Nom De Strip, Taurus & Vaggeli, and Chris Lake. Photos by Kaitlin Parry."I was born with a boner!" This is the kind of confession you hear when you're sitting on a bench in Manhattan's Hudson River Park with a big group of dudes. Specifically, four dudes from Rising Music—a label known for the kind of heavy-hitting electro-house cuts that make a thousands kids storm the metal barricades the divide the audience and the stage. I'm sandwiched between founder Chris Lake, Nom De Strip (Chris Elliot), and Taurus & Vaggeli (Leon Weingrad and Angelo Bratsis). We're supposed to be chatting about their Rising Fall tour, which kicked off in Ontario on September 6, and takes Lake, Nom, and label mates GTA, TJR, and Hot Mouth on a steady course to Vegas, weaving through the US along the way.But at this particular moment, our conversation has steered towards the finer details of last night, which Nom—one of the only members of the gang with a penchant for alcohol—was having trouble remembering. "Comment of the tour so far, and we're only two days in," Lake chuckles, "We had ten people in the back of the car yesterday, and one of our friends' girlfriends had to sit on Nom's lap. I think someone asked him if he was getting a reaction. And he just replied, 'I was born with a boner!'"The guys explode in raucous laughter. Passersby throw us strange looks. But boner jokes are exactly the appeal of hanging with the Rising Music crew—who clown around with each other like only a real tight crew can.
THUMP: So how did the Rising music crew come together?
Chris: Well, I know Nom De Strip through Micky Slim, who introduced me to Nom's music about five or six years ago.Nom: You thought it was rubbish, be honest!Chris: I… I didn't love it. But I thought there was something promising, so I asked Micky to keep sending me stuff. Then he parted ways with Stupid Fresh, and his music just kept getting better, and I realized that, you know, Nom was behind the music for Stupid Fresh. And now he puts everything out on Rising, and we spend about five days a week together.Chris: These guys [points to Taurus & Vaggeli], I can't even remember how I met them!Angelo: We did a techno track on some Australian label… Bass Kleph's Vacation Records. We were very surprised that Chris played it. We tried to hit him up, but we couldn't find his contact anywhere. We tried to message him on Facebook, and there are like 50 Chris Lake profiles and fan pages. When we found him, we were basically like, "Dude, it's a fucking pain in the ass to get a hold of you." We were joking around from the start.
Chris: Right, so, Jon Pegnato from Hot Mouth was sharing a place with TJ, so TJ started sending me records, asking me for bits of advice. And there was this one time he sent me this record sampling Toots and The Maytals. I loved it. He was going to give it away for free and I said, "There is no fucking way you are doing that. This is massive." So I picked it up, signed it, got it cleared, and released it. It went to number one on Beatport, then Pitbull took it and it has sold nearly three million singles now.What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Nom: I can answer that one! There was a period of time where I wanted to be a TV weatherman. Then I wanted to be a football player. But I realized I was too fat when I was about 12…Wait, did that have anything to do with your nickname "The Tugboat"?
Nom: Aww, yeah. My mom used to call me that. When I was in school I was "Starch." I would talk about football and all my teachers would say, "Oh, he'd be great if he didn't have so much starch."Angelo: I wanted to be Chris Lake when I was little.Chris: You know there really is gonna be some douchebag who is going to want to do that at some point…
Do you have any horror stories from past tours?
Chris: Oh, this is where we have to turn to Nom again…Nom: There was the time in LA when a promoter got sick on my head. Poor laddie. He was one of those types who'd always give himself the best slot of the night. While he was doing that, I was changing into a nice, clean, non-sweaty T-shirt. Then I just see the promoter put his headphones down, turn, and run straight at me. He just came up and projectile vomited like bhlleuuuuughhhhhhhh! It wasn't like, chunky, it was just straight liquid. Diet vomit. [laughs] I can almost still taste it and that was like four years ago. Oh, there is that time I played that track of yours that you hadn't finished yet.Chris: Oh yeah! [laughs]Nom: Funny thing, it was the same promoter…
What do you guys think of the recent Electric Zoo cancellation?
