A unique duo in the industry stemming from solo musician backgrounds, we catched up with Galantis at ULTRA JAPAN backstage along with our ambassador Mayu Sasaki who has worked with marshmello, SHOWTEK and many more artists ever since.
They shared with us interesting studio episodes for their iconic tracks ‘Peanut Butter Jelly’ and ‘Runaway (U&I)’. S/O to the #SeaFoxNation.
How was the crowd today?
Sick show. It was so good. Both the set and energy was awesome. We gotta say that generally in Asia the energy is just special. We felt it. We’ve played at Fuji Rock Festival here in Japan, but even after playing China, Korea, Japan has always been a place we’ve wanted to play.
Did you play any new tracks?
Of course we have tracks we want to play but they don’t let us play it because we are gonna premiere a big big single in two weeks at Life Is Beautiful Festival.
You both started as producers on your own. Since forming Galantis do you feel your prdoucing style has changed?
I don’t think it changes because Linus is Linus and Christian is Christian. Together we are Galantis and that’s what makes Galantis.
I think us making music for other people is an amazing job but it’s still a job. It’s very different from doing your own music where you have complete music freedom. So in the hours we spend in the studio as Galantis, it’s just a few. When we work for other people now, we still work as a producer but we wouldn’t throw in anything Galantis because Galantis stays with Galantis.
How did you guys come together in the first place? And any name origins?
We didn’t choose the name, the name chose us but how we came together there’s a story. I’m part of Miike Snow and we reached out to Linus (who was known as part of Style Of Eye) when we did our first single ‘Animal’. They made a remix for us and that’s how we met. We just clicked at that moment because we felt this similar creative energy we had in the studio.
How would you describe the Galantis sound?
It’s very hard to describe your own music. I think everyone says that but i think it’s true. It’s because you’re so close to your own music. When you do it everyday you never really compare your own music in that way to other music.
We have to talk about your EP Pharmacy. How has the emotional lyric making process been?
We’ve been writing lyrics our whole lives. It’s a very important part of the whole creative process.
Where do you draw that inspiration from?
Well it’s kind of like you’re a songwriter you’re a song producer and your brain just works in that way. If you hear a word, it either speaks to you or not whether or not it’s poetic. That connection with a word is a thing that’s always going on within you when writing songs.
About the EP, which track was the most interesting and which was most challenging in terms of the production process?
Interesting was definitely ‘Peanut Butter Jelly’ for sure because it includes a Betty Swan sample with all soulful things going on. But the hardest one was definitely ‘Runaway (U&I)’. It was the hardest to piece out three songs (Verse, pre-chorus and the chorus) together. Each part was so different so that process of trying to make three parts into one was really hard. To make a complex song like that is actually fun but it’s really hard. You put them on the album but you don’t make it a single. It’s the really complex but really catchy song that is on the album.
Sea Fox is in that music video! How did she come to be a part of Galantis?
She was in our heads for a long time. When we started the music we started to create the Sea Fox who wasn’t called a Sea Fox then. Visually speaking, we wanted jellyfish etc and we wanted to create our own visual, the same way like music.
It’s rare for you to collaborate with other producers. How did that recent collab with East & Young happen for the Netflix Film XOXO?
The director of XOXO, I guess was a fan of Galantis and so he wanted some music from us. So we had 3-4 songs in the movie and we wanted to give him an exclusive. We were playing around with something just at that time and East & Young who are friends of ours had a vocal they found so we took the vocal and messed around with it and made it into something else. We then sent it and they said it was perfect for the movie.
How did you both get into dance music?
Well Linus has been in this scene for so long.
Linus: For me, it came very early. I actually lived in the states for a year and so I was allowed to go to raves when I was only 15. So I got stuck in techno for along time then I met Christian and it was all history from there.
Christian: I was into hip hop so i was mainly into sampling and producing songs. In the early 2000s, I started to produce a lot of urban acts but I really liked house music at that time. At the time I was trying to take it into what ever what I was doing so I couldn’t fully go into house music.
I just went on the road but still wanted the real thing. And Linus was the real thing because he was in the dance music scene from such an early age. So it (dance music) was something that had been on my mind for a very long time.
