Chatting Miami And Mashups With A&G
Born and Raised in Miami, A&G consist of brothers Andrew and Gino Gomez, who are widely known for their creativity with bootlegs and mashups. They have gained support from some of the worlds biggest DJs. They recently signed a big record deal with one of the biggest labels in electronic music, Ultra Records, and there first big release was "Phoenix" and their latest track "Run With Me" sees a release today. This is just the beginning for A&G.
Hello Andrew & Gino, Thank you so much for taking time out to do this interview with us we are so excited! A very warm welcome to think in electronic.
• This is a staple TIE question what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear South Africa?
When we hear South Africa we think of safaris, mountains, and beautiful water.
• We know you are brothers so you probably meet because of this, can you tell us a little more about whom each of you are, what you love and what you hate?
We both love to travel and experience new places we have never been to and we both hate country music
• We are sisters and grew up listening and like the same music. Did you both grow up liking and listening to electronic music and wanting a career in electronic music? Or was the older one the influence?
Well its funny because we both actually grew up loving Rock music but then I (Gino) being the older brother started to discover artists like Daft Punk and Axwell and began loving electronic music. I would play Axwell’s In the Air remix while we were on the way to school everyday so my brother would be forced to listen and beginning with that track my younger brother began to develop the same passion for it that I had.
• Your newest upcoming release is with Northmark Feat. Gabrielle Ross - "Run With Me". What was the inspiration behind the track and what was the main aim of the track?
The inspiration for Run with Me began with a guitar riff that we laid out and we then made the track around it with our friend Northmark. Our aim with Run with Me was to make our first track that was suitable for a great singer. After finishing the instrumental we spent months to trying find a singer we felt was appropriate until we finally got in contact with Gabrielle Ross who we knew would be perfect for it.
BUY: A&G, NORTHMARK – ‘RUN WITH ME’ FEAT. GABRIELLE ROSS ON BEATPORT
• Run With Me is your 3rd release on Ultra Records, do you think the label you release on plays an influential role in shaping your career in the electronic scene?
Labels are definitely an important part in shaping your career but it definitely isn’t everything you also have to create unique quality music and be able to have the fan base to support it.
• Everyone can DJ but not everyone can be a producer. Producing is a lot harder than it sounds. How did you both learn to produce? Do you have any musical training?
We both first learned to produce by having one our friends come over everyday and teaching us the basic of using Logic 9. After we learned the basics we realized we still had a ton to learn so we both attended Cosmic Academy where we were taught everything in depth to the science of sound and technicalities of music production. Andrew my brother grew up his whole life playing the guitar.
• There has been a change in your production style and sound from electro to more melodic, what prompted the change?
Actually we have always produced more melodic style of production but labels were only responsive to the electro tracks we were producing until recently. Another factor was we also were searching for talented singers to work with.
• What makes A&G’s sound stand out from the rest? And how would you describe the A&G sound?
One thing would definitely be the emotion and feel we put in to our melodies. Also creating tracks that have a lot energy and excitement.
• Which musicians / DJs / Producers do you look up to also where do you draw your inspiration from when producing?
The list is long; we draw inspiration from everything and everyone around us everyday of our lives. We have our favorites just like any one else; they would have to be Axwell, Daft Punk, and Tiesto. We also draw inspiration from traveling every time we switch our setting it inspires us in a new way.
• Quote: “How do you not love this job? Being a DJ? Really? It’s surreal to us. There’s nothing else in the world we would rather do”. What makes DJ’ing so special?
There isn’t anything like the connection between a true DJ and the crowd. When we DJ it gives us a chance to be the clubs heartbeat and everyone in the room feels the pulse. The energy we get from the crowd is like no other and the feeling you get when the connection is so strong that you can literally see the room explode. That is what makes it so special
• Do you guys plan your sets beforehand (Track wise/ action wise / dance moves)? We pretty sure you both practice DJin in front of the mirror to get your moves in sync, do you?
What we do is we usually make a playlist of maybe 100-200 songs or so that we feel are the best and most appropriate tracks for the night. Then from there we start our set and we choose from the playlist according to how the crowd is responding.
• A&G mashups stand out from the masses, we are not huge fans of mashups unless they are done right. How do you select which tracks to mashup?
Thank you! We are honored that you guys love our mash ups, we have a lot of fun doing them. Usually we just make them out of necessity we will come across a track that we really like but we either feel that the track needs a vocal or needs a better drop so from there we just mash it up with whatever our ear tells us will work best. Sometimes we even will try a couple of different vocals or different drops until we think its perfect.
• Who’s the brains and who’s the beauty between the 2 of you?
Haha that’s a tough question I would have to say we both have our moments of each.
• We are sisters and we both have things we hate about one another, what one thing do you hate about one another?
Every brother and sister have things that get on each others nerves. If I had to say one thing is that we are both hard headed so sometimes it takes a while for us to agree on something.
• Do you think you two would ever split up and go solo?
Definitely don’t think so we both need each other to have any chance at great success.
• If we had to visit Miami and you were tasked with planning a full day of activities for us what would the day look like?
You couldn’t possibly do Miami right in just one day, Miami is a lifestyle you would need at least a few days. But a good day would start with a nice day on the boat followed by a fantastic sushi restaurant and then going to a nightclub like Liv, Story, or Mynt.
• What’s next for A&G?
We are really looking forward to releasing our next single on Ultra “Run with Me” coming out on Oct 24th as well as for our 2nd vocal track coming out at the end of the year.
Rapid Fire
• When you not doing music what can you be found doing?
Playing FIFA
• 3 things you absolutely can't live without?
Music, Burgers, FIFA
• One thing your fans don't know about you
We both used to listen to strictly rock and heavy metal.
• Your favorite item of clothing ..
Probably our jean jackets or black crew necks
• 3 things you would like to change about yourself (physical or personality wise)
Well we guess we both wish we could be more muscular or less hard headed haha
Any last messages for fans?
Stay tuned to our social medias (@andrewandgino) we have a lot of new music we are really excited to share with you guys and cant wait to see what you guys have to say about it. Also we would love see all of you guys at one of our future shows!