We talk with Loud Luxury: what it's like to be a DJ duo, their musical sound, rising sounds in EDM and more! 

By Sinejan Ozaydemir

I had the pleasure of sitting down to talk with Loud Luxury about their experiences that lead them to this moment in their career. The very down to earth and humble duo answer our questions about their journey, where they get their inspiration and motivation from, how they bring the party and share their experience in relation to the beginnings of their careers.

Sinejan: First of all I would like to start off by congratulating you guys on 5 Million fans from 61 countries and 1 Million hours of streaming on Spotify in 2017!! How does that feel??

Joe & Andrew: Pretty crazy, pretty crazy.

Andrew: I mean just over a year ago, we didn’t have much at all. So, just to have that kind of growth in that amount of time is pretty insane. Spotify is like wonderful, we are pro streaming and we want to get our music out there, so any way our fans can access it is great!

You guys started on Soundcloud, how do you find you got discovered or heard on there?

Andrew: On Soundcloud, we got lucky, because we had just started networking with artists and worked on creating a community to repost and share.

Joe: At that time there was a lot of people-like you would have a collective and you would repost songs and that’s how you would gain recognition.

Andrew: Looking at spotify and Soundcloud, in both situations, we were very lucky. With spotify, the first thing we put on there ended up doing really well and getting on viral charts. So that was a really good segway to continue working on there.

With soundcloud, we were lucky enough to be able to create these collectives with other artists and team up to repost music for eachother.

What advice would you give to artists/producers getting in the game now, on how to share their music or where to post it, what would you suggest?

Joe: Still use soundcloud. What we did was we had a couple throwaways that were just like geting good numbers and that would help us grow.

Andrew: It has become more difficult to get a hit on soundcloud. That may just be my personal opinion or what I have personally seen more recently. So now everyone who is starting careers that are blowing up now are definitely using Spotify. I think of an artist like Lauv for example who blew up on Spotify, he probably has a lot less followers on soundcloud but he is so big on Spotify so he is able to tour with like Ed Sheeran and do stuff like that you know?

You have been touring a bit now, what has touring done to motivate you and in what ways has it been inspiring you?

Joe: Well that’s how you do it. If you really want to grind, you have to tour. Personally I love travelling so for me, it’s like “SICK that’s where im going next!” But if you want to actually build fans and connect with people then that’s how you build it up. We have been able to play the coasts of north America and move inward, so we have been able to expand from being exposed to more people from shows which motivates us.

Any new sounds, artists or types of EDM rising from your experience on tour?

Andrew: K?d and REZZ for example, I am very inspired by how they have been able to cultivate and create a culture.

Would you ever do the niche thing like a helmet like Deadmau5 or the goggles that REZZ has?

Joe: We thought about it, but it’s not really us. Maybe like a side project like later on. But for what we are doing, it’s not really us, like which is about just us as people and what we do day-to-day and how that translates into music.

Andrew: Yeah, like for a pretty long time, we’ve always been on the same page as to what we want like Loud Luxury to be and its not like about this fantasy world or cartoon characters that some others are – which is still really dope and creative, but ours was never meant to be that sort of world. It was always just meant to be something that other people connect to-

Joe: the world we create is our world.

Andrew: It’s just us

Joe: Like what we are and what we experience, because that’s all we do.

Andrew: And that’s what makes it more comfortable because we are just being ourselves.

Any underground Canadian artists we should watch out for this year?

Andrew: I definitely want to shout out Robotaki, he’s a Toronto/Montreal dude

Joe: Always loved his music

Andrew: And also Love thy brother, who has been around for a while from Montreal. I really admire him because, he doesn’t chase trends, he just makes music that he really likes. There is not pressure to be around someone like that, its so relaxed, and there is no pressure to be like “ Do people care about what I am doing?” It’s really just like, I’ve never been around people where the way that they make music is just so honest and just in themselves. Because everyone obviously says, I make this for myself and I make this because I love it. But we are all fickle beings in terms of caring what other people think. But those are two artists specifically at least in my mind, you know, that just make music that’s just really them.

Have you guys always felt comfortable without having that thought of “what are people thinking of this?”

Joe: No, for the first two years we were feeling that. 100%. But now that we have a sound, now, we can either continue with that or rather, expand from that comfortably.

Andrew: Anyone who tells you that they have never experienced that are either lying or they are way too young or something.

Joe: The first two years were not that great there was a lot trial and error.

Andrew: Once you know your sound it is way easier to figure it out because you just ask yourself: “ Does this make sense with what I am trying to do?” Because before, you try to make absolutely anything and take any opportunity that comes your way, because you are still discovering. But once you know that a specific thing is what you want to do. Then it becomes a question of, “this could be the dopest thing in the world. But is this what I need?”

