From São Paulo, Brazil, Riko and Gugga bring their infectious energy and love for nostalgic sounds to an exciting conversation about their music journey and creative chemistry. Known for blending 80s pop, disco, and modern indie dance, the duo describe their style as “heavy, fun, and 80s-inspired,” taking cues from artists like Tears for Fears and Duran Duran while reimagining their sound for today’s dance floors. Their recent release Motherlovers—a cleverly renamed track to dodge censorship—recently hit the Beatport charts and showcases their playful yet polished approach to production.
The pair’s story reflects a unique balance of passion and discipline. Producing, mixing, and mastering everything in-house, Riko and Gugga average two to three days to complete a track and release around 30 each year. With multiple Beatport top-charting singles under their belt, including the breakout remix of Voyage Voyage, they’ve proven that independent dedication can lead to international success. Their work has appeared in genres from progressive house to melodic techno, earning recognition for both artistry and consistency.
Beyond the music, the duo discuss their shared struggles with social media, the challenges facing Brazil’s shrinking club scene, and the power of festivals and underground events to unite dance culture. They share hilarious gig stories, like holding their vibrating mixer in place mid-set, and heartfelt moments such as hearing their songs played at major festivals for the first time. For Riko and Gugga, it’s all about authenticity, connection, and bringing people together—whether it’s in a packed club or a Buenos Aires bookstore.
Topics0:12 - Introducing Riko and Gugga from São Paulo and their 80s-inspired style 3:00 - Creating retro-modern sounds using classic synth tones 5:29 - Behind the making of Motherlovers and avoiding censorship 7:48 - Climbing the Beatport charts and top-ranking releases 9:56 - The duo’s creative workflow and fast production pace 13:14 - Favorite tracks, milestones, and breakthrough hits 17:55 - Hearing their music unexpectedly at major festivals 20:04 - Early musical roots from heavy metal to trance influences 24:23 - Labels they admire and insight into today’s dance industry 35:58 - Reflections on Brazil’s club scene and social media struggles
Connect with Riko and GuggaInstagram: @rikoandgugga
About RIKO & GUGGA -
RIKO & GUGGA is a Brazilian duo whose unique musical identity is the captivating fusion of 80s energy with the pulsating elements of modern electronic music. With a sound that transcends genres, their productions blend Indie soundscapes with the progressive energies of Techno and House.
This retro-modern combination has conquered the international scene, drawing the attention of major names such as Vintage Culture, Solomun, Innellea, Adriatique, Massano, Colyn, Nicky Romero, Ferry Corsten, Kölsch, Kevin de Vries, Max Styler, Cassian, Chris Avantgarde, Miss Monique, Nora En Pure, and D-Nox.
The innovative strength of RIKO & GUGGA is notable, not only on the dancefloor but also in their essential role in transforming Brazilian electronic music.
The duo continues to redefine genre boundaries, taking audiences on a musical journey
without limits. This unique blend of styles has stood out at iconic events like Tomorrowland, Awakenings, Afterlife, Rock in Rio, So Track Boa, Zamna, CRSSD and Ultra Music Festival.
With a successful trajectory, RIKO & GUGGA have secured top positions in the prestigious Beatport rankings, reaching #1 in Progressive House twice, #1 in Indie Dance, #5 in Melodic Techno twice and appearing in the Top 10 six times.
About The DJ Sessions -
“The DJ Sessions” is a Twitch/Mixcloud "Featured Partner” live streaming/podcast series featuring electronic music DJ’s/Producers via live mixes/interviews and streamed/distributed to a global audience. TheDJSessions.com
The series constantly places in the “Top Ten” on Twitch Music and the “Top Five” in the “Electronic Music", “DJ", "Dance Music" categories. TDJS is rated in the Top 0.11% of live streaming shows on Twitch out of millions of live streamers.
"The DJ Sessions" is listed in the Feedspot directory as one of the Top 60 EDM Podcasts.
It has also been recognized by Apple twice as a "New and Noteworthy” podcast and featured three times in the Apple Music Store video podcast section. UStream and Livestream have also listed the series as a "Featured" stream on their platforms since its inception.
The series is also streamed live to multiple other platforms and hosted on several podcast sites. It has a combined live streaming/podcast audience is over 125,000 viewers per week.
With
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the DJ sessions presents the virtual sessions I'm your host Darran and right now I'm sitting sitting in the virtual studios with the new backdrop Yeah, cuz it's virtual right with the green screen and all that fun stuff and coming in today all the way from San Paolo Brazil we have Riko and Gugga today Amazing so much for being here today.
(00:46):
I was looking online at some of your content some of the stuff you've been releasing Wow I Want to ask about it later?
But I'm gonna ask you are you DJing in a bookstore?
Like what is yeah in Argentina?
Yeah, it's a real bookstore Okay Yeah, yes, yes you have a lot of old books and you have like really old books with dust It's a it's a library and it's called like la biblioteca, which is the library.
(01:18):
So it's a very cool vibe, man Yeah, it's amazing.
Yeah, is that yeah, we'll talk about that in a little bit.
I just saw that I was like The DJ didn't like cuz I once thought about throwing an event at our big public library here.
They got this really awesome area, that's kind of very funky and Futuristic and and looks like it belongs in a movie and I want to throw a nightlife event in there I mean the books wouldn't be around but it's still look really cool.
(01:43):
And I was like, hey guys already did it Well, they leave the books around and like no one's no one messes with the book.
So Amazing it works That'd be I want to visit that place.
I'm gonna come down there.
I'm gonna check that out Yeah, but anyways, you're gonna talk about what I want to do in the world We're gonna talk about what you two are up to and what you're doing in the world today You know, let's start out our DJ session for excuse me for our DJ DJ sessions fans that don't know who you are Can you describe what your music is in three words?
(02:16):
Just so people can get an idea of what to expect if they go to a Riko and Gugga show Three words three words, it's heavy Fun has a fun and it has a 80s vibe to it 80s vibe now I grew up in the 80s.
I may look nice and Hot and cool.
(02:38):
I'm not using any filters when I do my interviews.
I don't have hair and makeup
I don't even have any hair to do hair if I had
But no, I mean when you say 80s vibe what does what style you going for with the 80s
are you looking more towards like the synth of the sound the synth sounds or
(02:59):
It's kind of the landscape of the track the sounds we use the the
the tones of the drums, they are very
It reminds like tears for fear stuff duran duran duran and this kind of
of music
so we try to we have this kind of sounds in our library and
(03:21):
We like this kind of sound because it's nostalgic, you know, so we try to use
Use them in our tracks.
I was having brunch the other day with my friend and we were at a restaurant and funny
Well, I just laughed and he said duran duran duran duran actually came on wild boys
And I was like, I started kind of dancing in the restaurant people probably looking around like not dance
(03:44):
I was in my chair, but kind of like moving around that that's a great song
I was telling her who she was born in like 1992
I'm like
Yeah, this is a very awesome music video for its time a very very big huge production
Yeah, but yeah, I definitely love that 80s pop sound
It's like disco music 70s disco music and 80s pop
(04:07):
are like if I'm I tell anyone that gets to know me if I'm angry just put some of that in and I'll be like
And I'll have to smile and dance, you know
Yeah, I'd be like you just like reset me, you know, cuz it's gonna put me in a good mood
Even disco you said you said like about disco music
We have like a next release upcoming release that we try to to blend like the old disco vibe
(04:30):
we we for more like
Modern dance floor vibe, you know what I mean?
And so not only disco but the 80s sometimes the 90s as well And that's it.
It said it's the retro modern stuff.
That's what we do And you just had a track come out recently Called motherlovers.
(04:51):
Yeah now in no relation to The video made with Justin Timberlake and Adam Sandberg Andy Sandberg, I think motherlovers, but tell us all about motherlovers and and that track and What's the meaning behind motherlovers?
Cuz I know there's a secret way you had to change some things up there for it.
(05:12):
Yeah
Yeah, we changed the name because the lyrics is mother
The guy says mother F and
We were afraid about you know censorship and explicit content on Spotify and things like that and we put motherlovers, too
Yeah
We wouldn't we wouldn't want like the little e in front of our track name
(05:35):
Like in the streaming platform, so that's just as it but we try we we kind we kind of like found
That that vocal like mother.
It's mother Word and We brought that like into our vibe in this indie dance with time We've kind some some kind of tech house We blended it all together and we are super happy because it's Today we woke up.
(06:06):
It's like number 30 on Beatport in India So It's amazing it's working it's working on it It's the exit the XA audio from Bulgaria.
It's amazing label from Pavel Petrov that Invited us and we feel at home with them.
(06:26):
Thank you so much.
Nice Will you be will you to be going to ADE this year at any chance by any chance?
Not this year.
Not this year next year.
Maybe maybe you're playing in Not not only Eddie, but we we are planning in Eurotour, so Yeah, when is that Wow European summer Planning the European tour.
(06:53):
Yeah
With all the festivals and everything that happens I thought Eurotour was a festival
Sorry to my accent, I'm so sorry
It's all we love accents on the show I wish I spoke more languages, you know
one of the things that we do here is our website is
Translated everything's being transcribed and you'll be able to translate this into over a hundred different languages and we're adding subtitles
(07:21):
To our shows and eventually we'll be adding AI voiceovers
So when somebody wants to show even though it's in English, they can click it
It'll be all subtitled over voiceover in English or in a little different languages
Yeah, I gotta wait for the cost to come down on that but it's a project we're undertaking we're super excited for it
But again enough about us.
We're here.
We're here
(07:41):
And you have some other tracks that have topped on beat board or topped on before you've had some pretty good success there, right
Yeah
in different styles, actually
We got to two times
top one on progressive house
We were like top five in melodic techno
Up to our one time or two times in any days we we've got a top position with
(08:09):
track called algorithms
That's that's good for us because
It's like free publicity right people who get to know us
easily
Oh, go ahead.
I'm sorry.
Go ahead.
No in for us is like a motivation because It represents The quality of our work, so it's good man.
(08:35):
It's it feels good, you know After being doing this show for a number of years and being in top positions on multiple sites I definitely understand and know that motivational feeling that one gets when you're up there.
I mean, it's nothing Yeah, we're all supposed to get along We're all supposed to help out the next homie and support the artists in the industry But I think it was like it was a I don't know if it was a Nike cover I don't think it was a Nike commercial.
(09:00):
I remember there was this
Commercial and there was a bunch of sports athletes playing and what happened is, you know, yes, we're all teammates on the field
We're all you know that it we're all friends
We're all trying to support each other
But at the end of the day and then they the person doing the monologue says, but I'm number one
(09:21):
And
He's like, yeah, I'm ranked the top, you know
Growing up in a family that my dad was a professional athlete, you know and ranked
Internationally rat nationally internationally
You know
I kind of get that pushing to the top of being at the top and like holding that title and you gotta worry about being
(09:43):
Dethroned and something's gonna come along and knock you down.
What do you need to pick yourself back up?
So, you know when doing these productions sounds like you're frequently releasing stuff how long does it take you to to finish a track on average?
Depends on our inspiration, I guess Usually two Three days to finish a track like composing producing mixing and mastering But sometimes we got stuck as everybody else, you know Technical glitches From time to time, there's no Rico Oh Rica Rico.
(10:27):
Yeah.
Okay.
He's frozen.
We can all we can all pose and freeze.
Yeah, we just all pretend
Well, it'll probably glitch it'll happen it happens but two to three days
That's pretty darn quick for most songs and you do all your in-house mastering yourself
Yeah
(10:48):
We do all the mixing stuff in mastering stuff, yeah
And if you could take a look sometimes sometimes when you when you sign with a label the label asks for the the pre master
file to master it again because some labels has a
have a standard of
Everything we we do everything in-house
(11:08):
That would make sense.
That would make sense I we toyed with the idea of opening up doing a label over here as I was talking about some of the stuff we do Pre-show and there he is I'm so sorry guys Technology is funny and it's fickle and it happens like that.
(11:32):
Sometimes that we that's the one thing I love about doing a live show is anything can happen.
I gotta be prepared to pick up Just wanna talk about like the the big portal points like regarding that Yeah, we make we make music in its art, right?
uh We we do like as we enjoy And we just put it on the market and we don't know what's gonna happen, right?
(11:56):
Sometimes people will love it.
Sometimes people will hate it And and then it's go it goes like top one.
Oh my god
like
like our work that
Maybe like we we made like here or at guga's place and now it's
Everybody's around the world is buying the track, you know, it's so crazy
(12:17):
But it's like he said it's very motivating for us and we love that
I I definitely have heard the term
It's like make having a child and then putting out the put the child out in the world and seeing what happens with it
And you love every production everything you put out there your heart and soul goes into it and you're right
sometimes it might be something that the kids don't want to play with in the sandbox and sometimes it's like
(12:40):
Everybody wants it and it's the new hottest candy on the market, you know
um or like that, so, um, definitely
Um guga and I were talking about how long it takes you to produce tracks, you know, he said two to three days
Mastering and everything, you know and sending it off.
That's a phenomenal turnaround time I mean geez now.
(13:01):
Do you have a set schedule of track production?
Like, okay, we're gonna make four tracks a month.
We're gonna make 10 tracks a month How many tracks do you end up making per month and how many get released on average?
um
We don't have like a exact number by month of productions because rico has a um
(13:21):
uh a job
Uh besides Riko and Gugga and I work with mix and master and goes production and co-production with another artist
So, okay when our uh demands are lower in the in the month we can produce more for rick and guga
so but
We have like
(13:42):
At least two tracks per month
Okay, that's not bad
In a good month, maybe more so we I don't know we are in october
I I think we must have finished like I don't know almost 30 tracks this year
30 tracks this year.
Yeah Wow The the beginning of the the year was crazy.
(14:04):
We produced a lot.
