This past weekend, Zac Brown Band’s Southern Ground Music & Food Festival returned to Charleston, SC, for two days of top notch music and exquisite artisan food. The lineup is impressive as it boasts the likes of Tedeschi Trucks Band, Thomas Rhett, Marshall Tucker Band, Hunter Hayes, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Kacey Musgraves, Sam Bush, and Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers (just to name a few).
Photo Credit: Southern Reel
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This past weekend, Zac Brown Band’s Southern Ground Music & Food Festival returned to Charleston, SC, for two days of top notch music and exquisite artisan food. The lineup is impressive as it boasts the likes of Tedeschi Trucks Band, Thomas Rhett, Marshall Tucker Band, Hunter Hayes, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Kacey Musgraves, Sam Bush, and Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers (just to name a few).
Photo Credit: Southern Reel
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Ingenuity can strike at a moment’s notice and creativity can show up in the most unexpected places. For Zac Brown, an average visit to get an oil change inspired what just might be the most unique dining and music experience in today’s festival scene.
In the early 2000s, through their shared love of music and food, friends Zac Brown and Chef Rusty Hamlin began a conversation that has since changed the standard of artist meet and greets and music event dining. “We just started talking about how we could make everything that we do a step above anything that’s ever been done before.” said Chef Hamlin. “How could we go out of the box and how could we give a better experience, whether it’s music, food, all the way down to the restrooms…what can we do to make everything amazing, and over serve and really, really bring our guests into a new experience?”
This new experience for guests became Southern Ground Music & Food Festival’s Stage Boxes. The perfect blend between chef-driven fine dining and the concert experience, attendees in these Stage Boxes enjoy gourmet meals designed and prepared by Chef Hamlin and other award-wining chefs all while practically sitting on the main stage.
“Zach actually came up with the stage box idea,” shared Chef Hamlin. “One day he was like ‘Rusty, I was sitting and I was getting my oil changed. You know you pull up in this auto shop and it’s all clean and nice and beautiful, and all the guys you look at are clean, but there are some crazy things going on underneath you, where they’re changing your oil, they’re getting all messy and it’s probably like 40 or 50 people running around down there just trying to get your oil changed as quick as possible.’” Thus, the Stage Boxes were born.
Set upon seven foot tall scaffolding, ten boxes, five jutting out from stage left and five on stage right, each holds four tables of six guests who will experience an incredible three-course meal each night of the festival.
Influenced from Brown’s oil change experience, Brown and Chef Hamlin designed a dumbwaiter system at the center of each box. Unbeknownst to the attendees, “staff are running around down below them trying to plate up all these beautiful plates and sending them up underneath this 7ft scaffolding,” explained Chef Hamlin. “You push a button and all of a sudden, BOOM, you have the wait staff up there in the stage boxes and they’re very calm and quiet, they grab the plates and put them on the table and there’s amazing food. So people that have no idea what’s going on, which we don’t want them to. We want them to relax and enjoy their time, so that’s where the stage box idea came from.”
Helping Hamlin serve these guests is a lineup of renowned chefs including Chef RJ Cooper, a James Beard award winning chef who has has recently moved to Charlotte, NC, where he has been tapped to create a new culinary experience for the Charlotte Marriott City Center. Local Chef Craig Deihl with his passion for preserving meat. He is a founding member of the Butcher’s Guild, a network of meat professionals that promotes responsible butchering through education and community, and to date, he has produced over 90 types of charcuterie which have been prepared, stored and cured in-house at Charleston’s Cypress. Chef Patrick Owen’s southern roots run deep in his cuisine and he is no stranger to the Charleston food scene, as he grew up working his way through various kitchens in Charleston. He currently owns Langdon’s Restaurant + Wine Bar in Mt. Pleasant, earning the only AAA Four Diamond award East of the Cooper every year since opening, and Opal Restaurant + Wine Bar. Local Chef Mike Perez will also be joining this culinary lineup bringing his pasta expertise, along with members of the the Southern Ground Family, resident baker Nicole Crane with her gluten-free and allergen friendly baking, Chef Joshua Butler who has lent his culinary expertise as Executive Chef of Zac Brown’s restaurant, the Southern Ground Social Club, as well as with Zac Brown Band’s Eat & Greets, and Chef Collins Woods with his southern flare.
