IN THE PRESENT | MIA MORETTI

We're excited that this month's issue is covered by DJ/Producer, songwriter, and poet, Mia Moretti. She sits at the intersectionality of music, nightlife, art, design, and fashion. She began her career spinning vinyl in LA before moving here to NYC in the LES. She has amassed a curated record collection that serves as the driving force behind her production. We have spent many nights listening to her play at our favorite clubs and events. Her approach to what she plays is due to her discerning taste, and is a foundation in performing at exclusive events in the halls of the Louvre, residences in Las Vegas, and composing runway shows for fashion designers. As an It Artist, we're always interested in seeing where she will pop up next, and what sounds she'll spin and produce.

Her ability to sample iconic house sounds from the US, while embracing strong women who are known to have something to say from all over the world, can be found in her debut single, You & Me; reworking the infectious South African disco bop Sweet Juju by Letta Mbulu; and collaborating with Colombia’s legendary Totó La Momposina on her highly anticipated debut dance EP, TAMBOR. We wanted to know more about how she fell in love with DJing, how she approaches her work, creating her tracks, and more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We last saw you at Bungalow 8 and have enjoyed seeing you at a number of editor and special events. When did you first fall in love with music?

MIA MORETTI: When I was a kid my dad would play the guitar at the dinner table every night – they became my two greatest joys in life, food and music. It must be my way to keep him with me always.

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to be a DJ and how did you get your start initially?

MM: I remember the exact moment. I was at a club in Los Angeles called AD and DJ AM was playing. He wasn't on the dance floor like I had always seen DJs before, he was up in a booth that looked like it was floating over the crowd. He was in complete control of the room. He looked like a composer orchestrating the perfect journey for everyone under him. I wanted to do that.

AM: How do you approach your set list when you're doing an event?

MM: I don’t prepare a set list for an event unless it’s something very specific like a fashion show that I am curating the music for. For most of the shows I do have an idea of what I think I might play, but when I arrive I try to let that go and use my feelings a bit more. I like to see who is there and try to understand what sort of mood they are in. I like to see if they are coming from work, or coming from another party, or if they look like they are ready to stay all night, or just passing through - all these things make my job so different every night. Like life, you can't go around planning it, most of the time you just have to be present in it. That’s when it gets fun.

AM: Do you have any routines that you do prior to playing a set to get in the right frame of mind?

MM: Mmm that's an interesting question I always think I want all my friends with me or a big group around, but the truth is I really just like a few moments of silence so I can pull myself together and do that thing you know “get in the zone” - for me that means I give myself a mental check in. "I'm good, I got this, let's go to work now." It's really important for me to shake whatever day is left over on me and go into the booth clean and clear headed.

AM: Do you have any routines that you do after playing your set to come down?

MM: I love to go out and hear other DJs. I can't go to bed because my ears are ringing, so I may as well go out and absorb some creativity while all the portals are open. Also, pizza.

“For most of the shows I do I have an idea of what I think I might play, but when I arrive I try to let that go and use my feelings a bit more. I like to see who is there and try to understand what sort of mood they are in... Like life, you can’t go around planning it, most of the time you just have to be present in it. That’s when it gets fun.”

— Mia Moretti

AM: Who are your musical inspirations?

MM: Strong females with strong voices. Artists with words they aren't afraid to use. All the women I sample, women that sing and pass down the traditional songs of their communities. Women that share those with us. Totó La Momposina, Petrona Martinez, Letta Mbulu, Crystal Waters. Those are the artists I sampled in the first 4 songs I produced. There are also many female voices in house music that were never credited, I am working on locating some of these lost voices, to make sure they get their credit, if it’s 30 years late.

AM: Where do you get inspiration to create your music as a DJ, producer, and songwriter?

MM: I've been a DJ for 20 years (!!!) I get all my inspiration in music. From collecting records, going to shows, traveling, meeting new people in every city I go, digging, trading, befriending local DJs, it's all there - the songs are already there, my job is 99% to find the right ones - the rest, anyone could do.

AM: We've been enjoying SWEET JUJU. We love the vibes of this song. Can you tell us about it and the vocal samples that were used?

MM: For my second release SWEET JUJU, I wanted to take it back to the origins of house: disco. In South Africa in the mid-80s musicians like Letta Mbulu were putting their own swing on the genre that had swept the globe. Mbulu’s music is funky, jazzy and brings everyone together. As a DJ, I have played Mbulu's record in many sets and always saw the crowd light up, so when I began this producing chapter of my career, I knew Sweet Juju was gonna be something I sampled. I hope this new single is as much an anthem of rhythm, love, joy, and "gettin' your man!" as it was in 1983.

AM: In addition to being a DJ, you're also a poet. Why do you want to share your creativity in this way and can you tell us about your collection of poems, Low Touch Economy?

MM: During the pandemic I found it very difficult to DJ at home. It was probably something I was going through personally, but djing to no audience felt soulless, not feeling and bouncing off of energy in the room made it nearly impossible for me to be creative and have fun with records. I stopped djing entirely for almost a year. I still craved connection to people, so I started writing poetry and sharing it online. I decided to gather all the little notes and pieces of scrap paper that I had random poems on from over the years and compile them into a book. I was listening to a business podcast that must have just shuffled into my rotation and the person speaking used the term

“Low Touch Economy” to describe the future of businesses. At this point, it being mid lockdown, I was pretty fragile like most of us, and I just sat there with that thought in my head horrified. I knew that would be the title of my poetry book because I wanted my poems to be that touch we all need. I ended up writing four volumes of poetry in the end. All four volumes of Low Touch Economy were letter pressed on 100% cotton paper and made here in Los Angeles.

AM: How would you describe your personal style?

MM: I don't take fashion very seriously even though it might seem that way. I don't overthink it, if it feels good when you put it on - go for it. That’s all that matters.

“[As to musical inspirations] Strong females with strong voices. Artists with words they aren’t afraid to use. All the women I sample, women that sing and pass down the traditional songs of their communities. Women that share those with us... There are also many female voices in house music that were never credited, I am working on locating some of these lost voices, to make sure they get their credit, if it’s 30 years late.”

— Mia Moretti

AM: As someone that travels all over the globe, how do you find ways to make your environment feel like you're at home?

MM: Oh that isn't hard, every corner of the world has a bottle of wine. That’s just about all I need to feel at home.

AM: When you're not traveling or working on a project, how do you take time for yourself?

MM: Whenever I get home from a trip I go to the Korean Spa. I steam, sauna and cold plunge - I also love the himalayan sea salt room, it has the same relaxation properties as spending a day at the beach. The jade floor is also so nice. I'm pretty good at pampering myself, I have no qualms about going for a massage two or three days in a row.

AM: In terms of working out, meditation, etc how do you stay in shape?

MM: I have no self discipline and will only work out if I go to a personal trainer, so I go to my trainer Armando in Glendale. He stretches me out and massages me for the first half of the session, which is the only way he can get me to do anything. In general I prefer to exercise in my day to day life, I walk whenever possible, take the stairs instead of the elevator, carry shit all the time and just try to move around a bit. Dancing counts, too.

AM: If we were at your home for a dinner party, what music would you have to set the mood and what would you serve as we know you enjoy cooking?

MM: I have a beautiful Thorens turntable that I rarely get to enjoy, mostly because I'm too lazy or tired to get up and flip a record when I'm home alone, so when I have guests over, I always put something from my vinyl collection on, or I'll have a guest choose. I did quite a dig when I was recording in Colombia, so there is a beautiful Bullerengue selection that sets a perfect tone for a dinner party. I love to go to the Armenian market in Valley Village and get homemade lavash and spreads, if I'm having friends over it's usually 2 or 3, then 5 or 6, then 10 to 12, so I'll roast a big pan of vegetables, maybe grill some fish and put out loads of bowls with all the side dishes.

AM: What do you want your legacy to be?

MM: I want someone to dance to my music, feel the earth under their feet and remember where they came from.

IG @miamoretti

PHOTO CREDITS | Andrew Arthur

Read the SEP ISSUE #43 of Athleisure Mag and see IN THE PRESENT | Mia Moretti in mag.

TAKING THE STAGE | TIMMY TRUMPET

We've had the pleasure of hearing EDM DJ/Producer Timmy Trumpet play and love how he brings his passion for EDM and the trumpet together for an electrifying show! Since he recently performed here in NY at Electric Zoo over Labor Day Weekend, we wanted to find out more about his passion for music, how he connected with his unique style, his creative process, and his busy schedule this summer which includes his residencies as well as the festivals he's appeared at this season.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with music?

TIMMY TRUMPET: I can’t remember not ever being in love with it. My father taught me to play the trumpet when I was old enough to hold it. His father taught him. I’ve been blessed to have music be the soundtrack of my entire life and I owe it all to them.

AM: We enjoy jazz and love listening to Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, and Gerry Mulligan to name a few. Our co-founder's great uncle was the late tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson which we listen to as well.

You began your career in jazz and are classically trained. You're known for blending jazz elements into dance music. Where did you get the idea to incorporate the trumpet into EDM as well as being a DJ?

TT: I was practicing in my room one afternoon as a teenager and Daft Punk came on the radio. I started jamming along to it and thought this sounds pretty cool. I started experimenting with electronic music from that day and learning about the genre by starting to listen to other artists. The rest as they say is history.

AM: How do you define the Timmy Trumpet sound?

TT: To me it’s such a powerful, unpredictable, and energetic instrument that cuts through, and I think that’s why it works so well with electronic music. It’s an undeniably live element that is raw and imperfectly perfect, like all good Jazz.

AM: When you're creating new music, how do you approach the creation process as you're integrating a number of elements together.

TT: I start from a place of what not to expect and then pull it back into a place where it makes sense and pleases the senses. I feel like that’s the goal for every great producer. To create something that no one has heard before. It’s much harder than it sounds, the constant struggle to push a sound forward in a new direction. We are all borrowing ideas, influences embedded into our subconscious.

AM: How do you get inspired when creating new music?

TT: I think we’re all inspired by everything that’s around us. Everywhere I’m looking, everywhere I’m walking, everything I’m feeling, everything around us is constantly inspiring me. I’m inspired by the artists I get to work with. I’m inspired by the artists making the best music today. I’m also inspired by artists that made music 100s of years ago. We’re all just borrowing ideas to make our own and move in a new direction. To me it’s all music. Life is music and life is beautiful. I just hope that I’m making music that people love and can share with the ones they love as well.

AM: You have worked with a number of our favorite artists from Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, KSHMR, Steve Aoki, Dr. Phunk, Armin van Buuren, INNA, and Afrojack to name a few. What do you look for when you're collaborating with other artists?

TT: I love collaborating with other artists. It’s my favorite thing to do. You’ve both got ideas walking into the studio or bouncing stems and sending them back and forth from the other side of the world. Sometimes we just discuss ideas backstage at a show. You never know what’s going to come out of it. Some of my best friends are heroes of mine that I’ve always wanted to work with and I’m very blessed for the opportunity to work with them.

AM: Who are 3 artists that you have yet to work with that are on your bucket list?

TT: Ooooh that’s too hard to nail down to just 3 artists. Honestly, there are a million people that I’d love to work with, and I feel like I’m just getting started. I’ve got 3 artists I’d like to work with this year, I’ve got 3 I’d love to work with if I could wish for anything on this Earth and there is a hell of a lot of people between them. But I couldn’t name names.

AM: You've had a busy year with a number of singles that you dropped along with some of our favorite artists! Do you have any songs that are coming out that we should be adding to our playlists?

TT: I’m really excited about a record I’ve got coming out soon with Tinie Tempah and an amazing New York native by the name of Enisa. She’s an incredible vocalist who I only recently got introduced to. I absolutely love her voice. The 3 of us got to perform it together for the first time on the Tomorrowland Main Stage this year and I can’t wait for that one to drop. You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for that.

AM: You've had a busy summer with your Ibiza residency, Ultra Europe, Tomorrowland and a number of performances globally. This summer you played Lollapalooza which has been on your bucket list for awhile! How was it to hit that stage?

TT: Lollapalooza was absolutely MENTAL! It has been on my bucket list for over a decade. Literally over a decade. I’ve been coming to America to play shows for about 10 or 12 years now. I started at the bottom, but Lollapalooza has always been up on the wall as the target. To be up on that stage was unreal. It was honestly one of the best shows this year. I’ll never forget looking out at that crowd and it looked like an endless sea of people. I’ve never seen a crowd go so crazy from the front to the back all jumping in sync like that before. It was a real thrill and one of the most nervous moments I’ve had before a show this year. It was amazing to feel those butterflies eating away at my stomach and playing a stage like that is not something I take for granted.

AM: Labor Day Weekend is always a busy time, why did you want to have Electric Zoo on your touring schedule?

TT: In the last 12 months New York has become my second home. The love I have for this city and the love it has shown me has been such a rewarding experience. Ever since NY Mets' Edwin Diaz chose to play my track Narco and New York welcomed me and my music and that song in particular into their arms, it’s become a really special place for me. I love everything about New York. So many people from so many walks of life - everyone’s exciting, everyone’s different. I love how it’s got a bit of everything. I love how it’s a city that never sleeps. Every time I come to New York I stay in Times Square because I love seeing all the craziness. Electric Zoo is just part of all of that. So, to bring it home and play a set there after the crazy year I’ve shared with that city is just unreal.

AM: Do you have any routines that you do prior to your performances that help you get ready?

TT: A few pushups, a couple shots of tequila and a quick speech with the team. I owe everything to those guys. They get me up on stage every single weekend. Once we roll out of that tunnel and get to the stage, it’s time to go.

AM: When you've finished performing how do you come down from all of the energy that was on stage?
TT: I’ve no idea how many calories I must burn up on the stage, but I always make sure I leave it all up there. Coming off that stage, most of the time I’m just catching my breath. It usually takes me about five minutes to get my heart rate back down. Then I usually spend about 10 minutes rehydrating. I probably drink 4 or 5 bottles of water as soon as I get of the stage. Once I’ve got over that, the team and I look back over the set and what went right or what we can improve on. We squeeze in a celebratory drink, but if it’s an early flight the next day, then it’s straight back to the hotel.

AM: As someone who is busy and on the go, what are 3 fitness routines that you do to stay in shape?!

TT: My trainer back home in Australia is right into calisthenics so it’s something that I’ve started getting into. The bodyweight exercises are awesome and something I can implement from wherever I am on the road. Especially if the gym in the hotel isn’t great. So, I’m enjoying that and being on stage in the summertime is a workout in itself. Sometimes I play four or five shows in a weekend and it is crazy up there, so it helps running around like a lunatic.

AM: As a musician, DJ, producer, and songwriter, what do you want your legacy to be in dance music?

TT: I want to know that I gave it my best. That I did everything I could to make sure people had the best experience possible at my shows. For one hour at a time I just want people to leave the world behind and rage with me, and the people that are most important to them…their friends. Their memories are more important than mine and if I can be a tiny part of that, then what an honor.

IG @timmytrumpet

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 36 - PG 41 Andrew Rauner | PG 42 + PG 46 Timmy Trumpet | PG 45 + PG 47 Tomorrowland |

Read the SEP ISSUE #93 of Athleisure Mag and see TAKING THE STAGE | Timmy Trumpet in mag.