So it was a good
It was a good window to produce
now out of that if you had to pick and this is always a difficult question for people to answer because I get the same
Question if I had to pick one of my own favorite episodes i'm like every single 2700 of them every single one
You know if you had to pick a list of one of your productions that really stands out to you though
(14:27):
Then you're like yeah that one was so monumental it went out it got the accolades is one
Is there one that really stands out to the both of you that this is like that one really broke us through or?
you know Anything that comes to mind?
I I think uh, it depends on the
on your vibe
(14:48):
Now my favorite one is mother lovers
but my way of thinking as a producer is
The my best track is always the next track, you know, i'm not
I always uh
i'm always
i'm not satisfied
with the with the my current result i'm
(15:10):
Always looking forward, you know, so the next track is always the best one
But for now, I like mother lovers is my favorite for now for me for me
It's our our remix of voyage voyage the very classic of the 80s voyage voyage the french song
uh
By desirous, so for me, it's definitely that one.
(15:33):
I love that song.
I love that track uh, it's a Milestone for us a lot of things changed in our career of that track It's it was our first top one on beat part So it has like a very very special meaning for me.
I think for both of us actually.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was a milestone.
Yeah Nice.
(15:53):
Nice.
Do you now I notice you're both in headsets But do your neighbors ever complain about your music like you're playing too loud or like turn it down?
No, no, no, no, actually we don't
No, we don't produce like that loud so we are very like chilled guys
Yeah, i'm always with my headphone I have monitors but I don't have uh, like acoustical treatment
(16:17):
so I can use my monitors only to make videos, you know, but i'm
Yeah 95 percent of the time I use
Headsets, I do have some treatment now because i've just actually i've just finished my my recent my home studio
but i'm used to like producing a
quiet
range
(16:38):
You know what I mean, so i'm not i'm not a loud guy like
And people and people in the building like oh my god, this dude is crazy
No, no, you're not that kind of guy.
Someone just got home on gugas in.
Hi.
Yeah Real life guys.
This is real life You guys are using retween backgrounds too Yeah, my studio Is in my living room in my kitchen, right?
(17:05):
This is real life You know, where's the weirdest moment the both of you and you didn't have to be together but where's the weirdest moment either of you have ever heard one of your own tracks play or you were amazed like That's us you know No a weird one.
I was actually now There's a festival called the town here in san paulo.
(17:29):
It's like pop and rock festival and I was walking and There was a place like selling coffee But he was there was like a dj playing And I and I and it was well, wait, I know that song and it was like our remix like That we made like four years ago And oh my god, then I made a video for him like they're playing our remix.
(17:55):
This is so old.
This is crazy Like in the festival here what's going on?
So What about you gugo, where's the weirdest place you've ever heard one of your own tracks the weirdest place It's not weird.
It's it was like pretty uh emotional for me.
(18:17):
Actually.
Yeah, there was a there was a afterlife festival here in brazil, I think was last year and They played the the djs on the the festival.
They played three of our tracks and woman was amazing me and rico Yeah, we were like looking at each other I was crying oh my god They're playing our tracks.
(18:38):
That's it.
We are in the right place.
Yeah And it's crazy like I don't know 30 000 people like dancing a lot of like big names in the scene, you know And they were playing our tracks and I and I remember like we we were together and I told like a girl Like beside me like oh, this is this is our track and the girl she said like oh, are you crazy dude?
(19:03):
I said I was like She like she couldn't believe it.
You're like Damn it right in front of her and be like look Listen, yeah Do you want me to open the ableton project here just to prove it You know, do you both remember the first Album or track you ever purchased to start your djing career Do you remember what your first first one was?
(19:34):
Well for me, uh in 2020 when I entered in the the entered in the electronic dance music market I was into more anjuna deep things, you know So I I think that the first thing that I heard was yoto stuff.
I love yoto uh but I don't know the the track that market marketed me, but I think he was like the first artist that got my attention.
(20:03):
Yeah Now, do you know yoto?
from finland It's very i'm familiar.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah for me was way way before like I I I started like Not djing but enjoying like electronic music in 2004 and five And I remember like the first track that really got me was like an army of amburent track called shivers it's a very classic track of him and And I remember like oh, this is crazy.
(20:35):
And after that He put me like in the psytrance scene and I spent like a lot of years just going to psytrance festivals and I I think in 2008 or or so uh, I wanted to start djing so It was crazy, but for me I could say like i'm doing shivers it's in a very old classic european trends I think you you guys should like listen to it.
(21:02):
It's a very like master class for The new djs around, you know, one of the cool things is you go back in the history of electronic music And very rarely do you come across something that maybe let's say even 20 years 25 years old You could play it today and it sounded like it came out today Yeah, you know.
(21:23):
Yeah, that's the classic back You're back Yeah, and that's the classic.
That's the awesome thing.
We were talking a little bit about you know, how rico, you know Started getting into electronic music 2004 his career in in and getting into psytrance And stuff and talking about you know Looking at music from so long ago say 25 years ago and how you could play it Today and so you're like, oh is that new and you're like, no, that's 25 years old.
(21:49):
Yeah Actually, we do we do that a lot We do that a lot like in our in our sets, right?
Yeah, we sometimes we play like a track from 2007 6 8 like in old electro house and people.
Oh my god What's that?
You know, it's crazy.
It still works Yeah I think it's I I think it's important to say i'm not from Like my my childhood and when I was younger I was not on the electronic scene, you know, I was into heavy metal stuff.
(22:24):
So I was a drummer in on a heavy metal band.
So
uh, the the tracks that
built my character
when I was younger
Was like 80s pop and heavy metal like iron maid and halloween this kind of stuff
I I I entered this market like
(22:46):
A little
A little earlier from the the pandemic, you know, I I think it was the end of uh, 2019 or 2020
I was not from this market, you know
And and that's another thing is people can jump into this and start moving forward pretty quickly
If you have a musical background, you know jump in if you understand how you know to use the DAWs and and and put and compose
(23:09):
And put things together.
I think that's not a too big of a transition to make nowadays Whereas if you went back and you're strictly analog And then you had to go learn all about computers and you weren't computer savvy.
It's like yeah You know, but if you were also hardware producing, you know, I mean I even had some rolling gear that I grew up.
I grew up in the musical household my brothers were musicians and so I grew up kind of playing with keyboards and rack mounts and four tracks and eight tracks and Doing stupid stuff.
(23:39):
I didn't know I was done with making music, but I was having fun.
Um
you know making sounds but uh always had that technical background like in my nature to
My dad would say set up the vcr or set up the home stereo or program the phone or do all this technical gears
Yeah, go get Darran in the room
So I get in the room and I figured out and figured out how to plug it in just had a knack for doing that
(24:02):
um, which paid off eventually because now we're pretty
Um, but uh, you know, um, yeah, that's awesome
You made that transition transition over if you two could think of one essential track
That you're playing right now when you go out other than your own, of course
What's an essential track that's out right now?
(24:23):
You think nobody should miss out on it's like this is hot We see the crowd go crazy with this For me there's no specific track from these artists, but Uh, I don't know if you know don't blink the the duel Yeah That their their songs works a lot on the on the next one.
(24:45):
Yeah I I was about to say the same thing Like we I think I I can say that I think i'm in love with these guys, you know Yeah, like too good, man Like their songs are amazing.
They're they're not like tech house, but they're not indie dance it's It's very you can't like fit in there in between, you know styles, you know, it's too good man It's a two guy one is from germany and another one's from I I think it's lithuania lithuania or something.
(25:16):
I don't remember now, but these guys are so talented Amazing amazing.
I think everyone should check out them.
Really really don't blink don't blink Yeah, exactly.
That's a good name.
That's I like that name And in addition to you mentioned your label that you release on um, but are there um What would be you know, the top five labels that you're going to right now that you're seeing are just really pushing out solid Productions over and over again that you maybe go.
(25:44):
I can't wait till they release something new on this label I can't wait till something new comes out Um top five that maybe you could think that you'd suggest People check out and go to Well, I think we both agree xe audio From pavel petrov, yeah, we love that.
Yeah, we love the the stuff from the the label man.
They are two talented artists So it's it's very cool.
Check them
(26:05):
It's very cool
um
dynamic from solomon i've been listening to
Yeah to dynamic
a lot
um running clouds, it's a
a label
that
But they have like melodic melodic techno stuff and indie dance now, they are very they have a very good selection
(26:29):
um
I think low ceiling from the
Yeah, it's really
Nice label trace amounts from west and
Another great label that's been working
Some really good tracks that every every single release but we can we can think like
(26:49):
Other labels as well such as slow cycle from argentina.
Holy stone
Holy stone for that's from our friend
vocabulary from thailand
the sapient robots from brazil
man
So many great labels that it wouldn't be fair just to name only five, you know
(27:10):
Yeah, no, I know I like putting people in the spot sometimes see what they come up with see what they say
you know, it's always good to hear other things because you know with
The barriered entry to dj the barrier entry to access of music, you know
There's so much popping up every single day
I can't remember what the last count was of how many songs get uploaded to to like b port every day
(27:33):
I know it's somewhere in ten thousand a minute or a hundred thousand or seventy five thousand a day or so
Some crazy number.
Um, don't consider me a verifiable source on that, but I know it's quite huge I mean, that's 70 even if it was 50 000 a day, you know times that by 30 days, you know, geez Okay, that's 1.5 million a month.
(27:55):
Okay, I can do math very quickly here 12 Yeah, there's 60 18 million songs a year.
I think it's probably more than that um You know, that's just a lot of tracks and uh, some of it's great some of it's not so great But you know everyone's trying to do their best totally get that.
Um, you know as far as labels go though I can tell you have this a very great appreciation for the ones you work with What are the most important things you think that record labels should be doing for their artists as a whole?
(28:26):
Uh, and are they doing a good job with that?
As a whole as a whole like more labels should be doing this or our label does this and we don't see others maybe Doing much of that or they fall short on that.
Um
I think uh when the label has a good promo list, you know to uh to send promos to big names
(28:49):
it's very good man, because
When these djs receive our music and play it
well, it's
publicity, right and they are they are spreading the the word so
This is a good thing a good promo list and when the label has a
a big name behind it
And this big name plays your song
(29:11):
it's a uh
It's a good thing too because people get to know you and follows you on the instagram and social media media and stuff and
Starting from that the the the guys that don't know you yet
and
See this story or or instagram thing
(29:32):
they can go to your discography and
Discover other tracks, you know
so
when the big name of the label
Uh plays your song is is very good.
And if the label has a good promo list yeah, on the I think on the other hand, I feel like the the the labels should like starting working more with the the the artists, you know in terms of Creating like some content together.
(30:00):
Well, let's create a video together.
Let's create some some some idea together and let's Collaborate on a post, you know talking about a song and I don't know.
I think sometimes I feel some labels They just like oh, here's your artwork and okay, just post it on your socials and okay And pray to god that's gonna be good, you know So sometimes I feel I feel that like a close a closer relationship Between the label and the artists.
(30:32):
That's that's another thing
You know
i've seen the pie chart I bring this up time and time again and shows that back in the day the pie chart used to be
20 pr for dj artists and 80 percent music creation of like a time
time you have in a day or time that you've used to producing now, it's
80 percent social media and 20 percent music creation, you know
(30:55):
But is that because music can do you think that's because music can be created?
I wouldn't say so easily now, but the barrier entry of you know, it's you still might buy a big computer But back in the day 20 years ago, you were looking at three to five thousand dollars for a computer put that in Today's terms how much would that be to get the equivalent of that?
(31:15):
You don't need that much anymore.
You can do it from a $1,200 $1,500 laptop.
Yeah, you know And take a get a macbook pro, you know, and then go for it, you know $2,000 macbook pro if you wanted one, um And make a go at it.
So You know the barrier to entry isn't there so maybe there is more time available To be spending on pr depends on how often you're producing though, or if you have another day job, so, you know, how how how?
(31:43):
Do you two have a pr person Or do would you do you have somebody that manages your social media you do everything in-house no, yeah, no Actually, we suck in social media.
That's one of our weak spots.
Yeah, we are We are we are from from the late 80s, right?
I'm from 89.
Rico is from 87, right?
(32:04):
87 um
It's it's not natural to us to post
Like everything post our life on the social media, but
It's if the social media is the big billboard of everybody today, right
(32:25):
uh
And in the social media social media in my opinion, we are competing
time
Of of that people spend on the on the screen, you know
so
if we need to
Uh develop
Urgently in our career right now is to be more present on the the social media, you know, but for now we say
(32:49):
Yeah, this is our struggle.
This is our struggle.
Yeah.
Yeah, we're being honest here that it's not natural It's not natural to us.
Yeah, we we are being honest like it's our struggle definitely, I think for I don't know not all but I think a lot of like djs We've Almost 40 years old Such as ourselves.
(33:12):
I think it's kind of hard, you know, you're like we are we are used to like just to enjoying the moment You know Again Technical issues guys, so we all just play along to bring the whole things glitching.
(33:35):
Yeah Rico all good.
You're a glitching man.
He's like I think the hands up means oh what's going on?
It's all good Yeah, no worries.
Don't worry about I I think you totally got it though I I think your point, you know, you're trying to make there is that definitely social media takes up time.
(33:55):
We need to adapt and yeah We need to adapt to the to the knees to this new reality, right?
Because we we are these guys that you said for us is 80 production music and 20 No, I have to use social media, but I use tools all the time to disseminate information.
I mean I have 700 news stories I have you know We're gearing up to do 60 hours of content plus a month and by q by the middle of q1 next year Be it hopefully 100 hours of content is our goal And that's just a lot of sharing a lot of information a lot of getting it out there And there you go.
(34:32):
It's all good now Well, it was for a second It's all good.
It's all good.
I love it.
I love it.
Don't worry about Rico.
