It’s always good to win respect from the right people, especially if you’re trying to crack into the highly competitive dance music scene. In a short period of time, the LA Riots have been taken under the wing of MSTRKRFT and have been signed to A-Track’s renowned label Fools Gold. JFK from those masked villains MSRTKRFT even went as far as calling them the best DJs in LA.
However, having famous friends isn’t the only reason LA Riots are the subject of hype at the moment. In barely two years the duo, consisting of Daniel Ledisko and Jo’B, have delivered a consistent flow of blitzing remixes for artists as diverse as Justice, Chromeo and Kylie Minogue, and shortly will be releasing a remix of Just Like Heaven by The Cure.
Soon to be in the country touring nationally with the inaugural Global Gathering festival, LA Riots will also be playing their own shows in selected cities. ITM chats with LA Riots to find out about life on the road, pyramids and sleep deprivation.
What’s the most intense show you’ve ever played? What do you think made it so intense?
Intense show would probably be any of the opening dates on the latest MSTRKRFT tour. Having to play right after Felix Cartal, who has the best track selection and flow and then right before MSTRKRFT who are guaranteed to bring the house down… That’s a lot of pressure.
What do you think is a good ratio of live sounds and samples versus prerecorded material for a set? Is there much room in your sets that you can alter what song is going to be played on a feeling of the crowd?
We pretty much have a game plan when we go in there knowing what tracks we’d like to play… But some crowds aren’t always as receptive, which is why we keep a selection of big room house on hand as well as
party jams.
Why did you get into DJing/producing?
Love for music. Honestly.
What do you want to achieve with the LA Riots? How big do you want to go and what are up looking to become, can you imagine yourselves standing on a giant pyramid playing to tens of thousands of salivating fans?
Actually we were just standing on a few pyramids last month in Mexico, no lie! Not in front of salivating fans though, but in front of other tourists. Last night the party in San Juan Puerto Rico had 50,000 people at it. Can we combine the two and say the fantasy has been
fulfilled?
Do you think Blogs have changed dance music and how so? How important have blogs been to the LA Riots?
Blogs are good if they’re done right, and they have helped us immensely. I don’t like it when a blog just throws tracks up and doesn’t write any background on them or opinions. It’s just, “here you go… download and play this because it’s here.” There are a lot of good ones out there that care about what they are putting up and really do their research and offer up a lot of information, but in the same breath there are a lot that are just out there posting up poor quality (i.e. MySpace rips) of tracks just to be the first kid on the block to have it up.
Have you had any remix requests from artists that you were surprised by and have you turned any down you felt wrong about?
We’re pretty much surprised by everything that comes our way.
How are you coping with people recognizing you when you’re out, and have you had any occasions where people come up and know you’re names and start talking to you like old friends?
It happens a lot honestly, and that’s fine. Though some days it’s hard to be talkative when you just flew through a bunch of time zones and were up til 4am the previous night working at a club and then finally making it to bed for an hour or two before wake up time and the airport. Sometimes that exhaustion gets mistaken for being stuck up, when it couldn’t be further from the truth.
How has the touring around the globe affected your home lives? Do you have people back in LA staying up at night worrying about you being mauled by ladies at after parties in exotic locations like Australia?
I’ve been home one day in the past month and a half. It sucks, but this is the life i chose. I am actually in a hotel room in San Juan Puerto Rico with the most insane view.
How do you think having fans like MSTRKRFT has affected the success of the LA Riots?
It has definitely helped us out a lot. going on the road and being exposed to audiences that wouldn’t have known us otherwise on the last two MSTRKRFT tours has been great..
Which city dances the hardest at your shows?
Los Angeles.
Have you seen anything happen at one of your shows that made either of you stop and think wow, that’s messed up?
i threw a special edition ‘MSTRKRFT x Barracuda’ shirt out at the Los Angeles tourstop of the Fist of God tour, and some guy ripped it away from a girl. That was pretty messed up. Then a few nights ago in Denver a kid jumped on stage and a bouncer literally tackled him full force from across the stage all the way down to the floor five feet below. That wasn’t cool at all.
Are there any songs that are untouchable to remix because they are either to holy, or just plain shit?
Everything’s up for grabs.. If a song is shit, make it better, and we’re in line to remix Just Like Heaven by The Cure.. that’s pretty holy in my book.
What song do you never want to hear played out by a DJ ever again?
There’s a time and a place for everything, no matter how played out it is.
Catch LA Riots at Global Gathering later this month. Keep your eyes glued to ITM’s Global Gathering festival page for all the latest news, interviews, DJ mixes, videos and more – inthemix.com.au/globalgathering.
Sat Nov 22nd – Melbourne
Sun Nov 23rd – Perth
Sat Nov 29th – Brisbane
Sun Nov 30th – Sydney
