Subscribe
Details
Transcript
You are listening to The Entrepreneur Podcast from the Western Morrison Institute for Entrepreneurship powered by Ivey. My name is Sunday Ajak and I will be your host for this special episode.
Entrepreneurship is often viewed as a discipline within business and that makes sense. Entrepreneurs are dealing with finances, crunching numbers, raising money, and balancing payroll.
But Entrepreneurship is more than business. It’s an art.
Entrepreneurs build products, services, companies, and brands that carry a piece of who they are. It’s a form of expression that reflects who they are; just like a painting that gives a window into the innermost thoughts of the painter.
On this episode, we talk to two founders who embrace both titles and have joined their love for music and business, to create an international music act that might be on your party playlist.
Andrew Fedyk and Joe Depace are Loud Luxury, a Canadian DJ Duo that rose to fame through their 2017 releases "Body" and a remix of the Martin Garrix and Dua Lipa single "Scared to Be Lonely".
In this episode, I sat down with Andrew and Joe to discuss their story of how a business and political science major at Western University ended up selling out dance clubs across the world.
Joe Depace
I'm Joe
Andrew Fedyk
I'm Andrew
Joe Depace
and we are loud luxury
Andrew Fedyk
and we are Western alum.
Sunday Ajak
Did you guys practice that? (No, no, that's a lot of interviews) You guys are used to it. Okay, so you guys just came from Eric Jensen's class. You know, the energy was up. Everyone was buzzing. Tell us, tell us, how you feeling. We just taught our first loud luxury 101, might have to make it a course. I think it should be a good course. It was a blast. I mean, we haven't been back together on campus since, probably since we graduated. Popped in for a couple shows, quick, but just amazing to see campus full of life. All the new buildings are beautiful. And as you said, the class was electric. So it's amazing feeling. Was it? How you remember? Yeah, yeah, it's pretty good. Same amount of geese and everything. Yeah, more those little guys, they'll bite you. The students were asking great questions, but just for one more time, for the people who weren't in that class and didn't get to hear your amazing story, you know, where did the idea of an international music act? Where did that come from? Tell us about that?
Joe Depace
Well, we were always very passionate about music. I started a little bit earlier. I met Andrew when he was in first year, and I was in fourth year, and I was the president of the DJ club. It's not around anymore, apparently, so we're gonna have to probably fix that. Someone's someone listening. Please bring that back. We're gonna have to bring that one back. But I was the president, and I was hosting the first meeting, and at the time, there wasn't enough club space now there is apparently. So we got real creative. I had it at my house, and Andrew attended the first meeting, and then he was one of the only people to raise his hand saying that I also make music. So then we got in the studio that week, and the rest is history.
Sunday Ajak
I love that. Is that how it went? Andrew, you have a different story?
Andrew Fedyk
No, no, it's the story is completely correct, as the way he said. I think I could also add that just this time of the decade, I think it was like 2011 2012 Western was really pushing electronic music ahead of everyone else. They were the first to have Avicii compared to a lot of other places...
Joe Depace
LMFAO, DJ AM. There's so many good people coming through
Andrew Fedyk
So, so I think we were just caught in this wave of energy of just how excited people were about dance music and wanting to find how we could contribute to that in our own way. \
Sunday Ajak
Couldn't agree more. And you said something that I couldn't agree more on the idea that a lot of great names come to campus, you know, that's something that a lot of students don't realize until either they're here or they hear from a friend of a friend of a friend, right? Yeah. So was that something that brought you guys to Western? Yeah, student experience.
Joe Depace
That was a big thing for me. That was the reason why I went to Western, just because I knew is a really good school, and there was a lot of really crazy stuff happening in London at the time, and that was something that I definitely wanted to be a part of, even the fraternity scene, Sigma Chi. I joined them because they were having all these DJs come to the house, and that was a great way for me to meet them and to open for them and get involved that way. So that was something at the time, when we were, when I, when I came here, at least for that was a big reason. I'll tell you what. That hasn't changed, you know, and that's definitely one of the I know. I heard you guys got Charlie xcx. Man, that's crazy...
Sunday Ajak
names, I tell you what. So for those of you who may not know the voice behind this, my name is Sunday Ajak. I was your previous president back in 2023 and so I was even thinking of bringing you guys to campus as well.
Andrew Fedyk
Why did that happen?
