Written by Jason Cook

Second Sun have been around for quite a while now and have been working hard at getting their music to the people. Years of hard work is finally paying off as they are now really making waves in the dance world. Their inventive new take on live shows and their ability to keep upping themselves each time with crazy fun dance material you can't help but rock out to, is helping them gain those fans they have always wanted. With their first full length album "Inside Out" already under their belt on System Recordings, several singles released through Paul Van Dyk's, Vandit Records, and some of the biggest DJ's in the world playing their tracks, things are starting to really take shape for these two guys from way up North. I caught up with them after their rockin' show at Avalon in Los Angeles recently..

Jason: Who are you? Where do you even come from? What do you do/background/favorite color gummy bear... you know the drill...

Antoine: My name is Antoine, he's Adam and we're originally from Montreal. We've been playing and studying music since we were kids. Favorite color of gummy bear is red, but I've always dreamed that one day there would be purple ones. I've never seen any. Why?! I love the flavor "purple".

Adam: Me too.

How did growing up in Montreal Influence you and your music? How did you guys come together and form Second Sun?

Antoine: Well, when I was 13 I started going to underground raves in Montreal and it was amazing. The rave scene was still at its baby steps, so it was new and exciting. I didn't seem to fit in with the others in school but when I went to raves, I felt right at home. I got so into the music that I quit all the rock bands I was in to start learning how to make electronic music.

Adam: That's when we met. Antoine was buying some studio gear and I was the guy selling it to him. Things really clicked so we started working together.

Jason: That's really sweet.

You guys are doing something very different in the dance music world. Explain where you think things are headed and where you would like to see them go.

Antoine: Well, I can't say where I'd like the others to be going, but I can explain what we're all about. We're really into song-driven dance music. In other words, we think that a dance song can have lyrics that go beyond "move your body". I think in a set or an album you can still have those banging club tracks, but when you balance it out with a real song that people can identify with, it makes the experience even better.

Adam: And for people that don't already know, we'd like to specify that we're not Djs; we're a live act. Lots of people are saying these days that live dance music is the future in clubbing but as for us, we just do what we've been doing all our lives; We make tracks and then perform them on stage. When we got into the dance scene, we didn't want to compromise and become Djs, we stuck to our guns and told promoters we would only do live acts.

Talk about your first LIVE show.. I remember seeing you the first time at some super small Venue in Downtown L.A. 4 years ago or something. Now you are playing some of the biggest Venues in the country. That must be a fantastic feeling.

Antoine: Yeah, it was definitely a long process before we could actually make the whole live thing happen. At that time, we were making tracks but we just weren't ready to play live. I'm so glad we waited until we were ready. We cherish every gig we have no matter where we're playing and we always try to make it special. I think that's one of the main reasons why the response to our shows has been so big.

Any cool collaborations in the works now or in the future?

Antoine: Yeah, we just finished a really cool remix of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" with Miami Space resident Cedric Gervais. Get ready to hear it during conference! Djs like Sander Kleinenberg and Deep Dish have been buzzing about it.

Adam: We also have some other collaborations in the works, but we'll keep those secret for now.

You recently did a cover of "Staring at the Sun" by T.V. on the Radio. That's a great track! You also did a cover of Thunderstruck by AC/DC. These are a pretty wide range of songs. Explain your choices, or what inspires you to cover songs like these.

Antoine: Well, for "Staring at the Sun", I really loved the original but I felt we could bring it to the next level. The original has this tension throughout the song, but we never really get the release. I feel we brought it there. We had this Itunes EP to finish, so this was the perfect platform for us to experiment.

Adam: As for "Thunderstruck", that's just us having fun in the studio. In the end we think when you have that much fun doing something, the listeners will have just as much fun rocking out to it.

Antoine: We try not to think too much before working on a track. We don't want to spend our time worrying about what style it is, and if we might lose fans because we're taking risks. Good music is good music and that's it. You can have shitty house music and amazing trance and vice-versa. In our opinion, there's good stuff in all electronic music styles.

How did you hook up with Paul van Dyk and Vandit? What's the story there?

Antoine: Well, back when Twilo in New York was in its golden years, I used to go down there to check out Paul's legendary 8-hour sets. After finishing our first track "Empire", I handed him the track at Twilo and a week later we got an email from Germany saying Paul wanted to sign us to his label Vandit.

How did you get into Twilo back then? Weren't you like 12 or something?

Antoine: No, I started raving really young but in the Twilo days I was about 18 and the club had 18 & over nights.

Second Sun: your name. Why/how? Any cool stories there?

