Cheat Codes used to see The Chainsmokers as rivals.
The EDM trio – who teamed up with Demi Lovato on ‘No Promises’ – look up to the ‘Paris’ hitmakers and felt they were competition in the beginning when they supported them in 2015, but they’ve come to realise they have a very separate sound and are more "Blink-182 EDM", which is not what they do.
Matthew Russell – who is joined by bandmates Trevor Dahl and Kevin Ford in the outfit – doesn’t think it is "healthy" to compare his group to other acts.
Asked if he sees the duo – Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart – as a rival, he exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I think maybe in the beginning a little. But now they’re kind of their own thing with their own sound. Especially with their new album, they’re doing something that dance artists are really doing. They kind of remind me of the Blink-182 of EDM. So I don’t think the comparison is really there. I don’t think it’s healthy to compete with other artists on that level, I think it’s more about the fans and inspiring music lovers. I think when you’re first starting there can be feelings like that because you just want to be successful. Once you start doing it for a while, you realise that it’s not important."
Meanwhile, Matthew revealed that back in the day, The Chainsmokers would play their smash hit ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, their song with Daya, as an encore every night, and that’s when they knew they were on to something "big".
Speaking about the success of the track, he said: "They used to actually play their song ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ as their encore song every night so that was cool being backstage and hanging out with them. Even just hearing them play that, we could just feel that this song was going to be big. I think that just being around people and seeing their success right in front of your eyes is a really inspiring thing. That was really motivating for us. Just to see that it’s possible."
Cheat Codes used to see The Chainsmokers as rivals