EZOO NYC: GOING INTO HYPERSPACE

From Sep 1 - 3rd on Labor Day Weekend, we're excited to make our way back to Randalls Island for Electric Zoo for 3 days of our favorite EDM artists that will be back in NY! This long weekend will allow us to listen to some of our favorite artists that we already listen to as well as those that are new to us! This year's theme is Hyperspace and we're looking forward to Tiësto, Kaskade, Kx5, Alec Monopoly, Major Lazer, Timmy Trumpet, and more.

This year, there are 6 stages which will be curated within a theme or genre and we're excited to navigate them to catch the sights and sounds. As usual, you will find an array of genres of EDM on full display to pay homage to dance music and its importance. We always enjoy checking out the installations which is always perfect for those Instagrammable moments with friends and fellow enthusiasts. There are also a number of vendors that will keep us fueled up for an intense 3 days from tasty meals across dietary interests, water stations and cocktails. We'll also head out to an array of after parties that include a number of venues from Webster Hall, Brooklyn Mirage, Marquee, Somewhere Nowhere, The Great Hall at Avant Gardner, and more.

You can check out available tickets and VIP packages if you have yet to firm up your plans.

IG @electriczoony

PHOTO CREDIT | EC/Electric Zoo

Read the AUG ISSUE #92 of Athleisure Mag and see EZOO NYC: Going into Hyperspace in mag.

DROP THE BEAT | MARTIN JENSEN

With a number of festivals already on our list to attend, it's always good to catch up with DJs that we will see throughout this year. We caught up with DJ/Producer Martin Jensen to find out how he turned his love of music into a career, how his production background assists him when he is in the studio or about to perform, who he has collaborated with and his latest release with Days Like This with Jay Sean.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with music?

MARTIN JENSEN: From a very young age, music was always around me and playing in my home growing up. I never knew what direction I wanted to take – if it was in the industry behind the scenes or even being a DJ or lighting engineer or whatever – was doable. It was only when I first started playing smaller parties that I really got the bug.

AM: In terms of working in the music industry, I know that initially you thought that you would be behind the scenes in terms of lighting engineering and stage design; however, what made you decide that you wanted to DJ?

MJ: That is true! I think it was just a passion for the music, that is something you can’t bottle or capture, only try your best to communicate through your music, whether that be in person at a party or through your productions that people can enjoy. I originally went to go into my fathers family business to work, so taking a step back from that to pursue music as a full-time career felt a little challenging at first but if anything, it made me strive to want to succeed even more as I knew I had the self-belief.

AM: Because of your production background, how involved are you in the design of your show in terms of aesthetics?

MJ: As much as I can be! I always have the final sign off on design, my logos, my press shots, how I want a live show to come across from the concept to the finished product.

AM: How do you describe your sound?

MJ: Feel-good, fun, ready for the party!

AM: What’s your creative process like when you are working on a song?

MJ: It really can vary, inspiration can first come from a melody or even a direction of genre that I want to go in – I might want to go big-room and bombastic one day, or work with a really cool vocalist or writing partner, and take a more house or radio-ready pop route. Its all relative and I let each bit of inspiration, both solo and with collaborators, guide me.

AM: You have collaborated with Nicki Minaj, ALOK, Jason Derulo and more. Do you approach these creative projects differently than those that are solo?

MJ: With Nicki Minaj it was a remix I did, but I have worked directly with ALOK and Jason on our track Don’t Cry For Me. Each project is going to be different, not just in sound but depending on each artists outlook, how we individually want to approach it, so yes. With collaborations its important to have your own signature sound present but for every artist to collaborate in a way that’s effective and brings new ideas to the table.

AM: Days Like This was released with you and Jay Sean. Tell us more about this song and what was it like working together on this with him?

MJ: We really wanted this track to be a feel-good, as we say on it “No one can fuck with me on days like this!”, so we wanted people to feel that essence exactly how we aimed to deliver it. Energetic, confident and unapologetic! It was so much fun to work with Jay, he’s a real veteran in the industry and has worked with so many great artists before so to have him jump on the track with a great collaboration.

AM: Tell us about Me, Myself, Online which was the biggest livestream worldwide as well as a mini documentary.

MJ: It was! It was an idea born out of the pandemic as it was originally meant to be ‘Me, Myself, Live’ where we livestreamed shows around the world but obviously, coronavirus put a stop to that. We decided to bring the shows to people online instead, we streamed on Facebook, Twitch and had some super cool brands involved from amazing locations. Our first edition was from the Telia Parken stadium which is the national stadium in Denmark and we were blown away by the response… so we kept going! It’s definitely something we want to continue on in another direction in the future.

AM: Are you working on songs?

MJ: Yes! I have a brand new single out this February with VAMERO and Gibbs called What A Night, lots more will be revealed soon and I’ll also be announcing more tour dates as we move out of the Winter and into Spring.

AM: You were the first judge that is a DJ to be on X Factor’s Denmark! What is it like to be on this show and to see the talent that hits the stage?

MJ: It was a brilliant experience, to be the first DJ/ producer to ever hold the role of a judge also blew my mind, it was such an honor. When it comes down to it though, it's a really crazy concept when you think about it. The music industry is for sure fast paced and for these young talents to go through such a fast process full or pressure is for sure difficult and I see a lot of those come out stronger, but some don’t. It’s a fine line you really have to balance in ensuring everyone can work together in harmony to do the best they can in their roles. But yeah, it was a crazy time for sure.

AM: Critiques are a major part of success regardless of the industry you work in. When you have your judge hat on, what are you looking for and how do you approach telling people what you liked and didn’t like for each performance?

MJ: Being a judge it is not so much about personal taste, its about breaking down the talent, the attitude, the work ethic and so much more of an act. Sure, one judge mightn’t be a huge rock fan, or another pop, another electronic and so on, but to be able to look at an artist on an elevated level as someone in the industry, helps you to then guide them with exactly what they need – even if that might mean good news or bad news.

AM: We’re looking forward to hitting the festival circuit what are your favorites to play at and where will you be performing this year so that we can keep an eye out?

MJ: I’ll be announcing all my tour dates nearer the time as we still have some finalizing to do but my social media is where you’ll be the first to find out!

AM: Do you have any routines that you do prior to or after a show?

MJ: Its not very “rock n roll” but, no! I like to relax, have a beer, think about what direction I might want to take my sound in during the set (depending on if I’m headlining a club or playing a festival, for example), but its important to also let the crowd guide me too.

AM: As someone who is always on the go and travels a lot for what you do, how do you take time for self-care so that you’re taking time for yourself and getting a bit of a reset?

MJ: I like to play sports, see a chiropractor when I can – 'cos it can be crazy on your body touring all the time! – and mostly just spend time with my friends and family, work on music. Just pretty normal stuff nothing too crazy.

IG @djmartinjensen

PHOTOS COURTESY | Martin Jensen

Read the FEB ISSUE #86 of Athleisure Mag and see DROP THE BEAT | Martin Jensen in mag.

IT'S ABOUT THE MUSIC | CHEAT CODES

It may be the end of the summer, but festival season continues and here in NY, we're excited for Labor Day Weekend when Electric Zoo brings some of our favorite DJ/Producers to Randall's Island for 3 days of music from Sept 2nd - 4th! We caught up with one of the acts who will hitting the stage to get the scoop ahead of their performance.

Matt Russell, Trevor Dahl and KEVI make up Cheat Codes, a trio that has been collaborating with a number of people from Demi Lovato, Afrojack and Wiz Khalifa to name a few. They shared how they came together, how they got their name and their collaborative process. They also talk about dropping HELLRAISERS Part 1, 2 and 3, upcoming country music with Jimmie Allen and Dolly Parton and of course their upcoming performance for EZoo!

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did each of you fall in love with music and what was the moment that you realized that you wanted to be a DJ?

MATT RUSSELL: 3rd grade music class, they handed me a recorder, I made hot cross buns sound like Beethovens 5th, and it was over. We didn’t start the project by DJing we just wanted to make songs, and once we started gaining momentum we had to learn very quickly. Our first DJ gig was rough, let me tell you.

AM: Tell us how the 3 of you came together to become Cheat Codes?

MR: We all met in LA, but came from different musical backgrounds. Trevor was doing acoustic singer songwriter music, Kevi was a rapper, and Matt was in an indie/hip hop project. I was making beats for KEVI’s rap project, and Trevor needed a studio, so he turned my laundry room into a dope recording set up. We had the idea to just mess around and do a session together, and thats when we wrote Cheat Codes first song “Visions”.

AM: Where did the name Cheat Codes come from?

KEVI: My brothers were in this band called Clear Static, and they had a lot of early success. They were opening for Duran Duran at Madison Square Garden and I came out to support them, but was dumbfounded by everything they were accomplishing. So I asked my bro Tom, how you doing this, and he told me “I found the cheat code little bro” haha!

AM: As a trio, what do each of you bring to created your DJ group?

TREVOR DAHL: We all handle different roles, which allows us to do more and not get burned out. Matt handles a lot of the live set, live edits, etc. I finish a lot of the production on the songs, and Kevi handles a lot of the visual aesthetic, as far as merch idea, album artwork ideas etc. but we collaborate with each other on everything. We usually agree on most things.

AM: How do you find inspiration when you are creating new music?

MR: Well we do a lot of collaborations, so I think that makes it easy. Just trying to find something that works well for both artists, but is still representative of our sound.

AM: What’s your process when it comes to creating your music – do you have set roles?

K: It just depends on each song, but we all write and bounce ideas off each other. We all have vocals on different records as well. But dividing and conquering helps us do a lot more for sure.

AM: You have collaborated with Demi Lovato, Kaskade, Afrojack etc. When you’re collaborating with other artists, what are you looking for when you’re thinking about whether you can work together?

TD: Just an idea that sounds like Cheat Codes, but still works for the other artist. With Demi, we had the demo idea and we just thought her voice would sound awesome on it so it was kind of a no brainer. With Kaskade and Afrojack we really wanted to lean on their production sound and write some cool vocals that would compliment their ideas, so those were a little more production driven.

AM: How would you describe the Cheat Codes sound?

MR: At this point we’ve done every genre basically so we’re its hard to put in a few words. We kind of have different eras, where early on it was almost tropical house leaning, then kind of went more pop, dance, but we definitely hate being put in a box, we get bored easily.

AM: I’m a huge fan of Squid Games and I can’t wait for when the next season drops, you made Way Back Then an Official Squid Games Remix. How did that come about?

MR: Well we binge watched the show, stayed up all night actually. We were having an argument on the best way to watch it, with Korean voiceovers and subtitles or English dubs, then the idea hit.

AM: Tell us about HellRaiser Part 1, 2 and 3 as you released these albums over the last 18 months. What was the concept behind it and why is it a series of 3 albums?

MR: It was originally 1 album, and then Covid hit. We couldn’t tour for 8 months, so we just spent extra time in the studio, once we had all these ideas, it didn’t sound like 1 cohesive project, there were more 3 distinct sounds, so figured why not, we’ve never done an album before so lets go big.

AM: We know that you have been teasing a country album for awhile. Why was this a genre that you wanted to incorporate your sound into?

MR: We've always been song and vocal driven, and one of our early influences was Avicci, so it never seemed too out of bounds for us. When we were making Hellraisers, we had this record called "Never Love You Again." It was never intended to be tended to be a country record, the production is more dance, but we just needed a very soulful voice that matched, and little big town jumped on. Something about their harmonies and soul made the record what it is, so we kind of went down a rabbit hole.

AM: Is there a synergy between EDM and country music?

K: Yeah for sure, I mean EDM is so global, and its taken us so many places around the world, some of the best times to blast country music is on a road trip, or hitting up an isolated place, and I think that works really well especially in a festival environment. Just bringing good vibes and people together.

AM: Jimmie Allen is going to be on this record, what can you tell us about the music that you worked on with him and what was that like?

MR: What I like about this record is, it's not a typical country record. Jimmie's vocals aren’t overly twang, and the lyrics aren’t about trucks or anything. So it became this easily accessible thing whether you like dance music or country or pop.

AM: Are there other country artists that are also on this record?

TD: We have Matt Stell, MacKenzie Porter, Madddie and Tae, Lady A, and we’re working on one with Dolly as well.

AM: With it coming out Sep 30th, what are you doing to promote this album, will you participate in country festivals and will these songs also be incorporated into other sets that you’re doing outside of the country scene?

K: Yeah, we've already performed some of the records at different electronic festivals this summer, so it kind of just depends on the vibe and the edit. We’ll be doing Rodeo World in Vegas in December, so catch us at the official after party.

AM: You’ve been creating so much music, are there other projects that are coming out that we should keep an eye out for?

MR: Yeah we’re already working on the album after this, so stay tuned, we can’t really talk about it though.

AM: We’re looking forward to EZoo as you’ll be here in NY! What are you excited about for this festival?

MR: We play in NYC all the time, but I think this will be the biggest festival we’ve played here, definitely electronic based. I think I heard everyone's dressing up as animals, so I’m excited to fulfill my fantasy as a sexy elephant. Stay tuned.

AM: When you’re performing at EZoo, do you have routines that you do prior to your set to get prepared for the show and do you have things that you do after your show to relax?

MR: Yeah we usually play “Kill, Marry, F$#%” and then follow that up with 30 burpees and we’re ready to hit the stage. Afterwards we relax by putting on our noise cancelling headphones and listening to ASMR.

AM: How do you balance your schedules from when you’re performing a festival, being on tour, your residencies, creating music etc?

TD: Yeah we just have to prioritize what’s most important, so we’ll usually block off time to be in the studio where we won’t play shows no matter what. But organization is key for sure.

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Read the AUG ISSUE #80 of Athleisure Mag and see IT’S ABOUT THE MUSIC | Cheat Codes in mag.

ENERGY & EVOLUTION | DIMITRI VEGAS & LIKE MIKE

We're big fans of good vibes and sounds that transform us to a special place. Without a doubt, when it comes to some of our favorite DJ/producers Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike has been our go-to for well over a decade! This month's cover is the perfect way to kick off an amazing summer ahead with this incredible musical brother duo - Dimitri Thiavos and Mike Thiavos.

We wanted to find out more about this duo who has performed at Electric Daisy Carnival, Electric Zoo, Creamfields and Tomorrowland to name a few. In addition to their phenomenal tracks, we know that they have projects that they're also focused on whether its acting in the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion, clothing lines, comic books and more. We talk about how they approach their music, how they got into the industry, collaborations that they do with a number of artists and upcoming music.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with music?

DIMITRI THIVAIOS: From a very early age, we were both into music, but I was the first to really get into buying records and djing etc. Seeing music as much more than just a hobby, but more a career. I started djing when I was 13 and really pushed myself from very early on to try and make a career out of djing, which led me to moving to Majorca and then later Ibiza.