Don't worry about it, man You got to disconnect come back in go ahead It's all good, you know, it's he sounded like like a high-pitched dictator, right?
(35:01):
You got uh, what's it called?
Yeah, what's it called the voice the boy dang, what's that called auto-tune?
Yeah, it's You know Look in your opinion.
Is there something really messed up in the electronic music scene?
(35:22):
That you can see that it's been a kind of an ongoing thing or that needs changing Anything that you'd want to like call to action say, you know It's this good change and when I say in the electronic music scene, it necessarily doesn't mean.
Um It could be anything it could be anything actually, um, you know, hey Rico, you're there you're back.
(35:43):
Awesome.
Don't worry about it I was just not doing googa.
I I don't know if there's something really that's really messed up in the electronic music scene That you would want to see maybe changed or fixed or a different direction going in What would that be?
my concern My concern right now is about I'm speaking about the brazilian scene.
(36:06):
Okay.
I don't know what's happening on the us or europe right now, but Here in brazil many clubs are closing So this is a concern because we need places to like to to play right to present ourselves and I don't know what's going on with our country right now.
I think it's I don't know the the behavior.
(36:30):
Uh of people about going Um to nightclubs, you know to spend time in the late hours of the day uh, I don't know if If he's a change of behavior, you know right now How is in the us right now the the clubs are closing yeah There's some notable clubs that are going out of business or you know, there's a definite dynamic Shift, um, it's happening.
(36:57):
I mean, I 25 years ago we probably had Uh, well at that time in seattle we were just coming out of the grunge band era phase electronic music was still kind of a It wasn't it was getting popular.
We had top 40 You know clubs like hip-hop rap top 40 clubs, but electronic music wasn't there, but there were a lot more nightclubs and venues That have shut down we've seen over the years obviously um Yeah here in brazil.
(37:29):
We have more.
Uh, people are going to like big festivals right now, you know, so small clubs are closing and In my opinion the underground scene is based on on smoke, right?
So this is a concern for me.
This is the my major concern right now
Yeah, I mean that's that's the thing is it's is you're right and well you got these big festivals that are charging
(37:55):
Ton of money to get in and people like I want to save up for that
And then does how does that impact the local economy, you know as a whole if it's 500 to go for
500 bucks a day for two days to go to a festival or 250
That's 500 bucks and now you got the club
Well, it may not even be here's one thing that we see too is that it may not be just going out to the club
(38:18):
It's that people in the states, you know, there's been some studies out there that people are drinking less
You know
The club can be packed
People aren't drinking like they used to
and so, um
You know that could be an effect.
I mean, I was going to a club.
I was going to a club here in seattle
And I didn't realize it but I had ordered a double jameson and it was 28
(38:41):
Well a fifth of jameson in the store is 32
And this is in vegas and this is in new york
You know
So i'm sitting there going wait a second for me to have
Two drinks in a club is fifty six dollars
And i'm like, well that just doesn't sound right, you know
(39:01):
um
So are people just not spending as much in the clubs the clubs aren't making as much money anymore
And then they do shut down
You know
One of the biggest things that I think that I see a lot of promoters going out of business on over the years
Is the extended guest list?
You know where they're giving you know, let's say the club holds 300 people and they have a 200 person guest list Yeah, same here Same here.
(39:26):
It's like why are you doing that to yourselves?
That's not really a great business model You know, especially on a 10 or 15 dollar cover charge.
I get it.
They want to pack the club They want to make it look good.
But in business practices, I think that's a terrible idea to do You know people want a discounted guest.
I mean vip to me stands for very important person And granted every audience member every fan is important But me growing up in the 80s or pre-days, you know vip man.
(39:53):
This person's an influencer That's really going to bring something to the club and I don't mean the modern day influencer That says i'm an influence.
I should get in everywhere for free because I got 50 000.
Okay, great That's great.
You're coming.
That's great.
You're going to be at our show.
That's great
You're going to post about our show
But that doesn't translate into ticket sales for me by giving you and your entourage, you know
20 passes to my show
(40:15):
Yeah, so you can talk about if you want to talk about a commercial deal
Okay, maybe I should be paying you to blog about my show
But then you take that money and pay to come to my show, you know
Or i've even discussed the idea that people over the years
They don't they don't do anything electronically so they could be capturing people's emails and retargeting them
(40:38):
I'm saying sign up for a membership program like my own my own newsletter.
I have a membership program on our site 50 bucks a year That's four dollars a month.
You're helping contribute to the production of the show But you're going to get first go around on tickets.
You're going to get first, you know, you're going to be entered in the contest Her for giveaways, you know, there's a meet and greets.
We'll have all that fun stuff, but only our members will get access to that
(41:02):
um, you know or even access the first tier ticket price if your name's on that email list you get sent an email and
You're going to get a discounted ticket
Come on people
and I see a lot that's where I see promoters going out or even
Clubs, you know giving away so they're planning to make it at the bar and they're not making it in the bar anymore
Um, there's a notable and we're talking about big cities, too
New York clubs shut down same same
(41:25):
Shut it down recently.
It's the same scenario here.
I don't I don't know if you guys talked about that but Can you can you guys hear me properly?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah
You're not you're not bleaching anymore
So
Well something very odd about the brazilian scene, which is really bad
(41:46):
People they don't buy tickets
because they already expect
That the the parties and the festival they won't like go sold out
and they will
Give like free tickets for a lot of people
So people think I won't buy it
Eventually, they're gonna give like free tickets
and gasoline and stuff like
(42:07):
So, you know, it's like a vicious cycle
so horrible
That just like rotten all the whole scene, you know
I recently had somebody I was talking to about because i'm looking at a new ticketing platform here
Um, which is actually an incentive based ticketing platform.
It's actually really really cool um When somebody buys a ticket it incentivizes them to go out and share the link and if people buy the through their link They can end up getting a free ticket Or even a discounted ticket or I can set it up to if they share it enough people do it They don't necessarily get a free ticket.
(42:41):
They can get a t-shirt or access some other prizes It's actually a really really cool system.
I love it um, but um You know Somebody told me once don't make contests to give away free tickets or don't let people know you have free tickets for your shows because then what they'll do is they'll Instead of buying a ticket they'll enter the contest Hoping to win one and then if they don't win then they'll go do something else that evening They go.
(43:09):
Oh, I didn't win.
I'll buy one So give away something else other than a free ticket to your show anything else Meet and greet autograph cd.
I don't know whatever it is Merchandise, that's where merchandise can really come in and help your fan base, you know Give them a t-shirt or give them a signed autograph or like I could give them a opportunity to do a guest appearance on a show Bring them in and say here's a guest show or here's a guest appearance, you know, or guest question.
(43:36):
Yeah, you know, um during the show It can be a value add And then they're going to be burnt into that show forever, you know, and they're like they're going to share that show You know, I was in the show.
I gotta ask You know i'm not gonna ask you some questions, you know kind of stuff speaking of shows though Um, do you listen to podcasts or live streams?
(43:57):
Both you listen to podcasts or live streams or other shows?
What kind of oh i'm sorry other uh electronic music shows, uh, you know listening like do you follow?
uh Any other artists and listen to your top top shows out there?
Like I always know when I go to blankety blank blank.
They're gonna have the hottest tracks or the hottest news or You're gonna be following the dj sessions.
(44:20):
I know that right?
Yeah.
Yeah Yeah.
Oh, yeah, of course I Uh majorly I from the electronic scene I I follow djs and I watch Majorly videos of production stuff mixing and mastering stuff.
I'm a nerd man.
Sorry.
I'm a geek It's what I this is my uh This is the the number one thing that I do, um Besides producing I watch videos to learn new stuff and I feel like I I think i'm a little obsessive about it.
(44:56):
They're like only a few like podcasts such as like Yours in brazil, but I I think that I I miss that, you know Because we we only see like djs playing We we we hear that we listen to their music, but we don't know anything about their lives like their opinion We don't see like them laughing and just like talking about random shit like here so I don't know.
(45:22):
I think we could like make more like these in brazil, you know, you know
i'm glad you brought that topic up because that's something that you know in the day and age of um, some some press media outlets
I don't do that here, but they'll just send out a list of 10 questions
Have you fill them out and send them back in and to me i'm not knocking anyone out there
But to me that's not an interview to me.
(45:44):
That's not reporting to me
That's not even on the ground or there's been some companies that have been
kind of
skirting by and they'll get a press release and
Run it through ai and make an article out of it and say, ah, here's the coverage we did to this event
It's like wait a second that
Wait, wait, you just took information from a press release turned it into an article and put it on your website
(46:06):
Not organic not really before there has to be some journalistic integrity and not too long ago.
I posted an article about How press in the electronic music world is kind of dying out Because of the quick bite articles they want them to be one minute two minute reads Here you go to the here you get disposable, you know, nobody's writing long form articles anymore Uh reporting because people just are reading the whole thing all the way through.
(46:31):
Um I believe podcasting live streaming just like this.
Thank you Uh for for saying, you know, our kind of format is is is doing what needs to be done Um, that's something I also saw big in in during pandy, you know in 2020 that all the djs in the world We were a dj show It would be an interview for five minutes Yeah, dj would play An exit interview when I started watching all the shows and everyone popping online.
(46:56):
Nobody was talking to the camera Nobody was getting in there.
I mean they might do something over in the chat room over there now
But a lot of those beginning shows I was just watching what i'd call mistakes happening from day one going
Well, what's different from your show playing music to this show playing music and they turn it in because they're a fan
Or they turn it in because it's on but the truth is you can only watch one show at any given time
(47:20):
Yeah, and people weren't recording their shows because they get flagged and copywritten and you know takedowns all over the place.
So, you know Everyone I called 2020 to look at me here, especially in the electronic music industry in music industry alone But even people jumping on going I want to do a podcast now i'm at home I'm sitting in front of my computer.
(47:41):
Why don't I talk to the screen?
You know and do something so we definitely saw that growth.
Um come up, but what people didn't account for is Everyone else doing it Yeah, and then how do you cut through?
Oh, it's easy.
I can just turn on a camera and go and i'm like it's not that easy You know and and then you're choosing to go live as a dj I'm gonna go live at friday night at midnight because that's when everyone's gonna be in the club and everyone in my hometown They're gonna be at home watching too Yeah, but you're going up against insomniac artists.
(48:12):
You're going up against world-name artists the same time and you can only watch one show one time Yeah, you're competing time.
Whereas if I told people back in the day I say hey If you're in pacific time in the united states Do your show live it if you can do your show live at 10 o'clock in the morning You know do your show live and it's gonna be it's gonna be seven o'clock in europe eight o'clock in europe You know and you might branch out that way and go on in a different night.
(48:43):
My interview times are now 10 a.m
And 1 30 p.m pacific time i'm not trying to compete with people being at home
Eating dinner in the united states i'm gonna be during the day
And if you want to subscribe to our podcast you're gonna have it downloaded later
But I pay for all my licensing rights and all my music it's and all that stuff too
So we don't get taken down
But yeah
(49:03):
I mean that was a difficult thing for barrier for people to go through so
You know finding shows interview shows.
I think definitely keeping that organic feel especially with ai coming into i love ai I believe it as a tool is awesome.
It helps me with my shows.
I mean Our shows are transcribed by ai I wouldn't sit there Pay somebody now to type it all out like I had to back in the old broadcast days But even my show notes I go in and say create a summary.
(49:27):
I mean, this is an hour-long episode If I were to go in from my memory and create a summary, but I can go no and it's not copywriting It's not taken away from anyone else.
It's using the actual footage that has been created between us three Here so I don't have an ethical dilemma using that to do something like that.
Yeah Um, you know, but I think it's really awesome Uh that using ai to generate to To make a show better is awesome.
(49:53):
Yeah, of course.
No It's a tool Um, but enough about that.
I know we're getting close to the end of the show here I wanted to talk about your shows and your festivals that you're playing because I did mention that earlier up in the top of The interview about that bookstore that you play in.
Uh, we talked about that.
That looks phenomenal I'm gonna go there, but you played a lot of different, uh festivals.
Do you have one that you look forward to playing?
(50:15):
Um all the time we're looking forward to playing that's upcoming here in the near future
Do you know
i'm more like uh
Excited and think about our own party
We have we have our own party this month in october with which is called riot
(50:37):
and
we are super excited because you know, we we make like
We we with our own taste
We we like we we want to feel at home and we wanna that we want to people feel at home as well
You know
So all all i'm thinking right now.
It's our party called riot, which it guys Riot 24th october we wait for you there.
(51:04):
Let's party Give me some Yeah, I I Just wanna say something you you you said about the library we we played this year three parties in three dates in argentina in It's like Amazing like we we were like speechless The people yeah, people don't stop dancing and it's amazing man.
(51:33):
It's amazing crowd there.
It's unbelievable.
It's it's like that It feels like that electronic musics it's part of the their culture, you know the the like the popular music of them, so They they go out To dance.
That's beautiful, man.
Yeah It's different from the from the crowd from brazil in brazil, the crowd is is very energetic, you know, but there are a lot of people filming and Talking um In the middle of the sets but in argentina is different man.
(52:09):
They can't stop dancing.
Yeah, they leave the moment They leave the moment.
They are not there like just to chat or Or to film man, they are just like dancing looking at each other They have like a special argentinian dance like oh, it's amazing man.
We we Everyone should go to argentina.
Really?
I definitely want to make it down in south america and stop in brazil and zampalo if I can make it down there Um, one of the things that I do bring up from time to time as well on the show is talking about you know the use of cell phones in nightclubs on the dance floor And how now it's becoming kind of big news.
(52:46):
I've seen a number of stories come out these newer clubs opening up saying No cell phones on the dance floor.
Yeah, you know Lane eight requires that on their rider people put a sticker on their phones.
