Exclusive Interview: Antics

This week in the artist spotlight we have none other than Antics. These guys have been making some serious moves lately, they have recieved international recognition from music blogs and also have opened up for many internationally known artists such as Baauer, Carnage, Krewella and more! Antics will be preforming live at Spybar this Thursday, June 5th for the House Music Saved My Life/Ronald Mcdonald House Charity event after party. Read the interview we did with them below!

What made you want to start DJing/producing?

Tanner and I have always been drawn to electronic music.We both grew up playing in bands/ going to local shows etc. so when we had the chance to go to our first electronic shows it was pretty life changing! Tanner went to see MSTRKRFT at The Rave in Milwaukee, and my first show was Steve Aoki. We probably looked like goobs in the audience, but the music was so fresh and it just made you wanna move. It was so exciting, and it’s something that instantly hooks you in. There are too many reasons that all lead us to want to write and perform this kind of music. It’s more or less the feeling you get when you write something that you truly love, and that moves you. It’s awesome because you then get to share those feelings with an audience of people that can connect with you through the music. That’s probably the best way I can describe it.. it just gives you this natural high that’s indescribable.. and you get to share it with people which is so rewarding and humbling.

 

Who is your biggest influence(s)?

Some of our biggest influences include Zedd, Lucky Date, Madeon, Porter Robinson, Justice, Bingo Players, Steve Angello, Hot Since 82, Vicetone, Feed Me, Koan Sound, Skrillex etc… We also draw inspiration from whatever we are going through in life and those around us so it keeps the tunes as real as possible and relatable!

 

Whats you’re favorite record of all time?

It may sound really cliche’ but Zedd’s album “Clarity” start to finish is pretty mind blowing… it just takes you on a journey which can be really difficult to do.. I would also put Yellowcard’s “Ocean Avenue” or Motion City Soundtracks ‘Commit This To Memory” up there as well

 

What was your favorite party of all time that you have played?

We recently played a show in La Crosse, Wi at the Cavalier Theater that for us was really inspiring.. there wasn’t a million people there but the crowd of people was insane.. its always so awesome playing shows for people who are truly there for the music.. the venue was awesome and it was the first time we worked as a team with our production crew.. to me it was so crazy having this entire team with us all working together.. we played the show and had everyone come up on stage for the last song.. just felt real! however every show is so much fun and we are just as happy every time we play doesn’t matter where!

 

Who is your favorite artist to collaborate with?

Zedd would be awesome to work with. We have so much respect for him and it’s awesome because he works seamlessly with Pop music too without sounding to forced like much of what is on top 40 radio now. Lucky Date would be pretty insane too because we’ve learned so much from him, but we love working with all kinds of other artists. We have a special term that we use when we collaborate with other artists. If we write a track together.. you have to enter the “Collaboratory”,, that’s where the hits are made! haha so hopefully we’ll be in the Collaboratory with Zedd or Lucky Date one day who knows!

 

Who do you want to collaborate with in the future?

Anyone and everyone who inspires us! We are gonna be working on some stuff with a few new indy/hardcore bands in the near future.. maybe a few artists out of the Denver, Co area.. still working out the details! We are also in the process of scoring a short film so that’s been a fun project to work on as well. We like to keep things diverse and fresh! We love working with all kinds of different artists.

 

What’s the most embarrassing thing thats happened to you at a show?

We’ve been pretty fortunate to not have had too many issues occur while performing.. but occasionally Tanner and I will be going hard and then one of us smack the other in the face.. I’ve definitely slipped behind the tables as well and fell down.. word vomiting in the microphone.. nothing too crazy yet! haha

 

What do you like to do when you’re not working on music/DJing?

We both really like spending time with our friends and family. It’s hard to find time to hang out with everyone when you’re so focused on goals. We like to stay active though too just whatever working out, heading to the beach.. summer in Milwaukee is a ton of fun.. I also have a place up north in Central Wisconsin so we’re gonna do a Man Weekend pretty soon! Also planning a vacation down to Florida at the end of May. We’re pretty nerdy than that otherwise.. N64 Super Smash Bros is pretty much our lives late at night after we’re fried from writing!

 

What is your opinion on the current EDM scene?

As a whole we feel like it’s thriving. It’s still really fresh, and exciting. It’s awesome what EDM has done for music as a whole. I’ve spent some time on a major label in a band a few years ago.. it was awesome and terrible at the same time.. I learned so much in the year that I was signed before everything fell apart but ironically the main thing I learned was how to be independent and still be self sustaining.. One of the best things about EDM is that you can expose yourself to new audiences through blogs easily! It’s awesome being able to release your own music successfully and freely. It can be difficult to sift through artists at times because releasing music now is so easy to do verses say 8 years ago.. but it still gives us an awesome way to reach out to people through our music!

 

What do you think will be the next big thing in EDM?

Tech House/Deep House is real hot right now.. Disclosure coming up was pretty inspiring for a ton of people everything was so thrashy and big sounding these past few years so creative minimal production will be here for awhile. We’re not entirely sure though! Everything is changing so fast all the time so we write what we are passionate about and that seems to translate well.

 

What do you think about all these “frauds” in the EDM scene using ghost producers, buying likes and purchasing their own tracks on Beatport?

It’s hard to feel one way or another about it.. Yes.. it is cheap.. it is fake.. its not organic, or real.. so it’s hard to appreciate it.. but at the same time it’s giving someone else an opportunity to write a song that’s going to reach the ears of thousands of listeners.. Yes the writer may not be credited publicly and that is unfair.. but at the same time their music is still getting out there to an audience they never would have reached.. many labels, mostly major labels, will essentially manufacture artists.. its sad because as long as you’re marketable you can have a career if someones willing to fund it.. if you don’t make yourself marketable you kinda get the shaft 9 times outta 10.. I’ve seen so many deserving artists who work hard get looked over because they don’t look like they’re models.. or people for some reason doesn’t wanna invest.. it’s shallow.. it sucks.. but it’s what sells to most people..and this is now transferring over to EDM because it’s so popular.. labels are taking that same marketing idea and trying to push it on electronic artists now.. so everyone’s been kind of freaking out on these “ghosts produced” artists because up until now everything has been so independent as far as writing goes.. I wouldn’t really call an artists a fraud unless they were claiming they created art that they had no part in..but I would definitely lose a bit of that hero feeling when I saw them live or some respect as a writer if you fell in love with their songs.

 

Is there any upcoming releases/shows we should keep an eye out for?

Yes! We actually are shooting a video at the end of May for a big collaboration with a band called The Royal, and an rapper we’ve worked with before called Chubz that we are way too excited for! We also have about 5 songs finished that have ready to go we’re just working on how we wanna give them out! Many of our next releases are going to be free! As far as shows go we’re working on a tour this summer with our good friend Teknicolor as well as some large festivals down south as well as here in Wisconsin!