BLAUS

Our relationship with music has a lot to do with growing up in a family who channeled most of its spiritual expression through music. As kids, we would commonly wake up to our parents as they were preparing and writing new songs for church. From emo bands to hardcore groups, personal side projects, and electronic production, writing and creating music is who we are and it’s what we have always done. We come from a background of healing and a family that devoted its entire existence to teaching and helping those around us. We have taken these ideologies and formed them into whom we truly are and what we want to accomplish in life. -BLAUS

 

Interview

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Home Town: Windsor, CA

Currently Living: San Francisco, CA

Origin Of Name: Our father suggested the name BLAUS to us when we were just wee-little kids. It is the first five letters of our last name, Blaustone. BLAUS is exactly what it is…it’s us!

Weapon of Choice: Perspective

Source of Power: Booka Shade, Die Antwoord, M.A.N.D.Y., Trentemøller, Claude VonStroke, Maceo Plex, Justin Martin, Kaskade, Bon Iver, Muse, Radiohead, The Tallest Man On Earth, The Head and the Heart, Thom Yorke, Sigur Rós, Mum, Explosions In The Sky, and Boards of Canada.

What advice would you offer someone thinking about entering the Discovery Project competition?

We think it’s important for anyone who wants to make music professionally to really understand why he or she wants to do so. Music isn’t just about winning competitions or hoping to get noticed. It’s about sharing your vision with others. It’s about truly believing in what you are writing and creating. To us, our music is everything. In all honesty, we never thought of entering the Discovery Project until a close friend told us to. When we entered, we didn’t think we would win. We thought of it more as an opportunity to show people what “Booty House” really is. With that being said, any contestant should remember they have to keep working and remembering their goal. You have to make sure of three very important things:

1. You are honest with who you are

2. You know the reason why you make music

3. You trust that your message is worth sharing

Are there any dots to connect with where/how you grew up to your musical output? From people freestyling on the street corner to a grand piano forced down your throat by your Mom.

Funny you’d say “having a grand piano forced down your throat by your Mom,” because that is both of our lives in a nutshell. Our father is a pastor. He sings and plays guitar and has been writing his own music since he was 17. He loves to teach everyone in his life. Our mother supports my father in everything he does. She is a singer/songwriter and a piano player. As kids, we were taught that creating music was a part of life. It was never foreign to us. As we’ve grown, we have taken the spiritual philosophies we were raised with and formed them into what we want. Human culture is built around music. It’s been a major part of our evolutionary process, and is a source of communication that can be understood by every soul on Earth. But the vibrations of music are beyond us, and beyond this world! Music is Godly; it’s an omnipresent form of communication.

What do your parents think of what you are doing?

We have always played music. There have been a lot of times in our lives where our parents didn’t approve of what we were doing or what we were playing. One constant in our family is that our parents have always supported our dreams. Wanting to be rock stars didn’t really shock our parents. They’ve performed most of their lives, so for us to pursue a life focused around performing is not surprising to them. What’s amazing is that we are brothers and that makes BLAUS much more of a family endeavor. Everyone is behind us. They support us in so many amazing ways and will cram into some of the nastiest clubs just to watch us perform (even though we know they really can’t stand the club scene). Our entire lives, we were brought on mission trips focused on helping humanity. We were forced, at a young age, to go to places we didn’t want to go and to help others, even when we didn’t even understand it. We realize now, in many ways, we have the same focus and similar goals.

What’s the strangest part of your job?

The process of writing a new song is the best. It’s mind-blowing to think that our brains can create something out of nothing.

What’s the biggest misconception about being a DJ?

One of the biggest misconceptions about being a DJ–or being a musical performer in general–is that performers are not ordinary people like everyone else. Some artists have such incredible artistic intellect. But at the end of the day, like anyone else, they are just humans with a dream.

What is your ultimate career dream?

There are so many! It hurts our brains to try and answer this. But here we go… our dream is to hear at least one account from a fan saying, “I have changed because of your music. I have grown and had great success with managing life because of your art.” To know that a massive amount of humans have benefited greatly by our art would be the ultimate goal.

How, if at all, does listening to music figure into your creative process?

Inspiration from other artists comes and goes for us. We know that the artists we grew up listening to influence everything we write today. But just recently, we’ve grown to adore the South African group Die Antwoord. Everything they represent is absolutely insane, brilliant and iconic. The beauty of their controlled chaos makes complete sense to us. “I Fink U Freeky” and “Fatty Boom Boom” have brought us right back into the studio to write some funky, brain-washing tribal beats.

What sound or noise do you love?

Our favorite sound is an 808. No contest. But cutting out and bringing in frequencies is a concept that we love. When it comes to mixing live, there is something about cutting out all the higher frequencies and only leaving about 1.5 kHz and lower. It’s like the brain fills in the gaps for us and lets us hear what we want.

What should everyone just shut the fuck up about?

Complaining. Just shut up.

When you look at electronic music and the surrounding culture, what worries you about the future?

Our biggest worry is that mainstream dance music is only going to get worse before it gets better. We are so ready to see the change we have been waiting for—for the underground to become the foreground. So many people in the underground scene want to keep it that way, so that it doesn’t become mainstream. We say screw that. If only both parties could understand that they are both wrong. That’s how we balance our ideals. We are the “main-ground,” if you will.

Is success physical or internal?

Both. We live in a spiritual world that is veiled within the physical world. Success, in any venture, will mean happiness. There are a lot of different goals we associate with success. We’ve been successful with some for a long time but we haven’t even gotten close to reaching it (yet).

We feel successful because we know what we want and have learned how to get it. We are successful for standing true to our mission and for having faith that what we are doing is meant to be. But that’s just it; success is continuous and has no end point. When we reach a point of success, it just opens a hundred more ways to grow.

Do you have any secret passions?

Movie director, professional investor and designing superheroes.

What do you remember about your first DJ gig?

Our first real show was held at The Phoenix, a beautiful rundown venue in Petaluma, California. A lot of big names of all sorts have actually performed there. We have been going to this venue our entire lives for church functions, our friends’ shows, etc. I remember performing there while I was in high school when I played the drums for a local rap group. Bassnectar and Hillary Duff have performed there as well! So it’s got some really interesting vibes. Basically, we put on our own event and gave it some catchy dance event name. The day of the show, we realized we had no image or outfits to wear to it. So, we went to a local shirt making shop here in San Francisco and made black and white tank tops. Our magic numbers, 11 and 22, were printed on the front and “BLAUS” was on the back. We showed up that night to find the majority of our friends and a few parents there to see us perform for the first time. It was magic. We played our favorite dance songs from artists like Booka Shade to Skrillex. We did what we wanted. We played around six of our own tracks and ended with an old remix we did for a friend. It had every single person jumping with us at the end. It was bliss! We even have video footage of it, but that’ll stay hidden with us until it feels right to share (probably until our documentary). That show changed our lives forever. And it was our event, our friends, and our movement.

What’s the hardest professional lesson you’ve learned thus far?

Even when you think the world has been given to you…even when those in high places hear your music and like it, you have more work to do. Keep pushing and continuously put newer, better stuff out there. Professionals never stop working because creating is their life. Everything that’s been happening with our art recently has only pushed us to be better and stronger. We are fortunate and grateful to have learned that.

Do you have any memorable moments from past EDC’s or any other Insomniac party?

Our biggest memory was at EDC Los Angeles 2010. We can’t really explain it, but something happened that night. When Kaskade hit the stage, right before deadmau5’s set, some serious intergalactic energy flew through the LA Coliseum. We will never forget it. That was the year things really went from “wow” to “WOW!”

 

Winning Track

 

 

Winning Mix

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