I guess it's part of it's part of their overall theme
Um that they do with their shows I forget the name of theme is off the top of my head
I just talked about this last week with with thomas turner from relentless beats
(53:10):
And uh, you know, I wonder if more djs
Performers who will start to initiate that policy in their rider saying hey
I want the dance floor back, you know, I I want somebody in front of me, you know
like this
You know, and then i'm standing behind somebody who's like this
They're standing on the dance floor.
I talk about this just in the last few weeks I saw a video and this girl was up at the front of the dj booth and she's literally standing like this on her phone She's texting.
(53:39):
I mean you can see somebody filming over her shoulder and the dj just goes It goes right back to business and she turns to the camera behind her goes You know i'm like yeah, I mean You're up at the front of the dj booth and you're texting They wanted to take a picture But you know the one thing that apple just released with a new iphone 17 Is a 16.
(54:04):
I don't work for them by the way, but I used to But uh now when you do your phone and you're filming a show It has both cameras so you can get the reaction shot.
Now if you film.
Oh, yeah and film the show so you can be like
Yeah, look at this party at the show, you know
That's just encouraging that to be done more, you know
(54:25):
Yeah, I remember back in the day when I was working with apple they had patented or put in a patent
uh for infrared technology
So your phone would sense they could put a sensor and point out infrared
And it would say not able to record
Wow, you're gonna tell it not to let the video function function.
(54:45):
It's something they patented but they never released Yeah, but they got million patents a year.
Well, okay.
I exaggerated maybe maybe Well, I think I think like recording a member it's it's really nice like yeah go to a party or something But I think we love we we kind of lost the the the raving and the clubbing culture Yeah, you know like for dj sometimes you you are playing and people are like are talking And guys, come on, let's just dance.
(55:12):
There's a famous meme video from solomon that the guy is filming him and some like he does like Come on like Put that thing down And that's it I think we should like we should I don't know get back to that time like we We we could like enjoy more and not not only filming and recording the party I don't know.
(55:38):
I think it's gonna be big presence, right?
It's gonna be healthier for the whole scene and and that's why I was talking to you before the show one of the things we're looking to do in here is is Looking to start doing pay-per-view pay-per-view events You know and uh, maybe I was talking about that with somebody else today.
I was talking about somebody else today But now oh, there's the announcement.
(55:59):
Yeah, we're looking to do pay-per-view events.
And yeah at our events
I mean do we want the cell phones in I mean, I you know, if it's my event and i'm in control of it
I'll be like nope
We're gonna put stickers on your phone and it's gonna be very well announced that if you are caught recording
Uh, we'll politely ask you to put a sticker on your phone
And if we have to find you again, we're gonna have you leave the club go ahead and talk shit about us
(56:19):
We don't care.
You know, we want people in the dance.
We're dancing if you want to watch our show You can go back and buy the pay-per-view Later on and I guarantee you the audio is going to be better We'll have the crowd shots.
Yeah, the video lighting is going to be better, you know, and it's going to be something you're going to You may not be able to share you can share a link with somebody else They can buy and watch the pay-per-view and maybe 30 days later after the show.
(56:42):
We'll make it for free Um, but for the for 30-day window, you know people want to watch that then they're gonna they're gonna you know pay Because they're paying for the production of the show, you know They're helping cover those costs and it's not people think it's inexpensive But it costs money to hire a good team to pull it off correctly.
Yes But we we come back from for that discussion like if we if you don't post it If you don't post that moment, are you not leaving that moment?
(57:08):
You know, like when people are eating like oh they say phone phone eats first, you know, like that's it So the phone eats first.
I that is one of my guilty pleasures.
My friend and I cannot cannot say i'm big foodie I know i'm doing a lot of food.
It's like if it's not me talking about the dj sessions.
It's probably food pics Yeah, you know and I cook too so I like to take pictures of what I make.
(57:31):
Yeah
No, I totally get you, but it's but it's not it's just like a healthy discussion, too
Yeah
Well, you know gentlemen, I had some other questions to get to or running out of time here really quick
But you know when the other thing going back to the phone thing though is now people
Are capturing I want to touch on this they're capturing
Moments where when you have a professional photographer, they know when to take a shot
(57:53):
Yeah, you have somebody online and they're doing their phone and they're recording and they might get a shot where the dj might do something
Like like this
But the way the angle comes in it might look like they're picking their nose
Yeah, and they're picking their nose on stage.
It's like wait a second.
I wasn't doing that They just caught me at a funny weird angle You know and that gets out there on social media gets a hashtag on it and becomes viral It's like dj picks nose on stage you know um You know those kind of things too.
(58:21):
I mean you're not gonna maybe prevent that at a big festival
But more intimate nightclubs where you want that vibe that touch
I mean there was a club here in seattle that I used to go to all the time
Called c sound lounge and it was a very into big artists, but I think the main room 150
Maybe even less than that 150 maybe 175 on a pack night, but you were right there next to the dj
(58:45):
I mean everyone was in you were 10 feet away
you know
At any point and it was just a very intimate awesome vibe and people even then
weren't pulling out their phones, I mean this is
2009 2010 11 the iphone it was just kind of
The iphone came out in 2007
So, you know really wasn't a big thing.
(59:07):
Not everyone had switched over and had 80 of the market had an iphone, you know or whatever the And then it is out there, you know, it wasn't a thing to still film but as it progressed people like i'm gonna capture this i'm gonna share it and I would say We have a joke here in the states.
Nobody's gonna watch your fourth of july fireworks that you record and put online Now if it's the drone shows they might watch the drone shows, okay, I get it But eventually it's gonna be okay.
(59:33):
You've seen one drone.
Joe.
You've seen them all.
Yeah, you know Um, or maybe okay.
Yeah, you're watching the fireworks for tomorrowland or edc.
Okay, we get it.
That's cool That's a moment, you know, like holy crap I can't believe they did that but it's somebody gonna really even dj sets nowadays with so many people doing them.
Nobody goes like this Wow, I just watched that even norton pure I watched norton pure said love it The stuff circle does love it That i'm like watching But there's only even if they put 12 camera angles up.
(01:00:06):
Okay.
Okay.
There's camera.
One, two, three, four Wow, that was cool.
That was cool.
That was cool.
That was cool
Okay, but do I go back and watch it or now that i've watched it once am I just gonna put it on and
Go do my laundry, you know
So yeah, nobody sits there now, but the nice thing is that I love is that the interactivity of the chat room
That people are over there and that's what people are tuning in for to have that fan base that fan communication
(01:00:29):
I was funny enough just went back in time with somebody I brought on the show recently
We're syndicating the shows
I was showing on my old website from 2001 of my first broadcast show that I put on tv and
the broadcast television here in seattle
and one of the things that I had in my
in my website
Was a chat room so when our show was live on the air
(01:00:50):
We could be chatting with people at home on their computers
And talking with them like this is the producer of the show and we're live in a chat room right now
Concept never flew never took off because we only put six episodes on the air, but I wanted it there
So a lot of the features you see at our website on the djsession.com
They're there because they're features that I want to show that we're in that direction or version 1.0
(01:01:13):
Of being there that can be future developed and
It's always a morphing process
Ongoing process pretty awesome stuff
Speaking though of things morphing and changing
You know, do you two become different when you get on a stage?
Are you or are you different off stage?
um, is there any personality persona type that you kind of Put the stage mask on and then help the stage max is off.
(01:01:38):
I'm at home.
I'm just you know I Think we get more excited, you know, like A big party a party vibe like we're like jumping and enjoying the moment but we like we we are very like two funny guys on the stage, you know, and And then the backstage we are the same the same guys.
(01:02:01):
Like we do like treat people really well We are like just funny guys.
We want to hang out with people
Very humble guys, let's say we're just two little boys from the hood in brazil
Yeah
but
there is a sensation, uh
on the
On the on the dj booth that it's freedom, you know, we feel free
(01:02:25):
on the on
on the dj booth so on the stage, so this is
I think this is the best sensation in the world, you know, you know
Mostly when when we are playing our songs and people are dancing
So this is i was talking with somebody a few months back on the show and they talked about
The health and well-being of a performing artist and one you could be in that club
(01:02:49):
One be in that club do a two-hour set say you go on from midnight to 2 a.m. I don't know how late late night
But two hours later you could be sitting in an airport by yourself on a flight going out
and that dopamine effect of going
You know can get like almost a burnout can happen because you're like
(01:03:11):
Now i'm just here.
I was just sitting around five thousand ten thousand fifteen thousand people Having the time of my life and now i'm in the airport because i'm gonna hit the next city So i'm in the car.
I gotta go, you know, but that rush it can be very johnny.
Do you Do you have ways that you two take to kind of deal with the ups and downs of stage performance and back end stage performance?
(01:03:32):
and Back end Well one one thing one thing we we I think we kind of chose that we chose to be a dude You know, we chose to share good and bad moments.
So when we are like I don't know five thousand kilometers from here And it's everything is just like fucked up and so weird that we we do have each other, you know, so let's let's Know that's it for me.
(01:04:00):
It's like being a duo helps a lot the bad the good and the bad moments Yeah, we share everything so it makes easier, you know, I guess if you do I totally can relate last year.
I went to berlin by myself I've never been there before and the few years prior to that with my buddy I have my travel buddy my friend that I love traveling with awesome and being in berlin without her it was kind of like What do I do now?
(01:04:27):
You know, I found stuff to do I was in berlin crying out loud, but I mean, you know, it was just you know
Having somebody to travel I guess I didn't think about that as being a duo
You got somebody to bounce stuff off of talk with let's go eat chat
You know, um, but for traveling artists solo artists, you know
If they don't have a road manager or a photographer somebody their girlfriend or significant wife with them kind of alone husband
(01:04:50):
Um, you know, it's kind of like whoa, you know, um
How do you deal with all that?
It's a lonely road exactly After the party, I think it's a it's a very lonely road for the artist.
Yeah You also got to be careful of that that you know, you're going to be invited to the after party You know somebody to say hey, let's go on let's come on back over to my hotel room or hey let's go out here and I got this house party to go to and you're like I got a flight in six hours.
(01:05:16):
I gotta get some sleep, you know, i'm sure that happens a lot with artists Um all the time.
What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you two on stage?
stage Anything comes to mind?
That the time in rio that time in rio Like gear gear.
Yeah, like equipment problems your problems the worst man, I think we we the the subwoofer the subwoofer was uh Was it was under the table?
(01:05:48):
Yeah under the table
And it was vibrating, you know
And the mixer was jumping
And when rico was mixing I I needed to one one had to mix and the other one had to hold equipment
Man that was oh my god
I uh, I was at an event once and they the sound system had they set up the way they set up
(01:06:12):
They put the subs they put the speakers underneath the dj booth
And the djs were complaining all night long because they're like, how do I beat matt?
I'm not This is throwing me off Um, like completely throwing me off and I was like, well, I never thought that would be a thing But apparently it is but The mixer started walking like this on the table and going uh, I say go go go back where you belong Nightmare nightmare for djs.
(01:06:42):
I think the equipment When it's bad, it's a nightmare for the dj Because we can we can play for like I don't know.
Oh It's empty.
There are there are only 10 people We don't mind that Come on over guys.
Let's come back up here in front of us and let's party
But when the gear like started having problems we ah, man, it's a nightmare for us
(01:07:05):
I hear that, you know, yeah, I have the um
My my I used to work with a friend of mine sergi and when we were doing shows
If I said a certain word out really loud
It was like he'd think the end of the world was coming because like a piece of gear would mess up or something like
I'd be like
shit
(01:07:26):
And he'd go he'd just free drop like what's going on?
What's happened?
What's happened?
I go I forgot a cable Something small but like I knew I packed it it's here somewhere and uh, you know, but uh, you know It doesn't happen that often very much anymore, but but you put you play like for one hour But when this happens it feels just like a 10 hour set, you know, yeah, oh my gosh It feels like forever.
(01:07:51):
It's been only 15 minutes.
That can't be possible.
I'm here like for two days.
I've been here already How that goes When you two are not entertaining others, what do you two find in your off time?
What do both of you enjoy doing?
I enjoy fishing i'm a fishing guy Yeah Yeah, very much What about you?
(01:08:18):
Uh as I said, man, I i'm a I'm, i'm a little too obsessive with production.
So I spend most of my time producing but when i'm not producing I spend time with my girlfriend and my dog, but that's it.
My my life is not so interesting No, you know it's mostly behind the computer I have to personally manage my time um to know I mean this morning I was up at Now i'm getting up at 6 and used to be 9 o'clock in the morning 9 o'clock to 5 Now it's 6 30 a.m Because i'm working with a lot more european counterparts And I gotta be up before they get out of the office.
(01:08:56):
Otherwise, it's a whole nother 24 hours before I get a reply You know and I got stuff to do And so, you know, that's 6 37 o'clock.
I'm on the i'm on the on the grind and that goes till you know 5 p.m And that's not including if I have to go out and do meetings And other events, yeah so you just got to manage that time and then um But I find this fun.
(01:09:17):
I find what I do fun and compelling.
It's that one thing where you find it Say, you know find something you love doing find a way to make money at it.
You'll be happy Yes, that's awesome As long as you have a good work-life balance in that I think it's all good You know, is there anything else you'd like to let our dj sessions fans know before we let you go?
well guys We just released mother lovers on xe audio and it's Almost on the top on beat part, please guys.
(01:09:49):
Come on buy a copy.
Yes Yes, your family your grandmother your daughter.
You're your friends from high school.
Just buy a little copy You won't hurt.
I promise and let's help the brazilian bison brazilian guys reach the top.
Let's go.
That's it Reach the top and and just for those who know to be expected that isn't It has explicit lyrics in the track, correct?
(01:10:15):
Yes, yeah, but it's not it's not that bad you can It's a little muffled Watching the show and they go mom.