In addition to locally sourced talent to contribute to the Southern Ground experience, Chef Hamlin also prides himself on using regional ingredients, farm-to-tent (or Stage Box), if you will. Pork is big menu item this weekend and Hamlin will be cooking over 550 pounds of regional Carolina pork. Most of the produce will either be from South Carolina or Georgia, along with some fresh Florida strawberries.
“I would say that 90% of everything we are going to use, in hopes to feed somewhere between 5,000-6,000 people over the course of the weekend, is local,” stated Chef Hamlin.
Chef Hamlin will be serving two of his own dishes to Stage Box guests. On Saturday, he will be connecting with his Louisiana roots as he serves risotto balls stuffed with crawfish, tasso ham, and cheese, served with a local okra creole tomato stew. On Sunday, Chef Hamlin will be pulling 275 portions of burrata cheese which will be plated with a roasted balsamic strawberry and arugula pesto with crispy baguette. “Oh my gosh, think about this. Think about a beautiful burrata ball, just for you, you cut it open in the middle and it’s like beautiful amazing salty, ricotta cheese coming out of the middle of it, oh my gosh it’s gonna be amazing,” Chef Hamlin shared.
The Southern Ground Grub concession that will be open to the general public will also be headed by Chef Hamlin and will be turning out two dishes and a dessert by baker Nicole Crane. First is a family creole jambalaya recipe with chicken and andouille sausage. The second dish is a GochuJang Korean smoked pork shoulder, fermented Korean chili base marinated smoked pork shoulder with a green mango kimchi on top with a crispy wonton. And for a sweet ending, Crane’s gluten free, dairy free, and egg free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
For the past five years, Southern Ground Music & Food festival has been bringing top talent, quality dinning, and lifetimes of memories to Charleston. The attention to detail by Zac Brown and Chef Rusty Hamlin is unparalleled. For Chef Hamlin, the ability to share his art and interact with guests via Southern Ground experiences has been incredibly rewarding.
“There have been so many special moments,” Chef Hamlin shared. “And that’s why chefs do it. We do it because it’s very rewarding to us. We’re not going to be millionaires, I promise you that. So we do it for being rewarded by smiles and happiness, and making people happy by feeding them.”
This weekend, Zac Brown Band’s Southern Ground Music & Food Festival returns to Charleston, SC, for two days of top notch music and exquisite artisan food. The lineup is impressive as it boasts the likes of Tedeschi Trucks Band, Thomas Rhett, Marshall Tucker Band, Hunter Hayes, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Kacey Musgraves, Sam Bush, and Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers (just to name a few). Even more exciting are the gourmet concessions which will include offerings from favorite local Charleston restaurants.
The menus are set are set and Festival Foodie is excited to serve up a preview of some of this year’s food vendors at Southern Ground Music & Food Festival.
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BEES KNEES GRILL
Bees Knees will serve classic grilled cheese, grilled cheese with bacon,and three signature gourmet sandwiches:
The Come Up – cheddar, avocado, bacon and ranch grilled on artisan sourdough
The Fat Apple – granny smith apple, havarti, baby greens and a housemade champagne vinaigrette
Kimchi Tempeh Reuban – lactofermented raw kimchi, three grain tempeh, russian dressing and swiss cheese on marble rye
Botanical Fresh Squeezed Lemonade:
Elderberry
Hibiscus
Lavender
Peppermint
Bees Knees encourages mixing flavors and getting creative! All of the herbs have a unique flavor and they all have lovely medicinal qualities as well, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Viva Las Vegas and Viva La Cheese! The String Cheese Incident closed out their March Madness tour with a three night run at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas. Festival Foodie was front and center all three nights, but by day we were chowin’ down on some serious Vegas eats.