So yay or nay for an upcoming album?
We can’t wait for that! Any super emotional crazy fan experiences connecting with your fans?
We do it every night.
We really feel it. It’s a communication happening right there. That’s where we get all our energy from. That connection between our people and the music we feel is a little stronger in Asia than anywhere else. I mean we arrived at like 6am this morning at Narita and there were still people waiting with Sea Fox nation signs and flags. That fan love always happens in Asia. They are super dedicated. Actually I think the first Sea Fox Nation was in the Philippines.
Then these phrases like Sea Fox Nation Manila, Sea Fox Nation Bangkok starting popping out and then the hashtags were created. We reposted and it just started to grow.
Any upcoming artists you feel are new to the scene?
There’s way too many but we can say there’s a lot of cool music out there.
It was a bit too cold and the format was getting repetitive. That’s partially influences how Galantis was formed because we wanted to make a change there. But now i think it’s opened up crazy with new acts.
Does that apply with genres too?
Christian: There are so many genres and they put us under a certain genre. I hate the word EDM. I don’t even know what it means or who made it up. I don’t know who is EDM. I think dance music and electronic music have so many genres within. The two may be similar in terms of the way you visually express yourself on stage but if you actually run it down to the music it is the opposite of each other.
But they just put us in one corner for a festival under EDM which is cool. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but I’m just saying don’t put all artists under one genre like EDM because we are different types of music. For Galantis you can’t even say we are electronic music anymore because we use 50% electronic 50% live instruments. For the new music ‘No Money’ we used a full orchestra where 50 people played strings so I don’t know why it would be electronic music.
They shared with us interesting studio episodes for their iconic tracks ‘Peanut Butter Jelly’ and ‘Runaway (U&I)’. S/O to the #SeaFoxNation.
How was the crowd today?
Sick show. It was so good. Both the set and energy was awesome. We gotta say that generally in Asia the energy is just special. We felt it. We’ve played at Fuji Rock Festival here in Japan, but even after playing China, Korea, Japan has always been a place we’ve wanted to play.
Did you play any new tracks?
We try to keep it creative and spontaneous.
Of course we have tracks we want to play but they don’t let us play it because we are gonna premiere a big big single in two weeks at Life Is Beautiful Festival.
You both started as producers on your own. Since forming Galantis do you feel your prdoucing style has changed?
I don’t think it changes because Linus is Linus and Christian is Christian. Together we are Galantis and that’s what makes Galantis.
I think us making music for other people is an amazing job but it’s still a job. It’s very different from doing your own music where you have complete music freedom. So in the hours we spend in the studio as Galantis, it’s just a few. When we work for other people now, we still work as a producer but we wouldn’t throw in anything Galantis because Galantis stays with Galantis.
How did you guys come together in the first place? And any name origins?
We didn’t choose the name, the name chose us but how we came together there’s a story. I’m part of Miike Snow and we reached out to Linus (who was known as part of Style Of Eye) when we did our first single ‘Animal’. They made a remix for us and that’s how we met. We just clicked at that moment because we felt this similar creative energy we had in the studio.
How would you describe the Galantis sound?
It’s very hard to describe your own music. I think everyone says that but i think it’s true. It’s because you’re so close to your own music. When you do it everyday you never really compare your own music in that way to other music.
But if we look at all our songs and connect the dots, I think there is one thing in common which is a “feel good” factor. There’s like a lot of soulful things in our music.
We have to talk about your EP Pharmacy. How has the emotional lyric making process been?
We’ve been writing lyrics our whole lives. It’s a very important part of the whole creative process.
Where do you draw that inspiration from?
Well it’s kind of like you’re a songwriter you’re a song producer and your brain just works in that way. If you hear a word, it either speaks to you or not whether or not it’s poetic. That connection with a word is a thing that’s always going on within you when writing songs.
For instance, ‘Peanut Butter Jelly’ was in my pocket for a long time since I (Christian) wrote it ten years ago. I never found the vehicle for it because there was no artist that wanted to say “spread it like a peanut butter jelly” so we had to create our own vehicle that would say it. And Galantis would say it.
