massmusings

 A couple weeks ago, I caught up with Branchez to ask him the questions everyone wants to know. We had a great conversation - he was super easy to talk to, very chill and gave some funny answers to the questions I asked him (I love it when that happens). Read on for some more fun facts about your new favorite producer:

Hey there! Thanks so much for chatting with me today. First things first, have you always known that you wanted to make your music into a career, or did the goal evolve over time?

Well, I’ve known I wanted to make music for my living since I was in 7^th or 8^th grade. I played the drums back then and went to college for music so it’s definitely always been the goal. I’m very lucky for that and very grateful!

What inspired your name “Branchez?”

I actually came up with it in seventh grade, it was my street basketball name. It carried over into my music when I started creating sounds and beats on Garage Band on the school computers.

What is your spirit animal?

*pauses* A sloth. I sorta look like one I guess and I’m generally slow with every-day tasks… Don’t get me wrong I’m definitely motivated! Also I love Sid the Sloth from Ice Age, so I think that’s why it’s my spirit animal.

What is the most bizarre thing you have seen while performing, or just at a show in general?

Wow, that’s a good one… I’d have to say the most bizarre thing I've experienced happened in a crowd. It was after I had performed on The Cold Crush Tour with Paper Diamond in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was in the crowd and happened to look over right as this dude punched a girl in the face. Yeah, that happened. I think he may have been defending his girlfriend but he still rocked a chick. It was pretty aggressive.

How about the weirdest experience with a fan?

It’s mostly just social media ridiculousness. No dick pics or anything crazy like that, but this one time I accidentally followed a girl on twitter. It wouldn’t have been a big deal but she freaked out and was overly pumped about it – I think she thought we had some deep connection.

Want more Branchez? You can visit his SoundCloud here and make sure to like him on Facebook. Also, for all of my fellow Bostonians – you can join me at Naga on May 7^th for the Branchez show! Buy your tickets here and I hope to see you all there, it's sure to be a good time!

I like to think that I was taking “selfies” before they were considered cool.  Let’s be honest. Most of the pictures I took in middle school were of myself … Okay who am I kidding, I still take selfies every day. We all  take selfies every day, regardless of if you want to admit it or not.

Perhaps that is why The Chainsmokers song #SELFIE has over 4 million views on YouTube.  If you haven’t heard of The Chainsmokers, you may want to catch up to the curve. Not only did they just sign with Dim Mak Records, but they also were just announced on the lineup for Ultra. Still don't know who they are? Let me spare you some Googling:

Meet Drew Taggart and Alex Pall, the two heart-breakers who are winning over the EDM scene one show at a time. Self-described  as sexy and aggressively handsome, these two both “graduated from prestigious North-Eastern Universities, [they] like hot chicks in yoga pants, enjoy a good burger, and have been rejected from many of the venues they now play at.” It seems to me that neither of them cares about boring their fans with the gory details so I won’t either. If you want to know more about their background, you can visit their website here or their Facebook page here.

I was fortunate enough to catch up with Drew and Alex for a quick interview sans boring questions. I loved how they answered so I’m leaving them untouched, in their own words, for you to really get a sense of their personalities:

Do you guys have an item of choice that you like to wear during shows? Maybe some lucky underwear or some weird accessory?

We both love All Saints so we are both prlly wrapped up in their goodness… Drew usually has his Bara Bracelets and Alex wears his Patagonia hat… but none of it is about luck…

Are you totally sick of #Selfie yet or are you loving every second of it? Also be honest, how many selfies do you guys take every day?

Haha are you kidding we love it… we have worked our whole lives to make a song that ppl enjoy like this and talk about, while we didn’t think it would be about selfies, we are still very happy… as for the amount of selfies it varies from off days maybe like 10 and on show days maybe 100….

What is one thing that you absolutely can’t say “no” to? (can be in relation to anything, not just music based.)

Free steak… fireball or patron shots, sour patch kids, new episodes of Game of thrones, a good BJ… free wifi….

What’s the most embarrassing thing that has happened so far during your careers as The Chainsmokers?

Honestly nothing… there surely have been so strange moments, music shutting off, getting denied at clubs or by ppl, getting the run around but it’s all been amazing… you gotta enjoy the ride… although Alex did once go skinny dipping in the ocean with some girls, then they all lost their clothes, accused security of stealing it as they were naked and then found it feet from where they were standing…

Are you actually chain-smokers? (Sorry but I had to ask.)

No, we actually hate smoking….

As you can see these guys are pretty great. They’re certainly enjoying the experience and I feel like they want their fans to jump right in with them. So what are you waiting for? Stalk them on social media, go see a show, I don’t care what you do (and neither do they) as long as you blast #Selfie when you’re getting ready to have a great night.