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Festival Foodie Rating: N/A
Over the past year, 17 year old British singer and songwriter Declan McKenna has leaped into our hearts. His poignant single “Brazil” criticizes FIFA and FIFA’s role in bringing the 2014 World Cup to Brazil without addressing the sever poverty of the country. We sat down with McKenna at this year’s SXSW to get deep into the mind and understand the creative force behind this young and extremely talented musician.
Vinyl Mag: How has the transition been going from the UK airwaves into the U.S. Your single “Brazil” is just blowing up. How has it been from your perspective?
Declan McKenna: It’s crazy! I mean it’s mad different from the UK like stuff over here has been a lot more crazy. There’s a lot more going on, so it’s pretty mad. But it’s my first time in the United States anyway so it’s quite a culture shock, but it’s amazing to be able to come out here and play a load of shows every night. I couldn’t really ask to do anything else.
VM: In coming over to the U.S., what’s been the biggest eye opening experience for you so far?
DM: I’ve only been here for a couple of days but it’s really cool. I don’t know. I love just coming to Austin and SX, it’s kind of crazy just being able to play it, a festival that everyone wants to play at and that’s just amazing for me. Just this whole experience.
VM: At SXSW is definitely a melting pot of performers. Have you experienced an audience singing your songs back to you back to you yet here?
DM: Yeah, I’ve had that, like I was in Florida, then I went to Atlanta and now I’m here so I have people who’ve known me like at all the gigs in America which is just beyond me. I didn’t expect that at all. It’s crazy for me, it’s crazy.
VM: Well when you’ve got something good people will love it. The song “Brazil” is very mature for someone your age, what did the creative process of this song look like for you and what was your driving source of energy?
DM: It started with a little guitar but I just sat at home, it’s weird it doesn’t normally happen like this, but I was just sitting at home playing guitar and I came up with a little neat guitar riff, and it kind of just stemmed from that really. The idea came pretty naturally, like it was kind of this World Cup thing that was all over the news and I wanted to write about the corruption that I’ve sort of seen and heard so much about all over the place. There’s kind of bits of it around the internet but there was no mainstream coverage so it was kind of just something I wanted to write about it. I mean I didn’t really have anyone listening to my songs, there was no pressure or no real reason to write about a kind of poignant, quote on quote topic. It just kind of happened pretty naturally for me and it turned out as “Brazil.”
VM: Well I think when something like this happens so naturally it just works.
DM: Yeah, I don’t try to have a time where I’m writing a song and focused. If I’m gonna write a song now, just starting doesn’t work for me. I always kind of have to get at it while I’m in the zone or whatever. I don’t know why, that’s just kind of how it works for me.
VM: Are you working on anything new at the moment?
DM: Oh yeah loads of stuff. I mean I’ve written a bunch of songs and kind of just working on them now trying to record finished products. I’ve kind of been recording bits so this summer I’m hopefully gonna have a period of a couple of weeks just to do all the songs and have a couple more to release I guess.
VM: Are they relatable to Brazil you would say, or are you experimenting with your sound?
DM: The songs are pretty diverse. I mean I don’t really feel the need to stick to one specific sound for this just because it’s just the early days for me. I guess being so young, I don’t want to restrict myself to anything. So I’m just kind of writing what I want to write and come out with quite a collective sound, I think. Which is pretty exciting for me. Cause it means I get to try out a bunch of stuff and I’m just playing a lot of shows, trying out songs, seeing what works. Taking my time with it.
VM: So this summer we should be anticipating more works from you.
DM: Well there’s gonna be more tunes throughout the year and then hopefully I’m gonna be able to release a full body of work around early next year. It’s just a guess but it all depends on how stuff is going on, how stuff goes. I guess around next year, but there will be stuff throughout the year that’s coming out. “Brazil” is still going pretty strong at the minute
VM: And it’s continuing to climb up the charts.
