Here at pointblank, we pride ourselves on the success of our students. We’re spoilt for choice when it comes to success stories and that’s why we love to highlight our student’s accomplishments. For this installment, we are shining a spotlight on not 1, but 2 pointblank LA students, Esteban and Nicolas Vera.
Some call them “The Veras Bros,” some call them “The Mexican Twins,” but you may have heard of them as the DJ duo, “GORDOS.” Coming in from Celaya, Mexico, we had the opportunity to catch them perform here at pointblank Los Angeles. We also sat down, and talked about everything GORDOS and pointblank, so keep on scrollin’ to find out more about GORDOS!
Hey Esteban and Nico also known as the DJ duo, “GORDOS!” For those who aren’t familiar with you, could you give us an intro? How did you start off DJing back home or what inspired you take an interest?
“Yeah, of course. Everything started when we were little. When we were kids, our parents and our family called us “gordos,” because we were like, really fat, little kids. It stuck with us that name. And over the years, when we decided to do music, we’re thinking, what could be a good name? Man, let’s just go to the name that everyone in our family and friends knows. So that’s how GORDOS started. We started making music in 2015. We’re here now, in 2023, and we’re really happy to be here in pointblank.” – Esteban Vera
“So as Nico said, we started in 2015. We were little kids watching all these YouTube videos; DJs like, Hardwell and Martin Garrix, at Tomorrowland. We wanted to be those guys. And over the years, we we started to look for the easiest ways to learn, which was watching videos of how to produce, how to mix and it started to become real and more realistic. In 2018 we released our first song, “Alone With You,” that’s when GORDOS was born. And, and over the years, we’ve been releasing music and people, they like it. So we’re gonna keep with it, you know?” – Nico Vera
Who are your influences or what artists you look up to?
“This whole DJing thing all started because we were watching Tomorrowland. So you know, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike were a really big inspiration for us. When we’re little we wanted to make EDM. Now it’s different, we made a different genre. At the end of the day its still electronic music and, and yeah, those were the biggest inspirations to to enter to this world of music.” – Esteban Vera
So there have been some pretty iconic brother DJ Duo’s out there, as I’m sure you guys know. What are some aspects of GORDOS that you guys would say sets you apart from others?
I don’t want to sound cheesy, but honestly, sometimes I feel about GORDOS like we were blessed or gifted for for being twin brothers, you know, this type of connection, I feel like it’s different. And that set us apart from from any other duos. I know there has been other great duos, like Nervo and Les Twins from Mexico. But you know, GORDOS is a different vibe. We have a different energy to give to people, and that’s because we are very, mind connected and and body connected. We literally have have been through everything together. So that on the stage looks different and it feels different, you know?” – Nico Vera
What classes are you taking at pointblank, and what do you hope to accomplish after leaving pointblank?
“So the courses are music production and DJing. One of my favorite classes is, of course production. I have to say, mixing with, Tom (Sweatson Klank) is an amazing class I’m taking it right now, and I’m enjoying a lot of this class, I’m having fun, and I’m learning a lot. I’m forgetting about one that I like a lot; sound design. I really love that one with Dave (David Harrow). It’s an amazing class; it takes you to a different part of the music, where you just focus on making sounds, and it was really fun to have that class.” – Esteban Vera
What has been the biggest challenge that you’ve faced while writing or creating music? Would you say that what you’ve learned at pointblank has helped you to overcome those challenges?
“We’re from Mexico, and the first three months here in LA, were really hard for us because of the language barrier. We knew how to speak in English, and we understood everything, but we were really shy. So that was a really big challenge; trying to learn music, trying to focus on on how to speak and how to do things was a pretty big challenge for us. Now, it was a year ago, we’ve learned a lot and we control it.” – Esteban Vera
“I feel like another challenge for us here was to get gigs. It still is a challenge here, but spending nine months here, Sergio (Student Services GOAT, A.K.A “Mystery Jack“) talked to us about playing at Station1640. So that’s how pointblank has helped in that part. You know, it’s really hard to go knock on the doors without anyone knowing you here. In Mexico, okay, yeah that’s not a problem. Now, people know our names by someone or something, or whatever. But here, it’s a new place. We’re starting from zero, basically. And pointblank has helped us get to this point.” – Nico Vera
What’s in the pipeline? Are there any other interesting projects (personal or professional) you’re working on that you can tell us about?
“We have a surprise for November. I’m just gonna say that I can’t say much. But, we have new music coming this year. Next year is going to be full of music. I’m not going to make promises but there’s a lot of new music, a lot of new genres. We’re experimenting a lot. I hope you guys are ready for for what’s coming from GORDOS.” – GORDOS
Check out GORDOS’s latest release “Hollow” here:
Successes such as these are common among our students and alumni. We can teach you how to DJ or produce music like the best of them at any of our schools. If you’d like to learn how to produce, then we can build your skills from the ground up with our range of courses. For more information, you can contact us here.
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