2014 has been a rather great year for Dillon Francis. He released ‘Get Low‘ with DJ Snake earlier this year, and the single went on to become a runaway hit everywhere, even being featured in the Furious 7 trailer. He remixed the likes of Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Steve Angello, Galantis, W&W amongst others for acclaimed remixes and even released his debut studio album ‘Money Sucks, Friends Rule‘ in late October, featuring the likes of Martin Garrix, Sultan & Ned Shepard and Major Lazer.
We got a chance to catch up with the funnyman of dance music at Vh1 Supersonic for a very fun interview. Read on!
TBB It’s your first time in India. How did you enjoy it, your set, the energy?
Dillon: Fully into like getting to the stage was insane, because driving around India is the craziest thing ever. EVER. Like how do you drive around here?! It’s ridiculous. I feel like everyone’s going to die. There’s people walking on the street with their like daughters, just little baby children that can finally walk, and there’s this like cab filled us; people that are going to go DJ at a festival! That’s how I felt. And everyone was like “Yo! Get your baby out of the way!” when it should be like “OHMYGOD! There’s a baby in the way”. That was the craziest part about getting here, like there was so much drama and I felt like we’re gonna die or someone’s gonna die at our hands! But other than that getting here was awesome, playing the stage was amazing, the fact that I even have fans here is amazing.
TBB: Going way back into the past now, tell us how it started. How you got into producing? the whole culture of dance music?
Dillon: I got into dance music from wanting to play at Steve Aoki’s club in LA called ‘Cinespace’ , and knew that I couldn’t DJ there unless I made music. So I ended up going to Atlanta, living there for 2 months with my friend Cory Enemy, then coming back home, staying there for a year, telling my parents “Look, let me stay here for a year. If my music doesn’t take off, send me back to school”, and they were like “Okay cool. Fine”.
I was 22 I think. Pretty sure I was 22 and they were not happy. They were, but they weren’t. They were like “Okay cool. Do your thing. And then by 23, if you don’t do sh*t, you’re f**kin’ going back”. I said “All right. I’ll make it happen”.
Somehow I made it happen, got the ears of Diplo. At the end of the year, they were like “Okay, stay here for 6 more months, it’s fine.” and I didn’t even need to, cause after like 2 months, I released my EP on Diplo’s label, was able to get bookings for shows, and then moved out of my place. Moved out of my parent’s house actually, and it kinda just steamrolled from there, just from wanting it so badly.
TBB: One crazy journey, that must’ve been. So the year you were living with your folks, how’d you get the ladies back home?
Dillon: That’s why I wanted to leave so badly! That’s why!
TBB: Thank god you didn’t settle for DJing at Benny Hana’s which is also Steve Aoki’s!
Dillon: That’s been happening in LA for a long time! I did DJ at Steve Aoki’s place. It wasn’t Benny Hana’s but it was like this weird, Japanese-slash-Korean Place. I DJed there and he owned it with the Masterson’s from ‘That 70’s Show’. I was DJing there, and all I got was free food, I didn’t even get paid!
TBB: That’s awesome! We all start somewhere! So, describing your sound when it started, it was called ‘moombahton’. How do you think your sound evolved from then to now?
Dillon: What happened was, I was doing electro before, then I got into dubstep, then moombahton came around from Soundcloud from Munchi. I heard Munchi’s stuff and I was like “Oh my god, this is like the coolest genre I’ve ever heard. It doesn’t have any boundaries right now. I don’t even know what BPM it is!”. So it’s amazing. So I started working on that for I think like a year I guess, and it didn’t have anything to keep it contained, so you could make a song that had a snap as a clap and no one would be like “That’s not how you make moombahton, dude!” and that was what was so amazing about it and that’s what every single artist is ever looking for, a genre that‘s not gonna ever enclose you into a way that you have to make it. Like that’s why drum & bass died. I love drum & bass, so much. Like “Dude, you’ve gotta put your snare at 15 hertz and you have to make sure your bassline isn’t going above a 100k”. And I’m like “Dude, no. Just f**k off for a second, and let me do what I wanna do”
TBB: What about the ‘Koan Snare’?
Dillon: The Koan snare is amazing! That seriously is the best sounding snare!
TBB: Can we expect any original production from DJ Hanzel?
Dillon: Umm… one day. Not right now.
TBB: Tell us about the whole personality of DJ Hanzel in general. Was it a joke that got too serious?
Dillon: No no. It’s a joke, that’s just a joke. That’s it. I love it and I’ll do it and I’ll DJ it. I mean I still love that music, but I’m not making fun of that music, I’m making fun of the people in that music.
TBB: We’ve also heard there’s a new moniker coming up, a different personality, something to do with a Russian personality that’s coming up?
Dilon: No. Definitely not. I cannot piss off the Russians, man.
TBB: Who do you reckon is better to chill with? DJ Rich AF or DJ Hanzel?
Dillon: DJ Hanzel for sure. The angrier people are, the better they are.
TBB: What are the Top 3 #Bangin Tracks on your iPod right now?
Dillon:
(in an instant)
- Fireworks by Katy Perry without a doubt! (He even sang that for us)
- Some f**kin Cut Copy song, I can’t remember the name
- Some song by an Indie band, (looks through his spotify playlist) Black Lips – Boys In The Wood
TBB: Do you have any message for your Indian fans?
Dillon: Just keep following me. I’ll be back soon. Very soon. It’s incredible that you guys know who I am. It’s very cool.
Interviewed by: Shule Puri & Kanov Bagai
Edited by: Pranav Gupta
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