DM: Yeah, so it’s still growing at the minute. There will be more tunes though. Hopefully people like them and can kind of go from there I guess.
VM: Now, you have some tour dates coming up.
DM: Sort of, it’s mostly sort of radio based stuff. This whole American run I’m doing is just on my own. I have a band back home and then next time I’ll bring them, but yeah it’s just me for now sort of giving a little introduction to America. I haven’t been here before so I thought it’s pretty much the most natural way to do it on my own and yea its mad exciting. I’m here for like a month doing a load of stuff. Here [in Austin], and then NY and LA.
VM: Any city you’re particularly excited to go?
DM: LA probably looks, I mean I’m really excited for stuff there. Going to Disneyland. NY as well, obviously. Im excited for everywhere cause I’ve not really been anywhere here before, so everywhere is new to me. So it’s mad exciting.
VM: Are you looking to try any new foods while in the U.S.?
DM: Yeah! Apparently I’m being taken to the best vegan restaurant in New York when I get there so I’m excited.
VM: Are you a vegan?
DM: Yeah. As of quite recently. Trying to eat really good. I’ve tried out loads of new food. Americas really good at fake meat. Like veggie burgers that don’t actually taste like veggie burgers, they’re like imitating meat. It kind of tastes a little bit like meat but it’s kind of watered down. Its not bad though its pretty cool. They do a pretty good job of it out here. They don’t do a very good job back home.
VM: Do you have any rituals or anything to get you pumped up for playing live?
DM: I normally just shout a bunch before I go on stage just to get my voice ready because especially for “Brazil,” I have to really perform it. Like I was 15 when I wrote it. It’s only been two years but there’s a difference, I always have to be really prepared. I just do that sort of thing, like warm-ups. But when I play with my band, which I will do here in a couple of months, we do this thing called the clap which I saw, I can’t remember what band doing it but it’s just a really cool thing. You all have to clap at the same time and you won’t have any kind of count so I just stand there and you have to all clap at the same time so there’s not overlapping claps, it all has to be one clap. That’s the only ritual we have.
VM: I like it, it’s a great way to get excited and pumped up. Well just want to say congratulations. I’m sure it’s very exciting and it should be.
DM: Yeah, thanks! It’s crazy.
A couple of years ago you would have found Rockaway Beach’s Lewis Del Mar busking on Austin’s street corners and playing in some guy’s backyard during SXSW. But that was then. Now, you will find this duo in great demand and performing in packed out venues such as Hype Hotel.
We met up with Danny Miller and Max Harwood, found a stoop (because that’s where cool SXSW interviews take place), and had a late afternoon chat about the sonic collage that is Lewis Del Mar’s music, best eats of SXSW 2016, and we tried, unsuccessfully, to get the release date of their upcoming album.
Vinyl Mag: Let’s talk about the EP that you guys just released… Describe the EP in three words for someone who’s never listened to your music before.
Danny Miller & Max Harwood: Bedroom, I think should be one. City. And, I guess we’ll say beach. Yeah, I guess ocean. Yeah, ocean is better. Bedroom, city, and ocean. Which I think are sort of the locales and time of the record.
DM: We recorded it in Max’s bedroom. And we live in Rockaway Beach. We actually recorded it in this bungalow. And I think Rockaway is sort of the coming together of these two disparate worlds.
MH: And it’s like city meets ocean.
DM: So we’re trying to convey that in what we do creatively.
VM: Absolutely, cause I know you guys made the move from D.C. to Rockaway, so what prompted that?
DM&MH: Such a long story.
VM: How’d you pick Rockaway?