MIKE THIAVOS: Electronic music has always been a part of my life growing up, as that was the main style of music being heard on radios and played out on a mainstream level in Belgium since the early 90’s and even before I was born, remembering the countless “top hits” cd’s being played by my parents on our seemingly everlasting trips in our car without AC to Greece over summer (laughs)… but next to always having been intrigued by my brother’s musical antics and trying to learn and copy my older brother’s behavior, as most younger siblings do. I started writing songs around the age of fourteen, after being introduced to the wonderful sound of hip hop, venturing down my own musical journey shortly after. Finally being old enough to travel by myself at the age of sixteen I moved to Ibiza in 2001, simultaneously banging out hip hop albums on the white island, I gradually fell in love with house music, as anyone would having the opportunity to spend late nights to the groovy beats of various house legends at Pacha Ibiza. My love for music was widespread and I was becoming way more experimental with my musical taste going from classical music to funk of the early seventies and grimy electronic beats in the eighties. Still today I think that is the foundation for the countless big sounds I’ve created and the endless unreleased songs on all my old devices, I must have made over a hundred albums by now ranging in different musical genres.

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to be DJs/producers?

MT: Although I love deejaying and as it’s not really rocket science, I’ve always considered myself a performer, musical creator, and a producer instead of a DJ. Making music is where I can find the real art of expressing myself with whatever mood I’m in in that moment, both instrumental and vocally, in sound and lyrics.

I would say the producing of electronic music started after coming back from working abroad for a couple of years and realizing the market and prospect for making rap albums wasn’t a very lucrative thing being from Belgium back then (although it’s a different story now). So going back to our roots of electronic music was an inevitable but nevertheless easy decision for me to make.

After inviting Dimitri to move into my apartment the ball really started rolling when we decided to work together as a team. I learned all my earliest tricks from Dimitri who was already very knowledgeable when it came to software and computers.

It took me a couple of years before I was able to fully produce my own tracks and get into making sounds like ‘Mammoth’ and ‘Tremor,’ but it was a wonderful journey that has continued until this very day.

AM: What’s your process like when it comes to creating your music and where do you find inspiration?

MT: I create sounds and make songs every day that I can; it’s a ritual and something that brings a certain type of fulfilment that almost nothing else can bring me…almost like a drug. Not being able to let out my creative drive will make me feel on edge and I’m always happy being able to return to my studio, as being on tour and having a heavy tour schedule sometimes makes it hard to have a creative outlet. But then there’s other ways of doing that like writing, drawing or designing fashion, architecture or even ideas for movies or businesses that could change our planet and way of life in a positive way, cooking and food are also amongst some of my biggest passions.

Whenever I make a song that could be a good fit for DVLM I always send them to Dimitri to get his thoughts and feedback.

DT: We are always bouncing ideas around for new tracks, especially when on the road as you get a lot of inspirations from daily life and of course shows.

AM: Do you have specific roles when it comes to how you go about creating your music or planning your setlists?

MT: Dimitri has always had full control over our sets and mashups. I’ve always taken the part of being the hype man. But I do like to come up with crazy ideas or songs or concepts to bring back from the past. I do mostly focus on the production side of it, for example trying to make the sickest intros for our biggest shows of the year.

DT: Not really, our thing has always been about an equal share on the creative side. We’re willing to take risks and try new methods and ideas. If you want to be forward-thinking with your career and to keep everything fresh you need that openness.

AM: How do you balance your working relationship while also being siblings?

MT: We grew up together, so we’re used to being in each other’s lives. It’s familiar to us and if anything, it makes it easier to communicate ideas and be honest with one another about what we want to achieve.

DT: That honesty and dedication for the same targets is what makes it work.

AM: How do you define your style of music?

DT: It is difficult to put our sound into one category or genre. We love such a wide array of music across many genres, and I think that is reflected in our music. One thing that always runs through our music is energy. Our style is mainly upbeat and has an energy that people can vibe to.

MT: We get inspiration from so many different areas in life, and I think that shows in the people we work with. We try to work with people who inspire us, for example, we’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with some of the best names in music, such as Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Hans Zimmer, Natti Natasha and Daddy Yankee.

AM: Is there a different approach when you’re working on your own music versus when you’ve worked on projects with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise or various artists that you collab with whether for remixes like Coldplay or Lady Gaga or editing for Sean Paul, Jennifer Lopez or Pitbull?

MT: Of course, you must respect the creative side of other artists when you’re collaborating with someone else and everyone has a different approach to their work in the studio, but we love that.

DT: With remixes it’s a little different because we are there to bring our sound to the project, so it’s about respecting the original but also remembering our role is to apply our style and vision to the project.

AM: When it comes to collaborating with someone whether it’s a film or person, what do you look for?

DT: For us its simple, we have to be into the music they’re making or inspired by the project.

AM: Who are 3 people that you have yet to collaborate with that’s on your list?

DT: Lost Frequencies, Dr Dre

MT: Keinemusiccrue, Artbat, Eminem

AM: You have won a number of accolades for your work, played in major clubs, have ongoing residencies and have been in major festivals year after year, what does it mean to you that you have this reach and love with your fans?

DT: It means everything to us. Our fans are incredible and the support they’ve shown us over all these years is something impossible to put into words. To be a part of such an unbelievable scene, perform at these amazing events and share it with the best fans in the world is a dream come true.

AM: Musically, as well as looking at your social feed, you have an incredible group of people who you have creatively worked with, as well as are friends with, from Steve Aoki who was a previous cover, Afrojack, Martin Garrix, David Guetta and more. How does this fuel your work to be surrounded by these creatives?

DT: Every day we are inspired by all our music friends and colleagues. To witness our scene become so internationally accepted, and to see our friends help build the foundation of that is something very special. It’s never been a competition for us, we’re blessed to have such amazing people in our life and happy to see each of them flourish and have their successes inspire our own career.

AM: You guys are always working on a number of projects, do you have any upcoming ones that you can share with us that we can keep an eye out for?

DT: With touring now back on the agenda, we have a lot of new music ready to go so stay tuned for announcements soon. What’s next from us is collaboration with a legend of the harder side of dance music, Brennan Heart. This one is going to blow the roof off!

AM: What festivals will you perform at this summer?

DT: We’ve a busy schedule this summer and excited to be back on the road again. Fans can catch us at Ushuaia Ibiza for our summer residency, as well as AirBeat One, Balaton Sound, Barcelona Beach Festival, Neversea Festival, Dance Valley, Creamfields, and of course we’ll be at our home Tomorrowland.

AM: What are your 3 favorite events to play?

DT: Playing our own shows at Ushuaia Ibiza, or our end of year parties at the Antwerp Sportpaleis, are always a special occasion because we get to be a part of the whole process.

MT: And being a part of Tomorrowland.

AM: How do you stay in shape as you’re on the road frequently and we’re always looking for routines that we can include in our workout?

MT: Touring life can be intense, both physically and mentally, especially when you’re on extensive touring schedules. Sleep is a vital part of looking after yourself when touring but it’s hard to keep a steady circadian rhythm, also having the right nutrition and staying away from stimulants is key. We manage it by fitting in time to exercise regularly.

AM: How would you define your personal style?

DT: Casual but stylish.

MT: My style is a combination of different influences picked during my life and the constant drive to improve and find a better version of yourself, ever evolving and not holding on too much to old ideals.

AM: You do a lot of traveling, what are your 3 favorite cities that you enjoy visiting?

MT: My absolute favourite city is Athens but I do love spending time in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

DT: Ibiza, Ibiza and… Ibiza (jokes).

AM: In addition to working together, both of you have a number of projects that you’re involved in. Dimitri you’ve been acting in movies such as Men In Black: International and Rambo: Last Blood and you’ll be in the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion – what was it like to be involved in this and what can you tell us about it?

DT: An incredible experience both as an actor and more so as a fan of the franchise. A real childhood dream come true. Being a part of these amazing movie projects and around so many phenomenal actors and actresses has taught me so much already. I’m super excited to see the movie on the big screen with my friends and family. Anyone who follows me knows I’m a huge fanboy of the movie and comic business, so I’m truly honoured to be a part of these projects. And now with my first lead role in the movie H4Z4RD coming up, I can’t wait to do more stuff…

MT: On a personal level, I’ve designed my past two houses, created a new label and fashion line and several concepts for restaurants that are about to be put into fruition and am invested in very forward-thinking companies and concepts that are hopefully taking the world by storm in the nearby future. The ultimate goal is combining all passions and curating unique experiences that are unmatched.

AM: You’re a comicbook fan, we recently interviewed Rodney Barnes where we talked about his work with Marvel, Star Wars and the Killadelphia series. How did you fall in love with comic books and what are your 3 favorite comic books?

DT: For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated by comic books. I grew up on stories like Ninja Turtles, Batman, Spider-Man, all of which were and remain my favourite superheroes. I still collect comics and have a room dedicated to my passion of all things Marvel and DC.

AM: You also have Dino Warriors – what was the thought behind creating this and what can you tell me about it?

DT: It’s been a dream of mine to create my own universe within the comic industry. I’ve had the Dino Warriors idea in mind for a long time. Teaming up with David Uslan and his father Michael, the originator and executive producer of the Batman movie franchise, felt like the perfect moment for this project to come to live.

I’m proud to say that we also have onboard one of IDW Publishing's most critically acclaimed writers Erik Burnham, best known for writing Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Transformers, A-Team, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. As well as Jim Starlin (creator of Marvel's Infinity War uber-villain Thanos and more), Brett Booth (Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men), Stephen Segovia, known for his work with DC Comics and Marvel and Valiant Entertainment, and Diego Galindo (Power Rangers, Dungeons & Dragons, and Stranger Things) are all part of the projects creative team.

AM: What is Smash Universe?

DT: We’ve a deep-rooted passion in other creative art forms beyond music, everything from film to esports so we decided to launch our lifestyle agency Smash Universe to allow us the freedom to explore these areas more. The project had been in our minds for a while. We got introduced to Miranda Huybers, a gaming industry veteran who was part of Activision’s “Call of Duty” team, by one of our team members, and it immediately felt good. Miranda brings a wealth of knowledge to the table, along with our Smash The House team and our manager Nick Royaards. Add to that Nick Depauw, head of SMASH esports, Nick Royaards, as well as Perry van de Mosselaar and Dwayne Megens from our label Smash The House and we have the nucleus of a formidable team.

AM: Mike, I know you just had a collaboration with BLACK BANANAS – the tracksuit looks cool. How did this collaboration come about, and will you continue to work with them?

MT: There’s a long connection with Tomorrowland and the popular Dutch streetwear. It’s a friendship that’s lasted over a decade. We wanted to lay down casual street wear, athleisure, that symbolizes the ideologies of both BLACK BANANAS and my label GREEN ROOM.

A perfect combination was found with the inspiration from the world of football, hence the captain style armband.

This is just the beginning of our story working together.

AM: You also released a solo album, “Pain, Love, & What Comes After”, how long did it take to put this album together and why did you want to release it?

MT: I would say it’s an accumulation of some of my favourite songs and collaborations created in the past 5 years. It was a very personal project for me, highlighting some of the most emotional and captivating moments of my life, depicting a beautiful but sometimes also sad story and, outside of mine and Dimi’s work together, was a chance to showcase a different side of my musical creativity.

AM: You had your first solo set in Vegas last month. What was that like and will you have upcoming solo sets that we should keep an eye out for?

MT: Being able to play out my new music and curating a night by myself was an incredible experience that asks for more!! It was a chance to showcase my new sounds and to be around so many incredible people that decide to fly in from all over the world. The energy and buzz from that experience was one of the best I’ve ever felt, and I could feel all the love. I was really nervous on the night, especially since it’s a totally different sound than what people are used to hearing from us as DVLM. It’s literally taking it back to our roots and some of the earliest vibes we grew up loving. I’ll be doing more shows again soon, planning a US solo tour at the end of this year so stay tuned.

AM: In terms of the Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike brand from your music, touring and additional projects, how do you want your legacy to be seen?

MT: Well, we’re far from over. We’ve got so much more planned, so many exciting projects coming up and new shows scheduled. Although never having a clear vision of the path, I'm absolutely confident there are many more goals to achieve, so answering this question right now doesn’t feel right. Evolution is key.

AM: How do you take time for yourselves when you’re not in your projects?

MT: Grounding and healing yourself and being creative in different ways is a big part of my time off and spending it with friends and family is what matters most for us.

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Read the MAY ISSUE #77 of Athleisure Mag and see ENERGY & EVOLUTION | Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike in mag.

9DRIP | DIMITRI VEGAS AND LIKE MIKE

Read the MAY ISSUE #77 of Athleisure Mag and see 9DRIP | Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike in mag.

BRINGING THE SMOKE WITH B-REAL

For our cover story this month we caught up with B-Real, from the ground-breaking hip hop group, Cypress Hill. Legendary for his pioneering music and being an ambassador and activist for the use and legalization for cannabis, we delve into the iconic sound of Cypress Hill; his new solo album ‘Tell You Somethin,’ produced with Scott Storch; the magic behind his cult hit ‘Dr. Greenthumb;’ the history of Insane OG and creating and expanding his industry-leading Dr. Greenthumb's Cannabis Dispensaries; creating Phuncky Feel Tips; his G Pen and Stündenglass Gravity Hookah collabs; cannabis and culinary; working out on the road and more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Looking back on all the times we listened to Cypress Hill, and it’s amazing to think, we’ve had all these different emotions – happy, sad, parties, chilling, raging it’s just crazy – how is it to produce music to hit all those different vibes?

B-REAL: I mean, it’s pretty natural cuz we were pretty much just going by what we were feeling and we were experiencing. So there were times we were joyful, happy, clowning around like young men and stuff like that. Other times we were frustrated, angry - so I think we captured all those type of emotions and being that we’re stoners we also caught that laid back stoner vibe, so I think it was really organic as we were being who we were and we just happened to capture the vibe of regular kids growing up in Los Angeles, and sort of being the bullhorn for these different vibes and situations and scenarios that we were living through that others were living the same thing and could relate to. So I think that’s why its had an impact the way that it did and everybody had some sort of feeling for we were doing and I think that was the connection that we touched on those connections that anyone has been through.

AM: So you’re going on tour with all of these festivals, how is it performing live in these post Covid times?

B: It’s interesting, different because of the protocols and stuff like that. You’ve got to be safe and responsible and also accountable. And at the same time, it’s great, you’re back in front of a crowd and you’re getting a connection, getting a reaction from the music and the energy and all of that stuff and people have so much of that energy built up from the last 2½ years and they try to find any way to letting it go and blowing off some of that steam, so I think that this was helpful toward people trying to get that. At the same being an honest person that gives a shit about people, it’s also kind of scary because we’re going to some of these places where we don’t know what the venue policy is and how protected are the people, that is the one thing that concerns me. But in terms of getting out there and playing in front of people, and seeing that happiness, that crazy unbridled energy – it’s definitely a great feeling.

AM: So you have this new solo album ‘Tell You Somethin,’ produced by Scott Storch, with great featured artists, like Ty Dolla $ign, Rick Ross, Krayzie Bone, Berner and more, what went into the album and what made the sound and vibes about it?

