It might be said that the endurance of Classixx and their musical production comes down to their relationship. “We’d probably be making this music anyway even if people weren’t interested,” Michael says. “Our friendship is very much based on our musical sensibilities, so for people to enjoy the music we’re been making, is pretty cool.”
Now the duo are one of the most respected acts in dance music, with their own hit tracks I’ll Get You, Dominoes and Hanging Gardens as well as epic remixes of Groove Armada, Yacht, Major Lazer and Phoenix. They are headed to Oz for the inaugural Listen Out IDM parties across the country this September and October.
“I find that Australian audiences go crazy and are very expressive,” Michael says.
The boys are excited to be a part of Listen Out, which organizers say was designed to fill a gap in the festival market for an intelligent, Australian dance music event. “We’re just really happy and feel lucky to be a part of it,” Michael says. “We’re definitely privileged to be a part of it.”
It will be the Australian debut of their long awaited first album Hanging Gardens. “It’s been pretty positive,” Mike says of the reaction to the album. “We didn’t have very many expectations, so positive responses have been very flattering for us. I think that people who liked our previous work have been responding to us – that’s not been very surprising. But also we’ve picked up some new fans that are more prone to listening to albums.”
They’re stripping back their live performances, focusing on the fundamentals. “For the most part just it’s just Tyler and I on stage,” he says. “We’re trying to pull back some of the peripheral elements, keep it sort of raw, we’re playing keyboard and guitars and sequencing. The main takeaway is that we’re trying to make the live experience an authentic one.”
In terms of touring together, knowing each other since they were kids mean few lines have been left uncrossed. “We know each other very well, probably about as well as two friends can its almost like touring with family,’ Mike says. “We kind of can be completely ourselves, sometimes selfish and sometimes concerned for the other person.”
Michael and Tyler met in middle school, with the former heavily into Guns N’ Roses and New Age guitars while the latter was deep into West Coast Funk. They went their separate ways for a while, Tyler to the Berklee School of Music and Michael on the road as a keyboardist with a band. They always stayed in touch, sharing music online, before coming together again in Los Angeles, unleashing their unique, synth-disco sounds on their own tracks and those of others.
BY HAYLEY DAVIS
