Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden have a long, tumultuous history which started 2001 when they joined forces as Gabriel&Dresden and immediately gained notoriety for their remix work. But, it wasn't until the duo teamed up with vocalist ,Jes Breiden, to form the group, Motorcycle, that their success reached epic proportions. In 2003 their track "As The Rush Comes" became Billboards year-end number one Dance Airplay track. Then in 2006, Gabriel & Dresden’s self-titled artist album was released and hits like "Tracking Treasure Down" and "Dangerous Power" kept on coming.
Until 2008, Gabriel & Dresden produced 12 original tracks (including collaborations and as Motorcycle); released one artist album and three mix CDs; delivered 50 remixes; and reached #1 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Chart 18 times. They peaked at #20 on the DJ Magazine Top 100 Poll, won the 2004 DanceStar Award for "Best Breakthrough DJ;" and received numerous awards at the IDMA’s including “Best Producers;” “Best Progressive / Trance Track” for "As The Rush Comes;" “Best Remixers; Best Alternative Dance Track for "Dangerous Power" and were named “Best American DJs” twice (2007 & 2008).
Then came the day that rocked the EDM world. On March 30, 2008, after their final appearance on their tour at the WMC in Miami, Gabriel&Dresden officially split.
As the years passed fans began to lose hope of Gabriel&Dresden ever reuniting until the announcement of a special New Years Eve reunion at the Hollywood Palladium, December 31st, 2010. This would be the night that would catapult Gabriel&Dresden back on the map. Since their reunion, Gabriel&Dresden have been building momentum all over the world, they have performed at some of the biggest events around the globe, released successful remixes and and began a residency at Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub in Las Vegas.
Throughout their career, Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden, have left an undeniable mark on electronic dance music, and with their reunion will undoubtedly take their legacy to new heights .
Let's start by going back to March 30, 2008, what lead up to the breakup?
DD: We were thinking differently as artists at that point, and we had spent the last year not vibing in a way that was conducive to making music. We just kind of knew it. It was in the pit of our stomach but we couldn't get it out and so, eventually, we did. Josh was like, "I want to do this," and I was like, "Wel, I want to do that." So we thought, lets just knock it on the head for a while. We finished out the shows we had booked and put G&D on hold for a while to go explore other things. You know, it probably wasn't the best business decision. As artist we are a weird bunch and we both needed to learn some things that we wouldn't have been able to do as G&D. I think that thats where the excitement of us getting back together is, what we've learned. We kinda spent the time like, "Oh I learned this and I learned that or check this out." I think we are ready to go.
Tell me about what you did on your three-year G&D hiatus.
DD: I collaborated with bunch people and I eventually settled in the Dresden&Johnston and we had a hit called, "Keeping Faith," and we worked on an album that was never released with Skylar Grey and Nadia Ali.
But Dresden&Johnston didn't work out either.
DD: I didn't really gel as an artist with (Mikael) Johnston in a way that I do with Josh. It's one of those things, it either is or it isn't
JG: I think its a language and you have to understand each others way of communicating. Someone might have great ideas but if you can't communicate them it wont benefit you to work together.
DD: It was definitely an experience that thought me to be a better collaborator.
JG: At the same time was I made an album called Eight and there were no vocals, it was all techno music. And I did Winter Kills, which had a couple of hit song. And then I got a chance to co-producing and co-wrote Sander Kleinenberg's album, so I got to work with someone for a long period of time. I think that helped in honing my ability in listening to people and what they are trying to communicate and that definitely helped.
Do you think this was kind of like a relationship, where you break up, go date other people realize what you had at home was better?
JG: I think we went out and dated other people and they were great and you learned something from that but it wasn't as good as what you had. So you didn't learn negative lessons but you learned positive lessons. You bring those lessons to the table and it's better than it was before.
So we get to December 31, 2010, what led up to that reunion?
DD: Every New Years we had gotten offers up until this point
Just New Years?
JG: Well, people knew we weren't playing but they figured for New Years maybe we would
DD: They asked us twice and we said no twice. It was like when you ask someone a bunch of times, they are bound to say yes eventually .
JG: People at this point were starting to wonder when we were going to get back together.
Did you see each other prior to the gig?
DD: Well, we had definitely taken time apart from talking to each other.
