Cash Cash Talks Female Empowerment In iEDM Interview

Cash Cash are trailblazers on the EDM scene. They gave a huge platform for amazing women in the electronic dance music industry before it became the cool thing to do.

Their new music video for "Finest Hour" features Abir, who is quickly becoming the talk of the town. Cash Cash always knows how to pick 'em.

After they crushed it at Electric Zoo earlier this month, Cash Cash sat down with iEDM in an exclusive interview to discuss working with artists like Julia Michaels and Rozes, their longevity, and why Las Vegas means so much to them.

iEDM: Guys, I've seen you play Electric Zoo before, and you killed it again this year. It's a big moment for the industry, and you are playing a major role in it. How are you feeling after playing your set at the tenth anniversary of E-Zoo? It's been one of my personal favorites at the festival!

Jean Paul Makhlouf: We had a great time, man.

Alex Makhlouf: It was sick.

Samuel Frisch: It was super, dope. I love how today went.

iEDM: I spoke to Abir recently, and she's super dope. I feel that with you guys in particular, just with the different track that you put out--you feature strong, female artists, and we're all about that here. When you collaborate with different potential singers and songwriters, how do these projects come together on your end? Do you seek out a particular or style?

Jean Paul Makhlouf: Our feature list is very diverse, as you can tell. From hip hop artists, to pop singers, to rock artists--anybody. So, for us, it's really about who we want to work with at any given time. We just keep it fresh, you know? We love working from Nelly to Busta Rhymes to Dashboard Confessional. We are in the middle of working on one with Cher Lloyd. Another one with Pink, as well. For us, there is no certain singer or artist that we go to. It's always something new and fresh.

iEDM: We hear that.

Jean Paul Makhlouf: We also work with artists that nobody knows, or upcoming artists. We also do the big features. We need to have that balance, because there is always something so special about finding that new voice. There's also something epic and legendary about grabbing that iconic voice that everybody knows. 

iEDM: It seems that you guys are almost playing bingo in a way where you're hitting all of the spots on the board. One artist that I really admire; actually two. I'll talk about the other one in a second. Julia Michaels, first and foremost.

Alex Makhlouf: She's awesome.

iEDM: She's blowing up now all over the place. You guys were putting her out there before everybody else started realizing that she had "it."

Samuel Frisch: Totally.

iEDM: The song, "Surrender," is one of the true festival anthems!

Jean Paul Makhlouf: It's one of those songs where you have a hundred thousand people singing on the top of their lungs.

Alex Makhlouf: It's crazy.

Jean Paul Makhlouf: It's cool, because when we did that song, she was just a writer. She wasn't an artist yet.

iEDM: Exactly.

Jean Paul Makhlouf: She was like, "I just want to be behind-the-scenes." She wanted to be uncredited. I always told her, "You should go for it." I'm glad that she actually went for it.

iEDM: Me too, because she has the presence about her that cannot be denied. I can play that song anytime. I caught up with my friend, Rozes, a couple of weeks ago at the Billboard Hot 100 festival. 

Samuel Frisch: Another one!

Alex Makhlouf: No way.

iEDM: Talk about a summer banger! "Matches" is one of my favorite songs, period. Putting all of you guys together is such a treat. What was your experience like working with Rozes?

Jean Paul Makhlouf: It was a lot of fun, and a cool experience. She's a really talented girl. She kind of just has her vibe on lock. It's a strong vibe. Her lyrical content, and her imagery that she brings to the table is very unique.

Alex Makhlouf: She's super laid back.

Samuel Frisch: Just a powerful voice.

iEDM: I find myself gravitated towards her, and I'm sure other people can agree, is that she keeps it very authentic. You don't get that with everybody.

Alex Makhlouf: Totally, man.

Jean Paul Makhlouf: There's no plastic with her. 

iEDM: That's one thing that we all appreciate. Anytime that I talk with someone from the outside, the usual comment I get is, "Damn, Cash Cash has been killing it for years and years and years and years." A lot of our readership tends to want to break into the industry. In my opinion, if there's anyone that they should really listen to, it's you guys. You've managed to not only ride the wave, but also guide it as well. For younger kids who are out there, trying to figure out this crazy business, what advice would you give them?

Jean Paul Makhlouf: Stay authentic to what you do. If you try doing something that's really not you, you might do a decent job at it, but it's probably not going to go the distance. You'll probably only get so far. If you don't really believe in it, no one else is really going to believe in it. Just keep it real genuine, you know? A lot of times, you see a lot of people doing stuff just to do it. They go, "Oh, I want to be in that scene." It's like, yo. If that's not who you are, it ain't going to work out, man. People are going to sniff you out.

Alex Makhlouf: People will sniff you out. It's obvious.

Jean Paul Makhlouf: And you will be miserable doing it. 

iEDM: If you're miserable with what you're doing, what's the point? 

Jean Paul Makhlouf: Look at us. We don't do something that we don't want to do. We do what we want to do. We don't want to make the same music every time. We want to do different stuff. We want to work with hip hop artists. We want to work with pop artists. After "Take Me Home," we could have said, "You know what? This is it."

Samuel Frisch: Yep.

Jean Paul Makhlouf: "We want to do progressive house. We can do 10 'Take Me Home' kind of tracks." Or...We can do everything, because we love all music. 

iEDM: The kind of crowds that you draw are very diverse. They are people who appreciate what you guys do. I quickly want to touch on Las Vegas. I think what you guys did over there with the residency, and the aftermath of the shooting, was a really beautiful thing.

Jean Paul Makhlouf: It was great. To bring everyone together. Everyone was down. It had Zedd. [Steve] Aoki, Tiesto, and Kaskade. Celine Dion came out! We just knew that we had to do something. It wasn't even a question. It was like, "When are we going to do the benefit show?" 

Alex Makhlouf: We are in Las Vegas so much, it's really like a second home to us. We knew we had to give back. 

iEDM: The EDM community loves you, for that. I speak on behalf of a lot of people who follow the industry: we appreciate not only the music, but the humanity, as well. You guys talk about changing things up, and as we all know, summer will soon be a distant memory. Are there any projects or dates that you want your fans to know about?

Samuel Frisch: We are going on an Asia tour. There's a bunch of Ultra tours out there. It's going to be amazing. We are going to be hitting up those kinds of festivals, all over.

Jean Paul Makhlouf:  There are a lot of new collabs coming. There's a lot of stuff in the works.

Alex Makhlouf: Stay tuned!

The guys of Cash Cash always appreciate style. Make sure you look your best in your next festival outfit with our rave wear. Browse iEDM's Festival Collection HERE.

The photographs seen in this article were graciously provided by Lauren Johnson. You can see more of Lauren's work HERE.

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