I’ve been listening to PeaceTreaty for a good minute now, and loved them from the first song I heard of theirs: Change. Since then, I’ve been hooked, and haven’t been able to get enough. They play a fairly wide range of progressive house, dutch house, and electro. Their tracks are always fat, and their shows are always insane. I was so psyched when I found out that the duo were willing to provide us with an interview. So, without further ado, here is PeaceTreaty in all their glory! Check out some of their tracks and the full interview below- enjoy!
Tell me about your mantra ‘bringing people together through music.’ How does PeaceTreaty provide a soundtrack for letting go of your worries?
Josh: The overall goal in music itself is to unite under a moment of time bringing collective feelings together. Thats why I think dance music is so special because the songs are heavily written with emotion. We try to make our songs moving in a way where you don’t only just want to dance but actually feel the track. It’s definitely not the correct way to writing music as a music major or professor will tell you but we choose this way because thats what we love as fans ourselves.
Angelo: It comes from the theory that when these fans come out to the shows to watch their favorite acts it doesn’t matter what ethnicity they are or where they came from or what race they are all that matters is the music and the joy they get out of it… when you’re on the dance floor letting go you don’t worry about who’s next to you or about your normal day to day problems its your one chance to be free and to interact with people from all over the world and from different backgrounds. Thats how this music brings people together .
How did the two of you meet? What was it like working together in the beginning of PeaceTreaty?
Josh: Angelo and I went to high school together in Chino Hills, CA. We were somewhat friend through mutual friends but it wasn’t until 2 years after high school that we actually started hanging out. I knew he was a great musician so i figured i’d ask him if he wanted to try and work on something with me. I could tell it was very new to him, which it was for me as well since i only started doing it for about 6 months. The first attempt on the collaboration was a surprising success..haha, which was greatly surprising because he was coming from a metal/hardcore background and i was coming from a hip-hop/house background.
Angelo: We met in high school and have been friends ever since…Josh started the group by himself then Sam joined and at this time I was finishing up music school and getting into producing then one day Josh hit me up and asked me if i wanted to jam out and write some music and the first project we did was a remix competition for G-tronic and the song got a good amount of buzz and we just went from there producing more songs and remixes together…at the beginning it was a lot of fun and exciting because we were both learning new softwares and because we each came from a different musical background and it clicked very fast and very strongly because Josh had the engineering expertise and I had the strong musical knowledge.
What was it like developing your sound in a place like Chino Hills?
Josh: I dont think living in the city was any type of inspiration but the group of friends we had that loved to go out to these festivals surely did gravitate to a certain sound so that actually shaped my perspective in the beginning.
Angelo: It was fun because we really didn’t have much when we first started out just a couple of KRK monitors and a garage to work in so the vibe and the feel was raw…also definitely having our close friends and our families around to support us was a huge help because they have been there since the start.
What is one thing people should know about you?
Josh: For Angelo and I, people should know that we put our pants on everyday just like everyone out there. We are really chill guys that really value friendship and respect. We love going places with all the friends as much as we can and surely enjoy meeting new people.
Angelo: I would have to agree with what Josh said that we are just like any other two dudes out there and will always stay humble and loyal to our fans… we love meeting new people and we love hanging out and bringing the positive vibes. we were extremely easy going people and will never look the other way when it comes to our fans. we are So Cal beach bums!
What was your favorite performance you’ve given to date and why?
Josh: For me it was probably the Super, You, & Me event at Governors Island in New York. That was Laidback Lukes event and jesus it was one of a hell of show. The fans were thirsty to absolutely go bonkers. There is nothing better then playing to several thousand people in a red power rangers costume haha.
Angelo: For me personally my favorite performance was the day glow show we did in Kingston, Rhode Island when we were on the Dance or Die tour with Robbie Rivera and Bassjackers….show was unreal and the kids were going nuts the whole night and they let me use the paint cannon which was pretty much the most fun I’ve had with a crowd ever.
What are your thoughts on the exploding EDM scene in the United States? How has it changed since you guys started producing?
Josh: It has greatly changed since the time I started doing this back in 2010. Its a bit funny now seeing it as no one has a slight clue as to where this whole Dance Music thing is headed. We are just taking it one day at a time and riding the wave, We dont make music to the date nor the movement, we want to make timeless music.
Angelo: I think its great that something so positive is getting so popular and it makes performing so much more fun because we can expect such a wide range of people at the shows…and of course with the rise of the popularity you are going to have more and more negative people trying to bring it down. I think as long as artists and fans stay true to themselves it will stay alive and won’t become too much of some fad…it has changed a lot for us because it has given us the chance to share our music more vastly not only to our fans but to our fellow musicians and djs who we look up to and admire a lot.
My personal favorite from you guys is the song Change. What was the inspiration for that track and how did you feel about it when it was released?
Josh: Of course Afrojack has been a huge inspiration towards our productions so I was wanted to take some of his tunes and combine them into my own version but consolidate them into one track. I really had no knowledge about structure back in the day other then knowing build and drop haha.
Angelo: That was mostly Josh and Sam working on that track back in the day but it’s called Change because of how many different sounds and elements are in the track and how it transitions from one vide to another.
When you guys aren’t touring or in the studio, who are you listening to?
Josh: I love listening to the blog artists. More of the downtempo experimental stuff. Its had to classify these artists but I am always on hypem. As for dj’s producers, I would say I love listening to Deniz Koyu, Fedde Le Grand, Chris Lake, Diplo, and several others.
Angelo: Whenever I’m not listening to EDM or producing dance tracks i always go back and listen to my favorite bands such as Circa Survive, Passion Pit, Foster the people, Bag Raiders, Kings of leon, Third Eye Blind….as for EDM acts some of my favorite producers and djs are Fedde Le Grand, Deniz Koyu, Afrojack, Hardwell, Dada Life, Tommy Trash, Clockwork, just to name a few haha.
What’s next for PeaceTreaty?
Josh: Our album!!! Which we are greatly excited for it to be out later this year. Of course all the mad house festivals and touring but mostly we want to show everybody that we are good producers.
Angelo: Our debut album coming out on Dim Mak! And hopefully to follow that some more touring all over the states and europe. We are playing in Austria at the Beat Patrol festival as well as Tomorrowland in Belgium extremely excited to be a part of these festivals and to have the chance to finally perform out in Europe!
Anything else you’d like to mention?
Josh: I just want to say a big thank you to everyone that has helped us out in anyway, big or small, we always value and cherish the love and support. Also thank you for your time. I hope this interview is what you were looking for.
Angelo: Thanks for having us! And shout out to all of our new fans and our old die hard fans… everything we do is for you guys!!
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