Sunday Ajak
Man, you know, I was putting some names out there. And I'm not gonna lie to you guys, you guys are, you guys expensive now, you guys are big. You gotta get a big price tag, which, you know, it's, it's a good thing, and that just shows the growth you guys have had over the last couple years, right? It's been a blessing. And so, so when was that moment, you know, and a student asked this in the class, but I'd love to for you guys to run it down again, that moment where you're like, Man, I made it.
Andrew Fedyk
There were a bunch actually.
Joe Depace
This is a big moment today, because we are very under qualified to be here for this and to be giving a lecture. So that was pretty cool today. And stuff like this, I get a little bit nervous for I mean, we play shows every week, so that's nothing new to me. I don't really think about it much, but it's moments like this where we come back and we get to do something really cool and special, and we even pulled up on a random class yesterday, and all of this was very last minute, like we didn't have this, like, grand scheme or anything. We just kind of thought it up, maybe, like a month ago, not even, and it all came together. And that was really cool today to have people's questions, because I remember at the time, like, I would have really loved for that, to have somebody come in and be able to ask questions and learn about the process.
Sunday Ajak
And the questions they were asking, they were really good, really, really good, and they were curious about, you know, you know, that entrepreneurial journey...
Andrew Fedyk
Yeah, because it is a business at the end of the day. And I think a lot of people forget that. They think we're kind of just creatives floating in the wind, you know, like doing acid in the forest or something like that. It's a business. And those who succeed, they treat it like a business. You know.
Sunday Ajak
Now, do your parents believe it's a business? Because that's
Andrew Fedyk
Yes, (definitely they) Yeah, they've seen it, you know, because they've come to countless festivals we played, and it's like, oh, it's like that, you know...
Sunday Ajak
how'd that first conversation go? Hey, Mom,...
Joe Depace
They thought we were crazy. (Yeah, I would have) definitely, I think, I think they're supportive.
Andrew Fedyk
Yeah, I think any rational parent would think you're a little bit crazy. So I was not offended by that.
Sunday Ajak
That's awesome. And then there was like, they were like, hey, my kids are actually, yeah, making some money here. You know? Yeah, I bet when you gave them that first check, they're probably okay. (They're very proud, very proud) That's awesome. So let's change gears here. And you know, there's something that you mentioned quite a bit ago, so your schedule, you guys are on the go all the time. Walk us through. Like, what's a typical day? Like,...
Joe Depace
Well, we get up really early, (What's really early) 3 am? 4 am? Yeah, we call it Dick o'clock because it is way too early for anybody to be alive. And we get up, we get on a plane, we fly somewhere. We get in, maybe either nap or go work out or something like that. We'll have maybe some press. Like before this, we were doing radio interviews. We cut it a little bit close, but it's very hectic. And then we'll get ready, have a dinner, and then go to the show. So that's like, What a show day looks like. And then on our off days, we go back, fly back to LA, and then same sort of thing, like, obviously balancing, like, doing your own personal stuff, and then we'll have like, sessions, set up, or other things that we need to film. So it's very hectic. Yeah.
Speaker 1
Do
Sunday Ajak
Do you guys have similar days in that aspect?
Andrew Fedyk
Or, yeah? Yeah, because we're doing all of that together. I think the glue in terms of keeping us motivated is that we're competitive about this in the best way, where we really want to win and we really want to succeed, so even if you're tired. I mean, yesterday, we were popping into guest lectures running on three hours of sleep because we took a red eye. And today, you know, we're not very well rested, but just caffeine OD-ing Until we basically finally hit the sheets. But the excitement, the joy, the enthusiasm, that's all energy that you feed off of, you know, it's not like you're doing this basically being dragged by a chain being like, Ah, damn it. I gotta go to this thing. You know, you want to win. You want to you're just excited to be here.
Sunday Ajak
And you guys are doing something that you love, yeah? So it's like you guys will can do this time and time and time again, right? (Yeah) And so on that note, let's talk about you guys. At the end of the day, are two founders working together. You guys just all happen to be friends, great friends. So what is it like? Do you guys switch from, you know, friendship to business partners? You guys always business partners is a mix of both. Like, how does that look like?
Joe Depace
It's definitely a mix of both, because it's a partnership. So we have the business side of things, and then we have, like, the friend side of things, but it's it's good, because when we're on the road, we'd go out and do like, fun stuff, like, we'll go, like, ATVs or whatever, and then even though it's like kind of business because we're filming it, or whatever it is, it's still like fun stuff that we do.