DM: I think we came to pick Rockaway because we felt like it sort of embodied what we were already trying to do creatively with the project. So we moved from D.C. because we had an old group and it disbanded, and it was sort of Max and I at the home of it and we wanted to do something else creatively. We’re from D.C. so we could have moved anywhere in the world and I think it would have been more interesting. It was just sort of an idea of getting away from home. We moved to New York. We moved to a Spanish- speaking area in Brooklyn. And that sort of… it sort of started a lot. My father’s Nicaraguan… Max’s parents live in Panama now and we lived in Chile for a while we had very strong ties to South America, Central America. And it just sort to began to influence the music in a way we weren’t really expecting. And we started to tap into a lot of those things and I think that while I was tapping in to that part of my heritage personally and those influences musically, Max was sort of tapping into something else in moving into New York.
MH: Just sort of like the intensity of the city. In the old band I was basically just the drummer and it was just sort of like a regular rock-n-roll type of band, and we started this project and I got into production and sampling and hip- hop and all these different things. Now it’s just amplified like a thousand times when we moved to the city. You know there’s just so much humanity and you come face to face with so many experiences and cultures that I just started bringing in different sounds into what we were doing and starting sampling; sampling from vinyl, picking up sounds around the city with just a voice memo recorder.
DM: I think that sort of when we started to fuse those two worlds together we were kind of going out to Rockaway to surf, hang out with some friends there. It just sort of began to us to manifest itself into the more physical and locational properties of the music. So we just moved there. We sort of had to live in to make it come to life. And that was sort of the goal.
CH: If this sounds like a crazy collage of things, its because that’s exactly what it is.
VM: That’s great, that’s what helps make an album I think. All these things coming together to make one.
DM: Right, I think when we finished the other band we were looking for something different we were curious about other sounds so we just opened ourselves up to any and all influences and all these different things flooded in.
VM: So we are anxiously waiting on the new album. Do we have a date?
DM: Nothing we can say…This year.
VM: Can we expect the album during beach weather months?
DM: We can’t say. We’re finishing it right when we get back. All the songs are written. Everything’s been recorded. We’re just kind of fine-tuning it. We have sort of an excess amount of time on our hands so we’re just sort of taking our time with it and making sure it’s something that were really proud of as a first statement for our band. It’s been such a process of love and nurturing and learning for us because this is our first time making a full length album so it’s been really cool.
VM: Awesome, looking forward to it! So you guys have a tour coming up, some international dates. Any cities in particular you’re looking forward to playing?
MH: We’re excited to go to Paris.
DM: Really excited to go to Paris for the first time.
MH: Honestly excited to go anywhere in Europe. I feel like our minds were kind of blown when our manager started talking about sending us to Europe. We’re like oh my God, that’s going to be amazing.
VM: What are some things you guys like to eat on the road?
DM&MH: I just like Caribbean food I love lie coconut rice, and fried fish. On the road I feel like…We try to eat healthy but it’s not so easy. We like Thai. Mutual love for Thai food.
DM&MH: Yeah, Thai food is amazing.
VM: What’s the best food you have eaten at SX so far?
DM: I had really delicious Caribbean food. It was like sautéed pork over some… like oh it was crazy it was coconut curry bacon fried rice.
VM: Oh man! Where did you find this?
MH: It was like right around the corner.
DM: It was this taco truck.
VM: So is there anything else you guys want to share?
DM: I just want to say that this has been the most amazing thing, and as two kids that have known each other our entire lives…we’ve been making music together our entire lives. Like before this Max and I were traveling around in a station wagon and sleeping on floors and shit so to have anybody care about our music and to come here, and this sounds so stupid but to get a wristband to play at these showcases, like we were here two years ago and we were busking on street corners so…
MH: We literally played in some dude’s backyard two years ago.
DM: And there’s just not a second of it that’s just the most amazing experience and to be able to do it with your best friend is the greatest thing.
MH: Yeah, we’ve known each other since we were 9.
VM: I think remembering where you came from keeps you humble.
MH: And it gives you perspective. Its so nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of, and just like, when we have to make decisions that are sort of heavy, there’s someone there that you also feels like knows you sort of as well as you know yourself.
