GTA
GTA
Artist
Artist Biography
Thirty push-ups and a shot of tequila each: thatβs all the preparation Julio Mejia and Matt Toth need to throw down a killer set, to turn from laid-back, unassuming 24-year-olds into the scene-stealing DJ and production duo GTA.
While their warm-ups are routine, Mejia and Tothβs performances are anything but. GTA sets are musical joyrides with the guys at the wheel, as they speed from trap and hip-hop into booming electro, take unexpected detours with rock and R&B, and screech to a halt for
massive bass drops. Despite GTAβs wild, unpredictable sets, everything the duo does β both on stage and in the studio β is unified by a simple mission statement: death to genres.
βA lot of people argue about the kind of music they listen to, whatβs cool and whatβs not,β Mejia explains. βBut for us, itβs just about good music.β
The duoβs open-mindedness is closely tied to their Miami roots, as they were exposed urban, electronic rock and Latin sounds in equal measure. βOur friends were into everything,β Toth says. βThatβs how we grew up.β They also got early starts in making their own music Mejia played trumpet in middle school β he was part of a salsa band for a time β and later learned drums and guitar, and Toth taught himself to play guitar before attending audio engineering school.
Slowly but surely, though, the guys found their way into Miamiβs dance scene. Toth attended Ultra Music Festival for the first time in 2008 and Mejia scored a job working in the festivalβs Carl Cox tent the following year. They also began to experiment with production and DJing. Matt had started as a solo act, Van Toth, catering to the Miami scene with Latinflavored tech house. Meanwhile, under the moniker JWLS, Mejia gained online notoriety with his trap and moombahton bootlegs. A mutual Facebook friend thought the two would hit it off, and made a virtual introduction in February 2010.
The guys had exchanged some messages and music online when Toth called Mejia for a spur-of-the-moment hangout. They connected instantly thanks to an unlikely shared interest: When Toth picked him up, Mejia remembers, βhe turned on a System of a Down CD. He knew every song, I knew every song. That was how we became friends.β
The next day, they became production partners, too. βWe tried working together,β Mejia says of their first studio session, βand it just worked.β They finished their first collaboration in a single sitting, and sent it off to a few labels for feedback. Much to their surprise, Toth and Mejia heard directly from Afrojack who wanted to sign the song to his Wall Recordings imprint. βWe got the email and we freaked out,β Mejia says. βIt was literally a month after we met. Thatβs how GTA got started. And ever since then itβs just been constant.β
βConstantβ is putting it lightly. In their three years as GTA, Mejia and Toth have kept the releases flowing while also touring nearly nonstop. Theyβve released cult-favorite tracks on some of the dance worldβs biggest labels β Diploβs Mad Decent, A-Trakβs Foolβs Gold Records, Tiestoβs Musical Freedom and Calvin Harrisβ Fly Eye, for starters β and have done remixes for artists ranging from Kylie Minogue to deadmau5. Meanwhile, the guys have hit the road with Rihanna, opening for her 2013 Diamonds World Tour and ended the year with a bang as part of Calvin Harris and Tiestoβs Greater Than Tour.
As theyβve promoted their genre-free ethos, Toth and Mejia have become bona fide tastemakers to fans and fellow artists alike, proving that βdance musicβ is best defined as whatever makes you move. GTAβs all-inclusive style is best exemplified in their βDeath To Genresβ mixes, which resist classification and instead go for maximum energy.
Now, the guys are prepping a barrage of new releases as part of a freshly-inked deal with Three Six Zero Music and Warner Bros Records. In true βdeath to genresβ style, Toth says of the releases, βwe have a little bit of everything, and we definitely wonβt hold anything back.β
GTAβs first single under the deal β the Juyen Sebulba collaboration βHard Houseβ β is an ideal taste of whatβs to come. It is one of the duoβs most defiantly anti-genre tracks to date, and purposefully so. Mejia says, βWe knew the first thing had to be in your face.β
Whether you prefer to say the powerhouse duo is killing genres or creating their own, one thing is clear: GTA is on a bold musical mission, and theyβre taking us along for the ride.
Upcoming Gigs
No current dates announced.