When the 2012 DJ Mag Top 100 list came out, I was excited to see Armin van Buuren at the top. I was also excited to see some of the movers and shakers on the list jumping up to a more suitable spot. Like these guys. They jumped 18 spots and are happy with their place on the list. We talk about the list and their spot here. Oh, and they are incredible live. This is only phase one of The Arc Tour (with Super8 & Tab), but nothing beats seeing these guys dance around while producing some of the best club bangers around. As if having two guys in the DJ booth wasn’t enough. Just watch Chad dance. Insane! Their show at Axis Radius was my first time seeing them live, and I can’t wait to see them again. I’ll stop talking so we can start dancing… it is my pleasure to introduce you to Tritonal.
Where did the name come from?
Chad Cisneros: We had a lot of names to choose from. We went through a lot of shitty names, too. We came across tritone; it’s a chord. Tritonal is an explosive, so music explosivity. We nailed it.
You guys made a pretty big jump on the DJ Mag Top 100. Are you happy with the new placement and does that list mean much to you?
Dave Reed: It’s a good question. We’re more than happy with the placement. I think good music is good music, and no matter what number you have labeled on, if you’re making good music, that’s all that matters.
Tell me a little bit more about The Arc Tour.
Chad Cisneros: This is phase one and it ends tonight, in Scottsdale. It’s been good. We’ve sold out, if we sell out tonight, that will be four of seven… six… seven? Seven. We have a good record so far. Phase two is looking even bigger and even better. We’re playing with ATB at Aragon Entertainment Center in Chicago. We’re playing at Pacha with Paul van Dyk. We’re playing at the Guvernment Entertainment Complex in Toronto with Nicky Romero and ATB and Super8 & Tab. A whole bunch of people. As phase one was quite clubby, it looks like phase two is going to be the main, massive clubs in North America. We’re excited.
That’s a pretty big list of guys you’re going to be playing with.
Chad Cisneros: Yeah, those should be big nights.
You guys recently released a new album Is this tour to support that album, or is this something completely different?
Dave Reed: As mentioned, we did a track with Super8 & Tab. The track is titled “Arc”, and we’re playing that through every single tour date. We do throw in a few of our album remix tracks and some of our originals as well.
Chad Cisneros: We actually did a Piercing The Quiet tour on the original album, so we felt like doing it again would kind of be haggling a little much on it. We wanted to keep it fresh.
You recently played at Electric Daisy in Vegas.
Chad Cisneros: EDC Vegas… gig of the year. Hands down. Gig of our career, so far.
How many people were there?
Chad Cisneros: 300,000, I heard. At our stage there were 85,000, which is crazy.
Have you guys played here before?
Dave Reed: We have played here, but not at this club. We have played at Myst, which I believe has been shut down.
Chad Cisneros: Town down.
Dave Reed: Last time we were here, we opened for Above & Beyond. It was fun.
You recently remixed “Caught” from Markus Schulz. Do you have to get his permission when you remix a track?
Chad Cisneros: No, he approached us on “Caught”. We saw him at ASOT (A State of Trance) in Den Bosch. We used to do a lot of stuff with Markus Schulz, and we kind of took our sound a little different than Coldharbour. It was good to come back and do one for him. Dave and I have even looked into doing a rework of “Crash Into Reason”. Maybe, whenever we get time. I don’t know. It’s something that Markus wants us to do, and I think it’s something that we’d like to do.
Does that mean you work with him on the track when you do a remix?
Chad Cisneros: Well, kind of. He’ll send you the parts, and he’ll be like, “This is trash.” He’ll usually have feedback.
Earlier today, as you know, I asked the fans on Twitter if they had any questions for you. Someone said you guys have a lot of travel issues. Problems?
Chad Cisneros: (Laughs.)
Dave Reed: That’s more my end, actually. I’ve had issues with visas. I’ve had issues with my flights.
Chad Cisneros: Like getting to the airport on time.
Dave Reed: Yeah, getting to the airport on time has been an issue a couple of times. Other than that, we’ve never missed a gig.
Being an American DJ, is that tough for you with all of the European competition?
Chad Cisneros: No. It’s amazing for us. In fact, we couldn’t be at a better place at a better time. America’s where it’s at right now. Who wants to pay all that tax and fly nine hours to play when you can do it right here?
What’s next for Tritonal?
Chad Cisneros: Tracks. Collaborations. We’re doing a collaboration with BT. Rafaël Frost. Remix for Above & Beyond. What else?
Dave Reed: We have a lot of those remixes, but we also have a lot of originals we’re working on. We’ve got eight or nine ideas already on our laptops. We want to get back in the studio. A couple of the tracks are already in the studio. We even have some fresh ideas that are a little bit off the Tritonal sound.
In all of the interviews I do, I always give the artist the last word.
Chad Cisneros: The last word? Absolutely. It’s got to be thank you for all the fans, the Tritonians for voting, showing up at all the shows, buying the tracks, retweeting us, Facebook commenting… I mean, I said it on Facebook, and it’s true. We do stand on the shoulders of their love.
