Swedish duo Stefan and Olle aka Dada life are the rulers Dada Land. And in Dada Land there are no rules but the rules of Dada. Those who enter Dada Land should expect nothing less but to enter pretty and leave really really ugly. There was no exception to this on New Year’s Eve in New York City at the Hammerstein Ballroom for Area Event’s Winter Galactic. The energy was high as Porter Robinson had just counted down and rang in the New Year with “Easy.” After pushing through a packed crowd, we here at EDMTunes were able to sit down with the kings of bananas and champagne for a quick interview before their first performance of 2014. In the short time we had, we were able to touch on things from pillow fights, to riots, and even some internet rumors as well. Throughout the interview they showed that they carried their lively and light-hearted personalities in person just as much as they did on stage. It was clear that they loved nothing more than to make people happy, and the Swedish duo did not fail to do just that as they delivered a set full of energy and vitality that left the audience being one thing: really really ugly.
EDMT: So it seems as though you guys have had a great 2013, playing a bunch of different festivals and shows, if you guys could pick out one highlight from the year, what would it be?
Olle: If we would pick one highlight, it would be the largest pillow fight in Chicago. It was just so amazing to see 5,000 people fighting, you know all the happy violence.
Stefan: And all the mess afterwards was just, for a human being to see that, like the mess and the vibe that has been in that place was just unbelievable.
Olle: Yeah the venue (Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom) was like twice the size of this one (the Hammerstein Ballroom). And I don’t joke, there was like this much (Olle measures his hand at about 2-3 feet above the floor) of pillow fluff all over the floor. It’s crazy how much 5,000 pillows actually, you know, how much it is. You don’t think about it until you see it.
EDMT: That sounds awesome and actually brings me to my next question. How did you guys up with that idea to begin with? How did it come to be, like why a pillow fight of all things?
Stefan: Everybody loves a pillow fight. A pillow fight puts a big smile on your face.
Olle: Yeah if it’s a really big pillow fight it’s a really big smile haha.
Stefan: And you know people in clubs need to smile more, just be happy, forget about tomorrow, be happy. Big smile!
Olle: Yeah, people tend to too much, so we want to do stuff that make people think a little less, and go with it. Just have fun.
EDMT: In the Fall, you guys went on your Dada Land Compound Tour, more specifically you guys went to Miami and we all know with the riots and everything, things got a little hectic. What happened?
Olle: I mean first, we were just so happy that we could do the makeup show, that was like two days ago. Other than that I don’t really know what happened. Cause some people tweeted that we over sold it, but we didn’t do that. It was like sold out and that was it. But I think it was just a problem with logistics. How to get people in there, and it wasn’t fast enough and then people got mad and they rushed the gates so they had to bring in the riot squad.
EDMT: So tell me then how was the follow up show that was in Sun Life?
Stefan: It was amazing, I’ll say it was like the perfect make up show, and the people were so pumped. They gave us so much energy and we gave them more energy it was just amazing.
EDMT: What did you think of the venue, playing at a stadium like that?
Stefan: It was just great, it was great.
Olle: They had rain the day before, but we got the sunshine and clear skies haha.
EDMT: Talk to me about your latest tracks, like “Born to Rage,” and also “This Machine Kills Ravers.” What inspires you guys? How do you guys come up with the ideas for these tracks that are so high in energy?
Olle: We just, you know when we play for someplace like we play tonight, we scan the crowd or whatever and see some person going like really-
Stefan: Mental. Not thinking just being in it.
Olle: You see a person being something like…. I don’t know how to describe it. But someone that like, you know someone that is actually just really ugly. Someone that doesn’t care about shit and just goes like this (Olle puts on his craziest face). And you know you can see those persons, and you can memorize that picture and that feeling that you get from that person when they are raging their heart. And when we get back to the studio we just try to play that back in our brain, that feeling of that person.
Stefan: And put it into our track.
Olle: Yeah that is the inspiration and we try to put that into our new tracks.
Stefan: And also, like if you go out during a pillow fight you will see those expressions cause people, as we said, stop thinking and they’re just like “FACKK!” Good music and it’s a pillow and you can see how they turn ugly and be like “ARGHH!”
Olle: Haha yeah so that’s the inspiration.
EDMT: Aha I love it. So what is next for you guys? What can we expect in 2014? Perhaps another album possibly?
Stefan: More music.
Olle: Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to do another album, immediately anyway. Maybe later, but first we just want to release a lot of tracks, like singles. Because doing an album is fun, but it also takes a lot of time. I mean it takes a lot of time to make songs to, but then you can release one, work on the next one, release one, work on the next and so on. Whereas on an album you need to be more focused.
EDMT: Right. So those are a lot of serious questions that we have, but we here at EDMTunes also have a lot of silly questions we like to ask as well.
Olle: Ah the silly questions.
Stefan: This is the part where I take my pants off!
Olle: We can take the silly questions.
EDMT: Haha so we want to know, is it possible to eat a cookie without a smile?
Olle: No. It’s impossible.
Stefan: I don’t think so either!
EDMT: I figured. Who comes up with the rules of Dada Land?
Olle: Both of us.
Stefan: Haha yeah we come up with them as we go. It’s like we learn new stuff and we want to just share them with people.
EDMT: Okay, so we’ve been wanting to know. The whole bananas and champagne thing, where did that whole idea come from? It’s a very strange combination you know?
Stefan: It’s the best. Okay first of all, I’m holding a banana (really he is). It’s like, the banana is the perfect club food, cause you know, sweat is dripping from the ceiling, everything is fucked up, it’s super ugly. And you can just take a banana and peel it and it’s super fresh inside. You don’t want to take an apple that is just sweaty and greasy and just argh. It’s just so disgusting. So a banana is the perfect club food. And champagne, well you know champagne. And together it’s just deadly, you should try it because I think it’s illegal in like 15 states now, so try it now.
EDMT: Haha it’s definitely on my agenda. This is actually the last question; so there is this rumor that goes around about you guys actually being the guys from the show “Bananas in Pajamas,” I’m not sure if you guys know about it. Is it true or not true?
Olle: Haha we heard about it yeah. We decided to say neither yes or no actually.
EDMT: Ahh fair enough. Well again, thank you for the interview and I’m expecting to see you guys play a great show.
Stefan: No problem, thank you very much!
Olle: Haha yeah it’s going to be fun.
Check out our event review of Winter Galactic HERE