I want to go my mother lover Okay, here's 99 cents go buy it.
Oh my god, it's like, you know, we don't want to hear that ad I heard about it on the dj sessions and I get angry pta emails We will be canceled on the internet if like five year five year old kid like asking mom I want mother lovers by rick and guga.
(01:10:46):
Oh my god the new baby shark Where did you hear about it?
I heard about it on the dj sessions When I click that button I have to click on youtube not made for kids Yeah Yeah, but anyways, I thank you both for coming on the show Where's the best place people can go to find out more information about the both of you?
(01:11:10):
Well rico instagram majorly right we can google like on instagram on soundcloud.
Yeah, you you have it here On spotify spotify.
We are rick and guga everywhere on soundcloud instagram.
Tick tock Uh youtube you can you can find every everything over there and if you want anything just I don't know Send a message We can't talk about it guys.
(01:11:36):
We are very open.
We we appreciate it.
Awesome.
Riko and Gugga r i k o a n d G u g g a Riko and Gugga on instagram again gentlemen.
Thank you so much for being here with us today Pleasure man, definitely definitely gonna stay in contact with you as we Comes on the show.
Thank you so much Darran.
(01:11:58):
Absolutely.
It was a pleasure having you two on the show today You may want to hear some of those more mixes some of the more of those um Tracks coming out here up in the near future.
I know you're gonna be pushing out a bunch so Keep them coming Yes.
Thank you so much.
Bye.
Bye everyone.
Thank you On that note don't forget to go to our website the dj sessions.com i've never done this in a three-way before but remember You got to watch that video I told you i'm not gonna say the video on the show, but watch the dj sessions.com Yeah, click on the qr code go to our site.
(01:12:32):
We have over 700 news stories 2700 plus past episodes all our social media links are there.
We have our new music section coming out We have a vr nightclub where this interview is actually taking place in right now We have a mobile app version 2 coming out soon and more at the dj sessions.com That's where we're at.
I'm your host Darran coming to you from the virtual studios in seattle, washington.
(01:12:54):
That's Riko and Gugga Me here hit me here.
Come on high five guy And remember on the dj sessions the music never stops
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the DJ sessions presents the virtual sessions I'm your host Darran and right now I'm sitting sitting in the virtual studios with the new backdrop Yeah, cuz it's virtual right with the green screen and all that fun stuff and coming in today all the way from San Paolo Brazil we have Riko and Gugga today Amazing so much for being here today.
(00:46):
I was looking online at some of your content some of the stuff you've been releasing Wow I Want to ask about it later?
But I'm gonna ask you are you DJing in a bookstore?
Like what is yeah in Argentina?
Yeah, it's a real bookstore Okay Yeah, yes, yes you have a lot of old books and you have like really old books with dust It's a it's a library and it's called like la biblioteca, which is the library.
(01:18):
So it's a very cool vibe, man Yeah, it's amazing.
Yeah, is that yeah, we'll talk about that in a little bit.
I just saw that I was like The DJ didn't like cuz I once thought about throwing an event at our big public library here.
They got this really awesome area, that's kind of very funky and Futuristic and and looks like it belongs in a movie and I want to throw a nightlife event in there I mean the books wouldn't be around but it's still look really cool.
(01:43):
And I was like, hey guys already did it Well, they leave the books around and like no one's no one messes with the book.
So Amazing it works That'd be I want to visit that place.
I'm gonna come down there.
I'm gonna check that out Yeah, but anyways, you're gonna talk about what I want to do in the world We're gonna talk about what you two are up to and what you're doing in the world today You know, let's start out our DJ session for excuse me for our DJ DJ sessions fans that don't know who you are Can you describe what your music is in three words?
(02:16):
Just so people can get an idea of what to expect if they go to a Riko and Gugga show Three words three words, it's heavy Fun has a fun and it has a 80s vibe to it 80s vibe now I grew up in the 80s.
I may look nice and Hot and cool.
(02:38):
I'm not using any filters when I do my interviews.
I don't have hair and makeup
I don't even have any hair to do hair if I had
But no, I mean when you say 80s vibe what does what style you going for with the 80s
are you looking more towards like the synth of the sound the synth sounds or
(02:59):
It's kind of the landscape of the track the sounds we use the the
the tones of the drums, they are very
It reminds like tears for fear stuff duran duran duran and this kind of
of music
so we try to we have this kind of sounds in our library and
(03:21):
We like this kind of sound because it's nostalgic, you know, so we try to use
Use them in our tracks.
I was having brunch the other day with my friend and we were at a restaurant and funny
Well, I just laughed and he said duran duran duran duran actually came on wild boys
And I was like, I started kind of dancing in the restaurant people probably looking around like not dance
(03:44):
I was in my chair, but kind of like moving around that that's a great song
I was telling her who she was born in like 1992
I'm like
Yeah, this is a very awesome music video for its time a very very big huge production
Yeah, but yeah, I definitely love that 80s pop sound
It's like disco music 70s disco music and 80s pop
(04:07):
are like if I'm I tell anyone that gets to know me if I'm angry just put some of that in and I'll be like
And I'll have to smile and dance, you know
Yeah, I'd be like you just like reset me, you know, cuz it's gonna put me in a good mood
Even disco you said you said like about disco music
We have like a next release upcoming release that we try to to blend like the old disco vibe
(04:30):
we we for more like
Modern dance floor vibe, you know what I mean?
And so not only disco but the 80s sometimes the 90s as well And that's it.
It said it's the retro modern stuff.
That's what we do And you just had a track come out recently Called motherlovers.
(04:51):
Yeah now in no relation to The video made with Justin Timberlake and Adam Sandberg Andy Sandberg, I think motherlovers, but tell us all about motherlovers and and that track and What's the meaning behind motherlovers?
Cuz I know there's a secret way you had to change some things up there for it.
(05:12):
Yeah
Yeah, we changed the name because the lyrics is mother
The guy says mother F and
We were afraid about you know censorship and explicit content on Spotify and things like that and we put motherlovers, too
Yeah
We wouldn't we wouldn't want like the little e in front of our track name
(05:35):
Like in the streaming platform, so that's just as it but we try we we kind we kind of like found
That that vocal like mother.
It's mother Word and We brought that like into our vibe in this indie dance with time We've kind some some kind of tech house We blended it all together and we are super happy because it's Today we woke up.
(06:06):
It's like number 30 on Beatport in India So It's amazing it's working it's working on it It's the exit the XA audio from Bulgaria.
It's amazing label from Pavel Petrov that Invited us and we feel at home with them.
(06:26):
Thank you so much.
Nice Will you be will you to be going to ADE this year at any chance by any chance?
Not this year.
Not this year next year.
Maybe maybe you're playing in Not not only Eddie, but we we are planning in Eurotour, so Yeah, when is that Wow European summer Planning the European tour.
(06:53):
Yeah
With all the festivals and everything that happens I thought Eurotour was a festival
Sorry to my accent, I'm so sorry
It's all we love accents on the show I wish I spoke more languages, you know
one of the things that we do here is our website is
Translated everything's being transcribed and you'll be able to translate this into over a hundred different languages and we're adding subtitles
(07:21):
To our shows and eventually we'll be adding AI voiceovers
So when somebody wants to show even though it's in English, they can click it
It'll be all subtitled over voiceover in English or in a little different languages
Yeah, I gotta wait for the cost to come down on that but it's a project we're undertaking we're super excited for it
But again enough about us.
We're here.
We're here
(07:41):
And you have some other tracks that have topped on beat board or topped on before you've had some pretty good success there, right
Yeah
in different styles, actually
We got to two times
top one on progressive house
We were like top five in melodic techno
Up to our one time or two times in any days we we've got a top position with
(08:09):
track called algorithms
That's that's good for us because
It's like free publicity right people who get to know us
easily
Oh, go ahead.
I'm sorry.
Go ahead.
No in for us is like a motivation because It represents The quality of our work, so it's good man.
(08:35):
It's it feels good, you know After being doing this show for a number of years and being in top positions on multiple sites I definitely understand and know that motivational feeling that one gets when you're up there.
I mean, it's nothing Yeah, we're all supposed to get along We're all supposed to help out the next homie and support the artists in the industry But I think it was like it was a I don't know if it was a Nike cover I don't think it was a Nike commercial.
(09:00):
I remember there was this
Commercial and there was a bunch of sports athletes playing and what happened is, you know, yes, we're all teammates on the field
We're all you know that it we're all friends
We're all trying to support each other
But at the end of the day and then they the person doing the monologue says, but I'm number one
(09:21):
And
He's like, yeah, I'm ranked the top, you know
Growing up in a family that my dad was a professional athlete, you know and ranked
Internationally rat nationally internationally
You know
I kind of get that pushing to the top of being at the top and like holding that title and you gotta worry about being
(09:43):
Dethroned and something's gonna come along and knock you down.
What do you need to pick yourself back up?
So, you know when doing these productions sounds like you're frequently releasing stuff how long does it take you to to finish a track on average?
Depends on our inspiration, I guess Usually two Three days to finish a track like composing producing mixing and mastering But sometimes we got stuck as everybody else, you know Technical glitches From time to time, there's no Rico Oh Rica Rico.
(10:27):
Yeah.
Okay.
He's frozen.
We can all we can all pose and freeze.
Yeah, we just all pretend
Well, it'll probably glitch it'll happen it happens but two to three days
That's pretty darn quick for most songs and you do all your in-house mastering yourself
Yeah
(10:48):
We do all the mixing stuff in mastering stuff, yeah
And if you could take a look sometimes sometimes when you when you sign with a label the label asks for the the pre master
file to master it again because some labels has a
have a standard of
Everything we we do everything in-house
(11:08):
That would make sense.
That would make sense I we toyed with the idea of opening up doing a label over here as I was talking about some of the stuff we do Pre-show and there he is I'm so sorry guys Technology is funny and it's fickle and it happens like that.
(11:32):
Sometimes that we that's the one thing I love about doing a live show is anything can happen.
I gotta be prepared to pick up Just wanna talk about like the the big portal points like regarding that Yeah, we make we make music in its art, right?
uh We we do like as we enjoy And we just put it on the market and we don't know what's gonna happen, right?
(11:56):
Sometimes people will love it.
Sometimes people will hate it And and then it's go it goes like top one.
Oh my god
like
like our work that
Maybe like we we made like here or at guga's place and now it's
Everybody's around the world is buying the track, you know, it's so crazy
(12:17):
But it's like he said it's very motivating for us and we love that
I I definitely have heard the term
It's like make having a child and then putting out the put the child out in the world and seeing what happens with it
And you love every production everything you put out there your heart and soul goes into it and you're right
sometimes it might be something that the kids don't want to play with in the sandbox and sometimes it's like
(12:40):
Everybody wants it and it's the new hottest candy on the market, you know
um or like that, so, um, definitely
Um guga and I were talking about how long it takes you to produce tracks, you know, he said two to three days
Mastering and everything, you know and sending it off.
That's a phenomenal turnaround time I mean geez now.
(13:01):
Do you have a set schedule of track production?
Like, okay, we're gonna make four tracks a month.
We're gonna make 10 tracks a month How many tracks do you end up making per month and how many get released on average?
um
We don't have like a exact number by month of productions because rico has a um
(13:21):
uh a job
Uh besides Riko and Gugga and I work with mix and master and goes production and co-production with another artist
So, okay when our uh demands are lower in the in the month we can produce more for rick and guga
so but
We have like
(13:42):
At least two tracks per month
Okay, that's not bad
In a good month, maybe more so we I don't know we are in october
I I think we must have finished like I don't know almost 30 tracks this year
30 tracks this year.
Yeah Wow The the beginning of the the year was crazy.
(14:04):
We produced a lot.
So it was a good
It was a good window to produce
now out of that if you had to pick and this is always a difficult question for people to answer because I get the same
Question if I had to pick one of my own favorite episodes i'm like every single 2700 of them every single one
You know if you had to pick a list of one of your productions that really stands out to you though
(14:27):
Then you're like yeah that one was so monumental it went out it got the accolades is one
Is there one that really stands out to the both of you that this is like that one really broke us through or?
you know Anything that comes to mind?
I I think uh, it depends on the
on your vibe
(14:48):
Now my favorite one is mother lovers
but my way of thinking as a producer is
The my best track is always the next track, you know, i'm not
I always uh
i'm always
i'm not satisfied
with the with the my current result i'm
(15:10):
Always looking forward, you know, so the next track is always the best one
But for now, I like mother lovers is my favorite for now for me for me
It's our our remix of voyage voyage the very classic of the 80s voyage voyage the french song
uh
By desirous, so for me, it's definitely that one.
(15:33):
I love that song.
I love that track uh, it's a Milestone for us a lot of things changed in our career of that track It's it was our first top one on beat part So it has like a very very special meaning for me.
I think for both of us actually.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was a milestone.
Yeah Nice.
(15:53):
Nice.
Do you now I notice you're both in headsets But do your neighbors ever complain about your music like you're playing too loud or like turn it down?
No, no, no, no, actually we don't
No, we don't produce like that loud so we are very like chilled guys
Yeah, i'm always with my headphone I have monitors but I don't have uh, like acoustical treatment
(16:17):
so I can use my monitors only to make videos, you know, but i'm
Yeah 95 percent of the time I use
Headsets, I do have some treatment now because i've just actually i've just finished my my recent my home studio
but i'm used to like producing a
quiet
range
(16:38):
You know what I mean, so i'm not i'm not a loud guy like
And people and people in the building like oh my god, this dude is crazy
No, no, you're not that kind of guy.
Someone just got home on gugas in.
Hi.
Yeah Real life guys.
This is real life You guys are using retween backgrounds too Yeah, my studio Is in my living room in my kitchen, right?
