Dance Music today has shaped to become one of the most definitive music genres in recent music history. Assimilating an aural and visual experience with it, it has successfully engaged an entire generation of youth that have searched for music that they can relate to. Having captured this essence to the full, and bringing a lot of energy, color and zeal through their productions, remixes and DJ sets, New York based sensation The Chainsmokers mercurial rise within the Dance Music fraternity was written straight off a fairy-tale. Despite having been on the Dance music scene as a DJ force for a limited time, the DJ duo have earned the love and respect of millions of fans around the world as well as the biggest heavyweights in the industry.

Composed of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall, the duo didn’t come together as a duo before 2012. Formed as a force, under the management company 4AM in New York City, they soon established themselves as a force to be reckoned with, as their sets dictated energy levels and resulted in high-octane powerhouse performances. One may ask, ‘why the name The Chainsmokers’? The duo explained that the name rings in a certain familiarity, that you ‘may or may not have heard them’, and that’s how they wanted to be recognized. Relying on 4AM, The Chainsmokers have seen incredible outputs from the management company, as their branding, connotations and logos have seen a viral increase ever since their formation two years ago.

One thing that connects this eccentric duo closer to home is the fact that they collaborated with Indian actress and recording artist Priyanka Chopra for the song “Erase“, which happened to be their first ever release! Released on November 2012, the track found little success, but it catapulted careers of both the acts and put their names on the EDM map. After that, The Chainsmokers went through an extensive DJing period as they performed in clubs and dancefloors across the globe, gradually picking up steam and making a name for themselves through their high-octane sets.

Playing at clubs such as LIV in Miami, Set in Miami, Paradiso in Amsterdam, Roxbury in Los Angeles, Soldier Field in Chicago, Thekla in Bristol, Skybar in London, Villa in Ibiza, 1OAK in Vegas, Lavo in New York, and Le Bain in New York, the duo eventually and currently holding residencies at NYC clubs like 1OAK, SL, Riff Raffs, SL East (Hamptons), South Pointe (Hamptons), and have shared nights with heavyweights like Calvin Harris, Avicii, Bingo Players, Swanky Tunes, Arty, Pete Tong, R3Hab, Wolfgang Gartner, Max Vangeli, Alesso, Steve Aoki, and Joachim Garraud. A little known fact about them is that they also made an official end of the year compilation mix for Armin Van Buuren’s Napith record label!

Their sets included a variety of sound styles from Progressive, Tech, Deep, Electro and Funk, besides the blend of rock, hip hop, soul and the careful understanding that every room and crowd requires a different style and energy of music. The Chainsmokers have played events for LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy), Christian Dior, Microsoft, Bing, New York Fashion Week, Art Basel Miami, The Sundance Film Festival, Rolls Royce, Sean Parker (of Facebook and Napster fame), the Strokes after party, the soundtrack to Matthew Williamson and Emmanuel Ungaro’s fashion shows, and NetJets. They very recently replaced Laidback Luke and made their debut at the mainstage of the prestigious Ultra Music Festival at Miami, after he had to rush back home for the birth of his child.

Perhaps one of the main reasons that the duo have found staggering success over the past couple of months is due to the resounding success of their debut solo single “#Selfie“. The track features the female vocals of an uncredited Alexis Kilacam and perfectly captures people’s ongoing obsession of posting self-portraits of themselves onto social media. Featuring a pulsing dance groove, the single has added in, an intentionally comedic narcissistic woman totally obsessed with herself in the club discussing her every move. The track found its way on soundcloud and shorter versions went viral on apps such as Vine and Instagram, before Steve Aoki‘s Dim Mak Records picked up the track. Once it was picked up by Dim Mak, then the track skyrocketed to the top of Billboard charts and their satirical take on selfie-nation propelled them into the stratosphere of fame and success!

Their track “#Selfie” got so popular that it even received cover versions from celebrities like Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson.

Reaching the numero uno spot on Billboard‘s Dance/Electronic Songs, the track then saw the release of its own video, which reached new heights of recognition for the awesome twosome. With a staggering 40 million views in less than two months, the viral video captures the essence of the song as a girl recites Alexis’s narcissistic vocals while at a club. The video features fan-submitted selfies that make part of the footage and final cut, as well as selfies from the likes of Dim Mak head Steve Aoki, Snoop Dogg and celebrity David Hasselhoff! Statisticians have predicted that the video will continue to see viewership at 1.5 million views a day!

The Chainsmokers have quickly found a spot among the Dance Music cream-de-la-creme thanks to their hard work and creative vision. Having capitalized on current global trends and using social media to fuel their innovative musical approaches, the duo have become one of the most adored duo’s in World music owing to the fantastic work by them and 4AM. The duo has further done a string of remixes in recent months, including the likes of Ellie Goulding, Icona pop, The Wanted, Cash Cash, Fenech-Soler, Bastille, Daughter, Two Door Cinema Club among many others. Besides their anthemic ‘#Selfie‘, the duo have decked up their portfolio with recent power-packed releases such as ‘Habits (with Tove Lo)‘, ‘The Rookie‘ & ‘Let it Go (with Dragonette)‘,  the duo can only go from strength to strength as all eyes are on the New York based duo, including ours, as The Chainsmokers are our artists to watch out for and Artist of The Month – April.

Check out some of their releases and remixes below!