Learn All About The New York-Based Electronic Duo, THE CHAINSMOKERS!

The New York City-based DJ/producer/songwriter duo, The Chainsmokers  consists of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall. Their 2014 single “#Selfie” reached #16 on the US charts and #11 on the UK charts. Since then, they have gone on to release several more hit songs, including “Kanye” featuring sirenXX, “Let You Go”, featuring Great Good Fine Ok and their latest single, “Roses” out now featuring Rozes. “Roses” can be found on their debut full-length album, “Bouquet” recently released on October 23rd via Disruptor Records.

Their Friendzone Fall tour is well under way with stops all over the US until December.

All Access recently caught up with The Chainsmokers to discuss their debut album, their biggest inspirations and much more.

Thanks for your time! How was your summer?

This was one of the best summers of our lives!! Summer for us is usually when we get to tour a lot of Europe so it’s a really fun time for us, and also it’s festival season which means really big, exciting shows and massive crowds.

Why do you think you two really work so well together?

It’s hard to say..… We really share the same passion for music and work, and also the drive to achieve our goals. We compliment each other really well and have our own roles and responsibilities with the group. That said, we have the same sense of humor for the most part and tastes, so you know, just two dudes enjoying a crazy ride together.

What’s been the silliest argument you have had while working together?

(Laughter) We get into dumb arguments all the time. It’s usually about something that we think the other said but didn’t… Neither of us like to admit to being wrong so it can be really stupid things like that… basically just stubbornness… (Laughter) We never fight over girls or anything like that.

Your shows look like they are extremely high-energy! How do you keep up the energy night after night? Do you have any interesting pre-performance rituals?

The performance is the fun part of the week, that’s for sure! Energy is fleeting, and we think if you ask anyone in the world they would say they were tired or could use more sleep. In fact, when we get more sleep we’re usually more tired… Lucky for us we really love this stuff and it’s easy for us to get excited and get over any early flights or late nights! Pre-show, we always try to come up with stuff but usually we are pretty relaxed… just hanging with buddies, drink some beers, make jokes… we try not to fixate on the show! We probably have more rituals than we realize but we just don’t notice them.

What was it like performing at Zedd’s ‘True Color Tour’ recently?

Zedd is a great dude and artist! We were thrilled he hit us up to join him as the surprise guest on his first show of the tour. The production he has is insane and he has such a loyal and enthusiastic fan base. It was amazing to get to play in front of them, and hopefully some of his fans are our’s now!

Why do you think Adam Alpert’s joint venture label with Sony, Disruptor Records is the right place for your music now?

For a label to be truly effective, they have to believe in your music, and they have to commit to artists over and over. It’s time consuming, expensive, and risky! Adam has had our backs from day one, and no one on this planet works harder for us. But it’s our common goals that makes it so amazing. Adam and Sony have been open-minded about our strategies and supportive, and as an artist, that helps us create, tour, and perform better… Our fans win, our brand wins, and in turn, we can win with Adam and make some great music. They realize how evolved the landscape of music is, and even more so across each genre and that flexibility has allowed us to do some amazing things…

So, where did the inspiration for your single, “Roses” ft. Rozes come from?

We were listening to a lot of Grouplove, Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” and Flume… you can see all the influences for sure. It definitely has The Chainsmokers feel though!

This month, you’ll be starting your Friendzone Tour. What can people expect from this tour? Are there any venues that you’ve never played at that you are excited to hit this tour?

A lot of fun! We are very excited to go on tour with all our homies, no airports and bring this visual stage production we have spent all of last year building to these awesome venues around the country. This is 100% a Chainsmokers show and we can’t wait to deliver a really unique, fun experience. Our fans have been amazing over the last 3 years and we wanted to invest in something bigger for them, and hopefully this show in conjunction with the support acts will really blow people away. We are excited for every venue but one venue we haven’t played that is going to be amazing is Shrine in LA!

Where do you come up with ideas for your YouTube videos?

We pull inspiration from everywhere. Movies, TV, our friends, being drunk, being stoned, whatever…. This is just a function of who we are and our demented minds. We aren’t sure it always translates as great ideas, but it’s a fun way to be creative!

Who are some of your all-time favorite artists? Who would you love to work with in the future?

We get asked that question a lot. Short list would be Sigur Ros, Chris Martin, Drake, Adele… man, there are too many!

Can you describe your remixing process and how you go about selecting what songs to remix? Do you have to get permission from the artists first?

We only remix songs we truly love. Doesn’t matter if the budget is great or not, if we don’t like the artist or the track we won’t do it. We have to be inspired by the song. Getting permission is obviously the best way, it sort of validates your work but it’s not always possible or the case… and honestly it’s a remix so whatever, if it’s unofficial then its unofficial, no big deal…

At the end of the day, what do you hope listeners take away from listening to your music?

That they get to know us a bit better, and also maybe learn something about themselves in the process. Whether its having a great time, helping them through a period in their life or whatever… It’s just a connection that we hope to achieve on some level.