Truth x Lies teamed up with Zookëper and SODIUM on their new hit single “Numb” and I can’t stop listening to this song. The track reminds me of the banger “I Fink U Freeky” by Die Antwoord. If you’re not familiar with that Die Antwoord, well… Take a few hours and get lost in their sound and their story. But I’ll warn you, they are an experience. I digress.
I liked the single so much I reached out for an interview. This single already has nearly 100k Spotify streams. Their single “Understand” is quickly approaching 1 million streams. Like I said, I didn’t know much about these guys. To be honest, I’d never heard of them! But am glad I found them and I was excited to learn more. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Truth x Lies.
Where did the name come from? And why did you use an “x” versus “&” or “and”?
We came up with the name after our previous project and wanted something that was easily marketable and had some duality. We actually first started with the & but through some graphic design and trying to stand out a bit we moved to the x.
You guys are based in New York. What are some of the best clubs in the Big Apple?
Brooklyn Mirage is the big one right now. We also really enjoy Elsewhere as a smaller venue. We do really miss Output though. There seems to be a post-COVID boom of venue openings, so I’m excited to see what else is in the works to open soon.
Speaking of the Big Apple, where is the best place to get a slice of pizza? I LOVE deep dish, but it’s hard to beat a slice of NY-style pizza.
Honestly there are tons of places. Joe’s Pizza is a good standard for good NY pizza. We actually have a spot near us called Broadway Slice that’s pretty good. Roberta’s and Lucali are the best spots for pizza though. There is a ridiculous amount of good pizza in NYC.
Tell me about your new single “Numb”.
We met Zookëper at Miami Music Week when we played b2b at the Thrive Pool party. We kept in touch and he sent us the initial idea and we worked on it for a while. It ended up coming out awesome. It’s a really unique tune, and working with Mike was awesome.
Your name is Truth x Lies. Let’s play a game. Tell me a truth and two lies.
I love NYC pizza. NYC has the best pizza in the world. Deep dish pizza is good.
I LOVE that beat. Have you heard the Die Antwoord single “I Fink U Freeky”? This track reminds me of that song.
That track and that album are super cool. I remember seeing them at Irving Plaza back around the time that album came out. Numb does have a ravey vibe like that for sure!
What is your songwriting process like? Do you sit down to write a track or do the words, and the beat, just come to you?
It just depends on that track. We really like working around a sample or a vocal to start so we can get something down before we work on finding the final vocal. Sometimes we have a vocal already written and we write around that too.
You worked with Zookëper and SODIUM on this song. Tell me more about them and what was it like collaborating with them?
Honestly it was great. Mike (Zookëper) has become a good friend and he is such a nice guy. He did all the vocal recording work with SODIUM before we came into the picture and then we worked with him to wrap up the instrumental. Such a weird song, I love it.
What can fans expect from seeing Truth x Lies live?
Tons of our own music, mostly unreleased. High energy, good vibes and loads of our bootlegs/edits! We love when people come say hi to us!
What headphones are around your neck?
The Pioneer HDJ-X5BT Bluetooth DJ Headphones. The mid to higher end line of the Pioneer headphones are pretty resilient and easy to pack.
What’s the best show you’ve been to? Anyone you’d like to see but haven’t?
Ryan: My wife bought me tickets to see Gesaffelstein for my birthday a few years ago when he had that Vantablack set and it was awesome. I also got to see Disclosure before Latch came out at a small venue in Brooklyn and it was seriously awesome. Same thing for Jacob Collier. I really would love to see a Bicep show here at Brooklyn Mirage.
Ian: Not dance music, but I saw Queens of the Stone Age at Madison Square Garden. That was an awesome show. I would love to catch an Eric Prydz show; the whole thing is such a production. Oh, and Marc Rebillet, he is hilarious and insanely talented.
I love your logo… Who designed that for you?
Wei Jerry Chen! He’s done a bunch of other artists’ work and he was referred to us from Westend. An amazing artist and a really nice guy.
“Mirror Mirror” featuring TELLER is a great track, too. You are releasing a lot of singles. Are you planning to release an EP or a full length album anytime soon?
Yeah it’s been awhile since we’ve done an EP. Right now singles are what the labels are requesting but I think we’ll try to do another EP in the future. An album probably later on as well once we get the time to do it properly.
“Numb” is your debut release on hau5trap. What was it like working with such an iconic label? Any plans to release another single or an EP with them in the near future?
It’s honestly amazing. deadmau5 is a huge name in dance music and he is a big influence on where we are today. We are going to be doing some more stuff in the future with hau5trap for sure. They have been amazing!
Tell me more about your mailing list. How many subscribers do you have and how often are you emailing folks?
We’re still trying to build one up. We’ve been collecting emails for awhile and once we have some more stuff to announce we’ll be announcing stuff there!
I’m a podcast junkie. Any plans to produce a show anytime soon?
We love podcasts. We did one with Sherm In The Booth and had a blast. I think we’d definitely be interested in doing one in the future!
You guys have some killer artwork. Who is designing all your collateral?
Other than our logos, Ryan has made most of our live show visuals. The labels have all done the album art and we try to have as much input as we can with that as well!
Where can folks at home learn more about Truth x Lies?
Follow us on our social media. Check out the episode of Sherm In The Booth where we gave our life story. And check out our music because that’s the most important part.
You guys have been releasing a ton of tracks and just kicked off your tour! What’s next for you guys? Would love to kick it with you sometime soon!
Definitely down to kick it. We love hanging with people when we’re in town! We’re working on a couple new tunes for the rest of the year and announcing a bunch of festivals and shows!
We’ve talked about a lot here today. What am I missing?
Probably a lot. (Laughs.) But this has been awesome! We would love to chat with everyone either in person or on socials. Don’t be a stranger!
I could ask you questions all day. Thanks for doing this. That was fun, guys! In all of the interviews I do, I always give the artist the last word. Go.
Stay hydrated!
For more information about Truth x Lies, go to:
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