5 Questions With Slander, A Lucky Favorite

In just a short time, Slander has climbed up the DJ charts with an impressive resume.  If you don’t know the Los Angeles-based duo yet, you will soon.  They met through their fraternity at University of California Irvine and joined forces (literally, as in the case of their name Scott Land + Derek Andersen = Slander), initially playing gigs for their college friends, then at local venues, and ultimately playing at some of the largest festivals in the country, including Nocturnal Wonderland, TomorrowWorld, and Moonrise Festival.

We’re thrilled to have them join us in Seattle for Lucky 2015 because there’s something for everyone at a Slander show.   They’re known for sets that span across house, trap, dubstep, and heaven trap.  Slander is raising the bar for what it means to be a mainstage act, blending all styles into a fun and delectable treat.    We talked with Slander to get the lowdown on their rise to fame, their unique genre, and plenty more. Grab tickets to the show, listen to Slander’s most notable heaven trap track, and read on to learn more about the burgeoning artists.

[divider]5 QUESTIONS WITH SLANDER[/divider]

1.  At nearly 4 million views on Soundcloud, your remix for We Like To Party can be credited to your rise in popularity and industry success.  How did you decide to choose that song to remix, and what was the process like?

It was the melody of the song that caught our attention. We heard the original and right away opened up a new project and began the remix. Later on we sent our version to NGHTMRE who had already started his own version without us even knowing. Once we heard each other’s versions, we knew all we had to do was combine them, so we went into the studio together at Icon Collective and finished the song up. We never imagined that it would be the song that changed our lives.

2.  Last year you were still working full-time jobs and DJing as a hobby.  Are you now producing and playing music full time now? If so, how has that transition been?

We are full time DJ/Producers now and honestly everyday is a blessing. There is no better feeling than making a living off doing what you love. We cannot thank our fans enough for helping us reach this point – everything we do is for them. The transition was not very hard because it was so exciting, but our lives are definitely completely different than before. Not going into an office everyday has been the greatest liberation for our creativity, and getting to test out our new songs every weekend is making us better producers.

3.  You’ve called the genre of music you play “heaven trap.”  What does that mean to you and what song best exemplifies the genre?  Do you still think of yourselves as “heaven trap” artists?

Heaven Trap = The Feels + The Turnup

This genre came out of our love of trance music. We loved the emotional quality of it and it was the first genre of EDM that we connected with years ago, so it only felt right to put our own spin on it. We wanted to create a trap song that would make people cry out of joy, and our Above & Beyond remix was that song. We felt like there was a gap in trap music at the time. Every EDM trap song that was coming out only had one emotion (rage) and nothing really had positive happy emotions. Heaven trap is special to us because it links our musical past with our present, and creates a hybrid between two genres we love. We don’t feel stuck to heaven trap genre, but we definitely feel it’s something that no one else has dominion over, and that it is our unique sound.

5.  2014 was a huge year for you, but 2015 will definitely be even bigger.  What are your plans and what will we see from Slander this year?

1. Lots of new music
2. Lots of mainstage festival plays
3. Our first Winter Music Conference 
4. Our first Europe tour

5.  And a Lucky 2015 themed question: Do you believe that success comes from hard work or good luck?

Hard Work + Good Timing = Success