Rave Republic: Singaporean at heart

After living here for the past seven years, the boys of Rave Republic are proud to call Singapore home.

The DJ duo — comprising Russia-born Stas Madorski (27) and Swiss-born Mathias Schell (23) — released their single, Far Away, in December which debuted at No. 23 on iTunes.

Featuring YouTube singer Rosendale, Rave Republic describes Far Away as a cheerful and hopeful track that reflects their lives.

The New Paper (TNP) caught up with the pair to discuss their journey and test their local knowledge.

DJING

Madorski left his brand manager position at Procter & Gamble in July last year to focus on music.

Schell finished his postgraduate degree in marketing a few months later and was glad to be done with his studies.

The double life was proving hard to balance.

"It was difficult juggling Djing activities with all the projects that I had from school," Schell told TNP.

"I even had to miss classes for a week when we went on tour in Australia. So I did my work anywhere I could, on the aeroplanes and in the airports."

And there have been a number of airports involved in Rave Republic's career.

Since they formed in 2014, the duo have had club residencies in Singapore and have performed across the region, including Japan, China, Australia, Hong Kong and Philippines.

Their single launch for Far Away was held at one of Tokyo's hottest clubs, ELE.

Before joining forces,Schell and Madorski had been DJs in their own right for about seven years each.

It was a surprise that they worked together so well.

"We first met through DJing at the same club in Singapore and decided to play together. Considering DJs usually don't like to play together — because of their different skills, techniques and song choices — we meshed incredibly well," said Schell.

They have also shared stage space with renowned acts such as Alesso, LMFAO, Skrillex and Far East Movement during last year's Road to Ultra festival.

"Meeting them and exchanging tips and tracks with them has been a phenomenal, mind blowing experience," Madorski enthused.

"Something we didn't expect to be at this level yet in our career."

He continued: "People think that DJing is all about drinking and having fun — that it's just playing around. But in reality it is a business that you have to run and have a grounded approach to make it work."

"But things have exploded for us and it has been incredibly exciting so far."

DJ Duo Rave Republic: Mathias Schell (L) and Stas Madorski (R) TNP PHOTO: SUKMAWATI UMAR LITAK

SINGAPOREAN AT HEART

At 16, Schell and his family moved to Singapore with his family from Geneva, Switzerland at the age of 16, Schell describes himself as "very Singaporean".

"I grew up here. My adolescence and my late teens were here, the time when you start learning and discovering things. So I really feel at home."

Though Madorski had been born in Russia and growing up in Australia, he moved here for work seven years ago. He now classes himself as being from Singapore.

"Whenever I am overseas and people ask me where I'm from, I say I'm from Singapore. I may not be a citizen but my heart is from this country. I love this country."

But what do they love about Singapore?

Schell: "The food, the people, and the climate that is always hot, because I can wear shorts everyday."

Madorski: "My favourite thing about Singapore is the food. I'm a huge foodie and this is like a utopia to me."

So, favourite food?

Schell: "I'm quite basic when it comes to food. I love chicken rice, duck noodles, fried rice and prata."

Madorski: "For me, char kuey teow with extra lap cheong (chinese sausage) please! Sambal stingray is also pretty dope. And I don't just like durian... I love it."

So to show how Singaporean Rave Republic are, TNP decided to test their Singlish abilities.