VMAN has always seen music as a singular expression of youth culture. Paying homage to our 20 years of talent discovery, CreatiVity 01 in partnership with Quadio—a new social streaming platform dedicated to serving up the best new college music—to find diamonds in the rough, honing in on raw musical talents with promising futures. For our inaugural selection, the house music duo Saint Disco certainly embodies the talent of today. Making music on a daily basis to expand their craft, the two-man group not only possesses a high level of music-making mastery but also maintains an unprecedented work ethic that proves their craft supreme.

See below for a Q & A with the DJ  duo and listen to our pick “Sensitivity” below. 

 

VMAN What are your names, ages and where do you attend school?

Saint Disco David Niles and Brock Squires. We are both 22 years old and are seniors at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

V Can you tell us a little bit about your background in music?

SD I (David) played piano for about 6 years when I was younger so I have a little bit of knowledge about chords, melodies, keys, and can read sheet music. I first got introduced to electronic music in middle school and my first DAW was Fl Studio 11.

I (Brock) also used to play piano when I was a little kid, but I was always far more inspired by the dubstep scene and heavier “computer music.” My first experience producing music was in an online, in-browser DAW (digital audio workstation) that barely worked and has long since gone bankrupt. I still have one of the tracks I made from back then so while I definitely could post that song on Quadio, I don’t think anyone needs to hear that.

V Who are some artists you both are inspired by?

SD Some of our big inspirations include artists like Chris Lake, Noizu, Dom Dolla, Calvin Harris, Justice, and Daft Punk. Outside of electronic music, we’re both really big fans of Tame Impala, Benee, Dominic Fike, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and The 1975 – just to name a few. We’re lovers of all types of music in general but when we DJ we primarily mix tech-house and electronic music. Our genre is full of so many incredibly talented musicians and producers. It is amazing to see how other artists push the boundaries of sound design and production using software available to everyone. The possibilities are truly endless.

V Tell us about the genre you consider your music to fall under.

SD Our music falls under the category of house music and is known as tech-house. This is a subgenre of dance music that is made for clubs and warehouses. The key to house music is having a really groovy bassline. We like to take this genre and combine it with some of the more traditional drops you find in electronic music so that the tracks feel full of energy and can still be fun when you listen to it at home too.

V What’s something you want your listeners to take away or get out of your music?

SD Our goal is to continue to make music that gets people to dance and express themselves. One of the best things about dance music is that you can dance to it any way you want. When you look out at a crowd of people during a festival each person is dancing to their own rhythm. We want people to be able to come out and dance how they want even if no two people will be on the same beat. We want people to feel free to express themselves however they want when they listen to our music.

V How did you hear about Quadio? Why did you choose to showcase your music there?

SD We first heard about Quadio while they were on their college tour and came to visit our school. They reached out to us shortly after via Instagram and we ended up hopping on a video meeting with one of their team members, David Kwan. That resulted in us getting early access to the beta, and we began uploading tracks to the platform. It’s been a great time working with them, they’re really good people.

We love showcasing our music there because of how supportive everyone on the platform is and how encouraging the whole Quadio team is as well. Quadio is perfect for us because of all the new raw talent that resides there and how open everyone is to collaboration and fresh ideas.

V How has adjusting to the current climate of COVID-19 impacted your schooling?

SD COVID-19 has essentially ended our college careers almost a semester early. We were looking forward to finishing up school and spending time with friends before graduation. Graduation has now been postponed with no concrete date. Online classes are difficult in some ways, but we’re not going to lie, it is nice to be able to go to class in bed.

V Given the current circumstances of this health crisis, how have you given back or tailored your music accordingly?

SD During this health crisis, we realize that everyone will (or should) be stuck inside with less to do than they normally would have. We took the initiative to try and produce as much content and stream as much as we can in order to provide people with easy access to entertainment while they quarantine. Since we’re all stuck at home and in the same boat we wanted to try to figure out a way to put something positive out there that everyone could enjoy. We have a lot of new music and content coming out in the next few weeks that we are really excited to share.

We believe music plays an essential part in our lives at all times, but especially during times like right now. Music has the power to bring people together and is a common ground for so many people regardless of who you might be.

V How have you both been coping or keeping busy during this time?

SD Music! And lot’s of it. We have been trying this thing where we make the drop of a new song every day and send it in a group chat with other producer friends. This keeps us motivated and coming up with new ideas every day, then we can pick the ones that we like the most and develop those into full songs.

V What are some of your goals in life and music specifically?

SD Our goal is to be able to do this full time. We hope to travel the world and experience all sorts of music while sharing our own music with others. We want to continue furthering the Saint Disco brand and want to keep getting better at what we do each day. I think if just one of our songs can make a positive impact on somebody’s life than it’s all worth it.

 

This could be you next! Head to our musician hub to find out how to enter for a chance to debut your music on VMagazine.com and VMAN.com! Don’t forget to follow Quadio and VMagazine on Instagram to stay tuned for more new music updates.