By Geoffrey Rowlands

It’s taken a while for Cash Cash to achieve genuine success. The seeds of the New Jersey-based Electronic Dance Music trio were sown as long ago as 2002.

“That was when Sam (Frisch) and I started playing together in a rock band called The Consequence,” said producer, DJ, songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Jean Paul Makhlouf. “We made a reasonable living and self-released three albums but I don’t think we would ever have become stars.”

The boys went through an assortment of drummers and keyboardists before they were eventually joined by drummer Anthony Villacari and Jean Paul’s brother Alex Makhlouf on keyboards. This was the line-up which became Cash Cash.

“We’d been playing rock tracks for five years but were basically treading water in our career,” Sam remarked. “We realised we needed to reinvent ourselves and change our musical direction if we were to have a chance of becoming major players in the music business.”

Changing their name to Cash Cash and their style to EDM brought rewards almost immediately through a record deal with Universal Republic. Their self-titled debut EP and first full-length album, Take It To The Floor, were both released before the end of 2008.

“Our records did okay,” Alex recalled. “They both made the Billboard Heatseekers charts so they got us known by a much wider audience. Even more important was the reaction from people within the music industry. We were given the opprtunities to tour with better known artists and the chance to do some remixing work.”

Despite a growing reputation inside the business, Cash Cash songs were making little impression on the charts. There was also some unrest within the camp. “Creative differences” was quoted as the official reason behind Anthony’s decision to quit.

“We were a rock band when Anthony came on board,” Sam stated. “He didn’t actually dislike the dance music we were now playing but he was very much a rocker at heart. It was for the best that he left to pursue his musical passion.”

Although they were still performing live, most of the group’s work was done in the studio. Like Jean Paul, Sam and Alex were equally proficient producers, DJs, songwriters and remixers.

“We worked very well as a trio,” Jean Paul remarked. “There didn’t seem to be any point in recruiting someone to replace Anthony. We could always use a drum machine for our live shows and a new person could ruin the creative chemistry we had between the three of us.”

Major names became interested in having their songs remixed or produced by Cash Cash. In addition to stars from the dance music scene, they found themselves working with artists such as Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson and Lady GaGa.

In 2012, the boys enjoyed some overseas chart success with “Michael Jackson (The Beat Goes On),” a tribute to the late megastar. A year later, they recorded the song which has now made them famous.

“Take Me Home was originally a track on our Overtime EP, Alex explained. “We initially created a stripped down version of the melody on acoustic guitar and piano. The lyrics were gradually worked out as the song evolved. It was written from a female viewpoint so we needed a girl singer to perform the lyrics.”

“We’d known about Bebe (Rexha) for years but never met her,” Jean Paul added. “She is such a talented singer and writer. She co-wrote Eminem and Rihanna’s world-wide hit, The Monster, and was the vocalist in Black Cards, the band Pete Wentz formed during his sabbatical from Fall Out Boy.”

“Bebe came to our home studio in New Jersey to work on the song,” Sam stated. “Everything was done inside a couple of days. We immediately thought Take Me Home was special. We had goosebumps listening to the finished mix.”

Released last summer, the song became their first Billboard Hot 100 hit climbing to number 57. The UK release was delayed until last month. It was well worth the wait. Take Me Home shot straight to number five.

“It’s done well pretty much everywhere but been particularly popular in Britain and Australia,” Jean Paul remarked. “Having such a big hit is awesome. Our next single is called Lightning. Vocals were performed by the incredibly talented Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik so we hope this track will be just as successful as Take Me Home.”

in brief

Seether

South African rockers Seether return with their sixth studio album, Isolate And Medicate, on July 1. But lead single, Words As Weapons, is available now as a free download.

The track can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=43ZNtVffOu8. If you enjoy it, head over to www.seether.com and scroll down to the free download link. The song is offered via your Facebook, Twitter or e-mail accounts.

Their entire 2005 album, Karma And Effect, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CbsQCqQVeM. Links to postings of the band’s other albums can also be found on this webpage. More of their work, including remixes and live recordings, is available to hear at (no www.) myspace.com/seether/music/songs.

 

Black Zheep Dz

Rapper Black Zheep DZ has just released Dream On as his new single. It is a short song lasting less than two minutes. The official video is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7nr5RSuG-o.

More of the 20-year-old Baltimore native’s official song videos can be accessed from www.youtube.com/user/SuperSuperDZ/videos.

Much more of his work is posted at (no www.) soundcloud.com/blackzheepdz. Just three of the tracks on here are offered for free download.

However, his entire Refugee mixtape can be downloaded for free thanks to the Mishka NYC fashion company. Check out the mixtape at (no www.) mishkanyc.bandcamp.com/album/refugee.

Many more albums and mixtapes by numerous artists in a variety of genres are also available for free download from (no www.) mishkanyc.bandcamp.com/music.

 

Fine Fine Titans

Post-hardcore quartet Fine Fine Titans have issued Fahrenheit Diaries as their latest single. The second track taken from their recently released Omega EP, the official song video is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sXQB-PusfI. The video for lead single, Dance of the Omega, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=N48plKhYZBY.

The entire Omega EP can be heard at (no www.) finefinetitans.bandcamp.com. Links to their five-song debut EP, Arms, and standalone single, Sexy Hot Babe Girlfriend, are also posted on this webpage. All songs can be downloaded but not for free.

 

Trummors

The country-folk duo of Anne Cunningham and David Lerner, collectively known as Trummors, release their second album, Moorish Highway, on June 17. Lead single, Bogus Bruce, is already available. It’s the first of three songs posted at (no www.) soundcloud.com/trummors and is offered for free download.

The other two songs on their SoundCloud page, Knoxville, Tn and Salinas, are taken from the duo’s 2012 debut album, Over and Around the Clove.

Three more tracks are posted on YouTube. A live version of Platte Clove Road is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIYtPfhQEZY. Official videos for the two singles, “Ever Do I Wait” and the album title-track, are at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW057wrea5s and www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpY-75-KrQ respectively.