Antoine: Hmmm... I'd like to explain, but I know people are gonna call me a hippie for this! (laughs) Oh well, here it goes: If the sun is the first source of energy, than to me human beings are the second source of energy: the Second Sun. So who is the Second Sun? You, me... we all are! This sounds cheesy, but I've always believed in the power of the individual and that people have more power over their destinies than they would like to think.

Adam: Go eat a tofu burger you damn hippie! (laughs)

Wow you guys ARE Hippies!

Antoine: Everybody who's been to a TOFU FESTIVAL, raise your hand...

Eep! You got me there. Guilty.

Let's talk about touring. How long have you been out now? any fav spots or memorable stories? Talk about the tour bus maybe...

Adam: Well, we've been traveling around for about a year now. We thought we could wing it by only staying in our tour bus and hotels, but we soon realized that we need a place to call home-so here we are in Miami.

Antoine: Yeah, a bus tour seemed cool at first but when you're not Aerosmith, things aren't so easy. For example, we got stranded for days in the outskirts of El Paso for days! Our tour bus was dead, so we had no power and no air conditioning while we were in the desert; only my good old acoustic guitar. Oh yeah, and the guy in charge of the repair was an escaped convict that would shoot coke in his arm every day. Nice!

That's FUN!! It's always nice to make new friends on the road no?

Antoine: Absolutely, when you're traveling on the road you're bound to have much more of an experience than if you just do the whole plane/hotel/club/plane home combo. We fly now but I'd love to have another adventure on the road. Even the bad stuff (flat tires, etc.) always turns into a funny situation if you're with the right people.

How's Miami treating you? How/why did you end up there?

Adam: We're completely in love with Miami right now. We got our new studio up and running and we've been in there everyday!

Antoine: The studio is only minutes away from Space so last weekend we were lucky enough to finish the Queen remix at 6 am and make it to the Space terrace by 8 to hear it being dropped during the Sunday morning sessions! So we're pretty much always in the studio except we're out playing somewhere during the weekend. We haven't had as much beach time as we would like, but it's all good. There's nowhere I'd rather spend my time than in the studio.

Inside Out: Album Sales iTunes store?

Adam: After our album "Inside Out" did really well on iTunes, our label asked us if we wanted to do iTunes exclusive for North America. That's how our mini iTunes album "Uncovered EP" was born.

When can we expect a sophomore release?

Antoine: We're always working on new stuff so when we feel we have enough material to form a second album, we'll just put it together. I think it's better to just let the music flow than to sit down and say "OK let's make the second album. Track 1..."

Any plans to conquer Europe? Any other countries?

Antoine: Yeah, after playing a lot around North America, we're gonna start performing in Europe, Asia and South America as well. We're really excited to get back to Europe after only having played twice at Paul Van Dyk's nights in Berlin.

What WMC parties are you playing? Ultra is HUGE for you! Thoughts on playing in front of 1000's of peeps?? Any surprises for that show?

Adam: This year's conference is definitely gonna be a big one for us. We're playing 4 parties: The Wet Grooves pool party on the 23rd, the main stage at Ultra, another pool party and then we'll be the first live act ever to play on the Space Terrace for the WMC closing party. That'll be on the 29th.

Antoine: As for our thoughts about Ultra, we're more excited than nervous. When we were still learning how to do these live shows, I used to be nervous before shows because we've had our fair share of technical problems. But now after all the shows we've done, we're like a well-oiled machine... so bring it!!

Adam: I find bananas to be quite tasty.

Jason: Um, thanks Adam.

Explain any influences you have. Are there any new tracks or DJ's or artists that are on your iPod or at least your radar?

Antoine: Hmmm, there's so much, but here's an example. Right now, I just can't stop listening to Nine Inch Nails. I'm really into sound design, so I know when something is worked on or when someone just uses a preset on a synth. To hear how Trent Reznor works with sounds and melodies truly amazes me. Their show is also amazing so when you can carry your vision from the studio to the stage, move so many people and keep it going for so many years, I have nothing but respect for that. I'm a complete music Junkie and I could go on and on about by musical tastes so... next question!

Has MySpace helped you reach a larger audience and fan base? Who gets to read the messages? Antoine or Adam?

Antoine: Yeah, our MySpace has been really busy. I think it's really cool that people can check out some music and contact their favorite artists directly. That's why I make the time to answer all the messages.

Who did the sweet artwork on Inside Out?

Antoine: Some jerk called Mason Hook. For more info on his work, you can check out www.wandwaver.com

Thanks Guys!

If you are Lucky enough to be In Miami next week DON'T MISS one of their live shows! Super Fun Rockin Out to be had! I'll see you there!

Second Sun's debut album "Inside Out" is in stores now, their latest single "Playground" is out on Vandit Records and their "Uncovered EP" is available on the iTunes music store.

For more info, visit www.secondsun.info or www.myspace.com/secondsun