Unless you’ve been living under a rock this past year, when you hear the name “Classixx”, sounds of some really great fuckin’ tunes enter your mind. When I personally hear a Classixx remix, it automatically transports me back to when the weather was nice and cruising around town on my bike, or dancing my sweaty ass off at a club. Whatever the case may be, the duo, Tyler Blake and Michael David, really turned it up this year and had everyone talking about their remixes. These remixes included the likes of Phoenix, Holy Ghost!, Major Lazer, YACHT and Ladyhawke to name a few, one after another, they just didn’t disappoint.
Killahbeez: Start off with the name, you two were previously called “Young Americans”, why the name change and how’d you two arrive on “Classixx”?
Michael: We were sued by a dancing choir called Young Americans based in Orange County. Tyler came up with the name Classixx, we wanted a name that wasn’t associated with anything in particular.
Killahbeez: How did you two initially meet and then decide to team up together and make music?
Michael: Tyler and I met in 6th grade. After high school we lived on separate sides of the country and kept in touch over the internet. We both ended up in Los Angeles and wanted to start a music project. We’d always been into electronic music, but dance music was pretty foreign to us. Before long we caught onto things like DFA, their records sounded so good to us.
Killahbeez: What are your backgrounds in music, were either of you trained or took lessons on any instruments and such?
Michael: Ya, we both took music lessons as kids. I’ve been playing guitar from childhood, and started programming synths and playing on Reason at 15. The same goes for Tyler, but he started on piano.
Killahbeez: This Summer easily, for me listening wise, was defined as a “Classixx” Summer. First Classixx had the single “I’ll Get You”, followed by remixes for Phoenix, Holy Ghost, Major Lazer, and YACHT. All of these were bangers and easily quintessential jams. Before the summer did you two have an idea that it was going to be as great as it turned out to be?
Michael: That’s nice of you to say. We didn’t know our sound would catch on this summer, but we did work tirelessly at it.
Killahbeez: For a few of the remixes above could you two give a breakdown on what inspired the final product?
Michael: For the Phoenix mix, we wanted to put the song into half-time. It was dragging, but finally I found a jumping synth rhythm that seemed to keep a stone groove. The rest was pretty simple
The Major Lazer one was fun because it has a slide guitar, and we got to use the sound seagulls that we had sampled.
Killahbeez: What about influence on your overall group sound, what bands, past or present, influence you two when you’re in the studio?
Michael: In the studio we’re constantly referencing music. It always depends, this summer we felt a strong Quincy Jones influence.
Killahbeez: You’ve released a few singles and a bunch of remixes now. Are there plans on getting a full album together?
Michael: Our schedule has made a full album difficult, but we are working on a number of original tunes. A full album would be nice to complete.
Killahbeez: What do you guys use when you make your music? Do you use analog or virtual synths? Software?
Michael: Everything. Lately, it has been pretty live and analog. We use Pro Tools specifically, it’s been that way for years.
Killahbeez: So what’s next for Classixx?
Michael: The next few months will be a lot of work in the studio.
Killahbeez: Any advice or words to fans or up-and-coming producers / DJs?
Michael: Just to work as hard as you can. I’d also say to practice a lot before you introduce yourself to the internet.
