GTA (DJs)

GTA
Also known as JWLS, Van Toth
Origin Miami, Florida, United States
Genres
Instruments Keyboard, guitar, synthesizer
Years active 2010–present
Labels Warner Bros., Spinnin' Deep, Musical Freedom, Fly Eye, MixMash, Fool's Gold, SIZE, Mad Decent, OWSLA
Associated acts Diplo
Website wearegta.com/
Members Matthew Van Toth
Julio Mejia

GTA (acronym of "Good Times Ahead") are an electronic music duo from Miami consisting of house, electro house, trap music and hip hop producers Julio Mejia (born December 8, 1990) and Matt Toth (born August 22, 1990).[1] After releasing music with the support of Laidback Luke in 2011, the duo caught the attention of Diplo, who featured them on his 2012 "Express Yourself" EP. GTA has released music on labels such as Warner Bros., A-Trak's Fool's Gold, Laidback Luke's MixMash, Steve Angello's SIZE, Diplo's Mad Decent and more.[2] They've toured the globe with Rihanna on her 2013 Diamonds World Tour, with Calvin Harris & Tiësto on their Greater Than World Tour, and have headlined their own Death To Genres Tour and Goons Take America Tours.

Beyond their partnership as GTA, Julio and Matt have each produced music individually. Under solo aliases known as JWLS and Van Toth, respectively, both have released original productions and remixes. Julio's individual work as JWLS, includes remixes for A-Trak, Danny Brown and others.[3] Matt's solo work as Van Toth includes remixes for Gina Turner.[4]

Early life

Julio Mejia and Matt Toth were born and raised in the Miami area of South Florida. They met through social networking in 2010, when a mutual friend introduced them on Facebook. Together the duo began their careers DJing local bars, college parties and hookah lounges in South Florida. They began producing electronic music from a converted dorm room on the Kendall campus of Miami Dade College.[5] Deciding on their stage name, Julio and Matt considered Grand Theft Audio and decided on its abbreviation, GTA.[6]

The duo later gave new meaning to the acronym, defining GTA as Good Times Ahead.[7]

Career

Between late 2011 and early 2012, GTA released numerous remixes and productions on Laidback Luke's MixMash Records. They were featured on Diplo's "Express Yourself" EP[8] and released their own debut EP, People Boots, on Chris Lake's Rising Music. In 2013, GTA provided remixes for deadmau5, Kaskade and others, while featuring collaborations such as "Boy Oh Boy" with Diplo and "Hit It" with Henrix and Digital Lab.[2]

GTA has played major music festivals such as Lollapalooza,[9] Ultra Music Festival,[10] Coachella,[11] Made In America,[12] Electric Daisy Carnival,[13] and Tomorrowland.[14] In 2013, the duo toured with Rihanna as an opening act of her Diamonds World Tour,[15] which became the sixth highest grossing worldwide tour of 2013 with a gross of $141.9 million from the shows played from January 1 to December 31, 2013.[16]

The duo toured the globe with Tiesto & Calvin Harris on their Greater Than World Tour, which sold out Glasgow's The SSE Hydro arena three minutes after going on sale.[17] GTA's headlining tours have included 2014's Death to Genres Tour,[18] and 2015's Goons Take America Tour.[19]

In 2015, GTA released "Intoxicated" with Martin Solveig, a remix for Rick Ross and Jay Z's "Movin Bass," and more. "Intoxicated" with Martin Solveig peaked at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart, and also charted in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Switzerland. It became Beatport’s top selling house track of the year.[20]

GTA released three EPs by the name of Death to Genres in 2015. Volume 1 was released in March with featured artists Paul Wall, TJR and more,[21] followed by a remix edition known as Vol. 1.5 in August, and the sequel DTG Vol. 2 in November.[22]

On November 27, 2015, GTA released Skrillex's remix of their original record "Red Lips." The music video was made in collaboration with Apple Music and was directed by Grant Singer. It took six months to make, according to Skrillex, who told Pitchfork "We treated it like it was just an art piece that we took our time doing, and it really felt right on the treatment."[23]

GTA is currently working on a full length album that's expected to be released in 2016.[24]

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Remixes

2011

2012

2013

2015

2016

JWLS

Singles

Remixes

Van Toth

Singles

Remixes

References

  1. ↑ "GTA: Information". The DJ List.
  2. 1 2 "GTA".
  3. ↑ "JWLS".
  4. ↑ "Van Toth".
  5. ↑ Kat Bein (14 December 2012). "GTA's Matt Toth and Julio Mejia Are Taking Over EDM From a Converted Dorm in Kendall". Miami New Times.
  6. ↑ http://www.virgin.com/music/interview-gta
  7. ↑ "WE ARE GTA - Good Times Ahead. - Facebook".
  8. ↑ "Diplo – Express Yourself EP - Album Reviews - Consequence of Sound". Consequence of Sound.
  9. ↑ "GTA At Lollapalooza 2014". GRAMMYPro.com.
  10. ↑ "Ultra Music Festival 2015 Lineup: Phase 1 Includes Avicii, Tiesto & More - Billboard". Billboard.
  11. ↑ "Coachella 2014 Lineup". Stereogum.
  12. ↑ "Made in America Festival Announces Full 2015 Schedule, Livestream". Fuse.
  13. ↑ khrisd (28 May 2014). "Here is the 2014 EDC Las Vegas Lineup". Complex.
  14. ↑ "Tomorrowland 2015 Day 3 Highlights: GTA, Yellow Claw, Thomas Jack & More".
  15. ↑ "Rihanna Support Acts For 'Diamonds' UK Tour 2013: Haim And GTA". Capital FM. 20 May 2013.
  16. ↑ http://www.webcitation.org/6MGJM1ibK
  17. ↑ Michael Baggs. "Calvin Harris and Tiesto Glasgow tickets sell out in three minutes". gigwise.com.
  18. ↑ "GTA Announce New Death To Genres Tour". Mixjunkies.
  19. ↑ "GTA Announce Goons Take America Tour, 'Smokers United' Video, K Camp 'Lil Bit' Remix". Music Times.
  20. ↑ "Top Selling House of 2015".
  21. ↑ "Stream GTA's New 'Death To Genres' Vol. 1 EP". HYPETRAK.
  22. ↑ "INTERVIEW: GTA Reveals The Meaning Of Songs On 'Death To Genres Vol. 2' EP -Track By Track". iHeartRadio.
  23. ↑ "Skrillex Talks About the Making of His Sci-Fi Psychological Thriller "Red Lips" Video - News - Pitchfork".
  24. ↑ "Interview: GTA - Death to Genres". The Huffington Post. 17 December 2015.

External links

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