Back again with another awesome interview, this time with the guys from the LA based duo, Louis Vivet, on the heels of their release “Best Thing” on Thrive Music. We had the opportunity to sit down with Nick and Aria and ask some questions about “Best Thing” and a little bit more about 2016 and some of their goals. Check out the full interview below and make sure you hit play on the track at the bottom!
First off, mind introducing yourselves to our readers?
Aria: Of course! We’re Aria and Nick of Louis Vivet. Nick and I first met in college at USC, the home of many up and coming talented producers such as Dr. Fresch, Justin Jay, and Matt Dimona. We both bonded over our similar taste in music and not long after we started making music together.
Nick: That’s actually where we met our managers as well, Naad, Steve, and Daniel. We’re all one big family.
How did Louis Vivet come about?
Nick: Well when Aria and I began making music together, we started thinking about an identity we wanted to establish as artists and how we could tie it back to our own personalities. Aria and I are so similar in ways yet so different in others, me being a graphic design major and Aria being in law school. So one day, we stumbled upon an article about a man named Louis Vivet. When we started reading about his story, we were instantly hooked by his polarizing personalities. If you read his story on Wikipedia, you’ll see that his life plays out like a science fiction novel.
You’ve done some amazing remixes and after winning the Discovery Project, how did you decide what direction to take your career in?
Aria: Thank you we appreciate that! Well we have an amazing team that’s helped us tremendously with the direction of the project. After the discovery project, we all sat together and laid out short term and long-term goals that we wanted to achieve. We made sure that everything we did was cohesive and genuine to the project. We weren’t afraid to say no to certain opportunities if they weren’t in line with the “brand” per se.
Nick: Yea and with that, we know there will be a lot of opportunities along the way that you can’t really plan for. You just get lucky. But when you do get them, you have to run with them because they wont be around forever.
What made you decide to do a more instrument-based approach?
Nick: That just comes from our personal tastes I think. Aria and I both gravitate toward more organic sounds so they naturally get emphasized more in our tracks. There’s something about a real guitar, piano, bass that simply can’t be emulated with a plug-in.
Aria: Yea its helps that we know a lot of talented musicians from the music school at USC. The human touch can’t be replicated with midi.
Nick, how does working on the visual elements compare to producing and the musical side of things?
Nick: It’s just as satisfying. They’re both similar in that they both require a certain level of creativity. I do prefer music production to drawing though; it’s something I’ve wanted to do my entire life.
Aria, what would you say is one of the biggest challenges you have faced thus far?
Aria: I think it would be staying positive during the rough times. We had a lot of plans and expectations built into our heads early on but often times they didn’t materialize like we wanted them to. Being able to stay positive and look forward was something we had to learn.
What can we expect in 2016?
Aria: Well we have two shows lined up in May, one in San Francisco on May 12 and one at the Avalon in LA on May13. Aside from that, a lot of new original music and the debut of our live show. We’ve been talking about the live show for months now but we want it to be perfect before we debut it to our fans. We want our show to tell a story in a way. That’ll be done with immersive visuals and careful song selection. Unfortunately, that’s taken time but we really think our fans our going to be happy with what they see.
If you could play any venue, where would you choose to play?
Nick: Easy, Leonardo DiCaprio’s wedding
Aria: Coachella
I’m always interested to know how artists spend some of their free time outside of the studio, what do you guys do for fun?
Aria: Well Nick and I are full-time students so we don’t have a lot of free time. (we finish in May, thank god). But when we do find time, we love going to the beach and hanging with friends
Nick: Also, rooftop bars. Love them
Any advice for up and coming DJs/Producers?
Nick: We talked about it before, but stay true to your sound and don’t let others dictate the type of music you want to make. Guys like Skrillex and Flume didn’t get to where they are by simply following others.
Aria: Also this isn’t said enough, but learn how to songwrite. It’s honestly so lacking among up and coming producers but if you look at the biggest producers out there (Max Martin, Christian Karlsson) they’re also some of the best songwriters in the game.
Final thoughts?
Aria: Yea, be sure to check out our track Best Thing we just released with Gavrielle. That girl is a serious talent, keep her on your radar for 2016.
Nick: Yea and we may or may not be doing more originals with her, Jordan Humphrey, and Nick Goldston. Stay Tuned.
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