Domino Saints is an explosive Urban Pop Duo from San Juan, Puerto Rico who have been tearing down the house since 2007 on stages across the world, from Boston to Colombia. The group’s killer fusion of Urban and Pop sounds – Caribbean soul mixed with an unmistakable Rockstar vibe – has put them in a league of their own and has made them a “must see” act in the Latin Industry. The Domino sound is a pure energetic combination of Dancehall Reggae and Electronica with a trademark Jamaican Glam style appealing to audiences around the globe.
Since the independent release of their self-titled debut album in late 2009, the group was featured as the Latin “iTunes Single of the Week” and was chosen as a winner in the “16th Billboard World Song Contest” with their smash hit “Buenos Dias San Juan” playing in stations in the US and Puerto Rico. Shortly after, they stood out at New York’s LAMC with several amazing performances. In mid 2011, the group won the Independent Music Awards “Best Latin Song” Category for their smash hit “Ahora es Ahora” and was selected as the MTV TR3S Headliner for October 2011 with the hit single “No Me Digas Que No”, which was also chosen for this year’s “Voto Latino iTu
nes Sampler” campaign.
The duo recently finished touring in Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the Eastern U.S.; opening for Don Omar, J BALVIN, PLAN B and being the exclusive opening act for SHAKIRA’s “Sale El Sol” tour in San Juan. In mid 2012, the group signed with Capitol Latin and will be launching their new single “Malas Mañas” and the accompanying album with their new label. They are Not Your Typical Saints, and they are gonna take over the world.
Interview Questions:
é: We were so excited to meet you both, and interview you during the Latin Billboard Awards in Miami. I know you both mentioned that you were exploring Miami and loved the city vibe. Have you discovered any new places there you like to eat? Favorite beaches? Favorite places to shop?
Gigi: It was a pleasure meeting you guys as well! I am absolutely in love with Miami! From the club scene to the culinary richness it is gaining, as well as the new “Renaissance”, as I call it, that is hitting Miami like a storm. A boom of art and creativity that is bringing different crowds from all over the world.
David: Miami Rocks! The place is definitely poppin and it seems to be the place to be if you want to hang out with International Latin Artists, as well as American Pop/Electronic and Hip Hop acts. The beach is great; the drinks are good. We are having a blast!
GiGi: Just discovered The Hoxton in Brickell, La Locanda & Milos in South Beach. Amazing! My favorite for sushi is always Nobu & Zuma.
Nothing like south beach for a good beach. Love going in front of Nikki Beach for a good crowd.
When it comes to shopping I really love those tiny boutiques & shops that most people don’t know about. Especially around Wynwood and South Beach like Fashion Haus and Plato’s closet.
David: Five Guys is also awesome if you just want to get a burger on the beach. Definately hit up Jimmy’z Kitchen on the beach or in Wynwood. The Puerto Rican mofongo there is amazing and definitely keeps our homesickness under control. lol.
I’m a bar type of guy, any any bar with a good selection of beer is my type of place. Playwright’s Pub is the place to go if you wanna catch up on soccer games and get a good drink or go to Democratic Republic of Beer for a huge selection of brews.
é: We have seen a few successful crossover artists recently, but most music is either English or Spanish. What made you decide to include both languages in your music?
DS: It all started in Boston when we decided to form Domino Saints. Our music was mostly in Spanish because at first we thought that being Latin meant you would mostly appeal to a Latin crowd. But when we started playing around all venues & bars in Boston and NYC, we were getting a very International crowd. They would come up to us and say ” I love your sound & music even though I don’t understand a word of it.” That’s when we decided we didn’t want any of our fans to feel left out, or not feel related to what we are all about. We started throwing in some English phrases in our songs and everyone loved it!
It’s really funny how everything has become more globalized. At that time when we started music executives thought we were crazy doing this half & half stuff. And many people in the industry at a point were trying to push us to basically “choose” a language.
We obviously didn’t listen. jajaja! And now the doors are wide open for us to do the things we are doing. It’s exciting!
é: From your time at Berklee’s College Of Music until now, your style has always been evolving. Do you feel that you’ve found your genre of music? Or do you think you will keep changing your sound throughout the years?
DS: I believe a good artist will always evolve because art is part of who you are. An expression of a moment, experience, or mood. As you change and experience new things, so does your art. It’s just natural. When we started our sound was much more raw, more ingrained in our roots with a retro feel because we were far away from home. We were nostalgic, so our music at that moment was a representation of that nostalgia for our island and our roots.
Today we are Urban/Pop, a mix of everything. Tomorrow who knows?! Let’s see what life will bring, but for sure we are always gonna be making music.
é: Since you are a dynamic duo, what do you both do when you have different ideas on a project? How are you able to share your differences?
DS: That’s an interesting question because a lot of times Dave & I don’t agree in anything! Like where to eat, what airline should we fly, etc. But when it comes to sitting down and making music we know what we want. We know our strengths and weaknesses so we compliment each other well in our producing & writing. We try to just create an image in our minds of where the song should go and just get on each other’s creative train.
é: You were recently signed with Universal, so can you let the fans know what is coming up this year? Do you have tour plans for the summer?
DS: This summer is gonna be crazy! We will be in Puerto Rico, Philly, New York, L.A., Colombia, and, hopefully, Mexico. Our plans this year are to expand big time! We wanna play at stages everywhere. Also, our album should be dropping at the end of this year, “fingers crossed”, and it’s gonna be the best of DS. Mind-blowing craziness that’s never been heard before. We are working with amazing producers like Grammy-winning producer, Andres Saavedra, as well as Milkman, Toy Selectah, Echo, Pepe Ojeda and others; to only give our fans the best.
é: Thank you so much for this interview! Any parting words or a message to your fans?
DS: To all our amazing fans: We love you guys. Thank you for loving our music and giving us the gift of living of what we love to do. It’s because of all of you we do what we do. You guys only deserve the best! And be ready, cause what’s coming out will probably get you by surprise! We are taking over 2013!
Thank you Latin-e!
DS
You can follow Domino Saints on Facebook – DominoSaints, on Twitter @dominosaints
or on Instagram @dominosaints
By Adrienne Oliveira
For more about Adrienne Oliveira you can follow her on Twitter @ChinaLatinaXO