How do you know if a sound is a good fit for you guys?

Joe: You just know. Sometimes we get sent stuff and it’s just the elements in it like the top line like the melody or the beat, no matter how it’s recorded or no matter what the lyrics are, you could listen to it for like 15 seconds and you can immediately tell yes or no.

Andrew: Instinct is like a muscle, it just needs to be worked out, you know? When you see and experience the mistakes that you and other people make and you see trends rise and fall, that’s where this knowing comes from.

How involved are you in the writing process?

Joe: We are involved 100%

Do you like to leave the lyrics or melody to the vocalist or do you guys like to write lyrics as well as the instrumentals?

Joe: Not every time. Like for example, for “Body” we already had a very strong top line all it needed was a few things so we recognized that it is really good and we didn’t want to touch that.

Andrew: We got into electronic music, less about the dope club tracks, but more just about the people who are writing like actual songs with it. Because I think when you can write a good song with it, it is a very cool genre to explore. So like me, personally, earlier in my life I was listening to Calvin and Aviici or even more recent like Disclosure who are really making songs, rather than the coolest club track you just party to.

What do you commonly start with, instrumentals first or lyrics?

Andrew: Doesn’t really matter.

Joe: What ever peeks my interest first. Sometimes it could be like a guitar piece or anything and we take it from there.

Do you guys play any instruments?

Joe: Yep. I play guitar and bass, also a little bit of piano.

Andrew: Piano, and drums for a while.

Joe: It does help to know how to play these instruments.

Andrew: I think the two instruments, -which I learned completely unintentionally- piano and drums really help for understanding production because everything in the software is laid out like that. So if you were someone who is just starting out, I would recommend those two.

Joe: For me it’s guitar as well. I mean, you don’t need to know anything, like Deadmau5 but it will take a lot more time for trial and error.

Andrew: Exactly.

Can we talk about AFTR:HRS and your track “Fill me in” and working with Tiesto? How did that come about?

Andrew: We were drinking with him at Labour of Love in 2016. And he made Joe do a Scorpion Shot.

Joe: He totally put me on the spot.

Andrew: It’s actually pretty hard

Joe: Yeah there was a whole green room full of people watching me and I was like, this is the first time I meet this guy, I can’t mess this up. So then I did it, and perfectly, and everyone was like WOAHH so that’s how it all started.

Andrew: We just called him to go out, out of the blue and we just started talking. It was our first time meeting him and we found out, that around the same time that he was launching a label called AFTR:HRS. That was around the time we were really figuring out our own sound. To be honest it was our manager who was like “you have this track “Fill me in”, I promise you, I think Tiesto is going to love this, it will be a great fit for his label.” So, we connected and they sent over the track and he was like I need this right now.

Joe: It was a lot of, right place right time. I think if Tiesto wasn’t doing his AFTR:HRS, thing it could have gone differently.

Andrew: The challenge was, when we sent the first version, it still had Craig David’s vocals on it, so we were faced with the challenge of reconstructing the vocal from the ground up. But at this most pivotal moment of our careers, we got lucky again! While we’ve been in LA, we got to go this club called The Sayers Club, which is a really boojie live music club which has half live bands playing original stuff and half bands doing cover songs that everyone knows. So we got really close with this dude Stevie Brock who was a child star, he was there, he had like a really good falsetto, they always made him sing like the Bruno Mars type of stuff.

Joe: We were just working with him and we were like: “Hey, can you sound like Craig David?” and he was like “Sure”

Andrew: And he sang it perfectly. Like could we get luckier. So we spent like 30 hours trying to make it sound great. I remember when we finished that track, we went to the movies to celebrate, and I still don’t remember what movie we watched. Joe: We both like passed out.

Andrew: It was a challenge, and then it dropped on Spotify and it got really popular and it was a great way to continue to build on there.

If you could make any collab happen in 2018 who would it be?

Joe: Ed Sheeran

Andrew: Yes Ed Sheeran because he is just the biggest pop star. You know so getting to work with him is like a great nod like: “What you are doing is working” kind of thing. But also would love to work with like Drake or The Weeknd. I love RnB so anyone there, like PARTYNEXTDOOR and Majid Jordan or anyone like that would be great.

What do you like about being a Duo? Does it help to have someone familiar with you on tour? How does it play out in the studio? Do each of you like to concentrate on certain parts of the song or you both work on all of it?

