Kids Want Techno are an electronic music duo from Washington, DC. Jordan and Adam, the producers behind Kids Want Techno, spoke to us about how they’ve come from bonding in high school over their love of music, the creative process behind their tracks, what song they would take with them to a desert island and more.
Make sure you don’t miss out on Kids Want Techno’s mix for RouteNote at the end of the interview!

How did the two of you meet and start making music together?

Jordan: We became friends in high school through lacrosse and got into electronic music together soon after. Next thing we knew we were going to shows and DJing in our bedroom. We knew music was what we wanted to do with our life and that creating original music was the quickest way to make it a reality, so here we are working to get there.

 

“We knew music was what we wanted to do with our life and that creating original music was the quickest way to make it a reality”

 

Adam: We were connected through a mutual friend freshman year of high school. I started to burn CD’s of euro-house music for Jordan and we would drive around blasting it. By our junior year we started to go to shows and, when we turned 18, clubs in DC. That led into us DJing in our bedrooms, and we soon realized we would only be happy doing music for a living, so here we are producing it!

What do you enjoy the most about creating and playing music?

Jordan: I think it is so cool to be able to create something out of nothing on the computer and then share it with people around the world. When it comes to playing music, I like to play stuff people may not have heard of before but will (hopefully) still enjoy. Sharing new music is the best part.

Adam: Every aspect of my life is so structured. Music is the way I can let loose and be creative. Being able to introduce new music to people is one of my favourite things to do, and it has been since middle school when I used to burn CDs or rap songs for my dad.

” Every aspect of my life is so structured. Music is the way I can let loose and be creative.”

Kids Want Techno
Photography Credit: What Do I Wear DC

You’ve become pretty popular on SoundCloud. What was the moment where you realised people really love your music and how did it feel?

Jordan: We started getting messages from our fans telling us how much they enjoyed our music and to keep doing what we were doing. It feels really awesome to get messages like that. One our fans actually put the KWT logo on the status bar of his jailbroken iPhone so that was pretty cool to see.

Adam: In the grand scheme of things, I still don’t think we are that popular. It’s nice to see our remixes are finally getting some traffic and I hope that in time we will continue to grow.

What is the creative process for when you start completely fresh on a track, how do you get the ball rolling?

Jordan: I like working with the vocals the most so I will usually start building chords around them and move on to writing the melody. From there I can write out the arrangement of the track and then I will start to fill out the “skeleton” of it.

Adam: Since we usually do remixes I will look for acapellas that would work well for a remix. From there I usually like to try and write a chord progression to go with those. If I can’t get a chord progression to work, I will usually just play around with drum loops.

If you could collaborate with anyone, past or present, who would you choose?

Jordan: Doing something with The Killers would be pretty cool.

Adam: Porter Robinson.

If you were stuck on a desert island and could take one track each to listen to, what would you choose?

James: Circles by Audien, everything about it is perfect to me.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I2TE9K68AY?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0&w=640&h=360]

Adam: The Battle of Evermore by Led Zeppelin. I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-21AtiWV3TE?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0&w=640&h=360]

If you can choose, what track would you say is your favourite/you’re most proud of out of your own tracks?

Jordan: Definitely the remix of ODESZA’s ‘Say My Name’. I had been having some major writers block and Adam sent me over the vocal since he was having trouble writing something that worked, and that same day I was able to create the whole track. The melody is my favourite part, I think it is still the best one I have been able to write. Also the remix passed over one and a half million plays on SoundCloud, so that helps too.

Adam: Without a doubt our remix of ODESZA’s ‘Say My Name’. I fell in love with the original as soon as I heard it and when I saw they released the stems, I knew we had to remix it. I had been struggling with the acapella as I couldn’t get a chord progression to work, so I sent it over to Jordan and he finished the whole structure of the track in a day I believe.

What advice would you give to any aspiring musicians/DJs/producers? 

Jordan: Focus on yourself and your music, don’t worry what everyone else is doing, and finish music! It is one of the best ways to better your productions. Also, you have to be the one to believe in yourself when no-one else can, no matter what.

Adam: Make sure you’re getting into this for the right reason. With the explosion of dance music in the U.S. it seems as though everybody and their mother wants to be a “DJ” now. If you want to do this for any other reason than your passions and love of music, please don’t.

 

“Don’t worry what everyone else is doing… You have to be the one to believe in yourself when no-one else can, no matter what”

Kids Want Techno
Photography Credit: What Do I Wear DC

Kids Want Techno – RouteNote Mix

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuuNgnICRLw?rel=0&w=640&h=360]

00:00 Ariane Grande – One Last Time (Kids Want Techno Remix)
3:15 Aristofreeks feat. Next Step – Good Times (Emrik Wilzon Remix)
8:30 Owl City – The Verge (Halogen Remix)
11:35 ODESZA feat. Zyra – Say My Name (Kids Want Techno Remix)
14:55 Sigala – Easy Love
18:30 Audien feat. Lady Antebellum – Something Better (Shemce Remix)
22:35 Glen Check – The Coast (Glen Check “Summer Remix”)
28:00 Just Kiddin – Thinking About It feat. Matt Lappin (Kids Want Techno Remix)

Kids Want Techno

SoundCloud  – soundcloud.com/wearekwt

Facebook – facebook.com/wearekwt

Website – www.kidswanttechno.com

Twitter – twitter.com/wearekwt/

Instagram – instagram.com/wearekwt/