Ahead of their upcoming “Horizon Tour,” Four Over Four asked Chad Cisneros and David Reed from Tritonal a few questions and get really into the details of dance music production. This dynamic duo shared their story of growing up in Austin and what their fans can expect leading up to the tour with Seven Lions and Kill The Noise.
For our seventh edition of our Jukely Mix Sessions, Tritonal gives us a fun summer vibe and energetic mix. Take a listen below:
Growing up in Austin, what are some of your early memories of music and the culture?
Chad: Definitely concerts! Shows by Black Eyed Peas, The Roots, Pharcyde, Jack Johnson, so many bands! Austin breathes live music; the list of bands and artists who play here is endless. Austin City Limits is an amazing festival; massive each and every year.
Favorite places or locations in your hometown?
Chad: Barton Springs, Town Lake, 6th Street, Dirty Martin’s for Burgers ‘n’ Shakes, and Lake Austin!
Since the start of Tritonal in 2007, your production has evolved but maintained a lot of the essential and signature sounds. What’s the approach behind each song you produce?
Chad: There’s no one recipe, that’s for sure, as our tempos and styles are all over the map at the moment, ha! I think that’s what makes music creation fun, is that you can approach it from whichever way you want. I think if you’re being authentic when making a record, it naturally sounds like you because every choice you make melodically, sound design or production-wise, feels very you. When its you, its you.
Can you tell us the story behind the new single “Good Thing”?
Chad: Ahh what a dope record! We actually were sent a rough demo by Laurell and Matthew Steeper early on. We loved the vibe. We rewrote the acoustic guitar parts, wrote some addition post-chorus hooks and reworked the underbelly of the music on the record.
We actually have never met either of the original writers, this was all done via text message and email! [laughs]
Dave: Yeah, it’s quite the schedule to be honest! We’re always going back and forth on records for our show each week, gathering promos, testing them out live here and there, and selecting what we need to prepare for our weekly show. Additionally, as we’re doing this, we like to discuss/A&R with some of our Enhanced artists too—so it can be quite the time getting it all together.
I have to say though, I feel we’ve gotten to manage it well enough to call it a machine—we’re always listening to music, always trying to be attentive to what’s hot and not, and be prepped.
Several critics, and even artists, have mentioned that there’s a lack of creativity in the dance music scene today. What’s your take on the state of dance music and how would you change it?
Dave: I can completely understand that. But there is an extreme amount of creative people influencing how ‘dance music’ is perceived too. So it’s going both ways!
Firstly, let’s say, with dance music, it’s not a very ‘complex’ rhythm to begin with—we’re talking about a four measure kick drum and you’re already halfway there to a dance-esque beat! I think there has been some AMAZING evolution in dance as it is though, which makes it more and more challenging to be more ‘creative’ as you say in dance music.
I think it’s a super fun time right now for this style of music because, with us, we LOVE to be creative and change things up all the time. So being able to break some rules, flip the box over and let it all come out, turning it around, and revamping, it is all we’re about when it comes to creativity. Maybe we take that four measure kick drum and pitch it all around to make a bassline, who knows?
So yes, there may be a lack of creativity in much of dance music, but at the same time, there’s plenty of room for creativity to rejuvenate it too and there are MANY artists that are doing this!
Coming fall, you will be heading out on tour with Seven Lions and Kill The Noise. Can the fans expect any kind of special collabs or surprises?
Dave: Hah! Of course! 😉 Can’t go out on tour without some fun, upcoming surprises, mashups, exclusive Tritonal tunes, and collabs. Want to make it fresh!
How do you prepare for a tour, and what excites you the most about heading back out on tour?
Dave: Well, with us, we feel that we get to play so much around the world that we feel we’re always ‘touring,’ so to speak.
However, with a tour like this, we get super stoked over new visual outlines, new music, a whole new experience all in all, and I think taking our creativity into a real deal tour is what’s so exciting. Of course, much of the excitement also comes from being able to play larger venues as well and just having an all out kick ass time!
Make sure to catch Tritonal on tour this coming fall with Seven Lions and Kill The Noise. Get your tickets here.
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