B: Well you know originally I wasn’t planning to do a solo album. I had so much on my plate with my projects with Berner, because him and I are constantly putting out albums together; Cypress Hill obviously ‘cause we’re working on our next album - our last album in fact; and I also had Prophets of Rage going; as well as the group that I have with Xzibit and the other cat named Demrick named the Serial Killers. So I just had so much on my plate, I didn’t think that trying to fit in another project was going to be conducive to my schedule and what not. But we were doing one of my Smokebox interviews, it’s an interview in a CadIllac, in one of my low rider cars, and us smoking out and boxing out the car, just having the car, just having a conversation, not necessarily an interview. But Scott Storch was down at my studio for this - and as many artists do - we were like ‘oh we should do something.’ And we’ve known each other a long time, and our lineage dates back to Philly, way back when he was an intern at Ruffhouse Music which was the label which we were first signed to. So we go way back, and we talked about it. When artists do that sometimes you know they have full intention of working together, and other times they’re full of shit! And Scott was not full of shit, he hit me up and said ‘hey man why don’t you come down and lets vibe out,’ and all of the sessions that we had were vibe outs. He would never have one beat ready, like a folder, that’s how it is these days, producers will give you folders with beats and then you pick’em. With Scott and I, I went to his house, everyday we would have a session and we vibed out, smoked out, and thought OK if we were here what would the vibe be like and he would sort of tinker with stuff, and then we would get ideas from that and then we would just build each song based on the vibe and the idea and what not. So it was really organic the way it came out man - every song was written and produced from scratch. And I haven’t had a chance to work on an album exactly like that in a long time. You know the last Cypress Hill album ‘Elephants On Acid’ was sort of like that. We’ve always worked like that, like never really worked like take these beats and go from that, a couple times we might have done that, but primarily our vibe is let’s go to the studio and create from scratch and see what the vibe is and so it was refreshing to get back to that sort of thing in a world of folder transfers and file transfers, and shit like that. You know it just felt good to be in the studio and being produced by the producer. It's a very different sound for me in terms what people are used to hearing me on as it relates to hard core hip hop with Cypress Hill and Serial Killers and stuff like that. The stuff I do with Berner is close to what I’ve done with Scott, but this is a venture out of my own. So, we felt really good about it. It took a while to put this album out because I have so much shit going on, but I was very, very excited to put it out and glad when it finally came out, I thought it never would and shit it took so long.

AM: Yeah sometimes it feels like life goes so fast, and sometimes it’s like paint drying right?

B: Yeah, because when we were working on this album I had all this other stuff scheduled out, and it pretty much had to wait before I knocked all of that schedule down, before I could actually put it out there. I don’t like to shortchange or shortcut anything I’m working on so I didn’t want to bring something in the middle and cut that project in half. I’ve done that and it's sad when you’ve got a good project going on and you cut it cuz you’ve got to rush something else out because you have a fucking timeline. So I just threw that out the window, and I’m going to finsh all of my obligations, and then put this out so I can give the particular attention I can give it for this particular piece. So I did that and right now I’ve had these Cypress Hill shows, so I haven’t had time to do my own shows, but I know that will come over time, and as the album is building some momentum and the songs are building momentum, when it’s the right time, I’ll go out and do some shows and what not.

AM: So you had some great collabs with it and around 4/20 this year. You gave out a download to Mother Mary, and then did some NFTs around it. How is it to be in the intersection between music, cannabis and technology?

B: Well it’s cool. You know the position that we’re in, in terms of all 3 of those platforms. We're just trying to stay ahead and keep pace with what we want to do, in terms of our growth in the cannabis industry, and maintain our position in the music industry, and forge forward in technology cuz that’s where it’s all going. Technology has a lot to do with both worlds right now. And you know we've got a pretty fucking cool and efficient team so we’ve been managing to stay ahead.

AM: Back in ‘91 you dropped ‘Stoned Is The Way of the Walk,’ on your debut album Cypress Hill – had never heard something like that before – and then Black Sunday with ‘Hits From The Bong, ‘Legalize it,’ ‘I Want to Get High..’ what was the process in putting out those benefits to cannabis in the liner notes and starting to champion use and legalization of cannabis from all the way back then?

B: Well you know on our first album we were putting out our vibe: this is who we are, this is what we believe in, and we believed strongly in cannabis legalization and all that stuff so the first album was sort of the set up with ‘Stoned Is The Way of the Walk’ and ‘Light Another.’ And as we start gaining momentum groups like NORML started getting wind of who we are and offered us spokeswork and being ambassadors to the movement, and that led to meeting up with High Times and doing the High Times cover and creating a long lasting friendship with my man Steve Bloom, and getting information, and eventually we would meet Jack Herer, who opened our eyes to everything, and because of the things we learned from him, and him being our mentor in the cannabis world, we took information from his book ‘Emperor Wears No Clothes,’ and applied some of that information in our liner notes on that album. So he was a big influence on us and his knowledge was basically what carried us trough and took us to the next steps of being advocates and activists. So we were much more educated about what we were talking about and what we were trying to accomplish in terms of turning people on to it. So we owe a whole lot to Jack Herer, yeah, so it was basically his knowledge that inspired us to put that sort of information on the Black Sunday album.

AM: So on the 4th album you dropped ‘Dr. Greenthumb’ and it became a huge underground concert anthem with your community. What was it like to go in that morning to write the lyrics so quickly, and from an entrepreneurship lesson what it means to stay true to your vision when partners or labels might try to steer that off course?

B: Well that song was destiny when I look at it now. You know at the time I thought well this is a great beat and some things just.. so I had written a sketch for a radio show that we were doing previously to making that album. Bobo and myself were working at 92.3 The Beat, and we wrote this sketch, and it was basically an infomercial type sketch which obviously makes the album, we eventually make that the intro for the song. But when I got to the studio and I heard that beat. Boom the theme Dr. Greenthumb just hit me and I started writing right away, I think it was like 10 in the morning I got to the studio. and Muggs knew I that was going to the love that beat, so he left the reels up and gave the engineer instruction to play me that song immediately when I walked in. So I started working on it before anyone got there, I was probably done writing it in 45min and done dropping it in 1 hour 30 min, or something like 1 hour 15min. And I remember specifically Sony hearing that and thinking it was great, but they wanted me to change the lyrics and make it not about weed and make it more like ‘Insane in the Brain.’ And I said, no we already got an Insane In The Brain, this song is what it is and we’re not going to change it. And they were like ‘alright, well I don’t think we’re going to get much radio on it, it’s a great song, but radio still isn’t playing weed songs.’ And I said well, you know I guess that is just a chance we’ll have to take. And the record company didn’t know the song was going to be a cult anthem or one of those underground anthems, they had no clue and thought it would be just a waste of a song. And it became one of our biggest singles in Europe, and then it trickled down here to the States. It never really caught on the radio, but when we played this song live, it would give the same energy off as an Insane In The Brain. Like people would just go nuts for it. It became one of our main anthems. And fast forward to now, California is now a medical state, now I that thought would be a cool brand name for me to come into the cannabis market. Which was my intention all along. And I thought to myself if Cypress isn’t going to come into it right now, then I’ll come into it as Dr. Greenthumb, and because of the music and the familiarlity of our fans as cannabis users, it was sort of a no brainer. It sort of took us a while to get momentum, because we’ve always been in cultivation, and the cannabis stuff, and but now we had brand to put what we were producing behind and that’s where it all started from - that song, bringing it into the cannabis industry, and making it my brand.

AM: You’re dropping Dr. Greenthumb dispensaries all over California, tell us about the team behind it, the mouth watering flavors, and especially the journey behind the potent and tasty Insane OG?

B: I think our team’s been together since ‘94-95. My partner Kenji Fujishima and I, we sort of started off together in the cannabis lane, learning how to grow and stuff like that. Me being on the road all the time, I couldn’t put as much time into the grow out as he did. So he became our master cultivator. Now for a couple years we sort of separated, and I started doing Jet Fuel with another partner, but that eventually went away as we had creative differences of where I thought the brand needed to go and things like that. They went and did their own thing. And Kenji and I fortunately had been partners in BREAL TV forever, since we started the platform, with livestreaming and doing some of the first podcasts before they were called podcasts. Kenji and I have had a long history. So when we both were free from obligations we had had with other people, we decided let’s partner back up, make the Greenthumb brand bigger, and call our strain brand Insane as a tribute to Cypress Hill and what not. So we’ve been together cultivating probably 25 years or so and we were maybe one of the first 6-7 guys in Southern California that had the OG Kush cut, which was to become one of the biggest strains in Southern California, and maybe even the world for a time, because it was so sought out and highly touted as the best cannabis in the world, up until maybe 10 years ago where all the exotic flavor blasts started happening, OG was the premier flower, and we were one of the ones that had it, and Kenji being one of the best at it, he produced some of the best Kush in Southern California for a long time, so our reputations as cultivators and ambassadors were constantly on the rise. So we’ve just been putting it together, piecing our team together little by little, getting the right guys that can represent, our company, our brand, our strains. So far we’ve accomplished Phase 1, and we’re rolling up to Phase 2.

AM: It’s a Big Phase 1! Congrats on everything. How many dispensaries do you have now in Californina?

B: Right now we have 7, we just opened in San Diego and we’re looking at a few other spots now. But the main objective is that after we get the spots that we feel are most important here in California, the next step is getting into the other cannabis friendly states, like Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma - everywhere that we can possibly plant a flag, we feel we’re going to do great. So locking down California is Phase 1, Phase 2 is now going into the different states that we can plant that flag and give that California experience.

AM: New York is stubbornly turning around. East Coast definitely needs some West Coast Love. Eventually we’ll be there..

B: Yeah I mean frankly it surprises me, you know, being New York has been in the forefront of so many things, in terms of entertainment, fashion, culinary - mostly everything - and for it to be one of the last on the cannabis train, that’s just crazy, especially when you think about it that High Times was based out of NY, and they do a lot of cannabis events, Central Park even, I remember doing those small clubs at Wetlands and stuff like that, so it’s a trip that NY is so far behind, when you’d think they’re so progressive they’d be in front of it. Even in California, to have Colorado legalize before us, that was crazy. But it all eventually comes around, because I think you know, the powers that be that run the state see the revenue stream that cannabis creates, and they’re waiting to see how the other states do, and how they work it and if it’s successful, and how they can implement it without upsetting their conservative voters or religious voters.

AM: Tell us about the Phuncky Feel Tips, how long did it take from coming up with it to putting it out there.

B: Phuncky Feel Tips, I created maybe 3-4 years before they actually came out. I was doing a deal with Roor.de for a licensing deal to create two lines of glass with Cypress Hill, one being an expensive collection line and the other one being a more affordable line. And as we’re doing that, I happened to be in Amsterdam and we were on tour, and were rolling in front our hotel, or maybe Greenhouse, I can’t exactly remember that part.. but we were rolling up, and I love smoking joints with the tip, but those paper tips were killing me, for me I looked at them in frustration, and I said why the fuck hasn’t anyone ever made any glass tips for joints or blunts. And I thought OK when I get home I’m going to call my glassblower friends that I know and make prototypes and try to put these out. Being that I was already doing a deal with Roor, I presented to them as we’re already doing this bong deal. And at first - they were reluctant as never doing something like that or if people would buy them. I said I didn’t care if people would buy them, I want to do them, and I know that people will buy them, and I knew from my experience once we made my first prototype, because I made a prototype from a different glassblower, and then I presented it. So I had at least a few weeks of R&D with it, and I was like I need to make more prototypes, because I’m not smoking another joint without one of these, and I knew if that happened to me then it was going to happen to others. So I had the prototypes made and I sent them to him in Germany. They made their prototypes, which were better than the ones I had made, and we agreed those were going to be the ones that went to market. And we put them out and it was slow going at first. It was a new product, and people were like what the fuck were these. How do you use them, how do you roll with them, how do you stick your joint in them? And people didn’t get you put them in the joint, not in that you put the joint in the tips. But once they caught! And I mean they went – you know! And now there is a collector community that collects all our custom color coordinated tips like baseball cards - I never thought that would be happening. I thought we’d sell some tips and people would have a different smoking experience, but they went beyond that. And that was great. And now to see people that have knocked off the product, and see them everywhere now, even though it’s kind of shitty, that people knocked our idea off and put it in their products. It goes to show you we’re ahead of the game. And we still make these tips and we’re ahead of everyone at that. It shows you my theory that once people smoke with a smoking tip they weren’t going to go back. Now these days people are spoiled.. your average smoker that isn’t necessary educated about the tips, they’ll smoke those paper tips because that’s all they know - but once they get a hold of a Phuncky Feel Tip it’s over! I remember when it first started catching, there were certain glassblowers like ‘oh man, you didn’t create that, it’s been in the market forever.’ And I was like ‘OK find one, show me one, I issue a challenge to any of you motherfuckers, that is not wood, that’s not plastic that predates my tip..' And not one of them could do it, and they were just mad because someone that didn’t blow glass created something they could’ve easily done. And then after the fact that I’ve brought it out, you’d have all these guys went and made some tips because of me, because some were glassblowers and they could do that, but I've never gone after them, whatever they do, people are going to put it on my back anyway and will say that’s B-Real's idea, that’s the Phuncky Feel tip, and I never took too much offense to it, I just say I’ve had a great idea, here it is!

AM: Speaking of glass we saw the Dr. Greenthumb’s x Stündenglass Gravity Hookah on your IG because we check it out. It looks so elegant and smooth. Tell us about that partnership and what it’s like to use that.

B: Oh man, Seth Rogan was the first guy that they filmed with it and he blew it up and I think that they realized they had something there. And I think their idea was to get it in the hands of real celebrities that smoke weed and have influence. And I think they were working with G Pen, and I was working with G Pen on some of our Dr. Greenthumb's X G Pen collaborative products, like the Dash and the Connect and the Roam and while we were talking about that they were like what about doing a collaboration with Stünden. And I was ‘like yeah sure, send me over a sample of the product and let us fuck with it, and see.’ And if I like ‘I’m definitely down, but if I don’t like it I’m not gonna do it because I’m not going to put my name on shit that I would not use.’ So they send it over, and we immediately start fucking with it, but we’re not fucking it with flower, because you know I stopped hitting glass bongs a long time ago, just because I feel like at some point the hit gets stale, and I don’t want a stale hit ever, so I stick to smoking the joints. So what we did was we took one the connects that we have and we adapted it on to the Stünden because they had an adapter for that. We were using the Stünden for concentrate as opposed to flower, it was so awesome, that actually became part of our Dr. Greenthumb podcast where there’s a portion of the show, it was so awesome, and actually became part of our Dr. Greenthumb podcast where there’s a portion of the show where the last half hour where we take questions and comments and shoutouts from the fans, and a lot times they’ll be like we want 3 flips from B-Real, meaning they want me to hit that Stündenglass and take 3 hits of the glass and that became a thing, and when we started highlighting that type of shit on our podcast people started running to our dispensaries to buy those Stündenglass, we could not keep them in fucking stock. People use it with flower, I’ve seen Wiz Khalifa use it with the flower, but for us we use it for the concentrate, and it fucking works amazing. If anybody was going to do it, I would recommend to do it with the concentrate, do it with the connect, and it’s lovely. Bobo, he hit the first record with them, he hit 10 flips. One of our other guys did 15 flips and one of our other co-hosts did 20 flips and stuff like that. It’s devastating, but it’s a cool experience, people love that shit and they love seeing people testing their metal trying to do like 10-20 flips. I’m good at 3.

AM: Yeah 3 looks like a good start, definitely!

B: 3 is a good start..

AM: We cover a lot in food, from clean eating and meal prep, to fine dining and splurges. We loved the show Bong Appétit on Viceland that you hosted in ‘19, it was groundbreaking. What’s your take of cooking with cannabis, and edibles in general.

