A lot of kids go through a rebellious phase of their life, whether that means acting against their parents' rules or listening to Punk Rock at deafening levels in the house. For some, that attitude isn't just a phase. Two New Orleans DJs and producers, DXXXY (above left) and Dirtystack (above right), recently linked up for the first time to create the eclectic and turbulent track, "Just Us" featuring the Canadian Reggae and Dancehall singer Clinton Sly. It's since landed at the #10 spot on Beatport and set dance floors around the world on fire. They may have had different paths coming up in the New Orleans DJ scene, but they share the same passion of exploring new ways of shaking your speakers and making you let loose in the club.
Both Dirtystack and DXXXY (formerly Deity) both grew up in New Orleans and had similar yet different come ups in the music world. DXXXY had the best of both worlds by listening to Gospel music with his mom and more eclectic selections like AC/DC, Jazz, Classical music, and Soul with his dad. He was also classically trained on the guitar, taught himself drums, bass, and keyboards. He joined several bands, which gave him an early start on production software. He then came across Dance music in high school, adding the final piece to what would become his all encompassing DJ style. After he taught himself how to run the decks, they became his full time creative outlet.
Dirtystack was also exposed to a wide array of genres, namely Dance music, through his mom's CD collection. Relatively younger than other moms at the time, Dirtystack's mother burned her own CDs of Daft Punk and Breakbeats creating a hard hitting soundtrack to his childhood. Getting tastes of all this fresh new music sparked the production world for Dirtystack, which led to him DJing once he realized he could put his own sounds on display.
DXXXY's early interest in DJing would prove fruitful as he jumped into various scenes like New Orleans Fashion Week, underground parties, and club atmospheree, later opening a new Trap night at Republic and supporting national touring acts. While he grew up as a fan of local favorites like Cash Money Records, he was not one to shy away from introducing relatively new genres to the area like Trap and Dutch House. DXXXY also had a stint with Hip-Hop group Team Robot, now Parallel, which taught him some tips on working with vocalists and songwriting. Around the same time, Dirtystack was being turned down for gigs since he was told that he was too young. But his production would soon catch the attention of local promoters who would book him at the same venues he was denied. They both eventually found their grooves, DXXXY balancing hosting his own underground parties and producing for other artists while Dirtystack was "focusing solely on producing from the time I woke up to the time I went to sleep."
Similar to other successful groups of today's technology savvy generation, DXXXY and Dirtystack formed their friendship and creative bond over the internet:
"We were friends on Facebook for a good bit before we actually met. We had mutual friends and just ended up in the same group chat and just connected. We knew we wanted to collaborate on a tune so we messaged each other and and just threw ideas everywhere. We met in person at one of the shows he [DXXXY] was playing at."
It didn't take long from their virtual interaction to come up with a finished song that would set the internet ablaze. Dirtystack sent over a skeleton to DXXXY for "Just Us" and the ideas started to flow. Both had their own visions for different parts of the song that didn't clash with each other. And the respect that they had for each other allowed each to comfortably add to the track as if they had already completed a deep catalog together over the years. Before they knew it, they had their first track as a duo. In the midst of Dirtystack's variations in pitch and thoughtful melodic edits, you can hear DXXXY's unique ability to create sounds that are, as Dirtystack puts it, "dark but bright1".
At live shows, you're likely to get similar structures in their sets, which is to say that they have no structure. They run through all kinds of genres and while their own music is high octane Trap, you'll also catch moments of Moombahton, Dancehall, Techno, and even Deep House. Both find an easy time finding the groove in their hometown of New Orleans, which lends itself to some of the crazier nights that they've DJed. At least they don't have neighbors telling them to turn down the music anymore2.
1. ["I believe it's a dark world realistically, but that shouldn't stop people from finding positives in life daily." - DXXXY]^
2. ["Back at my mom's house, I remember setting up my first speakers and working on music and I had my neighbor ask me to turn my 'video game' down!" - Dirtystack]^
Last Call
1. What is your favorite movie of all time?DXXXY: The Watchmen
Dirtystack: Either Kung Fu Hustle or No Country for Old Men.
2. As a young DJ, who was the one DJ you looked up to?DXXXY: A-Trak
Dirtystack: Skrillex
3. As a DJ, what's your biggest pet peeve?DXXXY: This is a very wide answer but any sort of disrespect.
Dirtystack: Promoters expecting the DJ to do their job too.
4. What is your current set up at home?DXXXY: I have my Pioneer DJM-900SRT and Akai MPD26. I just MIDI-map the MPD to control Serato on my Macbook. My current production set up is pretty bare bones - Macbook, interface, Arturia Minilab, and 2 Yamaha HS-80s.
Dirtystack: 2 KRK studio monitors, a laptop, and a controller!
5. What's your favorite record of all time?DXXXY: Jay-Z - "Regrets"
Dirtystack: This is a hard one... I'm still in love with Kill the Noise's remix of "Ghosts in the Machine" by THE M MACHINE.
Keep up with DXXXY on his Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, website, and Twitter. Keep up with Dirtystack on his Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Bryan Hahn wonders what kind of madness ensues when DXXXY and Dirtystack go B2B. He's on Twitter: @notupstate.