VOLAC Talk Friendship and Love of Hip-Hop in an iEDM Exclusive Interview

Before the guys of VOLAC had the chance to speak, an attractive woman screamed from a nearby balcony, "You guys were dope!" Sasha and Stas looked at each other and let out a hardy laugh.

There is a reason why VOLAC is a power duo that is making serious noise on the EDM scene. Sasha and Stas have a friendship that goes way beyond the music. The guys are incredibly focused and are on the same wavelength which only means good things for the music industry. 

"We have been friends since childhood. We've known each other for about 20 years. We both started doing electronic music and house music. We produced music together about 10 years ago," Stas told iEDM in an exclusive interview.

He continued, "After that, I went to China and stayed there for about four years. I produced my own tracks and Sasha produced his own tracks. When I came back, we combined our stuff."

The Russian electronic duo shared a common love for another genre which ultimately made their friendship that much stronger.

Sasha jumped in, "We were producing different styles of music. EDM stuff and Deep House music. Each of us really loved hip-hop music."

Stas nodded his head. "That's why you can listen to our tracks now and understand where we are coming from. We combine hip-hop, house and electronic music. Hip-hop is everywhere right now. It's crazy," Stas said.

When asked who he is listening to, Stas eagerly stated, "I'm listening to $uicideBoy$ right now. It's underground hip-hop but they do some really cool stuff. I don't really know about commercial hip-hop."

Sasha laughed, "Everybody in the world knows about the commercial guys."

When the guys aren't sharing a big laugh, they are hitting the ground running. They recently completed insane shows down in South America which are still getting rave reviews.

When discussing their recent touring experience, Stas stated, "Being in Brazil five times, sometimes we played every single day. Man, it was insane. Right now, we really have a good opportunity to play here in the USA and we really try to do our best."

VOLAC's dedication to their craft always shows. Sasha explained how they are able to keep up their stamina and constantly deliver quality shows for their fans.

"Every day we try to save our energy to make sure we can do the next gig. We don't drink too much. Every time after the shows, a lot of guys try to get us to the afterparty and drink. We just go, 'We are so sorry, but no thank you,'" he stated.

The duo's respect for the industry caught the eye of LA-based DJ and producer Destructo.

Stas had glowing words for the man that helped take them to the next level.

"He has a great taste in music. He really supported us all of the time. He played so many of our tracks during his shows," he said.

Stas continued, "We made a new remix for him that will be released in October. He found us. 'What I Got' was a banger and people really know the track."

Sasha agreed, "When we started to play the track, people kept screaming louder and louder. It is really crazy."

The song resonates with people all over the world as it stands with over one million streams on SoundCloud.

The people of Brazil continue to be some of VOLAC's biggest fans. Stas explained, "Man, it's a different culture. We started touring there because people really love our music. We almost have too many fans there! You can see it on our Instagram."

Their social media accounts do not lie. Stas followed up by exclaiming, "You can look at the comments and a lot of them are in Portuguese. Sometimes I don't understand what is being written because I can't speak Portuguese!"

That doesn't stop the guys from trying to pick up another language. Sasha said, "We started to understand some words and useful phrases. We always try to understand the culture."

Culture is everywhere in New York City. The guys recently stopped by to play a killer set for Elements earlier in the month. Stas couldn't contain his enthusiasm about really taking in the city that never sleeps.

"Man, we just came to the festival and we are really going to walk around and enjoy this city because we heard too many stories. The architecture is amazing," he said.

Sasha jokingly nudged, "I guess people would almost consider us to be like tourists."

The guys are in the know when it comes to heating up the dance floor during the colder months of the year.

Stas said, "The remix with Destructo comes out in October. Maybe an EP in November? After our USA dates, we will be going back to Brazil again. And again. And again and again."

The guys shared one more laugh before detailing their future plans.

"After this, we will go back to Russia to stay in the studio and finish a couple of tracks. Music always comes first. Touring and everything else comes second. Being in the studio will always come first," Stas concluded as Sasha looked on.

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Photos were graciously provided by Kevin Jackson Jr. You can view more of Kevin's work by clicking HERE.