(17:05):
This is real life You know, where's the weirdest moment the both of you and you didn't have to be together but where's the weirdest moment either of you have ever heard one of your own tracks play or you were amazed like That's us you know No a weird one.
I was actually now There's a festival called the town here in san paulo.
(17:29):
It's like pop and rock festival and I was walking and There was a place like selling coffee But he was there was like a dj playing And I and I and it was well, wait, I know that song and it was like our remix like That we made like four years ago And oh my god, then I made a video for him like they're playing our remix.
(17:55):
This is so old.
This is crazy Like in the festival here what's going on?
So What about you gugo, where's the weirdest place you've ever heard one of your own tracks the weirdest place It's not weird.
It's it was like pretty uh emotional for me.
(18:17):
Actually.
Yeah, there was a there was a afterlife festival here in brazil, I think was last year and They played the the djs on the the festival.
They played three of our tracks and woman was amazing me and rico Yeah, we were like looking at each other I was crying oh my god They're playing our tracks.
(18:38):
That's it.
We are in the right place.
Yeah And it's crazy like I don't know 30 000 people like dancing a lot of like big names in the scene, you know And they were playing our tracks and I and I remember like we we were together and I told like a girl Like beside me like oh, this is this is our track and the girl she said like oh, are you crazy dude?
(19:03):
I said I was like She like she couldn't believe it.
You're like Damn it right in front of her and be like look Listen, yeah Do you want me to open the ableton project here just to prove it You know, do you both remember the first Album or track you ever purchased to start your djing career Do you remember what your first first one was?
(19:34):
Well for me, uh in 2020 when I entered in the the entered in the electronic dance music market I was into more anjuna deep things, you know So I I think that the first thing that I heard was yoto stuff.
I love yoto uh but I don't know the the track that market marketed me, but I think he was like the first artist that got my attention.
(20:03):
Yeah Now, do you know yoto?
from finland It's very i'm familiar.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah for me was way way before like I I I started like Not djing but enjoying like electronic music in 2004 and five And I remember like the first track that really got me was like an army of amburent track called shivers it's a very classic track of him and And I remember like oh, this is crazy.
(20:35):
And after that He put me like in the psytrance scene and I spent like a lot of years just going to psytrance festivals and I I think in 2008 or or so uh, I wanted to start djing so It was crazy, but for me I could say like i'm doing shivers it's in a very old classic european trends I think you you guys should like listen to it.
(21:02):
It's a very like master class for The new djs around, you know, one of the cool things is you go back in the history of electronic music And very rarely do you come across something that maybe let's say even 20 years 25 years old You could play it today and it sounded like it came out today Yeah, you know.
(21:23):
Yeah, that's the classic back You're back Yeah, and that's the classic.
That's the awesome thing.
We were talking a little bit about you know, how rico, you know Started getting into electronic music 2004 his career in in and getting into psytrance And stuff and talking about you know Looking at music from so long ago say 25 years ago and how you could play it Today and so you're like, oh is that new and you're like, no, that's 25 years old.
(21:49):
Yeah Actually, we do we do that a lot We do that a lot like in our in our sets, right?
Yeah, we sometimes we play like a track from 2007 6 8 like in old electro house and people.
Oh my god What's that?
You know, it's crazy.
It still works Yeah I think it's I I think it's important to say i'm not from Like my my childhood and when I was younger I was not on the electronic scene, you know, I was into heavy metal stuff.
(22:24):
So I was a drummer in on a heavy metal band.
So
uh, the the tracks that
built my character
when I was younger
Was like 80s pop and heavy metal like iron maid and halloween this kind of stuff
I I I entered this market like
(22:46):
A little
A little earlier from the the pandemic, you know, I I think it was the end of uh, 2019 or 2020
I was not from this market, you know
And and that's another thing is people can jump into this and start moving forward pretty quickly
If you have a musical background, you know jump in if you understand how you know to use the DAWs and and and put and compose
(23:09):
And put things together.
I think that's not a too big of a transition to make nowadays Whereas if you went back and you're strictly analog And then you had to go learn all about computers and you weren't computer savvy.
It's like yeah You know, but if you were also hardware producing, you know, I mean I even had some rolling gear that I grew up.
I grew up in the musical household my brothers were musicians and so I grew up kind of playing with keyboards and rack mounts and four tracks and eight tracks and Doing stupid stuff.
(23:39):
I didn't know I was done with making music, but I was having fun.
Um
you know making sounds but uh always had that technical background like in my nature to
My dad would say set up the vcr or set up the home stereo or program the phone or do all this technical gears
Yeah, go get Darran in the room
So I get in the room and I figured out and figured out how to plug it in just had a knack for doing that
(24:02):
um, which paid off eventually because now we're pretty
Um, but uh, you know, um, yeah, that's awesome
You made that transition transition over if you two could think of one essential track
That you're playing right now when you go out other than your own, of course
What's an essential track that's out right now?
(24:23):
You think nobody should miss out on it's like this is hot We see the crowd go crazy with this For me there's no specific track from these artists, but Uh, I don't know if you know don't blink the the duel Yeah That their their songs works a lot on the on the next one.
(24:45):
Yeah I I was about to say the same thing Like we I think I I can say that I think i'm in love with these guys, you know Yeah, like too good, man Like their songs are amazing.
They're they're not like tech house, but they're not indie dance it's It's very you can't like fit in there in between, you know styles, you know, it's too good man It's a two guy one is from germany and another one's from I I think it's lithuania lithuania or something.
(25:16):
I don't remember now, but these guys are so talented Amazing amazing.
I think everyone should check out them.
Really really don't blink don't blink Yeah, exactly.
That's a good name.
That's I like that name And in addition to you mentioned your label that you release on um, but are there um What would be you know, the top five labels that you're going to right now that you're seeing are just really pushing out solid Productions over and over again that you maybe go.
(25:44):
I can't wait till they release something new on this label I can't wait till something new comes out Um top five that maybe you could think that you'd suggest People check out and go to Well, I think we both agree xe audio From pavel petrov, yeah, we love that.
Yeah, we love the the stuff from the the label man.
They are two talented artists So it's it's very cool.
Check them
(26:05):
It's very cool
um
dynamic from solomon i've been listening to
Yeah to dynamic
a lot
um running clouds, it's a
a label
that
But they have like melodic melodic techno stuff and indie dance now, they are very they have a very good selection
(26:29):
um
I think low ceiling from the
Yeah, it's really
Nice label trace amounts from west and
Another great label that's been working
Some really good tracks that every every single release but we can we can think like
(26:49):
Other labels as well such as slow cycle from argentina.
Holy stone
Holy stone for that's from our friend
vocabulary from thailand
the sapient robots from brazil
man
So many great labels that it wouldn't be fair just to name only five, you know
(27:10):
Yeah, no, I know I like putting people in the spot sometimes see what they come up with see what they say
you know, it's always good to hear other things because you know with
The barriered entry to dj the barrier entry to access of music, you know
There's so much popping up every single day
I can't remember what the last count was of how many songs get uploaded to to like b port every day
(27:33):
I know it's somewhere in ten thousand a minute or a hundred thousand or seventy five thousand a day or so
Some crazy number.
Um, don't consider me a verifiable source on that, but I know it's quite huge I mean, that's 70 even if it was 50 000 a day, you know times that by 30 days, you know, geez Okay, that's 1.5 million a month.
(27:55):
Okay, I can do math very quickly here 12 Yeah, there's 60 18 million songs a year.
I think it's probably more than that um You know, that's just a lot of tracks and uh, some of it's great some of it's not so great But you know everyone's trying to do their best totally get that.
Um, you know as far as labels go though I can tell you have this a very great appreciation for the ones you work with What are the most important things you think that record labels should be doing for their artists as a whole?
(28:26):
Uh, and are they doing a good job with that?
As a whole as a whole like more labels should be doing this or our label does this and we don't see others maybe Doing much of that or they fall short on that.
Um
I think uh when the label has a good promo list, you know to uh to send promos to big names
(28:49):
it's very good man, because
When these djs receive our music and play it
well, it's
publicity, right and they are they are spreading the the word so
This is a good thing a good promo list and when the label has a
a big name behind it
And this big name plays your song
(29:11):
it's a uh
It's a good thing too because people get to know you and follows you on the instagram and social media media and stuff and
Starting from that the the the guys that don't know you yet
and
See this story or or instagram thing
(29:32):
they can go to your discography and
Discover other tracks, you know
so
when the big name of the label
Uh plays your song is is very good.
And if the label has a good promo list yeah, on the I think on the other hand, I feel like the the the labels should like starting working more with the the the artists, you know in terms of Creating like some content together.
(30:00):
Well, let's create a video together.
Let's create some some some idea together and let's Collaborate on a post, you know talking about a song and I don't know.
I think sometimes I feel some labels They just like oh, here's your artwork and okay, just post it on your socials and okay And pray to god that's gonna be good, you know So sometimes I feel I feel that like a close a closer relationship Between the label and the artists.
(30:32):
That's that's another thing
You know
i've seen the pie chart I bring this up time and time again and shows that back in the day the pie chart used to be
20 pr for dj artists and 80 percent music creation of like a time
time you have in a day or time that you've used to producing now, it's
80 percent social media and 20 percent music creation, you know
(30:55):
But is that because music can do you think that's because music can be created?
I wouldn't say so easily now, but the barrier entry of you know, it's you still might buy a big computer But back in the day 20 years ago, you were looking at three to five thousand dollars for a computer put that in Today's terms how much would that be to get the equivalent of that?
(31:15):
You don't need that much anymore.
You can do it from a $1,200 $1,500 laptop.
Yeah, you know And take a get a macbook pro, you know, and then go for it, you know $2,000 macbook pro if you wanted one, um And make a go at it.
So You know the barrier to entry isn't there so maybe there is more time available To be spending on pr depends on how often you're producing though, or if you have another day job, so, you know, how how how?
(31:43):
Do you two have a pr person Or do would you do you have somebody that manages your social media you do everything in-house no, yeah, no Actually, we suck in social media.
That's one of our weak spots.
Yeah, we are We are we are from from the late 80s, right?
I'm from 89.
Rico is from 87, right?
(32:04):
87 um
It's it's not natural to us to post
Like everything post our life on the social media, but
It's if the social media is the big billboard of everybody today, right
(32:25):
uh
And in the social media social media in my opinion, we are competing
time
Of of that people spend on the on the screen, you know
so
if we need to
Uh develop
Urgently in our career right now is to be more present on the the social media, you know, but for now we say
(32:49):
Yeah, this is our struggle.
This is our struggle.
Yeah.
Yeah, we're being honest here that it's not natural It's not natural to us.
Yeah, we we are being honest like it's our struggle definitely, I think for I don't know not all but I think a lot of like djs We've Almost 40 years old Such as ourselves.
(33:12):
I think it's kind of hard, you know, you're like we are we are used to like just to enjoying the moment You know Again Technical issues guys, so we all just play along to bring the whole things glitching.
(33:35):
Yeah Rico all good.
You're a glitching man.
He's like I think the hands up means oh what's going on?
It's all good Yeah, no worries.
Don't worry about I I think you totally got it though I I think your point, you know, you're trying to make there is that definitely social media takes up time.
(33:55):
We need to adapt and yeah We need to adapt to the to the knees to this new reality, right?
Because we we are these guys that you said for us is 80 production music and 20 No, I have to use social media, but I use tools all the time to disseminate information.
I mean I have 700 news stories I have you know We're gearing up to do 60 hours of content plus a month and by q by the middle of q1 next year Be it hopefully 100 hours of content is our goal And that's just a lot of sharing a lot of information a lot of getting it out there And there you go.
(34:32):
It's all good now Well, it was for a second It's all good.
It's all good.
I love it.
I love it.
Don't worry about Rico.
Don't worry about it, man You got to disconnect come back in go ahead It's all good, you know, it's he sounded like like a high-pitched dictator, right?
(35:01):
You got uh, what's it called?
Yeah, what's it called the voice the boy dang, what's that called auto-tune?
Yeah, it's You know Look in your opinion.
Is there something really messed up in the electronic music scene?
(35:22):
That you can see that it's been a kind of an ongoing thing or that needs changing Anything that you'd want to like call to action say, you know It's this good change and when I say in the electronic music scene, it necessarily doesn't mean.
Um It could be anything it could be anything actually, um, you know, hey Rico, you're there you're back.
(35:43):
Awesome.
Don't worry about it I was just not doing googa.
I I don't know if there's something really that's really messed up in the electronic music scene That you would want to see maybe changed or fixed or a different direction going in What would that be?
my concern My concern right now is about I'm speaking about the brazilian scene.
(36:06):
Okay.
I don't know what's happening on the us or europe right now, but Here in brazil many clubs are closing So this is a concern because we need places to like to to play right to present ourselves and I don't know what's going on with our country right now.
I think it's I don't know the the behavior.
(36:30):
Uh of people about going Um to nightclubs, you know to spend time in the late hours of the day uh, I don't know if If he's a change of behavior, you know right now How is in the us right now the the clubs are closing yeah There's some notable clubs that are going out of business or you know, there's a definite dynamic Shift, um, it's happening.
(36:57):
I mean, I 25 years ago we probably had Uh, well at that time in seattle we were just coming out of the grunge band era phase electronic music was still kind of a It wasn't it was getting popular.
We had top 40 You know clubs like hip-hop rap top 40 clubs, but electronic music wasn't there, but there were a lot more nightclubs and venues That have shut down we've seen over the years obviously um Yeah here in brazil.
(37:29):
We have more.
Uh, people are going to like big festivals right now, you know, so small clubs are closing and In my opinion the underground scene is based on on smoke, right?
So this is a concern for me.