Chris: I'll tell you the thing that really gets on my tits. I'm not naming any names. They know who they are. There are a lot of those DJs who were tweeting about it. Complaining about it and saying that you shouldn't be needing to take drugs to enjoy the music.Nom: Yeah, meanwhile…Chris: And I know they are the biggest fucking cokeheads on the face of the planet. They are liars and they wouldn't be in their private jets flying around to their gigs if it wasn't for drugs. Fuck them. I just don't like the hypocrisy about that. It's an absolute shame that people died. Such a shame.Angelo: Such a shame, and they were young.Chris: There is an unlucky way of doing drugs. That's the horrible risk that some people take. But you know, you can't just point a finger at dance music and say dance music is drugs. Drugs are in everything. But dance music is an easy scapegoat.
To end on a light note, what's the sexiest sound in music is right now?
Nom: I find the sexiest sound in dance music to be a hardstyle kickdrum.Chris: Oh fuck off!Nom: The more distortion, the bigger my boner gets…Three Wise is thug life - @TheThreeWiseAll photos by Kaitlin Parry
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Chris: Well, I know Nom De Strip through Micky Slim, who introduced me to Nom's music about five or six years ago.Nom: You thought it was rubbish, be honest!Chris: I… I didn't love it. But I thought there was something promising, so I asked Micky to keep sending me stuff. Then he parted ways with Stupid Fresh, and his music just kept getting better, and I realized that, you know, Nom was behind the music for Stupid Fresh. And now he puts everything out on Rising, and we spend about five days a week together.Chris: These guys [points to Taurus & Vaggeli], I can't even remember how I met them!Angelo: We did a techno track on some Australian label… Bass Kleph's Vacation Records. We were very surprised that Chris played it. We tried to hit him up, but we couldn't find his contact anywhere. We tried to message him on Facebook, and there are like 50 Chris Lake profiles and fan pages. When we found him, we were basically like, "Dude, it's a fucking pain in the ass to get a hold of you." We were joking around from the start.
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Chris: Straight away I realized these two are a bunch of clowns, and I've really enjoyed abusing them verbally and physically for years now. Anytime I come to the East Coast we meet up, and anytime they come to the West Coast… I hide. As for TJR, he was…Nom: A pain in the ass!
Nom: I can answer that one! There was a period of time where I wanted to be a TV weatherman. Then I wanted to be a football player. But I realized I was too fat when I was about 12…Wait, did that have anything to do with your nickname "The Tugboat"?
Nom: Aww, yeah. My mom used to call me that. When I was in school I was "Starch." I would talk about football and all my teachers would say, "Oh, he'd be great if he didn't have so much starch."Angelo: I wanted to be Chris Lake when I was little.Chris: You know there really is gonna be some douchebag who is going to want to do that at some point…
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Chris: Oh, this is where we have to turn to Nom again…Nom: There was the time in LA when a promoter got sick on my head. Poor laddie. He was one of those types who'd always give himself the best slot of the night. While he was doing that, I was changing into a nice, clean, non-sweaty T-shirt. Then I just see the promoter put his headphones down, turn, and run straight at me. He just came up and projectile vomited like bhlleuuuuughhhhhhhh! It wasn't like, chunky, it was just straight liquid. Diet vomit. [laughs] I can almost still taste it and that was like four years ago. Oh, there is that time I played that track of yours that you hadn't finished yet.Chris: Oh yeah! [laughs]Nom: Funny thing, it was the same promoter…
Chris: I gave him a track as a clip and he loved it, but I left this three-minute gap in the middle of it before the music starts up again.Nom: But I think it's good for these things to happen. Like TJR, he is a really good DJ but he just fucks up all the time pressing stop. It's now a running joke with us. It's almost at the point where people want him to do it. Like a Steve Aoki cake, we have TJR fucking up. When's he gonna do it?!
Chris: I'll tell you the thing that really gets on my tits. I'm not naming any names. They know who they are. There are a lot of those DJs who were tweeting about it. Complaining about it and saying that you shouldn't be needing to take drugs to enjoy the music.
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Nom: I find the sexiest sound in dance music to be a hardstyle kickdrum.Chris: Oh fuck off!Nom: The more distortion, the bigger my boner gets…Three Wise is thug life - @TheThreeWiseAll photos by Kaitlin Parry