B: I think it's awesome. Because it gives people that may be a little intimidated by smoking it, a chance to have the experience through culinary. A lot of the people that aren’t educated in the cannabis world, that maybe are curious, it was the perfect show for them as they can find ways to infuse. You can infuse any meal, you can infuse any dessert, any app, and that show was sort of like a guideline to doing that. Since then there have been like 3 other shows that have knocked that show off that are doing relatively the same thing. But I think shows like that is important, whether it’s us doing it, whether its Kelis doing it, or whoever else - it’s educating people, and showing people a different way. Because not everybody wants to smoke, it's kind of loud when you're smoking joints or blunts or bongs, Its loud, bongs. Its loud, and some people are more lowkey than that and so you have a significant amount of people would rather do edibles and this is one way they can create their own edibles if they have any culinary skills, or at least to know they can find it somewhere, that there are meal prep places that can infuse food whether its CBD full spectrum or just THC. So I think shows like that are important, the lifetime that they last on the air that’s subjective. I think we got caught up with Vice while they were in a transitional period. I think that they needed more room for their news platform and what not. So Bong Appetit didn’t get brought back, but it was great while it lasted. I had fun with Vanessa and Miguel, they’re great people. Vanessa sometimes comes and co-hosts on Dr. Greenthumb podcasts and all that stuff, so we still stay in contact. And we’re constantly talking about maybe creating another show somewhere down the line, but more I think dinner party conversational style rather than competitive cooking and stuff like that. That was fun to see people doing that. but I think there is a bit of conversation to be had and a little bit more education to be spilled out there if you would do a dinner party style, but we’re working on it..

AM: In the age of Covid and smoking, and vaping, it’s more important than ever to elevate your workout and wellness game, what kinds of things are you doing to workout - are you hitting the gym, doing stuff at home, or doing more adventure fitness outside?

B: That’s a part of my culture, it’s a part of me. I’ve made that to be part of my daily ritual. Like I pray everyday, I work out. Like I smoke everyday, I workout. Because realistically doing what we do in terms of performances, it's always a high energy show and we’re always trying to give 110%. And so you got to stay in shape for that. And just trying to stay in shape for ourselves, for our families, trying to be as healthy as possible - maintaining a proper diet and workout schedule and stuff like that to keep healthy and fit, and to put the right fuel in our system - and the fact of smoking cannabis the way we do, is also therapeutic and healing benefit from that. So you know, I think that’s one of the reasons we’re still able to do it on the level we do, performing at a festival, a small club or an arena, of whatever - we're always ready for it. Because we always maintain to keep busy, to keep active. Now in our fucking 50s, we’re watching what we put in our bodies, sure we still have a good time and splurge now and then. But we’ve always been guys in terms of Cypress Hill that were into sports and competing, like we’d play a lot basketball and football back in the day. Sen Dog and Muggs played a lot of baseball; Muggs and I trained in martial arts and boxing, so we’re constantly finding ways to keep busy, training and keep ourself active – besides from performing on the stage because that’s a workout itself – but we workout to do that just like an athlete works out to play their perspective sport. So we feel like that is really important. And what I’m glad to see is a lot of golden era rappers, start to get in the gym, take care of themselves, investing the time and energy and putting it back in their bodies. I see Method Man’s fucking workout grind, crazy. Jim Jones always had a crazy workout grind. Action Bronson, I gotta tip my hat to my bro, because he’s working his ass off these days. It’s great to see guys like that taking care of themselves like that man. And us, at Cypress Hill, we’ve always maintained to do that, it’s part of our culture, it’s who we are. When we are on the road, we’ll all meet up at the gym and get our pre-show workout or day-off workout, and then back on the grind. We don’t stop, it’s important to us. We wanna be fit, we don’t want to be those dudes that are huffing and puffing and can’t complete the show, you know!

AM: It’s been real fun to catch up today! Is there any news or teasers on the upcoming Cypress Hill album?

B: Yeah, we’ll be popping that off in March of next year. We have one of the singles from that album coming out pretty soon. We released ‘Champion Sound’ early for the MLB video game, but there’s another one coming called ‘Open Your Mind,’ and we look forward to people hearing that, and I believe we are going to make the video to that pretty soon cause its going to be the lead single and what not. There's much more music ahead of me, I have so much more coming out in the next year and a half it’s crazy, but you know it’s all paced.

AM: Well that’s great – Congrats again on everything! The entrepreneurship lessons for people that you give - of just being yourself, doing something different, working in a big market, doing what you love - those are huge lessons for everybody!

B: Yeah I mean the one thing that anyone should take away from this is you get what you put into it. If you go halfway, all you’re going to do is go halfway. If you put it all in, and go all in, and dedicate yourself to it, you can get wherever you want to go! Obviously, you’ve got to have talent, and a little bit of luck, and a whole lot of faith, that you will do it - but you have to put the work behind it, and when it’s the time, you meet the right people, the doors open up, you go through that door, and it’s all about what you do from there. You know you can take yourself as far as you want to go. So I would just say to anyone, believe in yourself, believe in what you’re trying to do, and go at it 110%!”

IG @breal

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Front Cover, PG 18, 21, 30/Insane OG BTS | PG 16, 22, 33 + Back Cover Eitan Miskevich | PG 24 G Pen | PG 27 Pedro Garcia | PG 28 Kenji Fujishima | PG 30 Insane Cookies/Justin Mcivor |

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Read the SEP ISSUE #69 of Athleisure Mag and see Bringing the Smoke with B-Real in mag.

GOVERNORS BALL

Governors Ball celebrated its 10th Anniversary this year with a 3-Day Festival at Citi Field in Queens, New York. The show marked that live music was back and many artists were thrilled to be on stage for high energy, intimate connection and to delight their fans. Here are some of our favorite highlights from the festival - indeed everyone rejoiced amidst the exhilarating performances and anthems of this big lineup.

IG @govballnyc

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 156, 158, 168 Getty Selects | PG 160 - 167 + 170 Taylor Hill |

Read the SEP ISSUE #69 of Athleisure Mag and see Governors Ball in mag.

ELECTRIC ZOO

EZOO is one of our favorite NYC Festivals and this Labor Day on Randall’s Island Park, EZOO 2021 delivered another brilliant experience of top loved electronic acts, cool stages and tasty food/drink vendors as the US begins to re-open. With big sounds, cool vibes and sunshine abound, here are some of our favorite artists from this year’s event. Minds blown again – EZOO keeps proving it’s definitely a can’t miss event!

IG @electriczoonyc

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY Alive Coverage

Read the SEP ISSUE #69 of Athleisure Mag and see Electric Zoo in mag.

GET HYPED WITH WILL SPARKS

It's always fun to check in with those that we enjoy listening to their songs when we're working out, getting work done or simply passing the time. As we begin to add more events to our schedules from music festivals, concerts of our favorite artists and those that we can still enjoy virtually, it's exciting to see how we're continuing to transition into a new normal about the past 18 months that we have navigated.

We caught up with EDM DJ/Producer, Will Sparks to talk about the Melbourne Bounce, how he connected with music and made it his career, his upcoming EP and more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with music?

WILL SPARKS: I became properly obsessed with heavy metal at around 14, then Dance music at 16.

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to produce/DJ?

WS: Back then, many songs were unattainable. I was so fixated on the Melbourne Underground sound, that I figured, if I can't have them, then i'll make my own.

As a DJ, experimenting on my friend's set of decks. After a while I finally beat matched and transitioned a song perfectly. That's when I knew.

AM: You’re known for pioneering the “Melbourne Bounce” sound. Can you tell us more about what this is?

WS: Melbourne had it's own nightlife community. It was a family. There were so many clubs, none which tried to compete. The DJ's made their own music, unique to them. The sound was like nothing else in the world, ahead of it's time. The guys I look up to Kalus, Orkestrated, Stevie Mink, Joel Fletcher, Chardy & Heath Renata just to name a few. They influenced me to how I approached my sound. They were the real creators and pioneers of the original Melbourne underground. You can identify it as a 'kick & low bass, driving leads and large builds' but you have to hear to fall in love with it. I was in love with it - but I also had my own taste and swing on what it then evolved toward. I was placed in the perfect timing when the Melbourne sound became global and tracks i was making were getting played by the biggest DJs in the world.

AM: What’s it like when you are producing? How do you approach creating and ultimately creating a new sound? Where does your inspiration come from?

WS: What’s it like? There isn't a better feeling in the world when you're onto something you're absolutely loving.

I tend to blur out anything else that's going on, i don't listen to any music. I have my original hero's & always reminisce on my favourite records. This allows me to always create something that no one else is doing because it organically comes directly from within. People are so distracted by 'whats working' and therefore make what everyone else is making.

AM: We all have our COVID stories in terms of what we did while we had quite a lot of time to focus on various areas of our lives, what did you do during this time musically as well as staying in contact with your fans?

WS: I made an EP. I changed my sound completely. It was grounding having so much time instead of being away constantly. I always respond to as many fans as i can on Instagram but in terms of live streams, I like to keep them at a low. As I said, I don't really listen to any one else's music, so my sets are very unique and mostly full of ID's. I'd rather save it for the live shows to come.

AM: You released “Nothing More, Nothing Less” via Armada Music – tell us about this EP and what we can expect from it?

WS: As I said, I changed my sound. You would call it very techno inspired. I love the genre, but I also love being different to the genre, but I also love being different to the pack. If you like getting hyped, than expect some energy.

AM: Do you have any projects that you’re working on that you can share with us?

WS: So many, it's an endless roll out of records when you make music every day. It's too bad releases have to be a minimum of 4 weeks apart. If you see my catalogue you'd notice I don't collaborate much. I've decided to change that.

AM: What’s your schedule look like in terms of hitting the road as there’s nothing like being able to play live with an audience?

WS: I'm in Australia. It's never a certainty of what's ahead. I am so over it. shows come up and are then ruined by lockdowns. I just hope the whole world is back to normality as a whole ASAP.

AM: When you’re not making music, clearly you’re in great shape, what are you go-to workouts that you enjoy doing?

WS: Lifting heavy & eating like a freak. To be honest, I've had some injuries lately due to working out too much! I have too much time on my hands these days. My go to work outs are strength training but I tend to enjoy the odd HIIT.

IG: @Will_Sparks

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Will Sparks

Read the AUG ISSUE #68 of Athleisure Mag and see Get Hyped with Will Sparks in mag.

FESTIVAL SEASON 2021 | ELECTRIC ZOO SUPERNATURALS

We always love when we head back to the grounds of a festival! It’s the music, hanging out in the media tents, catching the vibes and more. Although last year, Electric Zoo didn’t have an in-person festival, we’re excited about this year’s! Electric Zoo will take place from Sep 3rd - 5th with a number of our favorite acts (a number of them have been covers or inclusions in Athleisure Mag - Steve Aoki, Valentino Khan, Kaskade, RIOT TEN)! We look forward to a great 3 days!

FESTICAL SEASON 2021 | PINKNIC

Sept 4th and 5th brings Pinknic to Governors Island! We’re excited that our NOV ISSUE cover in 2020 was SOFI TUKKER and that they will be rocking out here! If you have yet to get your tickets, you should definitely make sure that you do as this music festival is the perfect blend to mix music, rose and more together!

COUPLESHIP ROCK WITH PERRY + ETTY LAU FARRELL

We had the pleasure to connect with rock powerhouse couple, Perry Farrell and his wife, Etty Lau Farrell. Perry is known as the Godfather of Alternative Rock and is noted as one of the people to push the genre forward. From Psi Com, Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros and his solo projects, this frontman can do it all from lead vocals, writing and more. Etty is a classically trained dancer who toured with Ricky Martin, Madonna, Bon Jovi and joined the Jane's Addiction tour in 1997. She would go on to being a bandmate and being in a number of projects with Perry including being a vocalist in their band, Satellite Party and Kind Heaven Orchestra and being on the board of Lollapalooza.

We caught up with rock's glam power couple to find out about their love for performing, how they work together, Lollapalooza, and Perry Farrell: The Glitz; The Glamour box set.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Perry when did you first fall in love with music and when did you realize that you wanted to perform?

PERRY FARRELL: I was so fortunate to be able to be introduced to so many artists by my big brother and sister. He turned me onto The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and The Who which was my starting point. My sister loved fun and soul so I got to know about James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone and George Clinton as well as the Funkadelic - loved that.

I didn't really think about performing until much later in life in my early 20s! I felt that I had the frame for it as a skinny guy and that I could be a frontman. I knew that I could dance, but I had to have that voice.

So, I taught myself to be a lead singer! I would look into the mirror and imitate Mick Jagger and David Bowie. I wanted to create music that people could feel so I had my mixer, headphones, microphone and I would write songs.

AM: Etty, what was your journey to coming into music and being a vocalist, dancer and songwriter?

ETTY LAU: I had been dancing my entire life as I am a classically trained dancer as a ballerina! I was born in Hong Kong and I went to the Royal Academy of Dance and when I moved to Seattle while being in a dance studio there, I also attended the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Cornish College of the Arts. I came down to LA on a scholarship at 19.

We met in 1997 when Jane's Addiction was going back out on tour and I was on tour with them ever since.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Athleisure Mag is cofounded by a couple so we always like talking to couples who work together. You guys have worked together for decades from Jane’s Addiction, Satellite Party and your latest project, what is that like and how do you navigate the dynamics of work along with your coupleship?

ELF: We have a bit of an odd codependency with one another. So we share everything - a car, a stage, a hotel room.

PF: Even a toothbrush!

AM: Oh my!

ELF: No not a toothbrush, that's gross ha!

AM: Definitely have to have your own on that one haha!

ELF: When it comes to working together, I think of Perry like my boss in many ways. I know that when I'm on tour dancing for Jane's Addiction, he is the boss. I'm on the board of Lolla and I do a lot of the logistical things and make recommendations - but he is the boss.

PF: Absolutely not. I am not your boss, it's a partnership. When we work together, there is a give and take and it's all about immersing yourself and bringing all of these experiences together to make something meaningful and heartfelt.

ELF: We know our strong suits and we're able to play off of one another. What he has, I may not have and what I have he may not have - but together, it works as a true partnership! I know that he respects my opinion, but the final word is with him - I can only advise.

AM: The first music festival that we remember going to was Lollapalooza in 2007 and again in 2008. We saw Satellite Party, Daft Punk, Kanye, Lady Gaga - so many great acts and series of days. It literally started our path to attending festivals.

Like many this past year, it has been insane and between lockdowns, quarantines and pauses, plans were in the air and there were pivots. You guys had Lollapalooza virtually, but with vaccines being available, are there plans to resume this festival this year in Chicago and or global cities?

PF: Lollapalooza is a microcosm of music that has a massive amount of people that enjoy music over a period of days in various cities.

Because of COVID, we did a digital platform in 2020. We did 4 days online and reunited Porno, Janes and had people play live. It was fun because we went into archives and it was a great way to give everyone hope and something to enjoy.

If we can all stay on course, getting vaccinated, socially distant and mask up – maybe please God, we’ll get to go to Chicago in early August with an audience in one capacity or another for Lollapalooza – not a large one but maybe a half capacity. We can only respond to the people and what the city/government professionals say that we can do.

