GUYS. Guys guys guys. I am beyond excited to be sharing this week’s Feature Friday. Over the past weekend, I got the amazing opportunity to head to Columbus and see DJ duo Young Bombs throw down for Haunted Fest. I was so excited to get to catch up with them before their set. This Canadian based duo brought so much energy to their set. We chatted about music, goals, and deets on some unreleased Young Bombs content (dropping 11/01 y’all).
About Young Bombs
This DJ-Producer duo (Martin Kottmeier and Tristan Norton) has been hitting the festival/EDM circuit with vigor this year. After meeting in high school over a passion for music, these two have traversed the music/entertainment space in various facets before getting the EDM bug back in 2011. Since then, they’ve popped up at huge name festivals such as Lollapalooza and Ultra.
The Interview
So guys, how did you all actually end up meeting?
Martin: We actually met in high school. We were both in punk bands at the time, I was a drummer and Tristan was a guitarist.
Tristan: Our two bands weren’t that good or necessarily going anywhere, so we decided to team up and kind of make our own music.
Martin: We actually did a bunch of different types of music before we found ourselves making EDM music. We did jingles, were background band for a singer and then we caught the EDM bug in 2011.
Tristan: It actually started because of an Avicii song in 2011 and we thought “We want to make music that makes you feel like this”.
So, you’re preparing to go up and throw-down for Haunted Fest. How does that make you feel?
Martin: We’re super excited about the set. We like to go up there and have fun.
Do you both have a ritual that you go through before going up?
Martin: It honestly changes from show to show.
Tristan: It all just depends on how we’re feeling and what we want to do to get ready.
Your new song with Aloe Blacc is dropping next week, what was it like collaborating with him?
Tristan: It was amazing.
Martin: We had actually been sitting on the song ‘Better Day’ for a while and always thought that Aloe Blacc would be perfect for the track.
Tristan: It was a dream come true when we were able to lock it down because it was Avicci and Aloe Blacc’s song together back in 2011/2010 that really inspired us to get into EDM music, so getting to collaborate with him was crazy and awesome.
Martin: It was a twist of fate that we got connected with him. We sent him the song and he immediately wanted in on it. We ended up flying to LA to finish cutting it together with him.
What would you say your ‘signature sound’ is?
Martin: Oh wow, *laughing*, we honestly focus on just creating and remixing songs that we know people love.
Tristan: We love taking songs that are popular and adding our own weird twist on things to make it our own. But no ‘signature sounds’ yet.
I clearly see your passion and feel it when I listen to your music. What’s driven you to overcome the challenges you’ve faced since becoming Young Bombs?
Tristan: On the come-up it was hard. We would go to shows and sometimes I would just find a person who was at the event with me and would crash on their floor/couch. Wake up the next day and off to the next show. It can be a lot but being on stage and making music make it worth it.
You guys have been traveling quite a bit- where can we expect to see you in 2020?
Martin: We don’t currently have anything set in stone for 2020 yet.
Tristan: But, we’d love to make it to EDC and Bonnaroo. Those are two festivals that are definitely at the top of the list.
