Poolside Talks Their First Gig And How They Became Popular In The Jam Scene In iEDM Exclusive

Okeechobee Music Festival was full of talented artists with sounds from all over the world. The lineup gave us everything from heavy bass wubs to soothing acoustics. It was one of the biggest parties to be thrown in the tropics.

Amongst all of the raving madness was daytime disco artist Jeffrey Paradise, half of the duo that makes up the dance party go-to group Poolside. We were able to catch up with him right before he had people dancing in the sand at his Aquachobee Beach Stage set.

The duo was formed in a converted Los Angeles pool house in 2011. This makeshift studio was in a friend's backyard, where many of Poolside's tracks have been made. The two have come a long way in a short span of time.

Before Poolside, the two were still individually involved heavily in music. From five-piece rock bands to multiple tours, they've always had some kind of musical influence.

Complimentary to each other Jeff likes to hit the stage while Filip lives in the studio. Together, they make quite the team giving us tunes that add a great vibe to any occasion.

Of course, with Poolside being created in a friend's pool house, we had to ask if it influenced their style and how they met.

Jeff began playing trumpet at age 8, so music was a part of his life at a young age. In 2006, he met Filip but they didn't start Poolside until 2011. 

"I used to throw parties in San Francisco, like DJ events and Filip was a touring bass player for the band called Junior Senior from Copenhagen, that have a hit song called 'Move your Feet.' You'll probably recognize it. So I hired them to DJ at my event, and Filip came out to the party. We hung out, got to know each other, and found that we have the same taste in music," Jeff explained.

With it growing in demand, Jeff focuses on Poolside. The growth they've seen in such little time is something that requires focus. 

"No way, we never thought it'd be popular at all," he said "We were just two friends making music. We wouldn't think of it in that way. So it's not like we assumed it would fail, we just didn't think of it in a way that wasn't meant to succeed. It was just two guys, hanging out."

It wasn't all easy at first. They started from the pool house and had quite the adventure on the way to where they are now.

"Our very first show was a side show and we were hardly even called Poolside," Jeff said. "We wrote a couple of songs and we played a good shuffle at an after party. There were literally, maybe four friends there."

But two guys making music turned into a project that people liked. Poolside's chill house vibes are great for relaxing, dancing, and of course lounging at a pool. 

"The first show on tour was a couple of months later in June, at the Stanford Hotel pool," Jeff said. "We put out 'Do You Believe' already and somebody wanted to hire us to play a pool party. We played slow at the time and the first song we dropped was 'Empire.' In the first half of the song some lady came up to us and said that we were the worst DJs she had ever heard that we should play some dirty house. This was within seconds of our first gig. We weren't off to a good start, but knew we were on to something."

They went from rough start to this past weekend, Poolside was one of the best sets to catch at one of the biggest festivals in the South, Okeechobee. They have a lot of exciting shows on the books performing internationally and at some of the best venues in the nation.

He played with Tycho at Okeechobee and plans to do two more shows with them and Phantogram at Red Rocks and Cal Coast.

"Poolside's manager is also Tycho's manager. It's also really a natural fit. People have been saying that we should do stuff together for a long time. Both are kind of laid back, also different enough not to sound similar, but similar enough to sound complimentary. I just played with Tycho last night. We did a couple of others not too long ago. They are super awesome. I really like the guys in the band. Their visual show is amazing. It's all around perfect."

Coming up, they are opening for Tycho at Red Rocks on May 21. (Get tickets HERE.)

It's my first time playing Red Rocks," he said "It's one of those bucket list things and I've never even been to the venue. I've just seen photos. It looks like a cool venue with a cool history."

A lot of people who are into the jam scene, not big fans of EDM, but are big fans of Poolside. They are a big part of merging scenes. We wanted to know why Jeff thinks that is.

"We were just as surprised about that. I didn't even know a jam band was, until Poolside. The first time I saw a jam band was at Dominican Holidays. Everyone we have met in that world is so nice. We're really psyched to be part of it and my guess is that we have similar influences. We're really a dance band. Like jam bands, we aren't like a lot of people. We've been playing music for a long time as we discussed. So, we have a broad spectrum of influences that we've added to the music. We're not just based on a new production technique or some modern sound. We have a lot of influences that are overlapped with some jam band influences, and I think that's from everyone in the jam band world. They're all music lovers. They love jazz, rock, and have a very broad palette," Jeff said. 

Last year the guys surprised everybody with a new album called HEAT. This album is described as daytime disco and makes the perfect soundtrack for your next vacation. 

"We were intending to get it out a little earlier, to be honest," Jeff said. "We had some problems with the artwork getting done. We couldn't decide on that. So we finally solved that problem and got somebody's sick artwork that I love. By that time, it was kind of hard to arrange a campaign around it, we just really wanted to put it out for the summer for the people who had been waiting."

They waited 9 months before releasing HEAT, and we can expect a remix album coming in the future. 

"We're going to release it properly with physical product, vinyl and CDs, and some new merch coming in May. There will be some remixes coming along as well."

We are excited to see all of your new work and always have a blast at your shows. Your music is great for any occasion, and we enjoy it so much.

Thanks for the opportunity to get to know you a little better. Good luck on all of the big things ahead Poolside!

Check out more iEDM Exclusive Interviews HERE.

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