It’s been a couple of years since we last heard from Rooney, but with the hit single “My Heart Beats 4 U,” an absolutely memorable SXSW performance, and a new album, Washed Away, due to be released this May, Rooney is certainly back in our lives – and we couldn’t be happier.
We caught up with the face of Rooney, Robert Schwartzman, down in Austin and chatted about the creative process behind Washed Away and how he wrote, produced, engineered, mixed and performed all of the songs on the album.
Vinyl Mag: You guys have a new album coming out in May and we are really excited.
Robert Schwartzman: I’m excited for you guys to hear it. I’ve been waiting so long. I’ve been sitting on this stuff so long and I’m so happy to put it out finally.
VM: If you could describe the album in three words…
RS: Dangerous, Scandalous…..I don’t know how to describe it in three words…I hate to classify my own music as something but I feel like it’s rockin’, I feel like its energetic but also ill say mid-tempo.
VM: How long have you been working on it?
RS: I’ve been working on it well, it depends, a lot of these songs I’ve kind of had waiting to do something with for a while, but I kind of buckled down really last year and put the final touches on this record. I had some of these songs before that, I just wasn’t sure what I was gonna do with it. Like if it was gonna be a Rooney record or something else. But I like to spend a lot of time on the sonic quality of the album. I get really obsessive about the quality of it, so I’ll remix it a lot and I’ll master it like ten times. I get really obsessive. So I recorded it by myself. Produced it. And I mixed it with another friend of mine.
VM: What’s that creative process like?
RS: It’s cool, I feel like it’s kind of part of the process for me. I kind of mix as I record and I kind of write as I record so it all happens at one time. I don’t like just sit down, write ten songs and then go record them. I write and record like all at one time.
VM: So when you’re writing…I feel like there are two different kinds of people who are like I have to sit down, have set hours and write or some people are like it just came to me…
RS: I don’t know, I mean I try to make time for it. I go through phases where I record a lot and then I stop. Usually when I’m in this phase right now, like bringing a record out, I don’t really write a lot. But when I’m ready, when it’s been a little bit of time and the dust settles I’ll go back in the studio and just start writing. But I used to write more, like every day I was writing something but lately that’s sort of changed a little bit because I’ve become more hands on with other aspects of this process. Which I find equally as gratifying and creative as making music. Like I think marketing your album and coming up with your release plan and your artwork and music video…to me they’re all like part of the same process. Because it shapes who you are and what you’re trying to say. Because you could have a really good song but it could be misrepresented with how you bring it to people and then it changes the perception of that song, so to me every little piece really matters and you have to be careful with all of it.
VM: How do you balance your time with doing so many things going on such as working on movies as well…how do you balance all of that with your songwriting and the creation of an album?
RS: Well lately now I’ve been moving more into the movie stuff. For a while it was just full time Rooney but now I really want to be, I kind of want to diversify the thing that I like to do and be more hands on with all of it but it can be really hard because you really just have to carve out time where you can fully devote all your attention to this one thing, for this period of time. They will overlap, like right now they’re overlapping. Things I’ve been doing thus far over the hiatus and now with the return of the Rooney record, they’re all hitting at one time and it’s becoming a little bit challenging but if I want to live this life, I have to just do it. I just have to figure out a way, basically. That’s my solution.
VM: So what do you have going on with the movie aspect?
RS: The movie, I directed a feature film that I co-wrote and it’s a feature length film that will be at the Tribeca film festival in April. And we’re just gearing up with prepping the movie for Tribeca. But what’s cool is I got to write the score for it so music was a part of it. And then I wrote a song for the movie that’s in the movie. It’s on the Rooney record. So they go together.
VM: It all collides and right now your worlds are colliding. Do you have any involvement with the new Princess Diaries?
