VOLAC Brings the Funk From Rural Russia to EDC (interview)

[News]

Stas and Sasha, better known by their stage name VOLAC, discovered their love for G-House in 2011. Since then they’ve taken the world by storm, releasing music through record labels such as Amine Edge, CUFF, and Night Bass. Their powerful bass-lines and funky grooves fuse deep house, bass house, and g-house elements.

VOLAC collaborated with Sharam Jey to create ‘Get Tipsy’ which climbed to the TOP10 of Beatport in 2014. Last year, the Russian duo worked with EDM icon DESTRUCTO to create the popular g-house track “What I Got,” which has accumulated almost 2 million streams on Soundcloud, and 2018 blessed us with their most fresh EP yet: “Funky EP”.

I sat down with Russian DJ-duo VOLAC in their hotel lobby in Austin a few hours before their show at Vulcan Gas Company to talk about their journey, accomplishments, and of course, EDM.

P: Can you guys give me a little bit of background into how you guys got started?

Stas: Sasha and I have been friends since childhood and have always had the same taste in music, and one day he came over to my house with an old music-production program and that was absolute magic for us. From then on we realized that we could create our own music and that was just the beginning for us.

P: What would you say has been your biggest accomplishment of 2018?

Stas: I think ‘Funky EP’ has been huge for us and has been super popular this year. We are really proud of it. We also got to play EDC and Holy Ship which is really huge.

P: What was it like to collaborate with electronic music icon DESTRUCTO?

Stas: You know we have been following him from the beginning because he is a big g-house producer and he has played our tracks at many of his shows, so one day we just thought why not collaborate with him. We began to send him some ideas, and he seemed to really like them so from then on we just made the track.

P: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Where do you hope to be?

Stas: I’m not sure what’s going to happen in 5 years, but hopefully we will be playing main stages and will continue to work with big labels. We’ll see.

P: Can you talk a little bit about VOLOCAST? What is it?

Stas: Every DJ today has a special show. Like a 1-hr set, or a 1-hr mix-tape, but nobody has really good content to go along with it. So one day we just decided to create something special and created VOLOCAST where we have guest DJs and producers play and we create cartoons to go along with their sets. One of our guys will draw the pictures, another will animate, and we will have sound-effects to go along with it all too. Usually it’s a 1 minute video. I just think its really interesting that nobody provides good content, so this is why we do it. I think it’s very different.

P: How would you say you and Sasha share responsibility? Who does what?

Stas: About 5 years ago we realized that we both do different work. For example, Sasha will create ideas, and then he will give them to me and I will work off of them. Recently, I have been doing mostly content, videos, relationship with camera guys, etc. while he continues to come up with ideas for the music.

P: What do you like to do in your free time?

Stas: The little free time that we have I like to spend with my girlfriend. It doesn’t really matter what we do as long as we get to spend time together. Whether it’s shopping, going to the cinema or museums, it doesn’t really matter. I also like to play soccer and basketball, but when I’m touring, I rarely have time to do these things, so when I do, it’s pretty special.

P: Can you describe the electronic scene in Russia? How is it different to the scene in America?

Stas: It’s totally different. We don’t have a scene in Russia. We only have one big festival there called “Alfa Future People”. Can you tell me how many music festivals you have here?

P: Hundreds.

Stas: Exactly, its a problem. But recently we’ve started throwing these parties called “Russian Style” and every time we will try to bring a good DJ or Producer. The first time we had Wax Motif perform, then we had Proxy, who is Russian as well, and next we are going to bring Dr. Fresch. I am really happy that we can work on this and bring something special to Russia. I love seeing electronic music grow in my country. We are working on it.

P: If you could give one piece of advice to DJ’s that are trying to kick start their careers what would it be?

Stas: Be unique and work hard. I remember about 5 or 6 years ago we spent so much time staying at home and producing every single day. We didn’t have any money and we were broke, but it payed off.

P: Would you say that the “DJ life” is all it’s cut out to be? Is it better or worse than you expected?

Stas: I never expected this kind of life. We’ve spent so much time traveling, but it is what it is. I cannot complain about the DJ life. But yeah, sometimes it can be hard. Usually people have the weekend for rest but that’s when we play, and during the week we are in the studio. People forget about your tracks so fast so it’s important to have new music coming out all of the time. You have to keep growing.

P: Ok so last question: What would you say is your favorite American food?

Stas: I actually don’t like American food. Food in Russia and Australia is so much better. It’s healthier. KFC in America is so bad, but you go to the KFC in Russia, and it’s so tasty. The chicken is fresh. There’s nothing traditional here.

The post VOLAC Brings the Funk From Rural Russia to EDC (interview) appeared first on Verge Campus.

Source