JG: Before the gig Dave came to Amsterdam for ADE. We listened to some stuff to get reacquainted with each others tastes. Then we met a day before the gig
Was a chance that this was a one time thing?
DD: Absolutely, but It was amazing.
JG: Neither one us in our solo DJing got to play in front of G&D fans, hearing G&D music. I think we both realized how much fun it was.
After that performance Gabriel&Dresden had a massive 2011
DD: From that night the internet went nuts! There were videos of every moment of that night, on YouTube, the next day. Immediately our booking agent started getting booking for G&D to play. One of them that came in was the whole Creamfields Australia tour. By January 10th we had like 6 or 7 shows in addition to that whole tour on the table and we were like, "Maybe we should do these and see how they go."
Was it a business decision or was the animosity from the past really gone?
DD: Its a business decision coupled with the fact that we did the New Years show and we had an enjoyable time. You know there was tension, of course.
JG: We didn't know how it was going to go
DD: We didn't know how it was going to go and we hadn't played together in years
Was it hard to perform together?
JG: Being on your own is being on your own. You're the person that decides what you're playing and what you're not. When you're together, you both decide.
DD: We had forgotten how we used to go about playing music. It took awhile to find the right music to put into the system.
When was Gabriel&Dresden made official again?
DD: We made the decision after the Winter Music Conference show. We spent the whole week working on tracks for the set and it was like all the magic that exists between us was shown that day, our DJing ability, our production ideas that we both collaborated on. It was cool, and the response was just amazing.
What were some of your favorite moments of 2011 comeback?
DD: Nocturnal
JG: Yeah, Nocturnal and probably this event we did in Cyprus at Guaba Beach.
How would you compare Nocturnal to Guaba Beach?
JG: Lets just say theres a soul meter and you can wave it over the audience and measure the crowds soul. Not the vibe- the soul, the people, the depth of whatever is there. The depth of the 20,000 people at Nocturnal would not give you the same reading as the 2,000 people in Cyprus.
Do you think at a gig like Nocturnal, where there are so many people, are there fans that don't know G&D because of your 3 year absence?
JG: At Nocturnal, we just need to make something come out of the speakers that everyone can identify with. And we have fans, so we use some of those elements but we can't relying on them
DD: Nocturnal is being DJs and performing to a huge crowd of, probably, Swedish House Mafia fans because we were in between Alesso and Sebastian Ingrosso.
JG: I think that was the first time half those people had been in a situation like that. This is not like when we go to Cyprus, where people are gathering for this experience, its very different.
You guys also have your Marquee residency in Las Vegas
JG: Its fun to play there, its a pretty club. Visually, they actually spent a lot of money to make it look good with crazy lights. And its a great opportunity for us to connect with a totally different crowd, its probably more mainstream than Nocturnal. But, clubs like Marquee have figured out that if you bring real DJs real people will come.
DD: Yeah, there's going to be about 30% our fans that we play to and rely on to hype the crowd up, to get the people who have absolutely no idea who we are on board.
Only 30%?
JG: Well, some people go to club to get laid, some people go there to find a husband and they don't all go to see the DJ.
Since you are performing with Jes Breiden at Marquee for your opening show, are there any plans for a Motorcycle reunion?
DD: She's busy, we're busy, maybe we can become more un-busy. And there is a train of thought where that was a period of time and that we need to investigate something new. We always got our best stuff when we tried something new with no expectations. You never know.
Las Vegas DJ culture has definitely changed since 2008, what else has changed?
JG: The way its changed for us is that people have a shorter attention span
DD: Yep
JG: So, the songs are shorter. I think it has to do with the state of the world than anything else, but if you were to ask people in the 60s, "What do you want out of tonight?" They might say "I want to investigate my soul. I want to go deeper. I want ask questions about the universe." If you polled everyone now people would say, "I just want to have a good time!" And to me, thats like sometimes a cop-out. But, those are the people the scene is attracting. If I hear "party" or "dance" in another song, I'm going to shoot myself.
What can fans expect from your sets, other than no "party" or "dance" lyrics?
JG: We have lots on new tracks coming out, lots of new bootlegs and mashups.
DD: We are just trying to build an awesome library of music , whether its ours or not, to play and thats how we do our shows.
JG: I think you'll hear a lot more remixes or remakes of our original tracks.
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