YouNotUs

Tobi and Gregor aka YouNotUs are two Berlin based DJ/producers who achieved their first platinum success in 2015 with "Supergirl" to.It was the kick-off to a remarkable career that has made them one of the most relevant German dance acts in recent years, both commercially and artistically.

Tracks such as „Narcotic“, „Supergirl“, "Please Tell Rosie“ and "I Swear“ have not only racked up hundreds of millions of streams combined, but also have reached the top 3 placements in both official German singles and airplay charts - winning gold and platinum awards around the clock. YouNotUs have become a solid „feat.“ signature within the music world, consistently creating fresh, innovative productions with depth and atmosphere of deep house, the catchiness of a pop song and the underground appeal of a throbbing night club. We caught up with the duo to find out more...

HI GUYS, HOW HAVE YOU BEEN? SO, TELL US, HOW DID YOU MEET, AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER?
Hi! Well the story how we met is actually pretty funny. Greg used to be a pizza delivery guy and Tobi ordered Pizza. We knew each other from our university but when Greg was standing in front of my door I was surprised to see him delivering the pizza. We instantly connected, because we knew we were going to the same university and we were both producing music. I told him to come in and listen to a track I was just producing and we ended up working on that song together for hours. Then Greg got a call from his boss and got fired. After that night we started YouNotUs. And now it's been almost 10 years :)

WHAT WAS THE MOMENT THAT MADE YOU REALIZE YOU WANTED TO BE DJS?
We always dreamed of becoming successful musicians. The idea of becoming a DJ grew when we got more and more into electronic music at a young age. So its just amazing that it really did work out!

BUT DJING IS NOT THE ONLY STRING TO YOUR BOW, YOU’RE ALSO SUCCESSFUL PRODUCERS AS WELL AS LIVE PERFORMERS TOO. WITH A LIVE BAND VERSION OF YOUNOTUS THAT CONSISTS OF A 16-PERSON TRAVELING TEAM. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DJ AND LIVE BAND VERSION OF YOUNOTUS?
It creates a whole different connection between us and the audience compared to a DJ only set! We always have one or two singers with us, a brass section with trumpet, trombone and saxophone, as well as a live drummer. We both are playing instruments like guitar, synths and sample pads and it’s a lot of fun for us, too! The crowd really appreciates the songs being performed live with the whole band and gives back so much energy for that.
ARE THERE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE PERFORMANCES THIS YEAR?
Yes! Our festival summer is packed and there are also shows lined up already for autumn. Some of them will be with the band but most of them as DJ only sets.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FESTIVAL OR CLUB TO PLAY TO DATE?
Right now every gig is amazing! You can really feel that there were no live events for over 2 years and the people are going crazy. A few weeks ago in Lyon there were moshpits every two minutes. It was a crazy show. We had so much fun!

‘SAMBA’ IS YOUR NEW SINGLE AND IS REWORKS THE CLASSIC MELODY FROM BELLINI’S ‘SAMBA DE JANEIRO’. HOW DID THIS SINGLE COME ABOUT? WERE YOU BOTH FANS OF THE ORIGINAL SONG GROWING UP?
The original song “Samba de Janeiro” is an all time favorite of ours and an all time ear worm as well. Tobi put it on our shared „Ideas“ note years ago and when last year we got the permission to work on this song, we immediately got our hands on it! We always love the challenge to build a song around such a big hook and 47 versions later it’s finally out!
WITH THE SINGLE ‘SAMBA’ IT IS MORE OF A RADIO FOCUSED TRACK COMPARED TO YOUR PREVIOUS RELEASE ‘DARKROOM’, WHICH SEEMS TO BE CREATED FOR CLUBS. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSICAL DIRECTION AS ARTISTS OR WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO OR WISH TO SAY WITH YOUR MUSIC?
We always loved the mixture of Dance/Pop and House Music. We also want to get the right vibe for every song we make. So we try to give every song it’s own touch!

HOW DOES YOUR OWN MUSIC CREATIVE PROCESS WORK?
First of all there must be something that inspires you. A sample, a chord progression, a melody, it doesn’t matter. But it has to make you hear something in your mind that you want to pursue and make audible. This inspiration is not always present so you have to be patient and wait for it to hit.

ALLE FARBEN IS AN ARTIST YOU’VE COLLABORATED WITH AND HAD INCREDIBLE SUCCESS. WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND YOU WORKING TOGETHER?
Actually we got to know Frans by participating in a remix contest for his first hit single „She Moves“. In the end we really won it and got in touch with him, visited his shows and got in contact with his management, too. All of them really liked what we did so we started working together a lot and even became friends.

ALLE FARBEN („ALLE“ IS NOT HIS FIRST NAME BUT THE WHOLE NAME IS A GERMAN EXPRESSION FOR „ALL COLOURS“) ISN’T THE ONLY ARTIST YOU’VE COLLABORATED WITH OVER THE YEARS. YOU HAVE WORKED WITH AN IMPRESSIVE LIST OF NAMES THAT INCLUDE JANIECK, SENEX, DEEPEND, AMBER VAN DAY, AND MARTIN GALLOP. IS THERE ANY ARTIST RIGHT NOW WHO IS IMPRESSING YOU AND WHOM YOU’D LOVE TO WORK WITH?
There are so many artists we would love to work with. The list is endless. But if we had to narrow it down to one specific person, we’d have to go with Dua Lipa. She's an amazing singer and a collaboration would be a dream come true! And another one who we really would love to collaborate with is Tiesto because we really love his latest sound, he is on top of everything for 20-25 years now and being a small part of that journey would be just amazing.

DO YOU EVER FEEL PRESSURED TO LIVE UP TO PREVIOUS SUCCESSES OR FANS EXPECTATIONS OF YOU?
Of course you want every release to be successful. But in the end we just love making music and you never know which song might blow up. So it’s not worth to pressure yourself over something you don’t have that much control on. We just try to make the best music possible and just hope that people like it.

WHICH ONE OF ALL YOUR ACCOLADES SO FAR HOLDS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR YOU AND WHY?
Every one is special to us and makes us feel really grateful. And everyone has its own story. In the end we probably would go with the award for Supergirl just because it was our first big song and it opened a lot of doors! We were blown away by the feedback to and success of this song and we even have tattoos because of it :D

WITH MUSIC BEING SO PREVALENT TODAY, HOW DO YOU DISTINGUISH A GOOD TRACK? WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE FOR YOU AS PRODUCERS AND DJS?
A song has to feel inspired. To us it’s important that it has something that makes it stand out and usually it’s the weird this about a song that catches the listeners attention. So there a so many very well written dance and pop songs out there but often they lack inspiration and therefore sound quite similar. We try to avoid that.

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE MUSIC PLANS – AN ALBUM?
There is no album planned yet but definitely for the future someday. At the moment it makes most sense to us to release single by single but to be honest we really would love to create an album with a concept and take real time with it.

LASTLY, WILL WE SEE YOU PERFORMING IN THE UK THIS YEAR?
Sadly there is now show lined up in the UK yet. But we would love to play there. We are in London a lot for songwriting though so we feel very close with UK music culture and just love the vibe and way of working on the island.

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