Andrew Fedyk
Yeah, I think it would be a lot more difficult if we were constantly, like, having to negotiate with each other, yeah, but it's like we take care of each other, bottom line, underneath everything, we care about each other. So it's like that comes first beyond anything, right? And then everything else. We're just motivated. So it's not like you run into too much obstacles in terms of getting stuff done, because it's like, hey, we want to win. This is what we need to do. You know, we're just both. It's not like you have to motivate each other.
Sunday Ajak
And, you know, we see a lot of friends start businesses together, students, right? So give them one piece of advice, something that they can take away, you know, like you guys are gonna go to for friends, the business partners. How do you keep the friendship? How do you keep the business going? What's one thing that works for you guys?
Joe Depace
Well, it's kind of anything in life, like you're basically entering into, like a marriage, basically because, and you have to kind of treat it the same sort of way, because when you're doing that, obviously there's so many different facets that come with it, so you have to really just be mindful of everything that goes into it, and then also taking care of, like the your partnership and on, on a personal level.
Sunday Ajak
I love it. And, you know, in this, in this sense, one person might always be right, you know, if is that you, it's me, because he pointed and you sent me, okay. I love it, you know. And I, one thing I love about you, my friend, is that you grew up in London. Yes, I also grew up in London. High school. I went to John Paul II nice. Where'd you go to? (Lucas) Public route. I love it. You guys were the rich kids. How they not so much, not so much. I love was a good school. That's South London, right? It's, uh, yeah, yeah, it's a good school. You know, relatively I love this school, um, but how was it growing up in London like you? Do? You come back often?
Joe Depace
Yeah, I try to come back. My family's here, yeah, it's a very interesting place to grow up in, very cold, a little too cold. That's one of the main reasons we moved. But yeah, London's been great. There's a lot of awesome stuff that's happened here. I feel like the dance music scene really was a big thing here, and that's what shaped us again, like what we were saying earlier. It's that was kind of the reason why because I feel like if we didn't really have too much of that, like if we're going to Toronto all the time, and then it would have been a little bit more difficult, but it was a great place to foster what we were doing.
Sunday Ajak
You know, they say West London is just like a university town. It's just Western right? And so, on that note, I'm kind of curious, what is a typical Western student? If you're a Western, typical Western student, running me through it, what are they doing? What do they look like?
Andrew Fedyk
I would say they're motivated and they're well rounded, not like as much as Western has a stereotype of the Western bro and stuff like that. If you actually meet the people here, they're so different. But yeah, (they're very nice). Yeah, the main common thread I see between everyone is just a desire to do impactful work, but also understand that that life has so many different aspects to it. You know, your social life is important, your friendships are important, but school is just as important. And that's what I admire about Western people.
Sunday Ajak
I love it. And so would you I'm kind of curious. Would you advise someone right now focus on your studies or focus on what you love. If they have (both) a difference, yeah,
Joe Depace
You have to do both, because we had jobs and we were doing things after college, and it was one of those things where it just wasn't working, and we just decided to take a risk and do what we loved. I quit my job and packed my bags, which was very minimal at the time, and moved to LA and knew no one.
Sunday Ajak
And what were you doing before?
Joe Depace
I was working just like a corporate job? Yeah.
Andrew Fedyk
There's still a lot of great things that I learned from menial parts of Western, you know, maybe a course that you just doing to get by or, you know, just to bump up your GPA. And there's a lot of life skills that actually came from paying attention, even if you're, you know, if you're a DJ Yeah, I didn't do a bachelor's degree in DJing, but there's a lot of important life skills I think we took away that we would have been missing on a level, a level of maturity if we didn't have that Western experience. I definitely wouldn't be the same person I was today.
Sunday Ajak
And, you know, I'm sure if you taught a bachelor's degree in teaching, we're working on it. Yeah, some people, quite a few people, would come into that. I love it. And, you know, I look back on my time at Western and it's like you said, I learned some of my biggest life skills here. And, you know, is there, when you think back, is there one thing that you remember, okay, I learned something great here. Was it, was it? Yes, sir, yeah, there's...