I listen to Joe Biden when he says that July 4th could be when we have our first small celebrations, then I’m going to say, that mine will be in August and I want to have it in Chicago. So I’m planning for a party in some kind of capacity for Kind Heaven Orchestra to come out there.

AM: Definitely hoping that we can go back to in person events! The fact that you guys use your platform to continue to drive the point home that wearing masks is a must and that they need to get vaccinated! It's a shame that it's become so politicized!

PF: Why do you think it's politicized?

AM: I'm not sure why! I think that wearing a mask is just being a good citizen and keeps yourself as well as those around you safe. It's such a small effort with a great impact to show that you're doing your part. The more we're able to do it, engaging in social distancing and safe behaviours, then we can begin to embrace the things that we have done before. It may be in a different way, but baby steps!

ELF: Without a doubt. I mean we have ideas of things; however, it's based on a number of things and ultimately, it's based on what the city will allow. But we're hopeful so keep checking our site and our socials for the latest information on that!

AM: One of the things that I have loved about your music Perry is that it has such a jazzy element to it. My great uncle was tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson who was with Blue Note Records and was part of the Hard Bop era.

As a power duo, you guys formed The Kind Heaven Orchestra. Can you tell me more about this and this 9 piece ensemble?

PF: Thank you yes and that's phenomenal! I love jazz, I love Duke Ellington, Miles Davis - their sound as well as their sense of style is just really something that I vibe with - that was great music.

The Kind Heaven Orchestra is an art collective and a music collective - an installation. We install for more than one day and I want to keep that going with that intimate scenario to see where it goes. Of course, it can be blown up too!

Before COVID, we were performing and I look forward to getting back to it when we're able to do in person events again!

AM: Your box set, Perry Farrell - The Glitz; The Glamour is a 35 year retrospective of your solo and artistic explorations outside of Jane’s Addiction and Porno for Pyros. With 68 tracks, vinyl, blue ray discs and remixes with Maceo Plex, Groove Armada, UNKLE and Hyper to name a few, photos and art - it's an epic and stunning box set to have. Why did you want to embark upon this project and how long did it take to put together?

ELF: We put it together during quarantine. It became our project!

AM: Wait, you just decided to put out this massive retrospective? Some people were making sourdough and you guys decided to showcase history!

PF: I tend to look forward and don’t look back. I like to keep it fresh. I had music all over the universe from Porno for Pyros stuff to Psi Com stuff and solo stuff. I had tracks floating around like they were comets and stars. I wanted everything in one place and to have my body of work. With the Internet, I love that you have a place where you can have all of your history and I had boxes of photographs which every picture tells a story!

ELF: It was going to a 50 page autobiography with photos . It's all vinyl and all solo work - so not Jane's Addiction. So it starts with Psi Com, Satellite Party and Kind Heaven. We have a few new songs in there too. It ended up being 100 pages with photos and about his childhood.

PF: There are 2 songs in the boxed set with Jim Morrison. I received an unearthed recording of The Doors’ Jim Morrison, written and recorded with Starcrawler. I had one of the tracks mixed by a Palestinian woman as well as an Israeli man who created mixes that are in the box set.

AM: When you look at 2020 and as we continue into 2021, there was a lot going on from COVID-19, the election, social justice, facing the need to talk about equality within Black Lives Matter as well as Stop Asian Hate – how are you guys utilizing your platform to lend your voices to this?

ELF: A lot of people don't know that I was born in Hong Kong and I know growing up when I came to the states, I had instances of prejudice and scary situations, but it is nothing like the trauma that is going on right now. We have to educate and bring awareness to what is happening and to speak out!

There are so many things that I want to do to continue to let people know about this. I'm even educating myself as well. When I open my mouth to speak, I'll know what I'm talking about. I think the more we learn about this topic, the more we learn about what we don't know.

AM: Couldn't agree more. It's so important to realize that this is going on and then to be an ally! As a Black Co-Founder whose boyfriend is Italian American/Jewish, he finds it important to not only be aware of what's going on but steps in to be an ally. I think this is so important when it comes to underrepresented groups whether we're talking about Asian, Blacks, LGBTQIA+. This is one of those issues that we need get people to realize that we will not continue to allow these horrific activities to take place!

PF: Absolutely. We need to stand in solidarity, love each other and to unite.

IG @PerryFarrellOfficial

@EttyLauFarrell

@Lollapalooza

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Perry + Etty Lau Farrell

Read the Apr Issue #64 of Athleisure Mag and see Coupleship Rock with Perry + Etty Lau Farrell in mag.

GOOD VIBES ONLY WITH SOFI TUKKER

This month's cover story features 2 X GRAMMY-nominated musical duo that we have been a fan of for awhile now. SOFITUKKER's music can be heard in some of your favorite Apple commercials, TV shows and even when you're hopping on your Peleton. This group is known for their jungle pop vibes and continuing to expand their footprint in the world through their creativity. We talked with them about how they began working with one another, how they got into the industry, their body of work and what they have been doing as they have navigated this time of quarantine.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Prior to becoming the powerhouse duo that you are, when did you fall in love with just music in general?

TUCKER HALPERN: I have always been in love with music. I played the drums and I was in garage bands growing up. But it al-ways took a backseat to basketball. That was my whole life for such a long time until I was like 20 – 22. For me, I didn’t really fall in love until the way that I am today until I got sick in college. That’s when I started turning my attention to something else. I really just fell in love with dance music and house music and stuff.

SOPHIE HAWLEY-WELD: I can’t really point to a specific period in time where I fell in love with music. It’s always been something that I have enjoyed listening to and I have always been dancing. I would always dance and be in musical theater as a kid. I started writing as a means of music therapy actually in middle school. I would play the guitar and I would write about my feelings. I found it so therapeutic to honestly just write about my experiences as opposed to thinking about it. It was my primary way of getting through my angst.

I was really into jazz and I took jazz singing lessons. I started to realize that I liked Brazilian jazz more than any other kind of jazz. I started taking Portuguese and I said, “hey, if I love this music so much, I should probably start taking lessons in it."So I really started loving the music and moved to Brazil for a bit and I just kept it going. I think it’s a long story but music is just such an experience in the way that you fall in love with it.

AM: We’re big fans of jazz music in our team and our co-founder’s great uncle was Joe Henderson, tenor saxophonist.

SHW: Cool!

AM: We love bossa nova as a form as well, what is it about this genre of music that pulls you in?

SHW: I just find it so intimate and sexy and soothing. I think that the language is perfect for jazz and singing. I think that it’s very vowel-y. I think it’s perfect and when you’re listening to it, the singers are whispering into the microphone.

AM: Pretty much.

SHW: Yeah and I just really enjoy that whole vibe.

AM: How did you guys meet one another and was the moment when you realized that you wanted to work together and that you had those traits that would be really beneficial together?

TH: Well, I think that I had to convince Sophie to do that – that I had traits to add to her repertoire. But the story goes, I was DJing after my basketball life in college during my senior year. I was DJing tons of house parties – like college stuff, but it was cool under-ground stuff. One of my friends asked me to DJ after this art show. We went to Brown and it was at this show in Providence in downtown like at a warehouse thing. I went early to set up and Sophie was the acoustical per-former at the art show and I think that there was only 10 people there. But I was sort of setting up and watching her perform with a couple of friends that I knew from my music classes at school. She was amazing and she was only singing in Portuguese and it was really beautiful bossa nova music which I had never really heard much of before.I thought that it was really cool but it was really slow. Like REALLY slow – like 4BPMs – I swear! I was like, man this would be so much cooler if it was more upbeat and had a house beat behind it. When she sort of finished and it was supposed to be my turn to play, I actually said casually,“hey keep playing and I’m going to bringing a beat with it.” So like, looping the intro with a house music track and I put it really slow at the tempo that they were playing at and then I started speeding it up and I said, “just follow the tempo.” She start-ed singing the song at a faster beat that was behind it. So I said, “ok this is going to work.

After that, I think she stayed for my set – did she?

HW: I did.

TH: You must have – you had to. She was probably hitting on a guy that was there ha.

SHW: Of course haha.

TH: So the role reversed. I had to introduce myself to her after I played and I was like, what were you singing. She told me that they were original songs that she made. I asked her if I could do a remix of the last one that she was singing. She agreed but told me that there was no real recording of it. I said, “cool, come over to my apartment tomorrow – a dorm apartment and let’s rerecord it and I’ll make an electronic version of the song. She did come over and we did start making a different version of the song and –

SHW: We just started working every day and making new projects. It was so easy to work together. Were we even friends? We started working with each other for a long time but we weren’t hanging out socially. We just had a great work friendship.

AM: That’s mind-boggling! You’d think that the two of you started this as being best friends or at least really good acquaintances.

SHW: Yeah we didn’t even hang out with one another outside of making our music. We were just making music. Eventually, Tucker convinced me that I should come to NY. Then I thought, “wait, who is this guy?” I talked to people that I knew that we had in common and I was like, “do you vouch for him and should I move to NY with him to create a band with him?” They were like, “oh yeah, he’s a great guy – you should go with him.”

AM: What is your process like when you do sit down and create music together? Do you guys have designated roles?

SHW: Yeah. Every song is very different. But for the most part, Tucker is at the computer and I’m on the guitar and writing most of the lyrics. Now he’s singing a lot more which is cool. It’s also because as the band has evolved we have done the same as well.

AM: You guys have worked with so many artists over the past few years, what are you guys looking for when you are deciding on collaborating with people outside of yourselves?

TH: Honestly, I think that we’re just looking at people with good vibes. We love working with friends and people that we admire and look up to. That actually has a lot to do with the vibe that they are putting out into the world. We enjoy working together. One of the coolest things about collaboration is about putting out like a baby into the world that you created together and then being able to celebrate that together. Then being able to perform it together. You’re sort of bonded with that group forever. It will sort of always be a part of who you are. It’s just fun and it also gets you to have that opportunity for that music to have a little more freedom.

Because you’re able to work with another artist who has their musical sound, we don’t have to worry about whether that music has the SOFI TUKKER sound and if itis really in our world, having that aesthetic and that palette because it’s a collab-oration. So it can also live in Icona Pop’s world or someone else’s world. So it can have a little more risk and it can be a little more out there. Maybe not more out there as I think SOFI TUKKER songs are out there.

AM: Oh yes in the best possible way!

TH: Right I love out there. In a way – the collaboration has a way of being able to be out there – you know what I mean?

AM: Yeah. It’s about blending. When you have two collaborators that you know their work separately, come together it’s a hybrid that’s undefined and gives you the space to create. That’s so exciting when you see that come together.

TH: You get me.

AM: Yes! Our team has done fun projects outside of Athleisure Mag. Our Style Director had the opportunity to style Nile Rodgers a few years ago and her style has its signature and Nile is known for his. So the two coming together to create a look really took the pressure off of her as they both had a united vision without her wondering how it would go against her aesthetic. She could just sit back and enjoy the work and embrace his vibes and interests while adding in her touches.

TH: Exactly, it’s fun to have the other create fingerprints on it as well.

AM: Prior to COVID-19, you guys had a number of tours that you were on and creating a number of amazing shows. In prep for this interview, when we have told people that you guys are the cover, everyone would tell us about their show experience when jamming out with you guys and how it was the best night of their lives. So many people have painted a picture for us about your shows, but for those that have yet to go, what is it like for one of your in-person shows?

TH: I don’t remember.

AM: It feels like so long ago!

SHW: It’s like an electric orgasm!

TH: It’s all that energy coming together on one wavelength. It’s like losing your shit. You know when you’re like 13 with your friends and you’re listening to music on your boombox in your room and you’re like dancing on your bed – like losing it? I try to bring the adult back to that – to that primal nature.

AM: Do you guys have pre-show things that you do to get your mind ready for the show and then things that you do when the show is over? You guys are pushing through so much energy that it’s unimaginable how much you guys must hype yourselves up and then come down from that whole effect.

SHW: It is a p-r-o-c-e-s-s.

TH: We have different processes.

AM: Assumed!

TH: I’m going to let Sophie go as it’s such a process.

SHW: I’m really sensitive to stimulus as a person. I have to warm up to and then cool down from it or else I would never be able to survive. Basically, hours before the show my prep begins. 4 hours prior to the show, I will have my last meal. About an hour before the show, I start my vocal exercises. They are very physical and funny. That will go for about an hour and a half. Down to the hour, I know exactly what I am doing. After my vocal warm-up, I will do my physical warm-up. It’s about rolling out my body and it’s intricate. For the last 5 mins, we will dance around and psych each other up. You know, just jumping around with nervous energy.

After the show, then I have a vocal cooldown and then ideally, there’s a bathtub or a shower that also helps me to come down.

AM: Although that was an unexpected answer, love hearing this and knowing that there is such a thing as a vocal cool down is something new to us!

SHW: It doesn’t take that long. It’s just learning about putting the vocal in the right place in your mouth if that makes sense. That way you don’t get hoarse. When you talk right after singing, it can be really draining on the voice.

AM: Totally. Tucker?

TH: Mine is a little simpler. Before the show, we both pretty much treat it like a basketball game. It’s all about the warmup, being able to blast music – usually, dance music. It gets more intense as it goes. The first hour maybe a bit more chiller. By the end, it could be trance by the time we’re ready to go out so we're losing it. I’m really big into warming up because if we don’t do it or don’t do it long enough, my hamstrings will just bedone and then it’s all over. Right before we go out, we really hype each other up and Sophie gives me a 5-star on the back, like a really hard one. And it always hurts, but it stings and it gives me a little extra jolt which I like – but I don’t miss it that much haha!

SHW: What?

TH: I call it the 5-star. Sophie didn’t know that that’s what I call it until now! It’s a big slap on your back – it’s a 5-star. Afterwards, I ice up my knees and my feet with bags of ice or an ice bath type of situation.

AM: Um truly like a basketball player!

TH: Yeah, it’s very similar to my routine when I was a basketball player. We kind of run around and go nuts on stage. When I come off stage, my shirt is entirely dripping in sweat. It’s like a full hour and a half of going nuts. So I really have to ice but I don’t have to do the wind-down when we go back to the ho-tel after shows, I can just lie on the bed and fall asleep a minute after raving. Sophie has to do like a full 2-hour yoga wind down. When we used to share a hotel room for the first couple of years because we had smaller budgets, it was not ideal to share a room. I’d want to put the TV on so that I could watch SportsCenter and fall asleep to it and she could not have any light stimulation or noise or she would not be able to fall asleep. She has like earplugs and an eyemask. If I had the TV on even in silent, she’d be like, “nope the light flickering is fucking me up.” I was like, “this is ridiculous.

AM: You guys have had such a successful career, you have 2 GRAMMY nominations, you’ve played a number of festivals, I al-ways love hearing your music when it's an Apple (Best Friend) or Peleton (Purple Hat) commercial – we’re huge fans of HBO’s The New Pope. So when we heard, Good Time Girls the opening song –that was amazing. What does it mean to you guys to have so much of your music placed into so many pop culture areas?

SHW: I think that we feel really lucky to be able to be in that space! It’s a great way for people to be able to connect to our music and it’s just such a great opportunity.

AM: Even as we navigate COVID-19, you guys have continued to stay connected with your fans. How did your daily con-certs from home start and how impactful has it been to be able to provide this to your fans? Especially when we’re in a moment where you can’t really, travel, tour etc.?

