Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano: Amazone [Interview]

Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano have exploded onto the scene with some of the most dynamic energy that pays homage to the old school of DJing. The duo which has released impressive tracks of their own, like ”Lethal Industry” and “Markuzza”, claim they are not the type to drown fans in releases. Instead, they are your classic duo that consistently bring out the authentic art of DJing each time they take the booth. Their set style has been described in a variety of ways ranging from funky and tribal to hard and underground. Axwell has been quoted as saying, “If there were a Dutch version of Swedish House Mafia, it would be Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano.” Their ‘Amazone’ concept had begun with an event in Amsterdam and continues to be a strong force as the ‘Amazone’ album found its way to #1 on the iTunes dance-chart. The path has been paved for Sunnery & Ryan in 2012 as they get ready to take some of the biggest spotlights in electronic music. While in New York, we caught up with the dutch duo before their set at Lavo for an up close and personal interview.

BDL & Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano

So you’re back in New York, where you’ve had some notable shows like New Years Eve and this upcoming St Patty’s day, what vibes do you get from your crowds here?

Sunnery: I think New York City for us is like home. We always get so much good energy here and everybody loves the dance music. We just play house music and it is the best thing to come back to New York City.

Ryan: Once we landed the whole timeline on twitter was like ‘are you guys already here?!’. This is the best place to play right now.

In the booth, it must be hard to actually talk to eachother, so how do you communicate and what is the workflow like?

“The whole art of DJing is the connection with the crowd and having fun together.”

Sunnery: The way we communicate in the DJ booth is our own language. We just say two words and we know what to do. It’s not even talking really. We always want to keep the connection with the crowd and keep it going. The whole art of DJing is the connection with the crowd and having fun together.

Ryan: We don’t even name the tracks, like if I want him to play a track I’ll just be like play this or play that really quick.

Rewind a bit, how did you guys link up in the first place and decide that this was such a great match?

Sunnery: I was working and my manager asked me to hire interns.

Ryan: I was the guy who needed the internship.

Sunnery: So I know this guy from his face and from the neighborhood. From day one we had the same interests and everything and now we are here.

Ryan: We started off more as friends just having fun. It worked out perfect.

So your Amazone album landed at #1 on the iTunes dance chart – What is so special about this album and how would you explain the Amazone concept?

Sunnery: We started the concept like 4 years ago. We’re DJs, we love the art of DJing. The Amazone project is cool, we take the best tracks we like as DJs, mix it how we want, and throw our own tracks in it. On the Dutch charts there is always Radio 538, the biggest radio station in Holland. They always are #1 for the last 5 or 6 years. We came out with this album and all of a sudden we beat them. We don’t even know the secret behind the success of the CD. It’s just our energy and vibe is in it.

Ryan: It’s pretty easy for us it’s just all the tracks we like. From really deep to really underground. It is a good sign for dance music all over the world.

“It is a lot of fun celebrating the success of dance music.”

It’s March and Miami Music Week is around the corner, what are your plans for Miami this year?

Sunnery: First of all it is a lot of fun and everyone is there. You get so much inspiration from each other and could hear everyone’s new tracks. We are going to play some nice parties with Erick Morillo. We are going to do the DJ Mag Pool Party. MixMash pool party. Ultra, ofcourse. We are going to hang out at the pool and have drinks with friends. It is a lot of fun celebrating the success of dance music.

What other big events do you have lined up and looking forward to for 2012?

Ryan: Yeah Tomorrowland is going to be big.

Sunnery: EDC New York, EDC Las Vegas. We are going to do some Sensations. This year is going to be big for us and everyone else in the dance scene. I am so glad to be part of this.

Recently you’ve released tracks that have taken off like Markuzza and Lethal Industry, What releases can we expect next?

“Our style shows a lot of respect to guys like Carl Cox and Erick Morillo.”

Sunnery: We are waiting for labels to sign some new tracks. Just stay tuned. This year we will do about 3 or 4 releases. We are still the kind of DJs who don’t like to throw tracks on people. We just bring the vibe. We like to approach it old school; DJing, the art of DJing, and how it all started. Our style shows a lot of respect to guys like Carl Cox and Erick Morillo.