Tape Deck Bros. are the newest members of Toronto’s ever-growing electronic music scene, and although seemingly fresh out of the gate, they have already managed to get a lot of attention. iheartthemusic called first dibs on these guys and kicked it with the duo before their sand-less “What up, Beaches?” house party last Friday. With a new album, some collaborative efforts involving Toronto’s finest, and a refreshing outlook on the dance music scene in general, it’s fair to say these guys have a lot in store for us in the coming months.

iheartthemusic: So Tape Deck Bros., you guys have been doing a lot of shows lately.

Ash: We have. It’s been a lot all at once – starting up and moving forward really quickly.

iheartthemusic: How long have you guys been together?

Ash: Officially, about a year and a half. During our old band, Animal Clinic, we started branching off into this and talking about how it was going to happen. When things settled down with that, we went forward with this and used the relationships we had with local promoters and said, “hey, what do you think about doing some electronic shows?” and that’s pretty much how it started.

iheartthemusic: I really appreciate what you guys are doing. It’s a bit of a different sound than what Toronto is presently producing. What influenced you to go in that direction?

Ash: I’d say it’s the fact that when I started getting the impression that dance music was becoming more popular, I couldn’t familiarize myself with it. I wanted to start fresh. I was influenced by cool shit like Daft Punk and Justice, but beyond that, I didn’t really know much about it. So I just went with what production I knew and tried to make tracks the way I thought they should sound, and one of the big things was that video game sound. The composition of them was awesome and I wanted to bring that into the dance scene.

iheartthemusic: You mentioned that whole video game/8-bit sound, which has been used a lot lately. Do you feel you might be pigeonholed into that category?

Ash: Well, as I learn more about production, I feel like it’s becoming more integrated and it doesn’t stand out that much. A big influence for me is disco music; when I was a kid, dance music meant disco. So it’s the first thing I was dying to bring back, and with our album I feel that, if anything, we’re pushing disco harder than any other sound.

iheartthemusic: Speaking of the album, it’s called Electronics and it drops August 14^th. What’s that gonna sound like? Give me a bit of a preview.

Ash: It’s gonna be a well-rounded sound combining our live set with some structured song writing, so we’re gonna bring some vocalist in. It’s gonna be material that not everyone would expect, but hopefully once everyone has a listen, they can appreciate it.

iheartthemusic: Do you guys plan on touring with it?

Chris: Yeah, we plan on hitting places like London and areas surrounding Toronto.

Ash: As soon as we find an audience in any other city, we’ll be there. Like, we want to go where people want to hear our music. One of the big landmarks will be when we finally land in Europe and see how they perceive our music.

iheartthemusic: What do you love most about performing?

Ash: The ridiculous rush you get from being in front of a crowd of people that are there to see what you do. Regardless of what medium – I was a singer in a band, Chris was a guitarist in a band, and we get on stage with our turntables, we get the exact same feeling. And I still big up the crowd as if I was in a band.

iheartthemusic: Well, the worst thing you can do is be a boring DJ. You can have the best song selection and be technically on point, but if you can’t see them enjoying themselves, then something’s missing.

Chris: Well the crowd wants to feel like they’re involved in the show more than if they were just listening to a mix in their bedroom. There’s more intimacy. We try to vocalize throughout our set how we feel and how we want to make people feel.

iheartthemusic: You guys have the whole ‘DJs with masks’ thing going, is that something that you’re going to stick with?

Ash: Well, we’re not gonna keep our identities secret. Earlier on someone mentioned to me that a lot of electronic artists wear helmets or masks so I sort of felt like it was kind of a joke for us to have an alter ego. More than anything it’s about creating something more interesting to look at and makes a spectacle out of something that’s not so interesting to watch.

iheartthemusic: I asked this when I interviewed Barletta as he does a lot of remixes for local artists, and is always trying to push the Toronto scene. You guys remixed “Do The Criminal” by GoldenGirls – is giving back to local artists something you want to do as well?

Ash: Absolutely. As a producer, my first interest is to do a remix with local people because I’d much rather come out of our own scene than jump into someone else’s. I think it’s really important to push Toronto and its music scene to show people that we’re just as relevant as Paris or any other city. The music that Barletta, TMDP, GoldenGirls, 84.85 and all these local artists are making is just as awesome as anything I’m hearing from anywhere else, and I want everyone to realize that.

iheartthemusic: So what do you guys have planned once the album is out?

Chris: We’ve never stopped, whether in a rock band or whatever and I find that in this part of the industry, we’ve networked with so many more people than we have in a band. So we’ve collaborated with a lot of people already and have plans to collaborate with more artists.

iheartthemusic: Well, electronic music offers so much more room to play with.

Ash: We’re not really restricted to one genre either. We’re producing music that very seamlessly could transition to hip-hop or soca. As a musician, I progressively transitioned to this genre because of the freedom that it gives me. I’m in complete control of the composition… I would expect in the next year to branch out into as many new cities and as many new markets as possible. I want to spread our name, I want to get out there, meet other DJs and artists and play shows in as many places as we possibly can. I want to live being a musician.

TapeDeckBros. won’t stop until everyone in T.O. has participated in one of their grungy, sweat-stained parties. So feel free to stop by as they put their own spin on Monday Meetings @ The Social this Monday, June 22. If your feet haven’t been danced-out after this week’s NXNE festivities, this one will surely do the trick – and tell them iheartthemusic sent you.

Interview by Sebastian Galvez

Photography by Amy Young