SHW: It started very organically and by accident. Tucker was DJing and I was working out. Our friend came down and started live-streaming what was happening. People were watching and it was really fun and we said let’s do it again. I think on the 3rd day, Tucker was like, we’re going to do this every day until COVID-19 is over. Obviously, little did we know that we would still be at it. What we’re doing is different than our live shows as this is a DJ set and has been so much fun. Honestly, it’s been one of the most meaningful moments that I would say of my life. We're in this moment in time right now where people are feeling loneliness and are suffering and we are able to bring people together every single day. Everybody that is coming together are our friends and our community is now called the Freak Famand it’s grown to be this big community outside of ourselves. They have come together and they’re so inclusive and warm– it’s been great to see and gives us hope. This year, we’ve seen a lot of things about our world that hasn’t been great so to see that there are people like this has really been something that I have loved being able to be a part of.

AM: Are these shows thematic by genre, country or dedicated to specific portions of your fan base? Do you guys just freeflow every day?

TH: The Freak Fam is really so world wide that our music is really for everyone out there. It’s interesting because there are so many different time zones and languages that for those, it would feel odd to be specifically towards just one place because it's so diverse. We have done specific shows like an all Australia set for Australian radio where it live-streamed and it only featured artists from Australia. We’ve done some Mexico specific ones – we’ve done it. But for the daily streams, we just try to keep it inclusive for everyone.

AM: When you guys createdTreehouse, there are so many good songs on it. How long did it take you to make it and what was that like?

SHW: It’s so different now versus then.

When we madeTreehouse, we didnt have real time off. We basically used the time in between our tours. We would go to the studio, work on the songs, etc. Since it was done that way, it probably took a year to get that album out. There would be gaps where we couldn’t work on songs for a number of months as it would be a couple of days here and a couple of days there.

AM: Last month we interviewed you andIcona Pop about the release of SPA which we loved. We just caught the video recently as we have it on repeat. What was the thought behind having Jordan Firstman and Mia Khalifa also being included in this video and how did that come about?

SHW: I think it started out with Icona Pop as they were friends with him. We’re so lucky that we were able to have them in their as they are so iconic and I love their videos. They’re both so cool and iconic in their own way.

AM: You guys have the interactive e-con-cert coming up on Yoop on Mar 12, 2021 at- live from their eSPACE in Nashville. How did this come together and how are you working in terms of being prepared for that one?

TH: We’re so excited about this one. We’ve been waiting for the right kind of virtual experience that would fit what we would want that would be really unique and would be different from going and watching one of our live shows from YouTube or something. We were looking for a platform that had a real two-way traction. One of the main parts about our show is the connection between us and the fans and the real give and take and not just for our enjoyment although we definitely do have that. But the shows have a real live effect as it gets everyone on the same wavelength which is an important part about our show. To try to do that in a virtual world through technology, we thought that this platform would be a great way to do that. It has no lag between communication. People can clap at the end of shows or scream and we can hear that. There are these 3 big movie like screens in front of us where the crowd would normally be and there’s the ability to scroll through thousands of people who are listening in from their house. We can even pick them out and hear them with no lag time.

It’s the first thing that we have seen that is close to a real show and being able to get that real energy. We watched a couple of them as they were getting their plat-form going and just watching the kinds of interaction between the artist and their fans, talking through the songs and see-ing everyone interacts – it was such a cool experience. It made me really thing that you were there in that experience altogether. You know it’s live. I’ve seen some live streams and it looks like it was just pre-recorded shows that you’re watching. That’s cool, but for us we want to try to really have that live feel.

AM: In these times that we’re living in right now, how are you spending your time in quarantine when you’re not doing your daily shows? Are you working on your next album or finding new hobbies that you didn’t know that you had?

SHW: We’ve never had this much time be-fore ever! It’s really interesting. We have been working on a lot of new music. I'm not going to announce anything specific.

AM: Thought so.

SHW: But, there is a body of work!

AM: Nice.

SHW: But we have never had this amount of time where we could work on songs like this. So we’re really excited about that process. I mean, we try to get outside a lot. I’ve been DJing every day. I wasn’t really DJing before this time. So I spend a lot of time practicing DJing now and I spend a lot of time doing tutorials. I take guitar lessons as well to take the time to work on my craft. I love being able to do that and I also play things in our DJ set of things that our Freak Fam is doing. It could be poetry or things that they are doing and so I will work on that. There’s a ton to do!

AM: How do you guys stay inspired?

SHW: I’d say that the DJ sets that we're doing right now are really inspired. It’s energizing and it’s fun to try out a set or song and see how it works. Then we can go back and work on it more and then try it out on a set again. It’s really cool to be able to have that feedback when we're working on something. We can go directly from studio to set to play it.

AM: A lot of people are thinking about what next year will look like in terms of returning to IRL events and things of that nature. Have you guys begun to sketch out what plans to doing something like that will look like? Or are you looking at circling that date in hopes that you can actually do that show or particular event?

SHW: I would say that we’re trying not to get our hopes up!

AM: Same!

SHW: I think that we actually haven’t even gone there. Like obviously our team is there creating plans, but in our hearts, we just believe that today is what today is and tomorrow is what tomorrow is. But it’s really hard mentally to go past anything like a month. I mean how the world is right now and what it will be, we know it’s really unpredictable right now and that’s all we can predict!

AM: We’ve literally had the same conversations on this end. When can we do IRL shoots, attend events etc. To be able to think about that and to think about the safety around those elements is just a lot to take in because the plans become so fluid and it’s definitely hard to predict. It’s too soon!

SHW: Yeah.

AM: What do you guys think about the fact that because you have had so much virtual/digital engagement and even hearing about this new platform that your show on the 4th will be on, everyone regardless of their vertical has embraced these concepts. When things at some point in life do get back to being in person, will you guys maintain some of these virtual nuggets that you have been playing around with and that people have enjoyed even when they can move around more freely?

TH: For sure! I think that he whole world has definitely embraced the virtual element in all industries. I’m sure a lot of companies are saying, “you know, we don’t really need that office space. We can do it from home and save all of this money.” I think that it will be the same in the music industry. We can’t get everywhere and there are still places that we have never been able to go. We have played in a lot of places but there are so many places that we haven’t been able to play for many reasons. Sometimes it’s just as simple as the currency of that country as doing it would mean that we would financially lose money and people can’t afford the show. I think there is such a good use of virtual shows and our DJ sets whether it’s geotargeted or geo-locked and can only be seen in certain places, I think it’s going to be really useful.

You can have people watching you from all over the world and be united and that doesn’t have when we have our in person shows. Only people in that space/that town get to be in that moment. It can accomplish something sometimes bigger and sometimes more broad. Because it’s free (not the Yoop show,) but what we have been doing is, hopefully, it’s just a 1-click for free mouse move as the barrier into entry. Those who may not have known us well enough to pay for a ticket or two to make a plan in their week to see us can do it now because of this platform when they wouldn’t have prior to. So there is always a good use for something like this and I think it will get creative when the world is back to the new normal or whatever it is.

AM: What do you guys see as being next in terms of the SOFI TUKKER brand? Launching a fashion line, getting into acting – are there other areas that you want to be able to embrace in addition to your successful music career?

SHW: Tucker is a thespian!

TH: No not really! Haha

SHW: Haha I don’t think my sarcasm translates well to print haha!

AM: Haha we caught it!

SHW: So we have our body of work that we are working on right now and I don’t think that we have ever been so proud of the music that we are making. We definitely are interested in launching projects of course.

TH: If you have anything in mind, we’re around!

AM: Of course!

SHW: We don’t have any booking plans right now to get in the way of that.

TH: We want to be able to continue to do what we’re doing and to grow the FreakFam as well! When live shows return, we want to be able to do it in a hopefully big-ger and more exciting place than where we left off. It’s exciting and we’ve loved being able to find ways to keep growing and to work with so many great people.

SHW: It’s been a really tough time as I’m really far away from my family. So that’s tough so to have the work that we do –our music and our purpose and to have a community that is so vibrant it really helps. It takes a time that is really tough and difficult and helps me and others get through it. It makes it a lot easier to focus on things and to be able to be excited about them.

AM: Clearly you guys inspire people with everything that you do. So we always like asking people who are 3 people that you know or admire from afar that have in-spired who you are today?

TH: There are so many people and I think when you think about the people that we have learned from – when we started the group or band or duo – still don’t know what to call it 5 years later ha! We start-ed, we were really uncomfortable taking photos, being on social media and we wouldn’t take selfies because we thought it was lame. Then something as simple as seeing other friends of ours do what they did and were amazing at social media, that was inspiring to us.

For me in short, it would be Larry Bird.

AM: Yes! Our Co-Founder loves Larry Bird!

TH: Is she from French Lick?

AM: No, Indianapolis but she’s all about him and you can never say anything wrong about him – his work ethic and focus is amazing.

TH: Exactly. I’m from Boston and as a sports guy, I grew up idolizing his work ethic, how hard he played and how hard he practiced. When I watched him play, that was always instilled in me and I learned it from sports. I knew that if you’re not working, someone else is getting better. It’s not like everything is a competition but it is competitive and that is motivating for me.

AM: In our Style Director’s home state, they believe in Life is Sports and Sports is life. How you are in sports is how you're going to go about life. So it is a competition and in many ways, that competition will be with yourself. And the reality is that someone else is also doing what you are doing so you need to be ready to perform. It’s a great point!

TH: A lot of what I learned there, we have brought into our world here. Being a captain on a college basketball team and working together – a lot of those skills are also applicable in what we do now and it was great to bring it in here.

SH: I’m going to give you an emotional answer because my grandfather passed away recently. I would say that he is one of the reasons why I am who I am today and he inspired me. A – he always treated me like I was the most special person in the world. The thing about him is that I think he actually treated a lot of people that way so it wasn’t just about me. That’s how he was with people and when he interacted with them, he made them feel that way. Feeling seen and having that kind of love in my life made me believe in myself and made me want to give that back to other people so that others could be seen and feel special. The other thing is that he was always jolly and I never heard him complain and I think that that value is something that we have also brought into the community and the band.

IG @SOFITUKKER

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS

Athleisure Mag's virtual cover shoot was shot by Co-Founder + Celebrity Photographer Paul Farkas. Throughout this shoot, Paul used an iPhone 11 Pro, iPad Air 2, Facetime and Clos.

STYLE CREDITS

Athleisure Mag's Celeb Fashion Stylist, Co-Founder, Creative + Style Director Kimmie Smith shares what she used to create the cover editorial with SOFI TUK-KER for a number of fun vibrant looks.

LOOK I | LOUNGE STYLE

FRONT COVER, PG 16 + 19 | SOPHIE: DIPPIN' DAISY'S Show Off Bralette + Friday Night Pant | MAISON MIRU Halo Oval Hoop Earrings in Sterling | EXPERIMENTAL JEWELLERY CLUB Gold Pyramid Stud Bracelet | NIKE Sneakers | TUCKER: RUSSELL ATHLETIC Tie Dye French Terry Hoodie + Short | PUMA RS-2K Messaging Sneakers | SOFI TUKKER Yellow Choker Chain |

LOOK II | SPORTY STYLE

BACK COVER + PG 20 - 25 | SOPHIE: L'OEUFPOCHE Cloud 9 Crop Pullover | L'ETOILE SPORT A-Line Skort | MAISON MIRU Halo Oval Hoop Earrings in Sterling | Nike Sneakers | BABOLAT Pure Aero Tennis Racket | TUCKER: ALO YOGA Idol Hooded Runner + Chill Short | MATADOR MEGGINGS Cubed Meggings | PUMA RS-2K Messaging Sneakers | SOFI TUKKER Yellow Choker Chain |

LOOK III | WEEKEND STYLE

PG 27 - 32 | SOPHIE: BALANCE ATHLETICA Tie Dye Hoodie | PANGAIA Lightweight Recycled Cotton Track Pants | MAISON MIRU Halo Oval Hoop Earrings in Sterling | PUMA RS-Fast Sneaker |TUCKER: MUNICIPAL Standard Issue 300 Hoodie | PUMA X KIDSUPER STUDIOS Track Pants | Nike Sneakers | SOFI TUKKER Yellow Choker Chain |

LOOK IV | STUDIO STYLE

PG 35 - 39 | MUNICIPAL Sport Utility Hoodie + Jogger |

LOOK V | CASUAL STYLE

PG 40 + 41 | KALORE Ivory Satin Top + Stretch Pants | MAISON MIRU Halo Oval Hoop Earrings in Sterling | STELLA MCCARTNEY Holographic Sneakers |

LOOK VI | CHILL STYLE

PG 42 + 43 | BALANCE ATHLETICA Tie Dye Hoodie | MUNICIPAL Crossover Short |

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@Shes.Kimmie

Hear EDM musical duo SOFI TUKKER on our show, #TRIBEGOALS - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multimedia companion podcast network! Subscribe to be notified when the episode drops. Listen on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

Read the Nov Issue #59 of Athleisure Mag and see SOFI TUKKER in mag as well as their 9PLAYLIST 9MIX.

BINGELY STREAMING

FYRE

Netflix

Debuts 01.18.19

It seems like at any given point, there is a festival of some sort. Groups plan on attending these music events from where they will stay, what attire they will bring, enjoying performances and of course, to capture the perfect Instagrammable moments. When the Fyre festival hit the Internet, everyone saw a number of the world's top models and influencers who rocked swimwear and enjoyed a number of activities that were on an island estate formerly owned by Pablo Escobar.

What was built as a luxury festival ended up being an epic disaster that left guests stranded and confused. Netflix's Fyre documentary shows how Billy McFarland looked to launch his musical booking app with the festival and partnered with Ja Rule. In addition, we see other vendors and team members that worked with him to bring his vision to light.

Throughout the documentary, viewers watch the mounting problems that forced the venue to change, push decision makers to consider unsavory decisions to bring water to the event and more. Billed as, "The Greatest Party That Never Happened" - you get the benefit of a bird's eye of all the details that led to this avoidable disaster.

LIFE ITSELF

Amazon Prime Original

Fans of NBC's, "This is Us" are aware of Dan Fogelman, who also directs this Amazon Prime movie, Life Itself. This film focuses on a young couple (Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde) that begins as a college romance, to marriage and the birth of their first child. With unexpected twists along the way, this story is a multigenerational love story that spans decades as well as continents that includes NYC in the US and the Spanish countryside. Interestingly enough, everything is connected by a single event throughout various lifetimes.

THE ROAD TO TOKYO 2020

Spotify

Athleisure Studio

Our avid readers have enjoyed reading our previous 36 issues. Over the holiday season, we launched Athleisure Studio, our multimedia podcast network for Athleisure Culture which has a number of shows within its slate. Our programming focuses on the inspirations, stories and shared moments with athletes, designers, artists, celebrities, entrepreneur changemakers creating dynamic impact.

What does it take to be an athlete that dedicates years to making a national team and to compete on a global stage for the coveted medal that defines their career. We all enjoy watching the Olympic Games whether it’s a sport, a specific athlete or just getting into the competitions. Before they hit the stadium, there are years of work, drive and focus that take place with countless training session, coaches, and qualifying competitions. Athletes come from various backgrounds and walks of life. They sacrifice their lifestyle, homes, jobs and personal life to prepare for and win these monumental moments and leave a lasting legacy.

