Las Vegas victims are inspiration, say DJ duo The Chainsmokers
Hit DJ duo The Chainsmokers have told how they visited "inspirational" victims of the Las Vegas shooting in hospital ahead of their latest London appearances.
Music production duo Alex Pall, 32, and Andrew "Drew" Taggart, 27, rose to stardom after their ironic hit #Selfie topped the charts in 2014 and have since been streamed billions of times and teamed up with stars such as Coldplay. As a result, the Grammynominated duo are now among the highest-paid DJs in the world.
At the start of 2017 the pair signed an exclusive three-year deal with Wynn Nightlife in Las Vegas, leading them to "spend more time there than at home". Speaking following the shooting at the beginning of this month in which 58 people died and almost 500 were injured, Pall said: "Vegas is our second home… it was traumatic… but people are really pulling together. We went last week and visited the hospital [where victims were] and these people were so brave and, despite what they went through, so positive.
"Our country, the US, has such a problem, and gun laws and things should change."
Pall said their style of music making — music production — has been crucial to the industry "since the Beatles" but it is "only in recent years that DJs have had the option to step forward". He added: "We play every instrument, we use the piano, the guitar, loads — in the last 20 years the computer has become an instrument in itself. The coolest part of our job is getting to work with Chris Martin, Halsey and Emily Warren."
The pair, who met in New York, will play the Capital Ball for Capital Radio in London at Christmas and a concert at Alexandra Palace in February.
"I love London, my mum is British first of all, and I have a British passport," Pall said. "And it's a special place for us."
The duo said they were committed to offering others the chances they had, most recently giving a warm-up platform to emerging talent — such as Panama's DJ Vane, who won the Miller SoundClash competition — and taking a Canadian music student on tour after being impressed with his piano cover of their song Paris.
Pall said: "It's hard to break out and get noticed, and so when Miller SoundClash — who are doing good — approached us, we wanted to give other artists around the world the chance we got."
