Booyah (Original Mix)
Any artist who loves sushi is good in my book.
Our resident brothers for August, Showtek, sat down to chat with us about their musical history, Jay-Z and why Salt Lake City is one place they will always visit.
TMN: Hey fellas. Thank you so much for taking a few moments to sit down with us and for taking over TMN for the month of August! Let’s start off talking about you guys as brothers. How did you both decide that you wanted to play music together?
Showtek: We never had the dream of becoming DJs, it really just happened, but not out of the blue of course. We started producing music as a hobby. We both loved music when we were young – Wouter played piano and Sjoerd worked on beats on his computer. When our parents got divorced we needed a way to express ourselves! We hooked up as a team and locked ourselves up in our little room and just made music, straight from the heart. We had no background in music, no schooling, no one who taught us how to work music programs, we just discovered everything by ourselves.
When we released our music in 2001, we immediately scored. We reached the charts in Belgium and our tracks were played by other big DJs. So within a year our name started to grow in our own country and some parts of Europe. We were asked to play in a club in our hometown as residents DJs, and from there on we started to really DJ. We love DJing and traveling the world, don’t get us wrong, but it started with producing music.
Showtek: Wouter played piano when he was a teenager and still does. He also plays guitar, so he is definitely the musical Mozart out of the two of us. Lots of melodies are created on the piano at home, and from there we start making most of our music. We never really argue about producing or DJing. Sometimes we agree to disagree, haha.
TMN: Were your musical aspirations something your parents encouraged growing up? How do they feel about you guys being together all the time doing what you love, and experiencing tremendous success while doing it?
Showtek: Well our father has only seen us twice on stage, once at Sensation and once a local festival near his house. He is really proud now, but if our parents stayed together our career might have never happened. After the divorce we both skipped a lot of classes at school, and Sjoerd was even kicked out three times because he always skipped the first few hours. We always worked until 4 in the morning, freaking on beats and stuff. Our dad would never allow us to do that, but we took advantage of our mum who worked all day to feed four kids. She didn’t really notice! The fact that our parents got divorced brought us more together.
TMN: Speaking of tremendous success..”Cannonball”. Holy shit. That song took the EDM world by storm and was seemingly around every corner. Between Ultra, WMC, and Coachella, we heard it dozens of time by all kinds of different DJs. What was it like experiencing that?
Showtek: Yeah it became a big bomb! It was received really well and was supported by big DJs. We were at Ultra and our tracks were played 34 times! Haha.. Yeah it’s always cool to hear that people like our music. That song brought us to another level in the dance industry. It was in the top 40 for 24 weeks in Holland, got a golden record, and it was the same story in Belgium and France. So far it’s been our biggest achievement in music!
TMN: What was the creative process like working with Justin Prime? Did you guys work together in the studio, or was it more of an “electronic” collaboration?
Showtek: No, we never collab without going into the studio together. We always produce the track together in the studio! It starts with sending each other ideas through emails and all that, but the creative part always happens in the studio. We had already known Justin for a long time and he is really talented.
Showtek: We think that’s taken from our bootleg. It’s Will Ferrell screaming “Cannonball!” We made that bootleg and sent it out to lots of DJs:) After “cannonballlllllll” the drops comes in and the crowd goes craaazzyyyyyyy! Haha.. really nice!
TMN: Let’s talk about Skink Radio. Where did the name come from, and for our readers who aren’t familiar, tell them what they can expect?
Showtek: Skink Radio is our radio show. We will tell you later why it’s called Skink Radio, but there is a reason! The radio show contains tracks we like or we think need to be heard. Right now it’s monthly but we are working to make it weekly, but it’s a lot of work!
TMN: Recently you guys released “Get Loose” with Noisecontrollers. This track is as hardstyle as it gets. How is the response from the crowd on this gem? Do people wear themselves out dancing?
Showtek: Well it’s not hardstyle really, it has hardstyle influences just as it has electro or moombahton influences. The track was received really well. We spent 5 weeks in the Beatport Top 10 and even reached the number one position with the official Tiesto remix. The track is very different compared to other music. It has three genres and switches bpm 4 times. And not to forget the melody, we really love the melody! It definitely has something for everybody.
TMN: You guys got arguably one of the biggest names in EDM, Tiesto, to do a remix of “Get Loose.” Talk to us about how that came to be.
Showtek: Well Tiesto was the first guy hyping “Cannonball.” When we were doing the mix down for “Cannonball” he walked in the studio and he was like, “WTF!” Haha. Then he started playing it. When he heard “Get Loose,” he asked to do a remix because he loved it so much. He had been playing the original since last November! So yeah, there is an official Tiesto remix because the original track is a bit too extreme for some people.
TMN: Tell us about what is on the horizon for your guys in the next few months?
Showtek: Well our new song, “Booyah” (feat We Are Loud & Sonny Wilson), will be released this month and the feedback so far has been great. We are already being played on BBC Radio 1, which is amazing. So music-wise for Showtek we don’t have much stress to be honest. We have 3 more songs ready for this year, and the beginning of 2014. As for the rest – well, summer isn’t over yet so we are busy touring around the globe. We had around 70 shows in July, and in August and September we have a lot of shows in Ibiza, so there’s enough for to look forward to! After summer, we will probably take a little break, have some studio time, and try to have some social time as well!
TMN: Alright, we always like to change it up with some off the wall personal questions. Our readers always want to know a little bit about the guys behind the decks, you know? Go Crazy…
TMN: Favorite food when you come to America is…
Showtek: Sushi. We love American sushi (Miami Style).
TMN: What would we find in your pockets right now?
Showtek: Uh… Some rolling paper! Haha… chill time!
Showtek: Beatles (We grew up with that shit).
TMN: Who played James Bond best?
Showtek: Sean Connery (No doubt about it).
Showtek: Wayans Brothers. There are really funny and they look like they are pretty close.
TMN: If your music were an animal, what would it be?
Showtek: Lion? (Strong, elegant, and unavoidable)
TMN: Tell us your music lady crush…and your music man crush…yes we all have them!
Showtek: Well Sjoerd always said ALICIA KEYS is on his “BANG” list haha, but I think we both adore Beyonce & Rihanna.
Man crush? That sounds too nasty… But we both worship Jay-Z. He is the king of kings…
TMN: Name your favorite city in the world based on food alone.
Showtek: Salt Lake City (There is one sushi fusion place over there that is a crazy fusion between Japanse/Thai food)
Sapa Sushi Bar & Asian Grill
TMN: Alright, again, we are so excited to have you as our resident artists this month and hopefully we will get to see you boys live again really soon!