The Olympics is a registered trademark of the International Olympic Committee.

Read more from the Jan Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Streaming in mag.

5 ITEMS FOR YOUR FESTIVAL STYLE

Read more from the Mar Issue and see 5 Items For Your Festival Style in mag.

NERVO YORK

We end our year the way we began it - with NERVO, but this time, in addition to our interview, we hung out with them right before their Lavo NYC show to shoot the International EDM DJ duo. Liv and Mim have been traveling, DJing around the world, releasing new  music and continuing to connect with their fans.

We brought them to Grammy winner and music icon, Desmond Child's home (we have an exclusive interview with Desmond following this interview), which was the perfect location for this shoot. We talked with them about what they're up to, who they've been working with, where they'd like to perform, their upcoming show for NYE at the W in Miami and what festivals you'll see them in during 2018.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We kicked off the year with an interview with you ladies and it's only fitting that we close it with you as well as you're gracing our Dec cover - what has been a snapshot of this year from what you were up to personally, musically, - whatever you wish to share.

NERVO: We have had a year of absolute madness. Lots of great things going on that we just need to pinch ourselves sometimes. We also are just doing our best to keep our heads above water and enjoy the little moments you know… We think all touring artists or just busy people, in general, are the same. There’s a lot of pressure mixed with a lot of adrenaline filled moments. It can be a lot sometimes!

AM: You ladies are multiple threats as you're DJ's, producers, songwriters, composers, models, brand ambassadors, etc., so it was only fitting to have you shoot in Desmond Child's home
- can you share some of your projects that you did this year or next year?

N: Tell us about it - Desmond Child is a total legend. What an honour to be shooting in his home! Love how we decked his house out.

So… We released a bunch of music this year, including a few collabs - one with New York based band Sofi Tukker and some others with more dance artists like DVBBS and Danny Avila, Oh, and then there’s the collab we wrote with Cheif Keef which was pretty special! We have been touring mainly Europe for the summer, but we also have our residency at Omnia in Las Vegas, which gets us over to The USA about 16 times a year.

We have a bunch of new songs in the works which we are focusing in on now. Quarters 4 and 1 are always for making new music and that means touring a bit less.

AM: What's the process like when you're creating your music and how is it different when you're creating something for another artist?

N: We’re more relaxed when we make music for others or even for a collaboration. Something about it being less pressure. When it’s your own record suddenly you feel like people are going
to hate on you if they don’t like it. It’s a part time job blocking out that noise!

AM: How do you go about finding inspiration for upcoming projects?

N: We are constantly inspired. To be honest we don’t have enough time to not be inspired. We have so many unfinished ideas that we just need an extra 2 days a week to finish. We must be
ADHD or something.

AM: What is a NERVO Christmas like - do you make it home to Australia for the holiday, do you guys cook and what gifts are you looking for this year?

N: It’s pretty low key and is the same every year. We have a huge lunch in our family home in Melbourne, then we all go to our Aunty Mary and Uncle Max’s home for more food, and then we
eventually pass out around 10pm with belly’s so full that we couldn’t dream of eating dinner! Leftovers are eaten for the next 4 days or so. We are Italian/Australian so there’s always SO
much food!

AM: This NYE, where are you playing and what about 2018 makes you excited to ring it in?

N: We are playing Miamiiiiiii! At the W Hotel. We can’t wait!! Miami is just the best for New Year's Eve. We think we might hang around a few days and have some beach time and Cuban food.

AM: What's on your playlist at the moment that gets you up and moving?

N: Massively inspired by what Jax Jones is doing at the moment. Sampling Booka Shade and flipping it into a 2017 anthem! Go JJ!

AM: Where are some festivals/cities that you'll be hitting this year that we can expect to see you performing at?

N: We are playing Tomorrowland in Belgium again. Always a yearly highlight! We are also playing Creamfields in South America. And of course, everyone can catch us at Ushuaia in Ibiza and Omnia/Hakkassan in The USA for our residencies.

AM: What is a gig that you would like to do ie. Super Bowl Half Time show, that you have yet to be asked to do but want to check off your bucket list?

N: Probably Coachella. It’s such a great festival and one of the only ones we have never been asked to play at. We don't think they like us. ha! Maybe we're too bubbly or mainstream or
something... We dunno. But we have been to the festival and it's such a great vibe. Always perfect weather.

AM: You're rocking a lot of fun styles throughout our Dec cover shoot, but what is your personal style when you head out to play a set for NYE versus when you're hanging out?

N: We like to dress things up when we play a gig. We love body suits, lycra, face jewels, creepers, teased up hair, more is more. When we are hanging out we’re a lot more chilled and casual - for example we are loving the Fenty clothes that we wore in the shoot for our travel/studio days!

AM: You guys travel a lot, what are your 3 musts that you take with you no matter what city you're rocking in to feel like you're at home?

N: Iijin snake skin silver and gold shoes (for Liv), Hairspray (for Mim), and our laptops (for both of us).

AM: The Winter Olympics are coming up and we're fans of curling, what teams/sports are you cheering for?

N: Ooohh we’ll have to check it out!! We do love to ski so that’s something we would like to watch. Does Australia even have a team? If Australia is competing then we would have to go for
them but if they don’t then we would go for Italy because that is where our parents were born :).

NERVO YORK CREDITS

COVER + PG 14 | FENTY X PUMA Blocked Track Jacket + Blocked Taped Track Pant | OUTDOOR VOICES Sport Bra | FENTY X PUMA AnkleStrap Sneaker | FENTY X PUMA Monday Cap | FRAME Le Original Patch Jacket |

FENTY X PUMA Hooded Zip Front Leotard | FENTY X PUMA Printed Bra | RUBEN GALARRETA Legging Harness |

PG 16 | BLACK MILK Fatale Dress | LAGOS JEWELRY Black Beaded Caviar Bracelet | ARTISTS' OWN Wrapped Bracelet, Charm Bracelet, Watch + Hat |

PG 19 | MCM Shearling Bag | ARTISTS' OWN Bra, Shorts + Scarf |

PG 20 | SPLENDID Racerback Turtleneck Sport Bra | ELIZABETH ACKERMAN Palazzo Palm Pants | DIANA ROSH FUR Olive + Blue Fur Coat | LOVE KNITZ Hat |

PG 21 | DIANA ROSH FUR Multicolor Coat | HAT ATTACK Arm Warmers | MIRA RAE Velvet Leggings | MCM Shearling Hat |

PG 22 | ROMPLY Blush Wrap Romper | HAT ATTACK Hat | LAGOS JEWELRY Ring | ARTISTS' OWN Bra |

PG 25 | ROMPLY Navy/Gold Tapestry Romper | NINA JEWELRY Swarovski Bangle | MCM Polke Backpack in Starry Eyed Bunny | ARTISTS' OWN Marcher Jacket |

Athleisure Mag readers know that a number of our shoots take place in luxury apartments that have yet to be released to the public or are being sold. We tend to maintain the privacy of the homeowners; however, this shoot was perfectly aligned as it took place at Grammy-winning and Emmy-nominated songwriter/producer Desmond Child's home!

He is one of the most accomplished hit-makers, having written and produced more than eighty Billboard Top 40 hits spanning five decades including "Livin' On A Prayer”, “You Give Love A Bad Name”, “I Was Made For Lovin' You”, “Dude Looks Like A Lady”, “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” and “Waking Up In Vegas.” From Aerosmith to Zedd, his genre-defying collaborations also include Bon Jovi, KISS, Motley Crew, Joan Jett, Cher, Michael Bolton, Cyndi Lauper, Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks, Meat Loaf, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Sia, Mickey Mouse and Kermit the Frog, selling over 500 million records worldwide as well as downloads, YouTube views and streaming plays already in the billions. His upcoming autobiography LIVIN' ON A PRAYER: BIG SONGS BIG LIFE with David Ritz is scheduled for release the Fall 2018. Desmond Child was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008 and serves on its Board of Directors as well as the Board of ASCAP. In 2012 he co-founded the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame and serves as its Chairman/CEO. He is also Chairman of The Fountains of Musica Foundation, who’s mission is to complete Alan LeQuire's aquatic bronze masterpiece MUSICA located at the entrance to Nashville’s Music Row.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It was an honor to shoot in your beautiful home and NERVO was very excited to see that they were in your apartment. Please share with our readers about how you got into the music business and whom you have worked with.

DESMOND CHILD: My beautiful mother, the late Cuban poet and Bolero composer Elena Casals, was always writing her romantic and soulful songs at her old upright piano on the dairy farm in Hawthorn, Florida, where I was born in 1953. At that time, I didn’t know that most people don’t write songs as a natural expression of the ups and downs of ordinary life. I would sit on my mother's lap at the piano and bang out long unrepeatable classical sounding improvisations. As soon as I could sit upright, she would make me play for her bohemian friends sitting around on the floor smoking and drinking during the Mad Men era when that was actually still good for you.

Not being able to afford a gift, I wrote my first official pop song titled “Birthday Blues” at the age of 15 in 1968 as a birthday tribute to a beautiful girl I was trying to impress named Laura
Stern. After that, I never looked back and kept writing songs all the way into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, where I was inducted into in 2008. That only took 40 years. ;)

ATHLEISURE MAG: Your home is awesome and there were so many elements that were amazing, but we all enjoyed your piano - when did you decide that you would have these notable talents sign your piano, and are there signatures that you have yet to get, but still
want to have in there?

DC: It was a random day, and I was walking down 57th Street, and when I got to the Steinway showroom, I looked through the window and saw this gorgeous Steinway D lit up like it was on a stage. I went in, sat down at it, and it seemed to just play itself. I ended up buying it on the spot, but I had to put it in storage for 2 years while my apartment was being renovated. When the time finally came to move-in the piano, I had to hire a crane to lift it up on its side in a massive wooden crate and slip it through the living room window.

It was an incredible feat that tied up Fifth Avenue traffic and pissed-off a lot of people.

As soon as I started doing writing sessions with top stars or important visitors, I would ask them to write their names in the piano along with the date. It started to get crowded in there and some names are completely unrecognizable, so I guess I will have to create a map of the stars to keep track of them all.

These are the names I would love to have in the piano: Joni Mitchell, Sir Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson, Sade, Imogen Heap, Paul Stanley & Gene Simmons, Beyonce & Jay Z, Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry.

AM: Are there projects that you are working on that you can share with us?

DC: I am just putting the finishing touches on my auto-biography - LIVIN' ON A PRAYER: BIG SONGS BIG LIFE with David Ritz. I hope to release in the fall of 2018.

AM: What is currently on your playlist?

DC: I only play two records ever… AMOROSO by Jaoa Gilberto, produced by my dear late friend Tommy LiPuma, and Sade’s epic LOVE DELUX. Over the past 5 years I’ve added Concha Buika’s
rare but exquisite albums. Any other music I hear is by accident.

AM: With New Years Eve just around the corner, what's the perfect playlist that we should be creating to celebrate the end of 2017 and the start of 2018?

DC: Any of Amy Grants 5 Christmas albums. Amy is my husband Curtis’ favorite artist of all time…. It just ain’t Christmas without Amy Grant.

We enjoyed finding out more about Desmond Child and his home which is currently on the market. We sat down with Louise Phillips Forbes of Halstead properties to find out more about 1215 Fifth Avenue #8CD as well as the neighborhood it resides in.

ATHLEISURE MAG: There are so many great aspects to this apartment, from its layout to the INCREDIBLE views of Central Park - what can you tell us about this property?

LOUISE PHILIPS FORBES: What’s not to envy in this exceptional home?! It’s a full-floor combination apartment with panoramic views of Central Park that are breathtaking year-round, and an abundance of custom designer details like art-deco moldings and Venetian plaster walls. The grand and expansive formal living room is an entertainer’s dream with four large picture windows (manufactured by Hope's) facing west, high-beamed ceilings and a statuesque
wood-burning fireplace. Plus, the spectacular views carry through to the formal dining room. A peaceful retreat, the master suite also showcases the Central Park views and features superbly crafted built-ins and an oversized walk-in closet that resembles a luxury boutique. You can escape to the spa in the elegant Vitrolite tile and Terrazzo master bathroom with a deep soaking tub, double sink vanity, walk-in steam shower, and heated floors. But it's the park views that will transport you to another world. A culinary delight, the eat-in chef's kitchen is the heart of the home with an open design that includes a substantial casual dining/living and media area. Kitchen highlights are the sophisticated Terrazzo countertops, abundance of pantry storage cabinets, and high-end appliances. A coveted laundry room holds the side-by-side and full-size Miele washer and Asko dryer with a sink and storage. To top it off, there is a new state-of-the-art Lutron lighting system and Crestron integrated surround audio system with built-in
speakers all through the apartment. Two oversized bedrooms and a second full bathroom complete the home with through-wall AC's in every room and great closets throughout. It’s pretty close to perfect!

AM: What amenities are offered in this building for residents?

LFP: A pre-war treasure, the Brisbane House at 1215 Fifth Avenue was developed and built in 1928 by distinguished journalist and columnist for Hearst newspapers, Arthur Brisbane, and designed by the renowned architectural firm Schultze & Weaver. The beautiful 16-story limestone-and-caramel-brick building boasts an elegant lobby and full-service amenities, including 24-hour doorman, live-in superintendent, private courtyard, fitness area, central
laundry room, personal storage, bike storage, and pet-friendly attitude.

AM: Tell us about the neighborhood that is directly around this building and what neighborhood is this considered?

LFP: A premier residence nestled near Carnegie Hill, this elegant gem is conveniently located across from Central Park and along Museum Mile with easy access to world-class exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, among others. Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue
beckon with high-end boutique shopping and fine art galleries, plus there is an abundance of distinguished restaurants, charming cafes, gourmet grocers, supermarkets, Equinox Fitness
Club, the 92nd Street Y, and many popular retail destinations.

AM: For those that are interested in purchasing this unit, how can they find out more information?

LFP: It would be very easy to call this stunning apartment home given the grandeur of the rooms, designer details throughout, and abundance of Central Park views! To schedule an appointment, simply contact me directly and I will be happy to give you a private tour and discuss the purchasing details. You can reach me via email at lphillips@halstead.com or at 212-381-3329.

AM: Where can readers find out about additional properties that you represent?

LFP: Visit my website and click on the tab for “My Listings”. You can view pictures, 3D floor plans, and videos along with detailed descriptions of each property I’m working with from
downtown to uptown. The available homes range from a three-bedroom loft apartment in Tribeca to a 6-story grand townhouse on the Upper East Side.

Read more from the Dec Issue and see NERVO YORK in mag.

NYC PRIDE

We're pretty excited to be media sponsors of NYC Pride which kicks off today starting with the PRIDE Luminaries Brunch and ends with the PRIDE Parade on Sunday. Make sure that you check out the schedule in order to see which events you and your friends plan on going to this year.

COACHELLA | WEEKEND 1

The first weekend of Coachella takes place over Easter Weekend and if you can't be there or are anticipating what the next weekend will be like, you can listen for free via Youtube's channel! Although there are a number of great acts, we're excited for Radiohead (which will play on Fri of this week) as well as Kendrick Lamar on Sat.