bethe music, the music side of
things I would want in thatelevator.

Speaker 3 (56:10):
Yeah, probably ch Chris Lake.
For me, I think he's just likehe really does it for like the
love of the game.
He's even said like he doesn'tmake music for external
validation or any stuff likethat, like he just does it
because he loves it, and I thinkthat's so genuine, especially
at the level he's at right now,and he's like a mastermind

(56:31):
producer.
So I think that would be funjust to pick his brain and just
yeah, he's a very nice guy tooit seems like, so that would be
a good time Outside of music,though, for me.

Speaker 4 (56:47):
I think I have fears of getting stuck in elevators.

Speaker 2 (56:48):
So having like Conor McGregor in there who would
probably make it so funny, youknow, and make me not realize
I'm stuck in an elevator ConorMcGregor in there, who would
probably make it so funny, youknow, and make me not realize
I'm stuck in an elevator, conorMcGregor would be really fun to
be stuck in an elevator with, Ithink but also that UFC.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
Yeah, there you go, teach me a few things here.

Speaker 4 (57:02):
Come on, we've got time yeah absolutely isn't he
martial arts or MMA yeah, butMMA, yeah, mma but they've been
into the combat stuff, so itwould be such a good crossover.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
Exactly 100%.
It's a great question, honestly.
There's a lot of people.

Speaker 3 (57:18):
Derrick Rose for me.
I think he was such a legendgrowing up in Chicago basketball
.
Yeah, that would be great.

Speaker 4 (57:27):
It's a good elevator.
We would just hype him up thewhole time, honestly, if he was
in there.
Yeah, if you guys, it would begreat, that would be awesome.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
It's a good elevator.
We would just hype him up thewhole time, honestly, if he was
in there.

Speaker 4 (57:32):
Yeah, yeah.
If you guys were not playingNorth Coast, would you be at ARC
?
Or are you going to ARCSeparate from your guys' set at
North Coast?

Speaker 3 (57:42):
We'll probably we'll go to both yeah.

Speaker 1 (57:43):
For sure.

Speaker 3 (57:44):
I think, yeah, we're playing Saturday North Coast, so
we'll make our way to ARC oneof the three days have to.
Yeah, it's such a good weekendfor.
Chicago in general Just likethose are two just great
festivals to be at and yeah, Ijust think everyone comes
together then and it's always areally good vibe.

Speaker 1 (58:04):
Yeah, we're spoiled.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
Yeah, I was about to say any Chicago festival.
We try to make our way to it,no matter what day it is where
we're playing.
You know it's.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
It's too hard to miss do you have any festivals
planned outside of chicago thisyear so far that you're
attending even maybe not playingnothing, nothing yet no um a
lot of the festivals do likethey do their bookings feels
like almost a year in advance.

Speaker 3 (58:30):
So, um, yeah, like if you, you kind of got to get on
it early to to be considered.
So, um, we're just kind ofpreparing for like next next
year yeah, I always have to keeplooking ahead.
Yeah, especially in thisindustry with like future shows
that that get announced.
Um, because like the calendargets booked up so quick with

(58:51):
like oris and Collective, theybook out very far yeah now that
they're doing everything withInsomniac like Beyond Wonderland
and everything.

Speaker 1 (58:59):
it's just ever-expanding, but it opens the
door for more opportunities.

Speaker 2 (59:04):
Our motto is six months ahead.
What's in six months?
What do we need to inquireabout?
Anything that gets announced toand it's like.
It's like five months.
That's your time to get inyou're like hey, I know you're
probably not worrying about likesupport right now, but uh, we'd
love to you know like justimmediately be at like the top
of that list of them.
So when they start thinkingabout support, they're like oh
yeah, pod's reached out to us,that's right yeah, you know what

(59:25):
I mean, so it's always be ahead, always yeah, that's a major
life motto in general AnythingAlways be two steps ahead, but
stay present.

Speaker 3 (59:36):
Do you have?

Speaker 4 (59:38):
festivals we have a few I probably will be at Beyond
.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
I won't be.
We're doing Electric Forest.
Did you guys go last year?
The mud and all I had a greattime.
I thought I had a rain coat onand it was not a ring, it was a
windbreaker and I was soaked theentire time, but I feel like
part of the fun is dancing inthe rain like I'm not gonna lie
no, yeah, it was fun, it was funwere you guys at the heat wave

(01:00:05):
last or two years ago?

