TV Rock Interview

TV Rock

TV Rock is Grant Smillie and Ivan Gough, it has been way too long since these boys put down a CD for onelove, and now they are back with their spark! TV Rock are superstars in Australia and on a world-class-level.

In the past two years TV ROCK have set the benchmark in Australia for dance music, selling over 160,00 copies of their debut single Flaunt It, picking up the ARIA awards for best dance release and highest selling single in the country in the process. Their second single The Others spent 12 weeks at the #1 position on the Australian dance charts.

The TV ROCK team of Grant Smillie and Ivan Gough have been hectic in the studio working on new tunes with their very good friend Dirty South and have been remixing some of the dance heavyweights, including TV ROCK mixes of Groove Armada, Axwell, Armand Van Helden, The Migrants, MURK, Dirty South, Tune Brothers and Supafly with more to follow due for release this European Summer.

TV ROCK have held seven #1 positions for their remixes on the Australian dance charts and their latest original track Been a Long Time is currently #1 on the Australian club chart.

Grant hosts a national radio show Overdrive on the Nova network and it is the most popular dance show in Australia. Ivan and Grant have sold over 150,000 mixed CD compilations in Australia. Ivan has remixed the most amount of artists in Australian dance music.

What is the best thing about being a DJ?

TV Rock: I get to travel the world and do a job that I really love a lot of people are just in their jobs for the money and not for the love. We really love it.


What inspired you to become a DJ?

TV Rock: Initially when I was working at the clubs I wasn?t hearing the music I wanted to hear all the time, so I began to create it. Now it?s changing as so many people want to become DJ?s for the love. You now have to be really special and stand out due to the demand. To get out there you have to be unique.


What influenced you to take the path of DJing?

TV Rock: I was studying music I played the Sax for nine years while I was at school. I wanted to get into the music industry but Mum said that ?I shouldn?t be a part of the music industry? not to aim there or I would end up poor and broke, she believed that I should get a Degree. I got one. But in any industry I believe you can do it if you are good and enjoy what you do. If you good in the industry you will be able to make a CD.


Did you believe your music would take you this far?

TV Rock: I hoped but to be honest you never really know. With our first single Flaunt It no-one wanted to sign it. We put it out to all the major record labels and they all said no. I think it?s about people not accepting other people?s music. So in the end we created our own independent label and produced Flaunt It for ourselves, it ended up a success. It?s just who believes in your music.
Flaunt It debuted in the Australian charts at number two then went to number one the following week.


Where did the idea for Flaunt It come from?

TV Rock: That?s a weird story. I had seen Seany out and liked what he was doing, we organised to catch up, he came and saw me play and then we met up in the studio to work on some beats.


What has been your biggest success in regards to remixers?

TV Rock: The way I see it is, you?re only as big as your last record, the best record was Flaunt It, and it was on the radio and went overseas. Our last single is massive over in Europe, it isn?t for Australian radio. It was an underground club record, and it got a lot of play in Europe as it was underground.
Happiness our next single will be a big summer song.


Who inspired Bimbo Nation?

TV Rock: Haha. I met this girl in a club when we were on the road she was just silly, ridiculously dizzy. I turned to the guys and said we have to write a song about this type of girl, the classic stereotype, we wrote it no worries. Nancy sang on it and also helped with writing the vocals.


Where do you like touring the best?

TV Rock: Arrh.. Look I love playing in Australia it?s great, no doubt about it. But the vibe in Ibiza is amazing it is a place where they are dedicated to partying and having a good time and they are open to all types of music.


What did you expect going into the remixing industry?

TV Rock: You think that it is all club play and main sets but pretty quickly you wake and realise you are in the studio full time. We make music during the week and then test it for about two hours on the weekend. The good thing about dance music is that you can make it and then take it into the club at night and see how it is responded too. You see how it works and you can take it home and work on it and take it back and test it again. The hard work goes behind the scenes, the set playing is a fraction of it.


When you?re not playing your own music who?s do you listen too?

TV Rock: If I?m in clubs I?m playing my peers like Dirty South. I have to admit that I don?t listen to dance music when I am not in the clubs, I like to listen to chill music, things I can relax too. Like Coldplay and old classics such as Guns and Roses, not dance music all the time, so you can clear you head. When I go in to the studio then I can make music on fresh ears.


What is it like playing live to a crowd?

TV Rock: You honestly cannot get tired of that. If a big crowd doesn?t like or appreciate your music its bad. We have played in front of crowds ranging from 200 to festivals where there have been 30,000 people. It is so special when the crown is singing along to your songs.


Do you think your music is changing the direction of the music industry?

TV Rock: It takes a group of us to make a stand. Flaunt It came on and people just connected to the style, they couldn?t ignore it. Opening it up for The Potbellyes and Sneaky Sound System. As a team we are good, it takes us all to keep producing records as a team, it is good as well all support each other. Us Aussies stick together and when we are overseas we try and push the Aussie music as much as we can, help everyone out.


What will we find you doing when you are just chilling?

TV Rock: I am a bit of a fitness freak, I love going for a run. Just hanging out with friends, seeing a move or having dinner. When you?re on the road you have a lot of takeout so when your home, it?s strange, but you craze a good home cooked meal. We are massive foodies.


Favourite Food?

TV Rock: Would be Asian, I love the bold flavours like Coriander and Chilli the crazy fun stuff! The sort of food you hated as a kid and now you love.

Who decides what goes on in a Video Clip?

TV Rock: It is a combination of a hell of a lot of people, it used to have a lot to do with the record label deals now this one is independent and we have complete control. I have asked a few of my friends in the film industry to pitch ideas and we will work with them. It is important to have a concept behind the video, doesn?t matter what you budget is, if it doesn?t have story it?s no good.

What is next for you?

TV Rock: The massive CD and Tour for Neon Lights, the new single hits the radios in late August, early September, work on the video for that.