About the EP, which track was the most interesting and which was most challenging in terms of the production process?
Interesting was definitely ‘Peanut Butter Jelly’ for sure because it includes a Betty Swan sample with all soulful things going on. But the hardest one was definitely ‘Runaway (U&I)’. It was the hardest to piece out three songs (Verse, pre-chorus and the chorus) together. Each part was so different so that process of trying to make three parts into one was really hard. To make a complex song like that is actually fun but it’s really hard. You put them on the album but you don’t make it a single. It’s the really complex but really catchy song that is on the album.
The need to make it (Runaway U&I) feel like one song was just so hard and challenging.
Sea Fox is in that music video! How did she come to be a part of Galantis?
She was in our heads for a long time. When we started the music we started to create the Sea Fox who wasn’t called a Sea Fox then. Visually speaking, we wanted jellyfish etc and we wanted to create our own visual, the same way like music.
She was to be the center part of this band, the third member. She is the heart of galantis. We bring her on tour sometimes and she comes in the studio too.
It’s rare for you to collaborate with other producers. How did that recent collab with East & Young happen for the Netflix Film XOXO?
The director of XOXO, I guess was a fan of Galantis and so he wanted some music from us. So we had 3-4 songs in the movie and we wanted to give him an exclusive. We were playing around with something just at that time and East & Young who are friends of ours had a vocal they found so we took the vocal and messed around with it and made it into something else. We then sent it and they said it was perfect for the movie.
How did you both get into dance music?
Well Linus has been in this scene for so long.
Linus: For me, it came very early. I actually lived in the states for a year and so I was allowed to go to raves when I was only 15. So I got stuck in techno for along time then I met Christian and it was all history from there.
Christian: I was into hip hop so i was mainly into sampling and producing songs. In the early 2000s, I started to produce a lot of urban acts but I really liked house music at that time. At the time I was trying to take it into what ever what I was doing so I couldn’t fully go into house music.
I think the moment of change was when I produced ‘Toxic’ because it was one of those songs that was pop but had some electronic music aspects to it.
I just went on the road but still wanted the real thing. And Linus was the real thing because he was in the dance music scene from such an early age. So it (dance music) was something that had been on my mind for a very long time.
So yay or nay for an upcoming album?
We can say this :we have a ton of new music coming out.
We can’t wait for that! Any super emotional crazy fan experiences connecting with your fans?
We do it every night.
We really feel it. It’s a communication happening right there. That’s where we get all our energy from. That connection between our people and the music we feel is a little stronger in Asia than anywhere else. I mean we arrived at like 6am this morning at Narita and there were still people waiting with Sea Fox nation signs and flags. That fan love always happens in Asia. They are super dedicated. Actually I think the first Sea Fox Nation was in the Philippines.
The Sea Fox Nation is basically created by the fans not from us. They started to call themselves the Sea Fox Nation.
Then these phrases like Sea Fox Nation Manila, Sea Fox Nation Bangkok starting popping out and then the hashtags were created. We reposted and it just started to grow.
Any upcoming artists you feel are new to the scene?
There’s way too many but we can say there’s a lot of cool music out there.
Right now music is winning. Music is coming up so like a lot of cool stuff is on the rise now and we think that is a big win for everyone. Because there was a moment in electronic music when we felt it was kind of standing still and it was kind of a like a deadlock situation.
It was a bit too cold and the format was getting repetitive. That’s partially influences how Galantis was formed because we wanted to make a change there. But now i think it’s opened up crazy with new acts.
Does that apply with genres too?
Christian: There are so many genres and they put us under a certain genre. I hate the word EDM. I don’t even know what it means or who made it up. I don’t know who is EDM. I think dance music and electronic music have so many genres within. The two may be similar in terms of the way you visually express yourself on stage but if you actually run it down to the music it is the opposite of each other.
But they just put us in one corner for a festival under EDM which is cool. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but I’m just saying don’t put all artists under one genre like EDM because we are different types of music. For Galantis you can’t even say we are electronic music anymore because we use 50% electronic 50% live instruments. For the new music ‘No Money’ we used a full orchestra where 50 people played strings so I don’t know why it would be electronic music.
It’s all about music not genre.
