"Our only rule is try to work every day, especially when we don't feel like it," shares Sam Griesemer and Jerome Potter. "That can sometimes yield our most interesting material." Separately, the two men are LA producers Samo Sound Boy and Jerome LOL. Together, they are musical comrades, effortlessly balancing the operations of their label Body High, with their collaborative work as feel-good supergroup DJDS (DJ Dodger Stadium)."Working alone is about your individual story," they add. "As DJDS, it's like we're directing together and each album is our movie." With a recently released handful of quirky conceptual music videos, Canadian tour dates fast approaching, and a new album, Stand Up and Speak on the way, THUMP caught up with the duo to talk being weird and breaking free.
DJDS: Stand Up And Speak is really the most ambitious thing we've ever done. There's just more ideas in it, more voices, more instruments, and more synths. The album is about not being controlled and breaking free. Hopefully people can hear the sound reflecting that.Which of your songs is most distinctly DJDS?
"Love Songs" and "You Don't Have To Be Alone." Each of those paved the way for the rest of the albums that featured them. They really define each LP.
We have two albums now and we play together live. We've gone from being strictly DJs to having our own weird two-man band.Your Los Angeles roots seem to be a recurring theme in your music. Why the fascination with your city?
LA is really everything to us. Body High and DJDS couldn't exist anywhere else. From getting started playing in arcades and warehouses, to the symbols and the colours on the releases, everything comes from the city.We also thought your recent "In The Flames" video was really captivating, what was the vision with this one?
Thank you. We wanted to show people a piece of our world in LA. Earlier this year, we had a Body High party in a warehouse loading dock downtown. With the video we were just trying to show what that looked like. It's all filmed in the parking lot behind our studio.What do you look for before signing an artist to your label?
To us everything needs to feel like a movie. We're looking for artists who are telling their stories. When it's their album, they're the directors and Body High is the production company.What sound is the label trying to cultivate?
We like things that sound independent, in that they aren't tied to a scene or a trend. DJDS will be performing in Toronto on November 6th, and Montreal on November 7th.Samo Sound Boy is on Facebook // SoundCloud // TwitterJerome LOL is on Facebook // SoundCloud // TwitterDJDS is on Facebook // TwitterRebecca is on Twitter.
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THUMP: What can we expect to hear on the new album that we haven't heard before?Read More on THUMP: Hear the Title Track from DJDS' New Album: Stand Up and Speak
DJDS: Stand Up And Speak is really the most ambitious thing we've ever done. There's just more ideas in it, more voices, more instruments, and more synths. The album is about not being controlled and breaking free. Hopefully people can hear the sound reflecting that.Which of your songs is most distinctly DJDS?
"Love Songs" and "You Don't Have To Be Alone." Each of those paved the way for the rest of the albums that featured them. They really define each LP.
It's been about two years since you did your tour diary with THUMP, what's changed?
We have two albums now and we play together live. We've gone from being strictly DJs to having our own weird two-man band.Your Los Angeles roots seem to be a recurring theme in your music. Why the fascination with your city?
LA is really everything to us. Body High and DJDS couldn't exist anywhere else. From getting started playing in arcades and warehouses, to the symbols and the colours on the releases, everything comes from the city.
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Thank you. We wanted to show people a piece of our world in LA. Earlier this year, we had a Body High party in a warehouse loading dock downtown. With the video we were just trying to show what that looked like. It's all filmed in the parking lot behind our studio.What do you look for before signing an artist to your label?
To us everything needs to feel like a movie. We're looking for artists who are telling their stories. When it's their album, they're the directors and Body High is the production company.What sound is the label trying to cultivate?
We like things that sound independent, in that they aren't tied to a scene or a trend. DJDS will be performing in Toronto on November 6th, and Montreal on November 7th.Samo Sound Boy is on Facebook // SoundCloud // TwitterJerome LOL is on Facebook // SoundCloud // TwitterDJDS is on Facebook // TwitterRebecca is on Twitter.