INTERVIEW
TOUCHING THE HIGHLINE WITH DZEKO AND TORRES
Hello Julian and Luis, Thank you so much for
taking time out to do this interview with us we are so excited!
We are here to grant you 3 wishes what do you wish for?
We just wish to be doing this as long as we can and having as much fun as we are right now.
Hehe How are you guys doing?
Pretty good, just super busy!
This is a staple TIE question what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear South Africa?
Heat and cool accents lol.
Before we start can you tell us a little more about who Julian is and who Luis is minus the music..
We are both born and raised Torontonians who grew up with a love for Electronic Music, and each of us was kinda a nerd at one point or another…Julian used to be a huge Counter Strike guy, and Luis was also a PC gamer for a while, playing for clans for like the original Call of Duty and stuff. Also Julian used to play some hockey when he was younger (so Canadian) and Luis played soccer.
We know you probably get asked this a lot but how did you guys meet and how did you both end up in music specifically dance music?
We actually met through an online community site…it was like this online clubbing community. Then we both started working for the same promotion company, Julian as a promoter and Luis as designer/photographer. We ended up hosting these ‘party busses’ to some of the club events, and that was like the first time we really worked together.
The dance scene can be quite a tough one to crack, and its known that you guys play around with lots of different genres. How did you guys get your first big break both as producers and DJs?
We got our first break about 2 and a half years ago when we did a remix for Jus Jack. Tiesto and Paul Oakenfold both played it on their Podcasts and we kinda started to realize that people were actually liking the music we were making. That’s when we both quit our jobs and started to really take this seriously.
Being mentored by Tiesto, it must be a surreal experience what has been the highlight so far? Did any of you anticipate in the start of your careers that you would end up working with Tiesto?
Just being able to get like feedback on music and career moves from someone like Tiesto is a constant highlight. On top of that he also helped us get our first show at Hakkasan and ever since then, we play there regularly, and thats unreal. Such an awesome experience. There is no way we could have ever expected for this to happen, but it was always something we sort of dreamed of.
What makes The Dzeko and Torres signature sound unique from the rest out there?
I think our ‘signature sound’ is sort of a combination of things, but mainly its the fact that we are one of the few producers still making uplifting progressive house. A lot of people are ONLY doing the big room stuff…we love that stuff to and also make it every once in a while, but even in our sets, its never just one style. We don’t only want people to ‘rage’ with us, we also wanna give them that ‘euphoric’ feel.
Which musicians / DJs / Producers do you look up to also where do you draw your inspiration from when producing?
I mean the big one has always been Tiesto, but we also have always looked up to guys like Hardwell, Steve Angello, Ingrosso, Axwell, Morillo, Deep Dish...and anyone else that has a good combination of good music and good dj sets.
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?
LOL no we haven’t practiced DJing for a few years now…and actually funny enough, when we were learning, it was in Julian’s grandma’s basement INFRONT of a mirror! As for planning sets, we usually have about 5-10 tracks that we know we are going to play no matter what…obviously we’re going to play our own as well…but we never know more than that. You can’t go planning a set without knowing what your crowd is going to be like.
What two drinks would you use to represent Dzeko and Torres and why?
Are we talking mixed drinks? Thats a tough one…can we just tell you our favourite drinks? They are Tequila-7 and Tequila-Pinapple. I guess they are both kinda ‘sweet but still strong’ just like our music? Haha we tried…
Who’s the brains and who’s the beauty between the 2 of you? Do you ever fight and want to kill one another?
Every partnership has moments where they want to kill each other lol. But actually, we both work pretty well together…in the dj booth and in making this Dzeko & Torres thing happen. We both have our strength’s and more importantly we know what each other is better at. For example, Dzeko is definitely better at spraying Champagne, and Torres is for sure better with the Co2 guns! LOL
We are sisters and we both have things we hate about one another, what one thing do you hate about one another?
Hmmm, Luis snores sometimes, and Julian always leaves his empty coffee cup in the studio…EVERY TIME! LOL Like, the garbage is right next door in the kitchen!!!
What are your predictions for the sound of 2014, a lot of producers seem to say 2014 will be the year of melodies and no big drops, do you agree?
We hope its gonna be a lot more melodic again…thats what we love…but big drops/big kicks will never go away…they’ve always been here, just this past year or so they were more hard style inspired and had quarter note length kicks…these are the tracks that usually work best at festivals or in bigger clubs, so they are always gonna be around, we just hope for more of an even split between ‘emotional’ and ‘rage’.
End of the world and you are given the chance to stage a rave anywhere, where would you choose and who would be on the line up?
Toronto. Would wanna go out with all our loved ones. Line up? Not so sure it would matter lol, would just wanna have a good time…we’d wanna play for sure though. And Cascada…we miss Cascada lol.
If you guys were the ones asking the questions and us answering them what would you ask us?
What’s the best place to eat in all of South Africa? or just the best dish?
Come to South African and well show you ;)
What does Musical freedom represent for Dzeko and Torres?
Exactly what the name says…the freedom to release any kind of music as long as its good.
Rapid Fire
When you not doing music what can you be found doing?
Luis: Either eating or playing ps3/ps4…or watching whatever show I’m on…right now its breaking bad
Julian: Snap-Chatting, eating, or sleeping lol
3 things you absolutely can't live without?
Luis: Phone, black t-shirts, loved ones
Julian: Phone, food, mac-n-cheese
One thing your fans don't know about you?
Luis: Most people think I’m Spanish…I’m actually Portuguese
Julian: Allergic to cats…like really allergic
Your favorite item of clothing and favorite scent....
Luis: Black t-shirts LOL and Gautier 2…they don’t make it anymore :(
Julian: Jackets and Terre d’Hermes
3 things you would like to change about yourself (physical or personality wise)
Luis: First, i would love to be able to get out of bed in less than an hr after my alarm goes off…second, have naturally straight hair instead of this waviness, and maybe have some abs? lol
Julian: Smaller feet lol, 8 pack, and the ability to fall asleep on an airplane
Any last messages for fans? What can we expect from D&T in 2014?
A lot of new music coming, including some cool collabs…and we will always try our best to keep fans happy with free downloads!
Thank you so much for doing this interview with us now come and visit us in South Africa will you .. ;)
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