By now, I have no doubt The Chainsmokers have penetrated your radar. The American DJ duo are producing track after track that are flooding the charts and getting stuck in our heads. It began with #Selfie (yes, of ‘but first, let me take a selfie’ fame) went on to Roses, Don’t Let Me Down and later peaked with Closer.
Drew Taggert, 27, and Alex Pall, 31 have made the transition being niche, underground EDM artists to ones who saturate mainstream FM radio. Their latest track, Something Just Like This, was created with Coldplay, proving the duo are winning not only hours on the airwaves but the respect of high-profile artists too.
So why has their meteoric-like rise being met with eye rolls? And why are there murmurings of arrogance, a sprinkling of sexism and incessant use of the description “bros” around their insane success?
If there’s one thing you should know about The Chainsmokers, it’s that they’re not very good at interviews.
Whether that’s because their media training has been poor (possible, but hard to believe) or if they are simply not interested in how they’re portrayed, dealings with the media are where the duo consistently seem to shoot themselves in their collective feet.
Of particular note was an interview with Billboard in September last year which shone a light on their apparent high opinion of themselves. The interview was littered with d*ck jokes, references to drinking and whole lot of patting themselves on the back.
LISTEN: The Binge discuss Australia’s new Eurovision star. (Post continues…)
“We rage every night. My mum’s going to hate reading that,” Taggart told Billboard at the time, “but she already knows.” Drinking, it seems, something they were more than happy to boast about through the interview, with Taggert joking at one point they would “die of of alcohol poisoning”.