RS: Oh the third one? I heard about that. It’s interesting, it’s been so many years since that movie but it hasn’t really gone away because it plays all the time. I never knew I would be in that movie. I didn’t know I was gonna be in a movie that would be just like, this long-lasting, movie. I’m happy to have been a part of it. I think its cool. I love that people love it. Whatever gets people excited, is all that matters.
VM: Just like people are excited for your record!
RS: That’s true, That’s true.
VM: and we are excited!
RS: You can pre-order it. People should know they can order vinyl and CDs now. On the Rooney website. Rooneymusic.com!
VM: I know you have been sending new songs off the album to your fan club over email, how did you go about choosing those songs that you want those dedicated fans to hear first?
RS: Well, I think that when people give you their email address, I think its very cool, very personal. There’s a nice email list and it’s not technically a fan club right now but id like to turn it into a fan club. But I find sort of the people who are on our email list sort of get first dibs on new stuff. There was a free song sent only to email list people so it’s a way to reward people for just being apart of it. But I picked the song “Come on Baby” because I feel like it’s a new song, but it sort of to me sounds like Rooney. Like it sounds like what people know Rooney to sound like. And I think its good after all these years to give people a touch of familiarity before all this other new music comes out. And I want people to know that even tough it’s a new time for this band, it’s still the band everyone has liked for all these years. It’s still the same.
VM: So, SX really quick. You just got in, you probably haven’t seen much. What’s your SXSW plan?
RS: I don’t know, I don’t even know how to find shows. When it comes to SXSW, its always great to be here but I’m always here to do a show and I’m never in the mindset of seeing other bands.
VM: Finding shows is a full time job, I literally had a spreadsheet I had to make so I completely understand.
RS: Well I really just want to just chill out and enjoy being in Austin cause I really like being here. So I just want to have a little bit of down time. Maybe if there’s a good show. I’ve gotta get my badge. I don’t have a pass yet, I gotta pick it up.
VM: Do you have any favorite restaurants in Austin? Or food you’re looking to enjoy?
RS: The Salt Lick, I’d like to try to go. I went there once and I was like this place is awesome. I couldn’t believe it.
VM: The Salt Lick is like a cultural experience.
RS: It really is, there’s nothing like it.
***5% of all purchases of Rooney’s Washed Away made through the preorder page are being donated to The Pablove Foundation in support of their mission of helping kids with cancer live***
You may have first heard of this American EDM duo in 2014 with their chart topping hit “#Selfie,” but the Chainsmokers did not stop there. Over the past two years The Chainsmokers have released hit after hit and an EP titled Bouquet in 2015. If the EDM community wasn’t talking about Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall’s after all of that, the duo’s past two hits, “Roses” and “Don’t Let Me Down” have brought The Chainsmokers to a whole new level. Taggart and Pall are sitting on top of the world and ruling the music kingdom.
The Chainsmokers were down in Austin, TX, for SXSW to perform at this year’s MTV Woodies/10 for 16. The night before the Woodies, Taggart and Pall took some time after their soundcheck to talk to Vinyl Mag about everything from their music, to Fireball shots, to what they eat on the road and everything else in-between.
Vinyl Mag: Let’s talk about your music first. You have hit after hit and I’d like to call them very infectious. You could play them over and over again, and they just translate so well. Where does the inspiration come for these tracks? What does the creative process look like?
The Chainsmokers: Every song is different. We really don’t hold back on letting whatever we’re currently inspired by make it’s way into what we’re creating ourselves. We’re always listening to new music, and old music. I think whenever you hear a song from us it’s like a modge podge of what we were into that day. We make a ton of tracks, and only put out the best ones.
VM: The songs you are putting out are definitely the good ones. And you’re collabs and the vocals all work on these tracks. Is there any person/artist in particular that you have a dream to collaborate with?
TC: So many. It changes weekly. We’re relatively new, speaking, to the music community, we just moved to LA. Everyone lives there, it seems like, so we’re really pumped to be there and set up time to get together and meet with these people that inspired us. It’s so cool to be a part of the Woodies. Being on the stage with a lot of these artists that are on our Spotify playlists. There isn’t one person, there’s so many.