Joe Depace
There's a lot of professors that I really liked it. So my third year, I was in social science, and I wasn't loving it, because I just knew that wasn't really what I wanted to do, because I was gonna, like, go into law. And then I actually switched into a course that Jay Hodgson was teaching, and he let me into it. He had to get, like, special permission. And then I did so well in the course, I got like, a 98 or something like that, that it was something that I was like, I really love this, and I want to pursue it. So then I actually got switched into the music program, and that's how things kind of kicked off for me, because at the time, I didn't know how to produce. I was just DJing, and then that's what helped me learn, actually how to make music and start the process...
Sunday Ajak
Similar?
Andrew Fedyk
Not quite, because I wasn't actually in the music faculty. Any music knowledge I have, although it's limited, it came from, like, YouTube and things like that. But uh, specific professors that stand out to me would definitely be like Nigmendra Narain, for example.
Sunday Ajak
I had him as well.
Joe Depace
Yes, I had, I had him first here too.
Andrew Fedyk
I majored in poli sci, so I actually had him for a lot more courses beyond the intro thing... (Yeah) and he was really helpful from just, I think, learning how to write better, Speak Better, communicate your thoughts, rather than it all just be a jumble of, you know, a twisted mess of cobwebs, for lack of a better word. And I think no matter what you do that's really important. And you know, we're doing DJing, you're talking to a lot of people, maybe it's uh, someone in the C suite from Live Nation, or someone who's a very successful promoter or head of a label. You know, they all go to school and have impressive degrees, so you want to be able to level with them, you know what I mean? You want them to know like you speak the same language of them, instead of them feeling like they're talking to a dummy. And Western was really valuable in that, and I think that's been helpful in getting us ahead.
Sunday Ajak
Yeah? And I'm sure you guys are leagues ahead. A lot of these people that are in the C suite positions. Do you guys ever find yourself walking in and being like, maybe I don't belong? Or do you guys walk in?
Joe Depace
Yeah, all the time about this. Yeah, I still like, I don't really care. Like, whoever's in the room or whoever I'm with, like, I just try to be nice and treat people the same. And I mean, with a lot of these guys, yeah, sometimes it gets like, a little bit daunting, but at the end of the day, they're just humans. And yeah, you like, you can just strike up a conversation. Some people will, will gravitate towards it, and some people won't, but that's...
Sunday Ajak
Yeah, and I've seen you guys interact with those students. You guys have such a warmth, and the students feel that they can come watch you next. It's that the Western way I love that that's awesome. You know, you guys are so humble for having so much success. Well, like, what keeps you that?
Andrew Fedyk
It's just down to the fact that it's a gift and a blessing to be able to do this, and we just honor that gift every day, and also just knowing that, I think a big part of it is, like, maybe it would act a little bit differently if we feel like we'd made it in everything, but we're proud of our resume, but it's like we just feel like we have so much to prove that we're still working like we're down here and trying to show people who we are every day.
Sunday Ajak
It's that grit, yeah, that grit...
Andrew Fedyk
But, but also, it's not even just grit. Of like, you know, you're holding on to this position and trying to stay strong. It's more just like a passion and an excitement to be like we belong at the top. We want to show people that. And whatever we have to do to get there, we'll do it.
Sunday Ajak
And making that move to LA, was there a moment where you're like, oh, oh,
Andrew Fedyk
A million, yeah, freaky, yeah. It was weird.
Joe Depace
LA is a freaky place.
Sunday Ajak
Give it to us. What's it like?
Joe Depace
It's crazy. It's everything you could imagine. And when people say, oh, let's go to Hollywood and they want to see it for the first time, or for, like, somebody's from out of town and want to see it, I usually drive them through it. And if they want to go see the the Walk of Fame, or whatever it is, I'm, like, you can do that on your own time. I will drive you through it. And it's we live, like, literally in the heart of Hollywood for the longest time. It is crazy.
Sunday Ajak
So you know what, I haven't gone, so I'll take you up on that.
Joe Depace
Yeah? I'll take you out.
Andrew Fedyk
We'll be happy to host you.
Sunday Ajak
I love it. Yeah, you know, I I'm one of those people. I look at LA and I'm like, oh, that's got to be one crazy place to live.
Joe Depace
It's crazy, and that's where the entertainment industry is. And I we always wanted to be small fish in a big pond, as opposed to big fish in a small pond. So that's the reason why we moved there, because there's a lot more people that are more famous and have done more than us there. And I kind of like that, because then it's like, it's this, like, air of competition, that's..
