The Stafford Bros are the godfathers of partying. Though I had never seen them play before, I heard stories and saw the aftermath of their shows. Needless to say, I was terrified to finally see them in Atlantic City this past weekend. They were frequent guests at Haven Nightclub, and Saturday was their rowdiest night of the week. But before I experienced my first Stafford Bros show, I was able to have a quick chat with Matt and Chris, which you can read in full below: 
You guys recently put a music video for “This Girl”; how involved were you with the creative process and when can we expect another?
Matt: We’re involved a fair bit.
Chris: Actually we’re in the process of making one now. It’s a bit different, because in the past we’ve featured ourselves in the video a lot, but for this one we might not be in it at all. It might be more artistic.
Which do you prefer: being in them more or being behind the scenes?
Chris: We’ve always been in music videos and we’ve always just DJ’ed a party and it’s all the same thing. Now it’s time to be different.
Matt: For the next video clip I’d say we won’t be in 99% of it. It’s a really cool style and we’re excited about it.
https://soundcloud.com/staffordbrothers/sets/thie-girl-the-remixes
You’re known to be full of energy. Do you two ever have down time or are you always on 10?
Matt: Last night. We finally had a night off so we came here early and went to dinner with a load of friends and they started trying to make us go party but we pulled the pin at 12:30 and said, “No, no…that’s enough for us.”
Chris: But we were also working on music. We may not have had to play but we’re always still working on something.
You’re one of few acts that have a brand that includes much more than just DJ/Producing. How do you split the workload?
Chris: we have separate roles which is good. Matt is definitely the businessman and he’s making the deals and organizing that side of our life.
Really!? You’d never think he was the organized one with hair like that.
Matt: it’s all fake, all just a show.
You just pull that hair back into a ponytail and put a suit on for meetings?
I’ve actually been trying that. Hasn’t been working out too well. It needs to be longer.
How can you enjoy having long hair? Doesn’t it get all sweaty and in the way when you DJ?
Well I like the rock and roll star feel of it.
What DJ do you think has the best hair right now?
Matt: MakJ’s is pretty mental with the shaved sides and the tail. Uh.. Red Foo? He’s got the afro and he’s known for that legendary hair. David Guetta’s is pretty long, so I gotta respect that. Uhmm.. Steve Aoki? He’s got crazy long hair.
Chris: Armin Van Buuren’s pretty clean cut with those spikes..
Matt: I feel like short hair is what you’re meant to have. So I admire anyone who’s got really long hair and is kinda stepping outside the square. Oh wait! CANDYLAND. Yes, she’s got the big fro. Candyland has the best DJ hair right now.
You’ve done a lot of amazing things in your career; what’s currently at the top of your bucket list?
Matt: I mean I’d love a #1 single in America. That’s the top goal right now, definitely.
Chris: We’ve had a lot of success in our home country but now it’s time to do it here.
And you guys live here now, correct?
Matt: Yeah we’ve been here for 2 years and we’re still figuring it all out.
What was the hardest part about transitioning between Australia and the US?
Chris: Nothing really. We moved in and it was great. To be honest, I think one of the problems was that we moved to a house in LA and then we moved away and went to Newport and then back to Australia for a bit. It was disjointed for a while there, but now we’ve got a house in LA, and we finally have a home.
Matt: And literally the past month was the first time we had a home base in 8 months or something.
Chris: It has felt a bit all over the place and disorganized , but it feels right.
Have you ever had a show where everything went wrong: you were late, headphones broke, etc? How do you recover and stay focused on playing?
Chris: Jager. (laughs)
Matt: As soon as you get on stage, you know? As soon as you see all the people, everything changes.
Chris: But when things fuck up during the show, it’s the worst.
You feel like you can’t recover right?
Chris: well if a song cuts out, a CDJ doesn’t work, you’re just embarrassed and everyone goes “awwww!”
But it’s not your fault!
Chris: Yeah, but they don’t know that. To them, you just ruined their vibe and it takes a while to get back in.
Do you just get on the mic and say something? What works for you?
Matt: one time we just started clapping and we got the whole crowd to start clapping and then we tried to fix whatever went wrong while they’re distracted.
Chris: It doesn’t happen often but it has happened before. It’s just a part of the game.
Speaking of games, you did your first Tough Mudder this past month. How was it?
Matt: it was fun! It was freezing.
Did you actually train for it?
Chris: Well, some running. We don’t run and it was a 10 mile course, so leading up we did about 7 miles.
Matt: About 8 weeks out this supplement company we work with called Neon Sport asked us if we wanted to do the course here in New Jersey before our show at Haven. We decided to take the night before off to run so we could run the course then come to Atlantic City. The show ended up getting moved but we still got booked for gigs in New York and Boston that weekend too.
Wait. So you played Lavo in New York City, then ran the Tough Mudder the next morning at 8am?!
Chris: Well we ran the later race at 1 because we had to try and get some sleep in-between. We played in New York, woke up, drove to New Jersey, did the Tough Mudder, then hopped in a limo, drove 6 or 7 hours to Boston, then did the show there, and then flew to Montreal for a show the day after that.
So when did you officially collapse?
Matt: Well actually, we flew to vegas that Monday and partied with all our mates and had this crazy week in Vegas then played a few more shows that weekend and now we’re here.
Chris: Yeah I’m really looking forward to going home tomorrow because we have 4 days off.
But how did you do anything after a Tough Mudder? Those races are really demanding.
Matt: Well we were fine after. It’s why we can be DJs and travel and be so energetic because we are quite fit…and a bit mental.
When do you find time to workout between touring and music and all your other projects?
Matt: We just woke up this morning and hit the gym. It’s best to get it out of the way first thing before shit gets in the way.
Chris: One hour a day, that’s all we need. Some days you can’t and that’s okay but if you have the time just go and workout.
Your clothing line Sushi Radio is starting to breakout into the US. When will we see more products for girls?
Matt: Well it was made for dudes. We don’t really know what girls want you know? We tried out a few designs but It’s like anything in life; you should do what you know because if you don’t then it’s all gonna go wrong. And yeah, we’ve just done dudes wear because it’s basically what we want to wear.
You mean you don’t want to wear a crop top?
Matt: (laughs) Afraid not. That’s the main reason why. We’ve got partners in Australia and they’re designing a bunch of new stuff so we’ve got some new products coming out. Maybe somewhere down the line sure, but for now we’re keeping it simple. And it’s great because Americans are really enjoying the line and it’s not really even for sale over here.
When you guys are ready to retire, what do you want your legacy to be?
Matt: Some hit singles, but probably that we were the craziest dudes in the game.
Chris: And we’re still alive.
Matt: We want people to say we partied the hardest, we rocked the biggest shows, had the greatest music, and still be alive to tell the tale. Living Legends.
So what’s next? How are you spending NYE?
We’re doing a big show in Australia at Luna Park near the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
During that massive fireworks show?!
Nah, we’re playing about 30 mins after. No one’s gonna be paying attention to us when that massive show is happening (laughs). And then we have a new single next month in Australia called “Feel This” and that’s with a really big Australian star.
What about any goals for 2015?
Matt: more music! We’re coming back at the end of January from a tour in Australia. and then we’ll just take it from there and see what happens.
Check out the full gallery from my night with the Stafford Bros!
Cover Photo: InTheMix AU
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