VM: If you could pick one right now.
C: We’d love to do work with Lukas Graham. And I want to work with Harry Styles, not One Direction just Harry Styles, cause I think he’s low-key, I really do. I’d also love to work with Bon Iver, that’s one of my dreams. And I’d love to work with Phoenix cause they’re my favorite band. That’s a good list.
VM: Yeah, that’s a great list. Do you guys have any pre-show rituals?
TC: Drink Fireball.
VM: Shots? Full glasses?
TC: Shots. I don’t think you sip fireball.
VM: Ok, so about how many shots?
TC: Uh, about three or four? But then we switch to something else.
VM: In a row?
TC: More or less, within the span of 10-15 min.
VM: Just to warm everything up?
TC: Yeah, exactly.
VM: What do you guys like to eat on the road?
TC: That’s the best part about this, is that we get to travel all over the world and try all these different cuisines. Sometimes its sad because we don’t have the time to go do these places, so you like go to a place and you only have airport options, but in Barcelona we finally had some really good bomb ass food there but we’ve been there like 10 times and only had like terrible food. So it really just depends.
VM: What exactly did you eat that was incredible, what did you have?
TC: Tapas. But we had like octopus, mussels, foie gras and steak and there was like this egg and potato thing that was so bomb. Yeah it was awesome.
VM: What’ s the best thing you’ve eaten while touring at a festival?
TC: There’s this barbeque chicken that I had at this restaurant in North Carolina that was like, I’m thinking about it right now and …Carbone in Las Vegas. It’s at the Aria hotel, but they also have one in NYC. Spicy rigatoni is a fuckin must. It will change your life.
VM: Change my life, that’s what I like to hear! Are you guys going to catch any artists while you’re in Austin?
TC: We’re going to the Disruptor showcase and Xylo is playing with Jocelyn Alice and they’re really dope so I’m psyched to see them play even though we’ve seen them before and obviously I mean every performer on the Woodies, but particulary Lukas Graham. Excited to see Travis Scott always … There are so many bands unfortunately we’re not really here long enough to see them but we’re lucky that we get to see the ones we do.
VM: Is this your first SXSW?
TC: Yeah.
VM: Well welcome to Austin and I hope it treats you well! Also, I really have to share that I’m a big fan of all of your tracks. I just came back from a girl’s weekend and my friends had them on repeat the entire time.
TC: Which one?
VM: All of them. Especially “Roses” and “Don’t Let Me Down.”
TC: What’s your favorite?
VM: I absolutely love the new one.
TC: “Don’t let me down?”
VM: Yes…that drop… it just hits you in all the right places.
TC: It’s the first track drop I’ve ever made and I made it on a plane. I didn’t think it was good enough but then I played it for my friend Emily and Scott who I wrote the song with and they were like fuck yeah bro. It’s funny, like a lot of producers overproduce their shit but I think what we’ve learned is that if it gets the point across, it’s good. Less is more.
VM: I love electronic music, but I think with many electronic tracks you can play it and you love it and then you play it over and over again and get sick of it. Honestly speaking, I just think there is something about your songs, and you can just not get sick of them.
TC: That’s so nice!
VM: And with “Roses,” it just hit me like a ton of bricks….In a really good way.
TC: Hell yea!
VM: It’s just so fresh to the electronic scene.
TC: I can’t wait until you hear our new record
VM: I can’t wait either…when can we hear it?
TC: I expect April 1st.
VM: Yea? April 1st?
TC: I just got pumped up!
There’s no other place in the world like Austin, TX, especially during SXSW. And there’s definitely no other place to get your eat on than Austin during SXSW. We ate our way through SXSW 2016 and here’s what we chowed down on!
[/tps_header]Topo Chico Mineral Water
Festival Foodie Rating: 
