‘Sandcastles’ – one of the biggest tunes of the summer!!
Interview by Dan Prince
Martin, Quentin welcome back to DMCWORLD…where in the world are you right now?
M: At home in my bedroom studio, preparing music for our gig in Italy tomorrow!
Q: Same for me!
What was the first piece of music you heard this morning when crawling out of bed?
M: Jean-Michel Jarre & M83 – Glory (Steve Angello Remix). I always love these kind of vocals and deeper vibes when I am at home, it gets you in a mood that could be the right start for a new track.
Q: First thing I always do in the morning is listening to the ideas I made the evening before. This morning I wasn’t enthusiastic about those ideas haha so I listened to “Misun – Eli Eli (Maduk remix)” to get some inspiration for some new ideas!
So a big week for you with the release of ‘Sandcastles’ that we love at Buzz Chart HQ. Please talk us through the sound and history of the track…
Q: We wanted to create a melodic follow-up track for Warriors. I came up with the drop melody from were we started shaping up the sounds and building up the track. We always want to create this euphoric feeling in our melodies by finding the perfect balance between drama and happiness. We wanted to do something special with it, so we made the bass ands chord notes play an eight bar loop progression instead of a basic four. When later we received the amazing vocals from Tonino Speciale, it felt like the perfect finish, taking the track to the next level!
As moments go, Martin Garrix opening his set at Tomorrowland with Sandcastles must be up their huh?
Nicky Romero made a mash-up with ‘Sandcastles’ and Martin Garrix’s ‘Don’t Look Down’, which he played at Ultra Miami. Thanks to this, Martin Garrix came a cross our track. We first felt very honored when we heard he loved ‘Sandcastles’ but were stunned when we saw him opening with our track at Tomorrowland! Seeing all those people going crazy to your music is such a great reward for all those ‘isolated cavemen’ studio days haha!
How important to you is being part of the Protocol family?
M: It’s very important, Nicky has been a very big supporter since the start! Getting advice and help from him and the guys at Protocol helps you to develop your career.
Q: It’s so great to have this amazing platform supporting us. They are really helping us a lot of which we are very grateful!
Did you ever get round to securing your meat at the Protocol Recordings BBQ last week? Looked tasty…
M: Hahaha!
Q: We managed to escape in one piece!
What can you tell us about your new t-shirt line you are working on with the ID ID label?
Q: Well the idea came from my girlfriend, Charlotte, who is a Fashion Designer and always sees us working in the studio. She got inspired from the lay-out / colours of our projects and all the layers we create in our music, so she wanted to make a special clothing design out of it. The idea now is to have a different collection for every release we have. So far we’ve only offered a 50 pieces limited edition T-Shirt with the ‘Warriors’ project (with Nicky Romero), but in the near future we expect to also have other projects available such as ‘Falling Down’ and off course ‘Sandcastles’. Keep an eye on our Facebook http://facebook.com/voltandstate and ID-ID http://facebook.com/ididlabel for updates!
Where have some of your stand out shows been this summer?
M: Airbeat One Festival in Germany and Bootshaus in Köln got to be one of the best experiences!
Q: Agree! I’ve never seen people going crazy like this, they were doing mosh-pits even on our calm tracks haha!
What are the 5 big tunes in your box this weekend, please give us a few words on each track…
M: Volt & State – Sandcastles, got to be this one because the crowds reaction is always great and we are so happy to be able to play it out now!
Q: Our collab with John Cristian – ‘Down’, because people always do a sitdown when we play it
M: Third Party – Collide, it has a great drop, it works every time and in every moment of our sets.
Q: Our mashup with ‘Shapov – Party People’ and ‘Yellow Claw – Kaolo’ together with ‘Sun Is Shining’ from Axwell & Ingrosso – It brings something fresh and different into our sets and has so much energy!
M: Martin Solveig & GTA – Intoxicated (Paris & Simo Remix). This one has a very relaxed start and builds up to a energetic gliding basssynth. Dancing guaranteed!
When was the last time you had a massive argument about music?
M: We discuss about music a lot! We both look at music in a different way, so most of the time it just comes down to taste, which is a very personal thing that’s not really debatable.
Q: I think not so long ago haha, but having arguments is unavoidable while both having a strong opinion and working together on daily basis! As we are perfectionists in our productions we mostly have arguments about technical details like mixing and the use of elements / sounds! At the end I think this is great for the final result!
Ibiza is in the middle of another stupendous summer – you are back for some David Guetta action soon in September. What have been some of your craziest nights out on the island been recently?
M: We actually have never played there, so it’s going to be a first and very special moment for us! We have heard all the stories and are looking forward to it a lot!
What was your opinion on David Guetta riding into on a horse at the opening?
M: Hahaha, what a crazy story that was! I hope they gave the Horse some earplugs and treated it with some care otherwise it would be sad for the Animal.
Apart from your own tunes…what has been your summer anthem?
M: Dragon from Martin Garrix and Matisse & Sadko.
Q: Years & Years – King (Arty Remix)
What was the last great album you checked out?
M: I actually like Alesso’s latest album a lot and everything from M83.
Q: Galantis – Pharmacy and the album of CHVRCHES
The craziest thing one of your fans has ever done?
Q: To see different people wearing Warriors T-Shirts in different countries was really special to me!
And finally – what is coming out next from you guys studio wise?
M : We can’t get too much into details, but we have enough stuff coming up…
www.soundcloud.com/voltandstate
