What’s your stage name and where are you from?
We are DEFIED from Nelson, British Columbia, Canada.
Members:

• JJ Watts (Jamie Joong Watts)
• Vs. (Matthew Richer-Miller)

What’s the story behind your stage name?
DEFIED not only indicates defiance, but the letters have an air of symmetry. We wanted the name to be visually pleasing, readable, and searchable.

Describe your musical journey in three sentences.
We found each other in 2022 after living several lifetimes in the industry. We’re committed to a genre-less pursuit of music creation, landing somewhere between classic hip-hop and future bass EDM. In our first year of touring, we played at Shambhala Music Festival, The FriendShip, and opened for Souls of Mischief and K-os.

Share an interesting experience you had while creating your latest track.
Dryden Found a Guy is a direct sample from a video clip of our friend. The original clip is only four seconds long, but it fueled an entire banger of a track.

What message do you want to convey through your music?
Authenticity.

Tell us about a challenge you faced during production and how you overcame it.
We’ve always been songwriters and vocalists first, but we wanted to do it all. So we spent the last couple of years learning Ableton Live, gaining production skills to match our music skills, and it has skyrocketed our creative process.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
James Blake. We deeply respect his creative process and unbounded genre. He’s a producer we truly admire and would love to work with.

Where do you see your music taking you in the next year?
On the road! We have some huge gigs in the new year (to be announced!), and we would love to fill our schedule with more shows, hopefully in your city!

What’s the next big step for you as an artist?
We’re looking for a booking agent or promoters looking to book DEFIED. We’re a standout act with impressive live vocals over electronic beats ranging from trap to R&B to juke.

We occasionally feature artists on our Bird of Paradise Podcast for in-depth discussions. Would this be something you’re interested in exploring?
Totally!

Are there any other promotional opportunities you’re looking for to boost your visibility?
This interview opportunity is great. Thanks for the platform!

Where can we hear/watch your most recent work?
DEFIED on Spotify

What is the best way to contact you if fans want to give feedback or if other artists/producers want to collaborate?
bookings@defied.ca