We caught up with brothers Luiz Guilherme Cardoso & Pedro Henrique Cardoso, AKA Cat Dealers, to talk about new music, plans for 2019 and much more.
How did you guys first get into music?
We’ve been really into music ever since we were little kids! I started playing the drums when I was 11 and Lugui’s been into electronic music since he was around 9, so it’ something we’ve always been passionate about. There came a point in our teenage years when we began studying as much as we could about electronic music, then we tried making our own tracks and ended up falling in love with producing. In 2016 we decided to create Cat Dealers and we haven’t stopped since!
Name three artists on your playlist you had growing up?
First one has to be Skrillex, he is one of our biggest inspirations and for sure one of our favourite artists. David Guetta as well, Lugui used to listen to Guetta all the time! Last one is Felguk, they were a great influence for us, especially as they are native to Brazil so we grew up listening to their music. We were, and still are, addicted to their sound!
How is it being in a duo as brothers?
It’s pretty cool! Of course sometimes we want to kill each other (hahahaha) but it’s awesome, because we get along and we work together really well. It’s especially great because we keep each other company. When we’re on tour, we can become homesick so it is amazing having your brother there with you.
Who is the most serious and who is the joker of the group?
Lugui is the most serious and I (Pedro) am definitely the joker hahaha. But he is a funny guy and I am serious when I have to be as well!
When and what was your first ever gig?
It was back in 2012, a birthday party in Rio for like 30 people (haha). It was cool, we had a lot of fun!
Who has been your favourite artist to see live?
Skrillex is awesome to see live, he is the best! Flume is sick as well, and of course we can’t forget Zedd too. They all have awesome shows that inspire us a lot!
What’s your favourite song at the moment
“All I’ve Got”, from Rüfüs Du Sol, is definitely one of our favourite tracks at the moment. We really loved their last album and we’ve been listening to that track a lot, it’s really great.
Who would be your dream collaboration?
There are so many people we admire and dream of collaborating with! One of them is definitely Skrillex. We really love his work and he’s one of our biggest influences as artists, so it would be a dream come true to work with him. Another one that we’ve always dreamed of collaborating with is Lady Gaga. We love her style, her voice and everything that she stands for, so it would be great to work together!
Last year you opened for Shakira on her Brazilian tour and warmed up for Camila Cabello on Z Festival’s mainstage, how does it feel to share the stage with such influential Pop icons?
It felt great! We had the chance to bring our music to such a different crowd and that was a bit of a challenge. We were pretty nervous because we didn’t know how the audience would react to our music, but it turned out better than we could ever have expected! The crowd really enjoyed the show and were really supportive. It was an amazing experience and we got to meet Shakira, which was even more special!
Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming single ‘Gone Too Long’?
We’re really excited about it! It’s coming out on January 18th and we produced it in collaboration with Bruno Martini and Joy Corporation. We were all really happy with the end result and we hope everyone enjoys it too! We can guarantee it’s one of our tracks that we like the most. You can get a preview of Gone Too Long and a few unreleased tracks on our latest set Cat House Sessions: Best of 2018, it’s available on Soundcloud! So make sure to check it out!
Have you got more tours scheduled for 2019?
Yeah! We’ll get to play in a lot of places we’ve never been before, both in Brazil and internationally, so we’re really excited to meet new people and to show our work to them. We hope 2019 can bring us some great gigs and for those who’ve already attended one of our shows before, expect a lot of surprises!
In December you released your ‘Cat House Sessions: Best Of 2018’ mix, what was the standout highlight of the year for you?
2018 was a really important year for us and for our career. We were voted #48 in the DJ Mag Top 100 ranking, we toured all around the world, including countries we’ve never been to before, we played at Lollapalooza Brazil, we released a music video to our song “Keep On Lovin’” with brazilian actress Agatha Moreira and were selected for ‘Forbes 30 Under 30’ Brazil! We were super stoked and grateful for everything that happened last year. It was full of special moments and important achievements, so in this special 2018 edition of Cat House Sessions, we wanted to celebrate it all and share it with our fans, who are always so supportive and caring. They’re absolutely the best!
How did you guys spend New Year’s Eve?
Working! (haha) We played in three different places on New Year’s Eve and each one of them was great! It’s really nice sharing that special moment with so many people. But the highlight for us was definitely playing at the Copacabana Beach New Year’s Eve Party for about 2 million people. The energy was incredible, so many people together wanting to have a great time and the fact that it’s our hometown made it that much more special!
Do either of you have any New Year’s resolution?
We are really looking forward to playing more international shows this year. Traveling around the world playing our tracks is the best feeling ever! That’s what we are hoping for this New Year…if that counts as a New Year’s resolution?? Hahha.
Where and when was your most memorable performance and why?
We’re really lucky because we’ve been playing some pretty great gigs. One of them was Lollapalooza Brazil last year. It definitely was an important one because it was always a dream of ours to play there. The audience was amazing, and watching them singing along to our songs was something I will never forget. Last year we opened for David Guetta in Spain, which was a dream experience as he is one of our favourite artists!
If I wasn’t a DJ I’d be…
Probably a designer since that is what I was doing in college before electronic music. Lugui’s passion for music came at such a young age that I don’t think he’d have thought about pursuing anything else.
Favourite film & TV series?
The Godfather and Vikings.
Drink of choice on a night out?
Whisky (Pedro) and Gin and Tonic (Lugui)
Describe your style/fashion?
A carioca (people from Rio de Janeiro) style for sure haha
Who’s your biggest style inspiration?
Can’t think of anyone off the top of my head. As artists I think there are so many other things that inspire our style more than fashionable individuals. Being able to travel the world, you get to see so many different cultures and the style of clothes in these cultures varies massively. So I’d say, apart from the influence that our home country has on our style, we get a lot of inspiration from our travels and the people we meet on the way.
What are you looking forward to most in 2019?
The gigs and working on our new tracks. When producing and releasing new tracks, one of the things we get most excited about is testing it out on live audiences during our shows. We have some great collaborations in the pipeline that we’re looking forward to. It is always so fun collaborating with new artists and bouncing ideas off each other, I think it helps a lot with creativity. All in all we are really excited to see what 2019 brings us!