Speaker 4 (01:00:07):
when it was like freezing one day was beautiful
and the next day was like afreaking windstorm.

Speaker 2 (01:00:12):
Yeah, I think we were there for the beautiful day.
I was there for the beautifulday.
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 4 (01:00:16):
I bought a one day ticket.

Speaker 1 (01:00:19):
Yeah, I know.
Yeah, that was sick.
I hope they bring back HeatWave.
Honestly, I feel like that wasa super cool festival for
Chicago.

Speaker 2 (01:00:25):
It was cool.

Speaker 4 (01:00:26):
It was the best duck right in the middle too, it it
was cool, it was fun theyalready kind of I mean personal
opinion, but it was like firstyear they had was the first year
Grizz.

Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
No, Grizz was the second year.
It was like Zedstead and Tiestothey did Tiesto both years, and
then second year was Grizz andalso Tiesto again, I'm like I
don't think you guys can putbigger or better headliners for
us.
They had some good lineups andit was small, I feel like, even
how the stages were set up there, everyone was like, oh my gosh,
it's going to be terrible, butthey worked it out really well.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
They didn't bleed too bad.
That's always an issue.

Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
Where Beyond was a little bit if you stood in the
middle it was kind of like atrap of sound.
But when they did the NorthCoast there that one year I was
like okay, I kind of had an ideaof what to expect.

Speaker 4 (01:01:10):
Before we wrap up the episode, do you guys have any
last final things that we didnot ask about that you feel
compelled to share?

Speaker 3 (01:01:20):
I think just we're going to be consistently
releasing music every month.
That's a goal we have this yearis like at least one release,
whether it's a SoundCloud remixor an original.
Just keep an eye out for all ofthat.
I think it really shows ourprogression as artists, because
a lot of the music that getsreleased it's sometimes made

(01:01:43):
months before it actually comesout.
So just a constant progression.
We feel like we're gettingbetter and getting in a good
spot with where our sound's atand just really kind of putting
the foot on the gas this yearand really trying to level up
each year.

Speaker 2 (01:01:59):
That's it.
Foot on the gas, look out forit.
We don't want to look back, sowe're not going to.

Speaker 3 (01:02:04):
Got some good shows lined up too, It'll be a fun
year, nothing more.

Speaker 2 (01:02:09):
You guys did your homework.

Speaker 4 (01:02:10):
Those were fantastic questions.
If fun, fun, fun year, nothingmore.
You guys did your homework.
Those fantastic questions, yeah, yeah.
Um, if someone wanted to golook you guys up right now,
where can they find you and whatsong should they listen to
first?

Speaker 3 (01:02:20):
that's.
That's always a question wetalk about on the way here.
Well, our handle is at podsmusic on everything I believe,
yep, uh, so yeah we're.
We stay consistent with posting.
I think we got some good stuffin the in the pipeline right now
, especially with differentprojects.
Um, and then her song, I thinkI set set you free is a good

(01:02:46):
yeah, or power to the peopleyeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02:48):
Blueprint yes yes, um also.
Yeah, I was about to say,depending on your vibe, poison
is a really good, really goodstarting point as well.
Um, even into, like get downand then hypno and then get into
like let go.
If you kind of go that range,you'll see the range we get into
, you know, from from a lot ofsuper, like beautiful, to to a

(01:03:09):
little more deep, um, but maybestart with poison and then work
your way up a little bit yeahthat's beautiful the
hypnotherapy man it gets meevery time I listen to it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:21):
That's.
That's one of my favorite.
Down has me getting down, yeah,get down.
It's good too, thank you sowith that, we'll let the
listeners pick their poison onwhich songs they want to listen
to, because all of them aregreat.
But we want to say thank you,guys, for sharing the energy and
the journey behind the podsproject and pods nickname um, we

(01:03:42):
love you guys and are reallygrateful that you came on to
talk with us.
We're excited to see all the bigthings that you do this summer
and attend most of them as well,but we know you'll continue to
go far and thrive and we'reexcited to see the journey.

Speaker 3 (01:03:55):
Thank you guys for having us.
Yes, we love you guys too.
Thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
Thank you for being here, if you guys are in the
Chicagoland area.

Speaker 4 (01:04:02):
They are playing at recess tomorrow and next week
they have the yacht party andthen it's summertime, shy.
So stay tuned and make sure yougo.
Give them a follow.

Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
And thank you guys, so much thank you, and this was
mindful mayhem.