Los Angeles based trio Cheat Codes consists of original members Trevor Dahl, KEVI, and Matthew Russell. Formed in 2014, the group is young, but their mantra is empowering, strong, and clearly working for them. We recently had the opportunity to sit and chat with these super chill guys and they let us in on ‘the Cheat Code way’ and how that propelled them from producing tracks together in the very apartment they shared to touring with The Chainsmokers. They believe anything is possible and with that mindset they’re not settling for anything less than what they set out to achieve. Here’s what Cheat Codes had to say about their big break in the industry, defining goals, and how everyone can find their very own “cheat code” in life. The song “Sex” with Kris Kross Amsterdam is one of our favorite songs that really captured our attention. We have always wanted to ask, how did that song come about?
[Matthew Russell] The original came out in 1991. The original was embedded in my brain somehow. At the time we were working on a completely different instrumental track and out of nowhere I started humming out that song. I left for a like 45 minutes or so and when I came back these guys already had a verse and a pre-cord written. Not long after, we finished it up and sent it to Spinnin Records. They messaged us back telling us that they would like to work it with Kris Kross Amsterdam and not long after we had a track. It literally came together that fast. It’s amazing though. The bigger you get the more hoops you have to jump through. So when you’re independent it feels like things come together faster.
[Trevor Dahl] Its true though, like none of the songs that we released really cost us a lot of money. It all comes together it seems. It’s just like us doing things in our bedroom. We would just make a song, put it on Spotify and it would get 400M plays. The technology is here and if you have a good sound the sky is the limit. How was it going on tour with The Chainsmokers?
Well we definitely learned how to take some Fireball shots. All kidding aside they really know how to cater to their audience. They are entertaining and great at getting the crowd into their music. At the time, not many of us had been to a dance music show and it was there that we realized how connected the whole dance music community is. 24
It’s amazing how the crowd interacts with the DJ. It comes to life. The Chainsmokers do that. They bring the party to life and that is one of the main things that we took away from going on our first tour with them. We do that now. We cater to the audience and break genres so that at every show you leave wanting more of the music we create. You are genre breaking; there is nothing you guys can’t top. Talk to us about the versatility of your music and why that is important to you?