This is the my major concern right now
Yeah, I mean that's that's the thing is it's is you're right and well you got these big festivals that are charging
(37:55):
Ton of money to get in and people like I want to save up for that
And then does how does that impact the local economy, you know as a whole if it's 500 to go for
500 bucks a day for two days to go to a festival or 250
That's 500 bucks and now you got the club
Well, it may not even be here's one thing that we see too is that it may not be just going out to the club
(38:18):
It's that people in the states, you know, there's been some studies out there that people are drinking less
You know
The club can be packed
People aren't drinking like they used to
and so, um
You know that could be an effect.
I mean, I was going to a club.
I was going to a club here in seattle
And I didn't realize it but I had ordered a double jameson and it was 28
(38:41):
Well a fifth of jameson in the store is 32
And this is in vegas and this is in new york
You know
So i'm sitting there going wait a second for me to have
Two drinks in a club is fifty six dollars
And i'm like, well that just doesn't sound right, you know
(39:01):
um
So are people just not spending as much in the clubs the clubs aren't making as much money anymore
And then they do shut down
You know
One of the biggest things that I think that I see a lot of promoters going out of business on over the years
Is the extended guest list?
You know where they're giving you know, let's say the club holds 300 people and they have a 200 person guest list Yeah, same here Same here.
(39:26):
It's like why are you doing that to yourselves?
That's not really a great business model You know, especially on a 10 or 15 dollar cover charge.
I get it.
They want to pack the club They want to make it look good.
But in business practices, I think that's a terrible idea to do You know people want a discounted guest.
I mean vip to me stands for very important person And granted every audience member every fan is important But me growing up in the 80s or pre-days, you know vip man.
(39:53):
This person's an influencer That's really going to bring something to the club and I don't mean the modern day influencer That says i'm an influence.
I should get in everywhere for free because I got 50 000.
Okay, great That's great.
You're coming.
That's great.
You're going to be at our show.
That's great
You're going to post about our show
But that doesn't translate into ticket sales for me by giving you and your entourage, you know
20 passes to my show
(40:15):
Yeah, so you can talk about if you want to talk about a commercial deal
Okay, maybe I should be paying you to blog about my show
But then you take that money and pay to come to my show, you know
Or i've even discussed the idea that people over the years
They don't they don't do anything electronically so they could be capturing people's emails and retargeting them
(40:38):
I'm saying sign up for a membership program like my own my own newsletter.
I have a membership program on our site 50 bucks a year That's four dollars a month.
You're helping contribute to the production of the show But you're going to get first go around on tickets.
You're going to get first, you know, you're going to be entered in the contest Her for giveaways, you know, there's a meet and greets.
We'll have all that fun stuff, but only our members will get access to that
(41:02):
um, you know or even access the first tier ticket price if your name's on that email list you get sent an email and
You're going to get a discounted ticket
Come on people
and I see a lot that's where I see promoters going out or even
Clubs, you know giving away so they're planning to make it at the bar and they're not making it in the bar anymore
Um, there's a notable and we're talking about big cities, too
New York clubs shut down same same
(41:25):
Shut it down recently.
It's the same scenario here.
I don't I don't know if you guys talked about that but Can you can you guys hear me properly?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah
You're not you're not bleaching anymore
So
Well something very odd about the brazilian scene, which is really bad
(41:46):
People they don't buy tickets
because they already expect
That the the parties and the festival they won't like go sold out
and they will
Give like free tickets for a lot of people
So people think I won't buy it
Eventually, they're gonna give like free tickets
and gasoline and stuff like
(42:07):
So, you know, it's like a vicious cycle
so horrible
That just like rotten all the whole scene, you know
I recently had somebody I was talking to about because i'm looking at a new ticketing platform here
Um, which is actually an incentive based ticketing platform.
It's actually really really cool um When somebody buys a ticket it incentivizes them to go out and share the link and if people buy the through their link They can end up getting a free ticket Or even a discounted ticket or I can set it up to if they share it enough people do it They don't necessarily get a free ticket.
(42:41):
They can get a t-shirt or access some other prizes It's actually a really really cool system.
I love it um, but um You know Somebody told me once don't make contests to give away free tickets or don't let people know you have free tickets for your shows because then what they'll do is they'll Instead of buying a ticket they'll enter the contest Hoping to win one and then if they don't win then they'll go do something else that evening They go.
(43:09):
Oh, I didn't win.
I'll buy one So give away something else other than a free ticket to your show anything else Meet and greet autograph cd.
I don't know whatever it is Merchandise, that's where merchandise can really come in and help your fan base, you know Give them a t-shirt or give them a signed autograph or like I could give them a opportunity to do a guest appearance on a show Bring them in and say here's a guest show or here's a guest appearance, you know, or guest question.
(43:36):
Yeah, you know, um during the show It can be a value add And then they're going to be burnt into that show forever, you know, and they're like they're going to share that show You know, I was in the show.
I gotta ask You know i'm not gonna ask you some questions, you know kind of stuff speaking of shows though Um, do you listen to podcasts or live streams?
(43:57):
Both you listen to podcasts or live streams or other shows?
What kind of oh i'm sorry other uh electronic music shows, uh, you know listening like do you follow?
uh Any other artists and listen to your top top shows out there?
Like I always know when I go to blankety blank blank.
They're gonna have the hottest tracks or the hottest news or You're gonna be following the dj sessions.
(44:20):
I know that right?
Yeah.
Yeah Yeah.
Oh, yeah, of course I Uh majorly I from the electronic scene I I follow djs and I watch Majorly videos of production stuff mixing and mastering stuff.
I'm a nerd man.
Sorry.
I'm a geek It's what I this is my uh This is the the number one thing that I do, um Besides producing I watch videos to learn new stuff and I feel like I I think i'm a little obsessive about it.
(44:56):
They're like only a few like podcasts such as like Yours in brazil, but I I think that I I miss that, you know Because we we only see like djs playing We we we hear that we listen to their music, but we don't know anything about their lives like their opinion We don't see like them laughing and just like talking about random shit like here so I don't know.
(45:22):
I think we could like make more like these in brazil, you know, you know
i'm glad you brought that topic up because that's something that you know in the day and age of um, some some press media outlets
I don't do that here, but they'll just send out a list of 10 questions
Have you fill them out and send them back in and to me i'm not knocking anyone out there
But to me that's not an interview to me.
(45:44):
That's not reporting to me
That's not even on the ground or there's been some companies that have been
kind of
skirting by and they'll get a press release and
Run it through ai and make an article out of it and say, ah, here's the coverage we did to this event
It's like wait a second that
Wait, wait, you just took information from a press release turned it into an article and put it on your website
(46:06):
Not organic not really before there has to be some journalistic integrity and not too long ago.
I posted an article about How press in the electronic music world is kind of dying out Because of the quick bite articles they want them to be one minute two minute reads Here you go to the here you get disposable, you know, nobody's writing long form articles anymore Uh reporting because people just are reading the whole thing all the way through.
(46:31):
Um I believe podcasting live streaming just like this.
Thank you Uh for for saying, you know, our kind of format is is is doing what needs to be done Um, that's something I also saw big in in during pandy, you know in 2020 that all the djs in the world We were a dj show It would be an interview for five minutes Yeah, dj would play An exit interview when I started watching all the shows and everyone popping online.
(46:56):
Nobody was talking to the camera Nobody was getting in there.
I mean they might do something over in the chat room over there now
But a lot of those beginning shows I was just watching what i'd call mistakes happening from day one going
Well, what's different from your show playing music to this show playing music and they turn it in because they're a fan
Or they turn it in because it's on but the truth is you can only watch one show at any given time
(47:20):
Yeah, and people weren't recording their shows because they get flagged and copywritten and you know takedowns all over the place.
So, you know Everyone I called 2020 to look at me here, especially in the electronic music industry in music industry alone But even people jumping on going I want to do a podcast now i'm at home I'm sitting in front of my computer.
(47:41):
Why don't I talk to the screen?
You know and do something so we definitely saw that growth.
Um come up, but what people didn't account for is Everyone else doing it Yeah, and then how do you cut through?
Oh, it's easy.
I can just turn on a camera and go and i'm like it's not that easy You know and and then you're choosing to go live as a dj I'm gonna go live at friday night at midnight because that's when everyone's gonna be in the club and everyone in my hometown They're gonna be at home watching too Yeah, but you're going up against insomniac artists.
(48:12):
You're going up against world-name artists the same time and you can only watch one show one time Yeah, you're competing time.
Whereas if I told people back in the day I say hey If you're in pacific time in the united states Do your show live it if you can do your show live at 10 o'clock in the morning You know do your show live and it's gonna be it's gonna be seven o'clock in europe eight o'clock in europe You know and you might branch out that way and go on in a different night.
(48:43):
My interview times are now 10 a.m
And 1 30 p.m pacific time i'm not trying to compete with people being at home
Eating dinner in the united states i'm gonna be during the day
And if you want to subscribe to our podcast you're gonna have it downloaded later
But I pay for all my licensing rights and all my music it's and all that stuff too
So we don't get taken down
But yeah
(49:03):
I mean that was a difficult thing for barrier for people to go through so
You know finding shows interview shows.
I think definitely keeping that organic feel especially with ai coming into i love ai I believe it as a tool is awesome.
It helps me with my shows.
I mean Our shows are transcribed by ai I wouldn't sit there Pay somebody now to type it all out like I had to back in the old broadcast days But even my show notes I go in and say create a summary.
(49:27):
I mean, this is an hour-long episode If I were to go in from my memory and create a summary, but I can go no and it's not copywriting It's not taken away from anyone else.
It's using the actual footage that has been created between us three Here so I don't have an ethical dilemma using that to do something like that.
Yeah Um, you know, but I think it's really awesome Uh that using ai to generate to To make a show better is awesome.
(49:53):
Yeah, of course.
No It's a tool Um, but enough about that.
I know we're getting close to the end of the show here I wanted to talk about your shows and your festivals that you're playing because I did mention that earlier up in the top of The interview about that bookstore that you play in.
Uh, we talked about that.
That looks phenomenal I'm gonna go there, but you played a lot of different, uh festivals.
Do you have one that you look forward to playing?
(50:15):
Um all the time we're looking forward to playing that's upcoming here in the near future
Do you know
i'm more like uh
Excited and think about our own party
We have we have our own party this month in october with which is called riot
(50:37):
and
we are super excited because you know, we we make like
We we with our own taste
We we like we we want to feel at home and we wanna that we want to people feel at home as well
You know
So all all i'm thinking right now.
It's our party called riot, which it guys Riot 24th october we wait for you there.
(51:04):
Let's party Give me some Yeah, I I Just wanna say something you you you said about the library we we played this year three parties in three dates in argentina in It's like Amazing like we we were like speechless The people yeah, people don't stop dancing and it's amazing man.
(51:33):
It's amazing crowd there.
It's unbelievable.
It's it's like that It feels like that electronic musics it's part of the their culture, you know the the like the popular music of them, so They they go out To dance.
That's beautiful, man.
Yeah It's different from the from the crowd from brazil in brazil, the crowd is is very energetic, you know, but there are a lot of people filming and Talking um In the middle of the sets but in argentina is different man.
(52:09):
They can't stop dancing.
Yeah, they leave the moment They leave the moment.
They are not there like just to chat or Or to film man, they are just like dancing looking at each other They have like a special argentinian dance like oh, it's amazing man.
We we Everyone should go to argentina.
Really?
I definitely want to make it down in south america and stop in brazil and zampalo if I can make it down there Um, one of the things that I do bring up from time to time as well on the show is talking about you know the use of cell phones in nightclubs on the dance floor And how now it's becoming kind of big news.
(52:46):
I've seen a number of stories come out these newer clubs opening up saying No cell phones on the dance floor.
Yeah, you know Lane eight requires that on their rider people put a sticker on their phones.
I guess it's part of it's part of their overall theme
Um that they do with their shows I forget the name of theme is off the top of my head
I just talked about this last week with with thomas turner from relentless beats
(53:10):
And uh, you know, I wonder if more djs
Performers who will start to initiate that policy in their rider saying hey
I want the dance floor back, you know, I I want somebody in front of me, you know
like this
You know, and then i'm standing behind somebody who's like this
They're standing on the dance floor.
I talk about this just in the last few weeks I saw a video and this girl was up at the front of the dj booth and she's literally standing like this on her phone She's texting.
(53:39):
I mean you can see somebody filming over her shoulder and the dj just goes It goes right back to business and she turns to the camera behind her goes You know i'm like yeah, I mean You're up at the front of the dj booth and you're texting They wanted to take a picture But you know the one thing that apple just released with a new iphone 17 Is a 16.
(54:04):
I don't work for them by the way, but I used to But uh now when you do your phone and you're filming a show It has both cameras so you can get the reaction shot.
Now if you film.
Oh, yeah and film the show so you can be like
Yeah, look at this party at the show, you know
That's just encouraging that to be done more, you know
(54:25):
Yeah, I remember back in the day when I was working with apple they had patented or put in a patent
uh for infrared technology
So your phone would sense they could put a sensor and point out infrared
And it would say not able to record
Wow, you're gonna tell it not to let the video function function.
(54:45):
It's something they patented but they never released Yeah, but they got million patents a year.
Well, okay.
I exaggerated maybe maybe Well, I think I think like recording a member it's it's really nice like yeah go to a party or something But I think we love we we kind of lost the the the raving and the clubbing culture Yeah, you know like for dj sometimes you you are playing and people are like are talking And guys, come on, let's just dance.
(55:12):
There's a famous meme video from solomon that the guy is filming him and some like he does like Come on like Put that thing down And that's it I think we should like we should I don't know get back to that time like we We we could like enjoy more and not not only filming and recording the party I don't know.
(55:38):
I think it's gonna be big presence, right?
It's gonna be healthier for the whole scene and and that's why I was talking to you before the show one of the things we're looking to do in here is is Looking to start doing pay-per-view pay-per-view events You know and uh, maybe I was talking about that with somebody else today.