Joe: Yeah it is great because there are certain things I’m good at and there are certain things he is good at so it definitely helps like workflow or when you need to get things done really quickly. As long as we are on the same page, which we really are most of the time, it gets done really quickly. I mean like touring and stuff. Touring can be really shitty, especially when you are alone.

Andrew: Like imagine this: Not having someone to drink with! I mean if you drink with someone, its cool right but if you drink just by yourself, you are pretty sad right? So that alone should just sell you on the idea of being a duo.

Joe: I mean when we started we both started alone.

Andrew: I don’t think when you start you have the idea in mind of being a duo.

Joe: yeah like I didn’t know, I just really liked working with him and we were both taking it seriously and it just fit.

Andrew: Exactly.

Joe: I’ve been in bands before and I really hated it like dealing with so many people. I really didn’t want to do that. But that also had extra costs like all the gear and transporting everyone. Us two, like we don’t have that much equipment and its not a lot of people. It isn’t as complicated. Like for us its just like we need to get the two of us on a plane to somewhere.

Andrew: What people don’t really think about that often is that being on the road a lot and being able to pull off what a band does is really hard. It is a lot of co-ordination. So, we just stumbled into what we are doing very naturally because we are both passionate about the music, but it definitely gives us something to be grateful for, in terms of being able to operate as a lean duo that doesn’t have a lot of complicated extras. Not only from a cost perspective but also stress as well.

I read somewhere that you guys really like when someone can tell a story that isn’t necessarily a happy one but not leave the listener depressed. What about this kind of songwriting do you find most challenging? Your latest track Body ft. brando is awesome and very popular right now. Almost 5M streams since the end of October! It is kind of like this idea right?

Joe: Yeah, that is what I listen for. Because I hate these songs that are too cheesy like too bubblegum I guess. I don’t really gravitate towards that. So whenever we are writing or anything, even if it starts out like that, I try to think, what are other ways we can tell this story?

Andrew: I think it just feels more real. I think people are tired of like going to a rave and being told that like you can live forever or like you can fly. So I think for us, we have always tried to present things in a more realistic perspective. It goes back to what I was saying about not being characters. We are just trying to be ourselves.

Joe: We want to be able to relate to it.

Andrew: We are just trying to pick songs and stories that make sense to our lives.

Do you think this kind of thinking is evolving and growing in EDM?

Andrew: Kind of. Like there was a time back in 2011 where you would just have to write a song about like flying or feeling alive and as long as it was catchy enough it would do well. I would definitely say that like ignore all the hate that the Chainsmokers and Kygo have received, because they have been able to produce a more neutral point of storytelling in dance music. Where it is less like Sunshine and Rainbows and more reality. I mean you can still party to real life. We do it every weekend.

Other than Electronic music, what genres of music are you listening to right now?

Joe: I love hip hop. I love punk rock . I really love Mura Masa and like that kind of music just like when I am chilling and hanging out. I love Charlie XCX

Andrew: She’s really dope. In terms of recent stuff, I have been in like a really dreamy state recently so I have been listening to Tycho and other chill stuff. I have always been like a hardcore 1975 fan. You can get inspiration from anything, so you should listen to everything.

Joe: I just don’t like country. Unless its like Avicii style or some OGs like Johnny Cash

Andrew: I was listening to the new Avicii album the other day and it is SO good.

We are really looking forward to having you back in Toronto at Uniun on January 19th! What can your fans expect from your shows this year?

Joe: A lot of energy! I am always bouncing around and drinking lots of Tequila.

Andrew: Our shows are meant to be just a positive party. Although we like to keep our music neutral, our actual shows we just want to make a party, so that’s what we can guarantee!


Our many thanks to Loud Luxury for sitting down to chat with us. They are surely a group on the rise and we are excited to see what's in store for the rest of 2018!

Loud Luxury is back in Toronto performing at Uniun Friday January 19 2018 join them and EDM CANADA at the party!

To hear the latest tracks by Loud Luxury click here

Win 2 tickets and a meet & greet to Loud Luxury this Friday in Toronto!

The talented Toronto duo are back playing a gig in their hometown this Friday and EDM Canada would like to give a lucky winner 2 free tickets and a meet & greet opportunity for their show on Friday, January 19th at Uniun. 

Loud Luxury had a great summer with multiple festival appearances and have backed it up with a few banging releases, including their hit "Body", which enjoys over 9 million plays on Spotify: 

You can enter on Twitter by following @edmtoronto on Twitter and retweeting the following: 

You can also enter on Instagram by following @edm_canada and tagging two friends for the following: 

The contest is open now and will end on Wednesday, January 17th at 5 pm. You must be 19+ to enter - good luck!