Interview by Brooke Gibbs.

Australia’s own DJ/Producer duo Indigo Starlight make a stunning debut on Reaching ALTITUDE with Can You Hear Me, a track that enchants with luscious vocals, emotive breakdowns and peak time hands in the air moments! With slamming kicks, monumental synths and banging basslines, this track sure brings the energy. 

 Indigo Starlight are no strangers to the world of dance.  Leaving no stone unturned, these high energy performers have managed to capture a wide audience and uniquely showcase an element of live performance by incorporating a Keytar into their shows.  Touring both nationally and internationally, this vivacious and dynamic pair have found their calling in the hard dance scene.  Performing at some of the most prestigious nightclubs and events throughout Australia and Asia, as well as world renowned festivals, such as: It’s the Ship, Singapore and Ultra Music Festival, Australia, these girls are only just getting started.  Known for their incomparable stage presence, driving basslines and hard-hitting dance repertoire, Indigo Starlight are set to release the first of many original records, showcasing their passion for hard dance music and euphoric melodies.

Futuremag Music caught up with Indigo Starlight to talk about what their debut means to them and what they have in store for the rest of the year.

FMM: This is such an exciting time for you because you’ve now released your debut single. How are you feeling?

Indigo Starlight: Excited, definitely. It's been a long time coming. I would say so. We've been over the moon. I mean, when it got released, it was very emotional for both of us. I mean, it's finally out into the world, but we feel great to have our music out there.

FMM: How did you celebrate?

Indigo Starlight: We actually did go out for a drink because we had this duel. Like, once we release something, we're going to go out for a drink. We're going to have a night off. But we got really tired, so we left early. It was funny. We went to one of the bars near the opera house, which is obviously very nice, and we were sitting there yawning. We were obviously over the moon that the song was out, but we were so exhausted because we had just been working nonstop, btut we celebrated. I guess it was still a nice night.

FMM: Yeah, fair enough. I can imagine how much time and energy had gone into creating something of this extent.

Indigo Starlight: Yeah, a lot of stuff goes on behind the scenes. A lot of late nights, I think. You think once you've signed the track and it's ready for release, that's it. But no, there's so much work you have to do behind the scenes. So, like, leading up to the release and even once it's released, so we'd been working nonstop on that, and then we're like, let's go out and celebrate. But it was just exhausting, but definitely excited and happy that it's finally out there, so it's really good.

FMM: It looks like people are loving it because I flicked through your comments on social media, and there's a lot of comments from people. What has the reaction been like so far?

Indigo Starlight: Amazing. Yeah, it's been really good. We've got a mixed response. I mean, even people that don't particularly like that style of music have said they love it. So, yeah, everything's been really good. The response has been great, so we're super stoked.

FMM: That's amazing and very well deserved as well.

Indigo Starlight: Thank you. Thank you.

FMM: You guys have worked together for quite some time now, so why was now the perfect time to release a debut?

Indigo Starlight: Honestly, we've actually been working on music since we started DJing, but I think at that time, we weren't really playing gigs where we loved the kind of music that we wanted to release. So when we were trying to work on even commercial music to release, we just weren't really happy with that. So, we took so long to release music, but eventually we were like, you know what? We're just going to release what we want to listen to ,what we love and what really drives us and gives us motivation and what we're passionate about. So, it took us a while, took us very long, but we got there in the end. A lot of back and forth trying to work out what sound, and it got to a point where we just thought, okay, what are we really passionate about? And what kind of sound really defines us? And it took us quite a few years to get to this point, but we did it. We made it. We didn't want to release something we weren't happy with and we weren't proud of. I guess you could say we're perfectionists. It's a blessing and a curse. We will look at something and be like, oh, this is good, or is it good? But it's a good thing, I guess, to have to be, I guess, critical of your work in a good way, but also constructive way to get it across the line and release what we have. It's been really exciting, amazing, and we're glad that it's out there because this track has so much energy.

FMM: We're glad you're at that level where you feel comfortable to put your work out into the world.

Indigo Starlight: Yeah, definitely more to come.

FMM: As you said, this track has so much energy. So, I'd love to hear more about your creative process and how you guys put out this track.

Indigo Starlight: So for us, we're really big on the melodic, emotional breaks and then something that leads into that real high energy drop, I suppose. I guess that's always been a goal for us, to make the listener feel something and create that emotion, but also have those pumping moments that we're so passionate about. Like with our music. When we perform, we play real high energy kind of music, and we wanted our own productions to reflect that and also what we love making. So, like I said, the emotional kind of breaks and those strong lyrics and then the hard-hitting drops is something that we've been so passionate about for such a long time. We actually started the song on the piano, so no production to it yet. We just started sitting at the piano because Christine's been playing piano since she was a little girl, and we started with the melody and then we were like, okay, well, let's write to it. We had to be really vulnerable, I guess you could say, in writing, we wanted it to be emotional and to have know people listen to it.

Like Christine said, we want people to feel something. So once we got the writing process underway, we obviously started working with a friend on the production side and here we are today. It's out in the world.