I was talking about somebody else today But now oh, there's the announcement.
(55:59):
Yeah, we're looking to do pay-per-view events.
And yeah at our events
I mean do we want the cell phones in I mean, I you know, if it's my event and i'm in control of it
I'll be like nope
We're gonna put stickers on your phone and it's gonna be very well announced that if you are caught recording
Uh, we'll politely ask you to put a sticker on your phone
And if we have to find you again, we're gonna have you leave the club go ahead and talk shit about us
(56:19):
We don't care.
You know, we want people in the dance.
We're dancing if you want to watch our show You can go back and buy the pay-per-view Later on and I guarantee you the audio is going to be better We'll have the crowd shots.
Yeah, the video lighting is going to be better, you know, and it's going to be something you're going to You may not be able to share you can share a link with somebody else They can buy and watch the pay-per-view and maybe 30 days later after the show.
(56:42):
We'll make it for free Um, but for the for 30-day window, you know people want to watch that then they're gonna they're gonna you know pay Because they're paying for the production of the show, you know They're helping cover those costs and it's not people think it's inexpensive But it costs money to hire a good team to pull it off correctly.
Yes But we we come back from for that discussion like if we if you don't post it If you don't post that moment, are you not leaving that moment?
(57:08):
You know, like when people are eating like oh they say phone phone eats first, you know, like that's it So the phone eats first.
I that is one of my guilty pleasures.
My friend and I cannot cannot say i'm big foodie I know i'm doing a lot of food.
It's like if it's not me talking about the dj sessions.
It's probably food pics Yeah, you know and I cook too so I like to take pictures of what I make.
(57:31):
Yeah
No, I totally get you, but it's but it's not it's just like a healthy discussion, too
Yeah
Well, you know gentlemen, I had some other questions to get to or running out of time here really quick
But you know when the other thing going back to the phone thing though is now people
Are capturing I want to touch on this they're capturing
Moments where when you have a professional photographer, they know when to take a shot
(57:53):
Yeah, you have somebody online and they're doing their phone and they're recording and they might get a shot where the dj might do something
Like like this
But the way the angle comes in it might look like they're picking their nose
Yeah, and they're picking their nose on stage.
It's like wait a second.
I wasn't doing that They just caught me at a funny weird angle You know and that gets out there on social media gets a hashtag on it and becomes viral It's like dj picks nose on stage you know um You know those kind of things too.
(58:21):
I mean you're not gonna maybe prevent that at a big festival
But more intimate nightclubs where you want that vibe that touch
I mean there was a club here in seattle that I used to go to all the time
Called c sound lounge and it was a very into big artists, but I think the main room 150
Maybe even less than that 150 maybe 175 on a pack night, but you were right there next to the dj
(58:45):
I mean everyone was in you were 10 feet away
you know
At any point and it was just a very intimate awesome vibe and people even then
weren't pulling out their phones, I mean this is
2009 2010 11 the iphone it was just kind of
The iphone came out in 2007
So, you know really wasn't a big thing.
(59:07):
Not everyone had switched over and had 80 of the market had an iphone, you know or whatever the And then it is out there, you know, it wasn't a thing to still film but as it progressed people like i'm gonna capture this i'm gonna share it and I would say We have a joke here in the states.
Nobody's gonna watch your fourth of july fireworks that you record and put online Now if it's the drone shows they might watch the drone shows, okay, I get it But eventually it's gonna be okay.
(59:33):
You've seen one drone.
Joe.
You've seen them all.
Yeah, you know Um, or maybe okay.
Yeah, you're watching the fireworks for tomorrowland or edc.
Okay, we get it.
That's cool That's a moment, you know, like holy crap I can't believe they did that but it's somebody gonna really even dj sets nowadays with so many people doing them.
Nobody goes like this Wow, I just watched that even norton pure I watched norton pure said love it The stuff circle does love it That i'm like watching But there's only even if they put 12 camera angles up.
(01:00:06):
Okay.
Okay.
There's camera.
One, two, three, four Wow, that was cool.
That was cool.
That was cool.
That was cool
Okay, but do I go back and watch it or now that i've watched it once am I just gonna put it on and
Go do my laundry, you know
So yeah, nobody sits there now, but the nice thing is that I love is that the interactivity of the chat room
That people are over there and that's what people are tuning in for to have that fan base that fan communication
(01:00:29):
I was funny enough just went back in time with somebody I brought on the show recently
We're syndicating the shows
I was showing on my old website from 2001 of my first broadcast show that I put on tv and
the broadcast television here in seattle
and one of the things that I had in my
in my website
Was a chat room so when our show was live on the air
(01:00:50):
We could be chatting with people at home on their computers
And talking with them like this is the producer of the show and we're live in a chat room right now
Concept never flew never took off because we only put six episodes on the air, but I wanted it there
So a lot of the features you see at our website on the djsession.com
They're there because they're features that I want to show that we're in that direction or version 1.0
(01:01:13):
Of being there that can be future developed and
It's always a morphing process
Ongoing process pretty awesome stuff
Speaking though of things morphing and changing
You know, do you two become different when you get on a stage?
Are you or are you different off stage?
um, is there any personality persona type that you kind of Put the stage mask on and then help the stage max is off.
(01:01:38):
I'm at home.
I'm just you know I Think we get more excited, you know, like A big party a party vibe like we're like jumping and enjoying the moment but we like we we are very like two funny guys on the stage, you know, and And then the backstage we are the same the same guys.
(01:02:01):
Like we do like treat people really well We are like just funny guys.
We want to hang out with people
Very humble guys, let's say we're just two little boys from the hood in brazil
Yeah
but
there is a sensation, uh
on the
On the on the dj booth that it's freedom, you know, we feel free
(01:02:25):
on the on
on the dj booth so on the stage, so this is
I think this is the best sensation in the world, you know, you know
Mostly when when we are playing our songs and people are dancing
So this is i was talking with somebody a few months back on the show and they talked about
The health and well-being of a performing artist and one you could be in that club
(01:02:49):
One be in that club do a two-hour set say you go on from midnight to 2 a.m. I don't know how late late night
But two hours later you could be sitting in an airport by yourself on a flight going out
and that dopamine effect of going
You know can get like almost a burnout can happen because you're like
(01:03:11):
Now i'm just here.
I was just sitting around five thousand ten thousand fifteen thousand people Having the time of my life and now i'm in the airport because i'm gonna hit the next city So i'm in the car.
I gotta go, you know, but that rush it can be very johnny.
Do you Do you have ways that you two take to kind of deal with the ups and downs of stage performance and back end stage performance?
(01:03:32):
and Back end Well one one thing one thing we we I think we kind of chose that we chose to be a dude You know, we chose to share good and bad moments.
So when we are like I don't know five thousand kilometers from here And it's everything is just like fucked up and so weird that we we do have each other, you know, so let's let's Know that's it for me.
(01:04:00):
It's like being a duo helps a lot the bad the good and the bad moments Yeah, we share everything so it makes easier, you know, I guess if you do I totally can relate last year.
I went to berlin by myself I've never been there before and the few years prior to that with my buddy I have my travel buddy my friend that I love traveling with awesome and being in berlin without her it was kind of like What do I do now?
(01:04:27):
You know, I found stuff to do I was in berlin crying out loud, but I mean, you know, it was just you know
Having somebody to travel I guess I didn't think about that as being a duo
You got somebody to bounce stuff off of talk with let's go eat chat
You know, um, but for traveling artists solo artists, you know
If they don't have a road manager or a photographer somebody their girlfriend or significant wife with them kind of alone husband
(01:04:50):
Um, you know, it's kind of like whoa, you know, um
How do you deal with all that?
It's a lonely road exactly After the party, I think it's a it's a very lonely road for the artist.
Yeah You also got to be careful of that that you know, you're going to be invited to the after party You know somebody to say hey, let's go on let's come on back over to my hotel room or hey let's go out here and I got this house party to go to and you're like I got a flight in six hours.
(01:05:16):
I gotta get some sleep, you know, i'm sure that happens a lot with artists Um all the time.
What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you two on stage?
stage Anything comes to mind?
That the time in rio that time in rio Like gear gear.
Yeah, like equipment problems your problems the worst man, I think we we the the subwoofer the subwoofer was uh Was it was under the table?
(01:05:48):
Yeah under the table
And it was vibrating, you know
And the mixer was jumping
And when rico was mixing I I needed to one one had to mix and the other one had to hold equipment
Man that was oh my god
I uh, I was at an event once and they the sound system had they set up the way they set up
(01:06:12):
They put the subs they put the speakers underneath the dj booth
And the djs were complaining all night long because they're like, how do I beat matt?
I'm not This is throwing me off Um, like completely throwing me off and I was like, well, I never thought that would be a thing But apparently it is but The mixer started walking like this on the table and going uh, I say go go go back where you belong Nightmare nightmare for djs.
(01:06:42):
I think the equipment When it's bad, it's a nightmare for the dj Because we can we can play for like I don't know.
Oh It's empty.
There are there are only 10 people We don't mind that Come on over guys.
Let's come back up here in front of us and let's party
But when the gear like started having problems we ah, man, it's a nightmare for us
(01:07:05):
I hear that, you know, yeah, I have the um
My my I used to work with a friend of mine sergi and when we were doing shows
If I said a certain word out really loud
It was like he'd think the end of the world was coming because like a piece of gear would mess up or something like
I'd be like
shit
(01:07:26):
And he'd go he'd just free drop like what's going on?
What's happened?
What's happened?
I go I forgot a cable Something small but like I knew I packed it it's here somewhere and uh, you know, but uh, you know It doesn't happen that often very much anymore, but but you put you play like for one hour But when this happens it feels just like a 10 hour set, you know, yeah, oh my gosh It feels like forever.
(01:07:51):
It's been only 15 minutes.
That can't be possible.
I'm here like for two days.
I've been here already How that goes When you two are not entertaining others, what do you two find in your off time?
What do both of you enjoy doing?
I enjoy fishing i'm a fishing guy Yeah Yeah, very much What about you?
(01:08:18):
Uh as I said, man, I i'm a I'm, i'm a little too obsessive with production.
So I spend most of my time producing but when i'm not producing I spend time with my girlfriend and my dog, but that's it.
My my life is not so interesting No, you know it's mostly behind the computer I have to personally manage my time um to know I mean this morning I was up at Now i'm getting up at 6 and used to be 9 o'clock in the morning 9 o'clock to 5 Now it's 6 30 a.m Because i'm working with a lot more european counterparts And I gotta be up before they get out of the office.
(01:08:56):
Otherwise, it's a whole nother 24 hours before I get a reply You know and I got stuff to do And so, you know, that's 6 37 o'clock.
I'm on the i'm on the on the grind and that goes till you know 5 p.m And that's not including if I have to go out and do meetings And other events, yeah so you just got to manage that time and then um But I find this fun.
(01:09:17):
I find what I do fun and compelling.
It's that one thing where you find it Say, you know find something you love doing find a way to make money at it.
You'll be happy Yes, that's awesome As long as you have a good work-life balance in that I think it's all good You know, is there anything else you'd like to let our dj sessions fans know before we let you go?
well guys We just released mother lovers on xe audio and it's Almost on the top on beat part, please guys.
(01:09:49):
Come on buy a copy.
Yes Yes, your family your grandmother your daughter.
You're your friends from high school.
Just buy a little copy You won't hurt.
I promise and let's help the brazilian bison brazilian guys reach the top.
Let's go.
That's it Reach the top and and just for those who know to be expected that isn't It has explicit lyrics in the track, correct?
(01:10:15):
Yes, yeah, but it's not it's not that bad you can It's a little muffled Watching the show and they go mom.
I want to go my mother lover Okay, here's 99 cents go buy it.
Oh my god, it's like, you know, we don't want to hear that ad I heard about it on the dj sessions and I get angry pta emails We will be canceled on the internet if like five year five year old kid like asking mom I want mother lovers by rick and guga.
(01:10:46):
Oh my god the new baby shark Where did you hear about it?
I heard about it on the dj sessions When I click that button I have to click on youtube not made for kids Yeah Yeah, but anyways, I thank you both for coming on the show Where's the best place people can go to find out more information about the both of you?
(01:11:10):
Well rico instagram majorly right we can google like on instagram on soundcloud.
Yeah, you you have it here On spotify spotify.
We are rick and guga everywhere on soundcloud instagram.
Tick tock Uh youtube you can you can find every everything over there and if you want anything just I don't know Send a message We can't talk about it guys.
(01:11:36):
We are very open.
We we appreciate it.
Awesome.
Riko and Gugga r i k o a n d G u g g a Riko and Gugga on instagram again gentlemen.
Thank you so much for being here with us today Pleasure man, definitely definitely gonna stay in contact with you as we Comes on the show.
Thank you so much Darran.
(01:11:58):
Absolutely.
It was a pleasure having you two on the show today You may want to hear some of those more mixes some of the more of those um Tracks coming out here up in the near future.
I know you're gonna be pushing out a bunch so Keep them coming Yes.
Thank you so much.
Bye.
Bye everyone.
Thank you On that note don't forget to go to our website the dj sessions.com i've never done this in a three-way before but remember You got to watch that video I told you i'm not gonna say the video on the show, but watch the dj sessions.com Yeah, click on the qr code go to our site.
(01:12:32):
We have over 700 news stories 2700 plus past episodes all our social media links are there.
We have our new music section coming out We have a vr nightclub where this interview is actually taking place in right now We have a mobile app version 2 coming out soon and more at the dj sessions.com That's where we're at.
I'm your host Darran coming to you from the virtual studios in seattle, washington.
(01:12:54):
That's Riko and Gugga Me here hit me here.
Come on high five guy And remember on the dj sessions the music never stops
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