Electric Forest Day 3 – Brother-Sister duo XYLØ hit The Observatory stage at 9:15pm and play an electrifying set. After great positive feedback from Kendall and Kylie’s PacSun campaign video, this organic family formation knew they were up to something great. Chase and Paige Duddy have been working hard for the past two years, releasing music on SoundCloud and building their style and fan base, this up and coming duo are about to headline their first tour, and we got to talk to them about their new adventures surrounded by the stunning Sherwood Forest in Michigan.
MMIBTY: Is this your first time playing Electric Forest?
XYLØ: Yeah, we’re really excited!
MMIBTY: Are you guys playing any other festivals this summer?
XYLØ: This is actually the last festival we’re playing this summer because we’re going on tour in about a month.
MMIBTY: How does it feel to be closing your festival season with Electric Forest?
XYLØ: It feels good, we’ve heard great things about this festival from a lot people, so we’re really excited to experience the savagery. We have some time today to explore the forest, we got in last night and it was around 9:45pm and it wasn’t even dark yet, so we want to see it at lit up at night!
MMIBTY: Other than exploring the forest, is there anything else you’re looking forward to while you’re here at Electric Forest?
XYLØ: We’re excited to play! We heard the stage is really cool
MMIBTY: Yeah, The Observatory stage is awesome! Big Gigantic played a jam session yesterday with Lettuce and String Cheese Incident, so you guys are in for a treat!
XYLØ: Wow, that’s awesome, we’re really excited about it!
MMIBTY: You’re going on tour in a month, and you’ll be headlining it. How are you guys feeling about that?
XYLØ: We’re really excited! We’ve never done a headlining tour before, so it feels like it’s a milestone for us.
MMIBTY: Are you guys very involved in the creation of your tour, when it comes to visuals and other aspects of it?
XYLØ: Yeah, definitely. We haven’t gotten exactly which visuals we’re getting, we’re still in the process of figuring that out, but we’re definitely getting something new, and we’re really excited about that.
MMIBTY: Given that you’re siblings, does that make it easier when you’re on the road?
XYLØ [Paige] : It’s cool, there’s highs and lows for sure, but I think that’s bound to happen to anyone in a duo. We know when not to push each other’s buttons, when to have some space, especially on tour. I find it that, especially me, I like to get space from everyone when I can. It’s nothing personal with anyone, it’s just that when you’re around people constantly sometimes you’re like “I’m gonna go in my bunk now and listen to some music or watch a show.” Alone time is nice, but overall, we make it work.
MMIBTY: You guys have recently collabbed with The Chainsmokers with the song “Setting Fires.” Tell me a little about that experience?
XYLØ: It was something that was just like, they sent it to us to see if we were interested, we demoed something, sent it over, they liked it and it was back and forth for a few months and then, we all got to go in and record the vocals together. It was cool for all of us to be a part of that moment, it was pretty awesome.
MMIBTY: You guys started your career on SoundCloud. How was that transition, from self publishing your work, to being recognized and suddenly finding yourselves here?
XYLØ [Paige] : I think SoundCloud is amazing, especially for unsigned artists and people who are just putting out music, it’s such an awesome platform, it has so many subscribers and it draws new people to your page, so I think SoundCloud is definitely a big reason why a lot of people have had success. On the outside, it looks like it all happened so quickly for us, which it kinda did, but I guess when you’re in it and you’re planning it, and there’s so much work put into releasing music, it feels like it happened way slower than it actually did, it’s been awesome!
MMIBTY: What are you guys looking forward on this first headlining tour? Any cities you’re particularly excited to play in?
XYLØ [Chase]: I’m excited to go back to Canada. I feel like we’re in and out of Canada, it’s always too quick.
[Paige] : I’m excited for that too because, we literally drove in, played the show and drove back, and didn’t get to see anything. Last time in Toronto we got to have lunch there, which was really fun and it’s so nice there, and I think I got my nails done and that was the just of us being there (laughs).
MMIBTY: Touring can get really hectic sometimes right?
XYLØ: It is, it’s going to be even more hectic as well this time because this is our first headline, so there’s a lot of pressure when you’re a headliner for sure. We’re doing a whole North American tour, we start in Santa Barbara which is close to our hometown at SOhO, and end in Los Angeles at the Teragram Ballroom.
You can find more details about The Alive Tour here .