FMM: It sounds like it all came together really well, which is great because it's the type of song that you expect to hear at a dance club, and people are going to love it. If this is a taste of what's to come, I'm sure there's many more incredible works out there as well that you guys are going to release.

Indigo Starlight: We hope so.

FMM: I love the duo name. Can you tell me more about that and what you think that represents for you guys?

Indigo Starlight: We've actually been best friends for how long? Like 17 years now. We met in high school. We were in year seven together. I started DJing first under Starlight and then I started DJing under Indigo. But once I got out into the DJ world, because I was obviously after Christine, people wanted to book us back to back. They didn't want us to play solo. They were like, the energy you guys have together is amazing. At that point, we were so sick of each other. We have been best friends for that long. We've done everything together. But it got to a point where when we didn't play those shows together, it was kind of like something was missing. So we're like, okay, you know what? We're going to become a duo. We went through this whole process of trying to come up with a name, and we just didn't. Again, it's like the music side of things. We just didn't like anything. We were like, no, that doesn't sound right. And at that point, people in Sydney, I guess, knew us as Indigo and Starlight. So we're like, what if we just drop the ‘and’. Back to back we were Indigo Starlight. So, that's how it together, like, drop the ‘and,’ drop the back to back, and it's put it together. It's a very long, interesting name.

FMM: What a nice story, and how incredible that you get to share not only your passion, but you get to share it with someone who's been your best friend for a long period as well.

Indigo Starlight: Definitely debatable [laughs]. Definitely. It's really good. We always say we're very lucky to have each other, especially when you're traveling and that to have someone that you can spend time with. You're not alone all the time, so it's really good.

FMM: As you said before, you guys have worked together for quite some time now. So for anyone that's just coming across you for the first time, how would you describe your duo and what you're all about?

Indigo Starlight: Lots of energy. We have a live performance as well. Christine plays the keyta, so we're really all about high energy, hard music, hard dance, just having a good time, being yourself and having fun. That's pretty much what we love. We love to put on a show and really showcase what we can do and our love of dance music. Yeah, I think that sums it up.

FMM: I love that. I'm here for all of that. That's amazing. And speaking of live shows, do you have any coming up or how can people come out and see you guys perform?

Indigo Starlight: Not yet. Not at the moment. We've got some in the works, but, yeah, we've kind of stepped back to just work on our brand as a hard dance brand because we have shifted from the commercial side, I guess you could say. And we made that decision to just fully go full steam ahead into the hard dance world because that's what we're passionate about. So, that meant cutting off a few gigs, which we're happy about now, just to work on our brand and push ourselves out there.

FMM: Who are some artists that inspire you and your sound?

Indigo Starlight: I have so many. I mean, who would you start? I'm a massive Headhunters fan. Headhunter? Hard style. We also do love Darren Styles. I think the kind of music he releases, it reflects the kind of music that we're very passionate about. It's very emotional. He has those really strong breaks and then the hard drops and we love that. We love the Tweakers as well. I would say those kind of artists definitely would be on the top of our list of inspirations and stuff like that.

FMM: Tat's a really good mix of artists and inspirations.

Indigo Starlight: Yeah, we do have a big mix. We started off with even, like, Christine was very inspired by Lady Gaga and I was very Lady Gaga. So it's very two different ends, I guess, of the music world, you could say. But growing up, we've always been very inspired by music and just being honest and raw and loving what you do.

FMM: You talked a bit about some of the equipment that you use when you perform live. Is there any equipment you've been meaning to add? What's your dream equipment when it comes to a live performance?

Indigo Starlight: Eventually I will definitely convince Christine to sing live. We're working on that. Again, it's a work in progress. The poor girl. I'm like, so you should do this, this and this. Now I would love to incorporate, like, a grand piano of some sort or just a big piano, like, to switch between the keyta and I guess a piano. I mean, that's something that I would love toand then during live as well.

FMM: Yes, we'd love to see that.

Indigo Starlight: I agree. One day. So based on the reactions, it seems like everyone is keen for more. So, what do you guys have in store for the rest of the year? More music?

Indigo Starlight: We haven't stopped, I guess you could say, working on new music, and we kind of keep pushing ourselves and giving ourselves deadlines of when we want certain tracks to be done. So at the moment we are working on a slightly harder track, which we're excited about, but, yeah, again, perfectionist at it, listening to it, hating it, needing to do it again. Hopefully we release a couple this year. That's what our aim is.

Yeah, we're definitely aiming for more music. Heaps more to share with the world, I guess. We've only just begun. There's heaps and heaps in the works. We're really excited that we're working on that at the moment and pushing more out eventually throughout the year. Hopefully we'll let it out into the world soon.

FMM: Yeah, that's what I love to hear, and as I said, if this is a taste of what's to come, I'm so excited to see what you guys are working on moving forward from here.

Indigo Starlight: Thank you. Hopefully you like it.

FMM: So that's all my questions. Did you guys have any other comments you want to add or things that you want people to know about your duo or this particular release?

Indigo Starlight: Just that it's the beginning of more. Let us know what you think. And thank you as well for all the support we've received. We really appreciate it. It means a lot to us. To the first of many, I guess.