Last Memorial Day, we took a chance on a relatively unknown DJ duo called Goshfather and Jinco to come play at Vibe during one of the biggest weekends of the year. Playing on the West Coast (especially L.A., where these guys are from) is quite different from playing in South Florida. There is a huge latin/tech/house/funky house sound that works very well here but is rarely heard on the West Coast.
But Goshfather (Victor Tapia) and Jinco (Jeremy Berger) almost immediately quelled our fears. We were blown away that night as these two brought the house down, playing big room electro sounds while moving confidently from house to trap to moombahton with ease. Goshfather and Jinco have had a huge year since their last trip to Fort Lauderdale, so I wanted to catch up with them before the big show this Saturday at Vibe.
New Times: How did you two get together and form the group originally?
Jinco: We initially got together through a friend of Victor's co-worker who had heard I was trying to get into DJ'ing. Victor was throwing a college EDM party in Hollywood in the upstairs room at a club called Playhouse. After the success of the show, I mentioned I had a music studio and was trying to learn how to produce. Victor was also learning to produce. He had a few months head start on me though. Once we started working together it kind of just evolved into what it is now.
You guys played Fort Lauderdale last year. How was playing here different from playing in other cities?
Jinco: Fort Lauderdale is a really cool place. Its cool because a lot of people are open to new music there and we're DJ's that love to jump the spectrum and really push the envelope on what kind of music can be played in nightclubs.
Goshfather: I absolutely love the — forgive the pun — vibe in this town. I also enjoyed the challenge of playing at Vibe because you have to cater to different kinds of audiences at once, which is interesting. Everyone loves the more summery, vibe-y type of music, and we like to play that plus some heavier stuff.
You guys did a couples remixes with Sasha Grey, who is now starting to DJ as well. What was working with her like?
Jinco: Working with Sasha was really, really cool. She's such a nice person and honestly we were really surprised when we first met with her. We went into the initial meeting thinking she was gonna wanna make some Avicii or Calvin Harris type songs and when she started telling us she was influenced by deep house and future garage stuff along with '90's pop and R&B, it really blew our minds. It sort of opened us up to making something together that we had never done before, which was really refreshing.
Goshfather: Point blank, Sasha is one of the most divisive people in the industry. People have their opinions about her, sure, but one thing that you can't argue about is that she is a person that has had complete control of her career and has essentially killed the game in every single industry she has tried her hand in. She was a pleasure to work with, is an extremely nice and fun person, and knows exactly what she wants. Her attitude made this collaboration so fun and easy to do.
What was the wildest party you guys played last year?
Jinco: Wildest party we played last year...hmm, probably the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, California. The White Rabbit Group family throws some of the best parties in America.This year's definitely was our show at Webster Hall in New York City with Ummet Ozcan. That was insane.
Goshfather: Webster Hall in New York plus our headlining gig in our hometown in San Francisco at Ruby Skye. Those are always going to be legendary for us.
You guys made a big splash in the past year since you played Vibe. Have any advice for other up-and-coming producers?
Jinco: The best advice I can give is focus on making music — good music. It takes time but once you have a foundation of solid songs under your belt and you're getting exposure, the shows will come. A lot of people who are getting started think they've got to go play shows and that's how it's done. They're not wrong, but the shows you're going to get when your music is really making a statement are going to be ten times better than the shows you get when you're just hustlin' for a slot on a lineup with no music to showcase.
Goshfather: Make the opposite of what people are making. It's easy as that. Conceptually, very easy. In practice, much more difficult because it takes an extreme degree of courage to do something like that. We feel like we are starting to make some of the best music we've ever made because we officially stopped caring and started listening to our hearts and our taste as producers to guide us in the studio.
Any big plans for this coming summer?
Jinco: Lots of cool stuff happening. We're going to be playing Firefly Festival over in Delaware in June, Halloween in Vancouver, and then something super special on New Years for all of our Cali fans, however we're not allowed to announce that yet. Along with that, we just dropped our remix of Brandon Flowers' new single, "Cant Deny My Love" that's out on Spotify exclusively right now.
Goshfather: We have many shows that we can't announce just yet, but let's just say we are going to be playing alongside some of our heroes, and we simply can't wait.
What are your long term plans?
Jinco: We're just really excited to keep pushing forward, developing our sound and making more music. We're on a crazy release schedule so we'll be pumping out a new tune every two weeks over the summer and just focusing on playing good shows and sharing our music with the world.
Goshfather: We will be the ambassadors for electronic music for the rest of the world. We want your grandma who hasn't enjoyed a pop record on the radio for the past 40 years to listen to our brand of electronic music and go, "I could dance to this!"
Goshfather & Jinco. 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday, May 23, at Vibe Las Olas, 303 East Las Olas Blvd. Free for girls; $10 Cover for guys. Call 954-713-7313 or visit vibelasolas.com for more info.
Adam Foster is a South Florida-based DJ and producer, founder of twilightnotes.com, and entertainment director for the Restaurant People. He was named best DJ of 2014 by New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Follow him on Twitter and like him on Facebook.