Sunday Ajak
Land of the dreams. I love it.
Andrew Fedyk
One thing that I feel like we were really trying to get across to every amazing student we've met, the lectures that we've done, anyone we've crossed path to us, is just to embrace discomfort. I think a lot of people are scared of that, and scared and scared to take risks. And the reason why it's so important is because, like, Joe said, that's how you level up, you know. And we just never wanted to be big fishes and small ponds.
Sunday Ajak
I love it. And on that note, is there an end goal? Is there, like, this pond is too small for us?
Andrew Fedyk
Just keep going.
Joe Depace
Yeah, keep going. Yeah. It never ends. Yeah.
Andrew Fedyk
I don't see a world where let's say, like, your end goal is like, let's get let's get a billboard number one, for example, if we were to achieve that, I don't think we'd be like, ah, we did it. Let's go to the country.
Joe Depace
I know a lot of guys that have accomplished that, and still they're, they're still the same way, because they just have that drive to keep going.
Andrew Fedyk
Because what, once you stop competing against others, like, let's say it's like, oh, you know, I want to be on this Drake level, at this The Weeknd level, once you get to that, what's really fascinating about people like that is they're still competing now, but just against themselves.
Sunday Ajak
Wow. Okay, yeah,
Andrew Fedyk
So it never ends.
Sunday Ajak
And so for some people, they compete against themselves since day one.
Andrew Fedyk
Yeah, right. And I feel we do as well (as I've been doing, yeah). Well, I think it's also a great way of keeping things sane, because, let's say, everything we've built is just about competing against other people, right? Yeah, they're going zigs and zags in different directions that suit them. And rather than trying to match someone's tempo the entire time, you're going to drive yourself crazy, versus just being like, am I proud of what I'm doing? Is what I'm doing making a difference, and how can I keep achieving that? You know, it's sort of like a cheat code to, like, keep you on the straight and narrow, rather otherwise, you kind of be like, head on a swivel. You know, when you, like, watch ping pong and it's like this that that, you know, it's like, all over the place. It keeps things straight, focused and peaceful.
Sunday Ajak
The comparison game that takes a lot of people out, especially in that business.
Joe Depace
It's very easy.
Andrew Fedyk
Yeah, it's, it can be fuel, but it's also a dangerous fuel, where it could blow up your whole car if you're just caught too much in it. Yeah Beautiful. I love the way you said that. And a lot of young people go through that, right? What are they doing? They're going to this school, they got this job, and so is it if there, there's one thing you want to tell that 22 year old is about to graduate, put their mind at ease. What do you want to tell them?
Joe Depace
Just don't worry about the noise and focus on yourself ,and things will pay off if you work hard.
Sunday Ajak
Yeah, you know, you heard it here first, guys, things will pay off if you work hard. I love it. Okay, guys, this has been amazing. You guys have given us such great tidbits of knowledge. And to anyone listening, I hope you took everything to heart. But I have one question for you guys. (We're ready) Little bit of a weird one. All right, what's in your recently deleted, recently deleted?
Joe Depace
It's a lot of music files. A lot of stuff that I zipped through.
Andrew Fedyk
It's nothing controversial. I blessed and cursed myself with just having a really big laptop memory, which means that you never overthink anything that you save to it, right? Yeah. So I just come in waves of being like, What is this stuff I'm downloading? Like, whether it's an episode or something, you just never delete it. So sometimes you got to just keep things and clean house in order to not be overwhelmed by all the crap they have on your computer.
Sunday Ajak
I'm just like that. Like, as soon as I post a picture, it's gone and I will never see it again. You know, it's...
Andrew Fedyk
I'm not good at doing it right away, but, like, every couple months, I have to do it, because otherwise I'll save everything, and then you just have not a very focused workspace,
Sunday Ajak
Terabytes. Yeah, what could you do with that?
Andrew Fedyk
Yeah it's noise, it's confusion, right?
Sunday Ajak
Good stuff. Okay, guys, you guys have been absolutely amazing. And you know, time is of the essence, so we got to get to our next thing. But you know, appreciate this conversation. Thanks. Man, all right, (appreciate it brother) okay (Go Stangs)
Eric Morse
The Entrepreneur Podcast is sponsored by Quantumshift 2008 alum, Connie Clerici and Closing the Gap Healthcare Group. To ensure you never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player or visit entrepreneurship.uwo.ca/podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.