Rich DietZ
1) Introduce us to Rich DietZ and tell us something about yourselves that your fans may not know.
A: Joe: I’ve been listening to and sharing house music as long as I can even remember. In elementary school I used to bring my brother’s mix tapes with songs like Witch Doctor by Armand Van Helden and Plastic Dreams by Jaydee and blast them on the walkman every day. I will never forget the day the bus driver actually played the cassette tape on the school bus stereo system and everyone on the bus including the driver looked at me like “What is this?!” Needless to say he kept it rockin’ til we got to school.
Mike: We’re just your friendly neighborhood sauce dealers!
2) How did the two of you join forces and start producing with each other?
A: Mike: We both grew up in New Jersey, which is where we originally met. However it wasnʼt until years later when we were both living in Florida that we started hitting the studio together.
Joe: Around that time we decided we should link up since we had very similar goals and no friends, so we started Rich DietZ and became best friends forever.
3) How did you come up with the stage name Rich DietZ?
A: Mike: My last name is “Dietrich”. I called Joe one day and when he answered the phone he read it off the caller ID backwards and slapped a “Z” on the end of it. We had this moment where we got so hype on it we were just screaming “Rich DietZ” back and forth on the phone.
Joe: At that point it was pretty clear that “Rich DietZ” was going to be the move and the name we could use to share our love of music with the rest of the world.
4) If you could describe your sound in 3 words, what would it be?
A: Mike: Space house broooo!
Joe: What he said!
5) Do you enjoy sports? If so, what sport is your favorite and who is your favorite team?
A: Mike: We’re definitely both sports fans. My favorite sport is baseball, and my team is the Mets (American Baseball).
Joe: I am indeed a sports fan. I love the New York Giants (American Football). In all honesty though, once my fantasy football team is drafted they ultimately become my favorite team.
6) Did either of you play sports growing up? If so, what sport?
A: Mike: I think I played every sport there was at some point, including a few I made up in the backyard with my brother and friends when I was a kid. I also played competitive baseball all the way up into college until I got injured. I also enjoy extreme sports, and I still surf regularly when the waves are up!
Joe: Growing up I mostly played soccer and basketball, and ran track for a short period of time. I’ve also always had a love for extreme sports like skateboarding and snowboarding. I picked up skateboarding when I was about 10 years old and snowboarding by the age of 13. I’ve spent a lot of time on boards and find it a great way to clear my mind.
7) Do you see the connection between music and sports and how they are both connected to each other?
A: Mike: We definitely see the connection. Music has the ability to put you in the perfect mindset for any type of activity. Whether part of an athlete’s pre-game ritual or day-to-day training, it can really add that extra juice to help perform at the highest level.
Joe: Agreed. Music provides both athletes and fans a type of soundtrack. Preparing for the big game, during the game and then also for the post-game celebration, the right music sets the tone for the emotion and energy of the sports world. There is a reason why teams come out to music before a game and there is always some hype music playing whenever a team scores or someone makes a great play.
8) When you guys are in different places from one another, what is that work process like?
A: Mike: It’s like a highly functioning long distance relationship! It’s really not as hard as it may seem, we share projects back and forth all the time, we critique each other's work until we come up with a solid record and then we run with it.
Joe: We’ve managed to turn it into a strength. If we’re not actually in the studio or on the road together then we spend a lot of time on the phone or Skype. Also, with Splice being in the game it helps an incredible amount, considering we can work on projects in separate locations in real time.
9) Do you have plans to release more records this year?
A: Mike: We’re constantly creating, whether it’s in the studio or on the fly, so we’re always cooking up and dishing out new original releases. Check out: SoundCloud.com/RichDietZofficial
Joe: And for any DJ’s out there, we got a bunch of TreatZ for you. We’re constantly sharing custom flips, edits, remixes, and mashups. Check out SoundCloud.com/RichDietZTreatZ
10) If you guys could only have 1 collaboration for the rest of your career, who would it be?
A: Mike: This is a tough one, but Iʼd have to go with Skrillex. I would love to just sit down and just nerd-out with him, I feel like he has an endless knowledge of production techniques and music in general. Plus, the collab would definitely be a monster!
Joe: In all honesty I feel like a collab with Dr. Dre! He has been around for such a long time and has worked with some of the biggest artists in the game so I think being able to work side by side with him would be awesome. I also think infusing some real hip hop into our bass house sound would make for a wild track.
11) What are your goals for this year?
A: Mike: Overall we want to just keep building, but our main goals are to continue releasing records, and building our brand.
Joe: We’ve been so fortunate to have early support from friends, family, and fans. For us this year is just the next chapter. We’re determined to keep releasing dope music and inviting others to be a part of our story.
12) What is next for Rich DietZ?
A: Mike: We plan on taking Rich DietZ as far as possible while maintaining the fun party vibe and community we’ve been building around us. We will continue to release as much music and as many edits as possible and play as many shows as we can.
Joe: Yeah, we’re definitely doing this until we’re all partying together with Diddy on a yacht somewhere in the carribean, or maybe Greece. Then we’ll probably keep releasing sick party music, but also dip our toes into acting.
Follow Rich DietZ:
Twitter - @RichDietZmusic
Soundcloud - @RichDietZofficial
Instagram - @RichDietzofficial
