The Chainsmokers return to the cover of Billboard ahead of the release of So Far So Good, out May 13.
The production process for So Far So Good began on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii a few weeks after the World War Joy tour ended. In a rented house, Drdl settled in with a gaggle of pals including the electronic producer Whethan, and Ian Kirkpatrick and Emily Warren, the producers who’ve penned previous tracks for The Chainsmokers and cowrote hits for Dua Lipa and Shakira. The first few days were spent relaxing and playing music for each other. “Then out of nowhere one night,” Taggart says, “it just started happening.”
After the team came up with a few solid musical ideas, the guys fell into a rhythm: waking up around noon, surfing for a few hours — they had local guides take them out because as Pall tells it, “We’re not that good at surfing” — then having lunch at the house. After, they’d work on music until late at night. Given that the duo hadn’t been in one place longer than a few days for the previous six years, the two weeks were revelatory.
“I can’t tell you how life-changing it was for me personally,” says Taggart, his big eyes growing wider as he speaks with nearly religious conviction about the “most euphoric period of my life.” By the end of the trip, Taggart says he’d tossed his Prozac. (He notes he hadn’t been on it long enough to make weaning himself off necessary.)
Read the full Chainsmokers cover story here.