We caught up with the brilliant and insightful the dt’s a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi the dt’s, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

A lot of artists and inspiration have been passed down to us from our parents. We both learned music through listening and playing along to some of our favorite music including The Everly Brothers, The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix as well as watching YouTube and playing with other musicians and friends. Our harmonies were something we serendipitously discovered from playing together so much. We eventually realized that our voices blended together very well, similar to that of our heroes.

Prior to the pandemic, we focused a lot on playing live; playing as many shows as possible. However, with live shows coming to an abrupt halt, we were forced to rethink our approach. We decided to focus on our vocals, specifically our harmonies. We spent countless hours working on our vocal arrangements to make sure that they were perfect. We were anxious to share our hard work and love of harmonies with the world. However, an essential skill in learning harmonies is patience.

Although we found that our voices blended well together, we had to learn how to apply that to the songs that we were playing and writing. This required a lot of patience and collaboration. We would spend, and still do, a lot of time listening for the perfect harmony to match with the vocal melody. We also learned a lot of vocal techniques including singing from your gut and dynamics. Even though we were patient with learning our vocal harmonies, we needed the time to spend to be able to focus on our craft.

With everyone having a crazy and unique schedule, sometimes it is hard to find the time to collaborate and work on our passion. However, we do our best to communicate and schedule accordingly so we can always find some time to work on our project :)

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

the dt’s (David Cacciatore & Tom Losito), defy being put aside and revere the fact that we each play an array of different instruments from guitar, bass, drums, and even piano. After first meeting at a local bar’s open mic, we performed together over the years, touring the US before establishing ourselves as the dt’s in early 2020. We have been close friends for many years and have been playing, performing, and writing music together since we were in high school. Getting into the music industry came naturally to us; we gravitated toward other creatives, bands, and artists over the years. We are very proud of the diverse influences we infuse into our music which pull from a vast array of vintage and modern pop artists. We want our followers and listeners to really see the passion, craft, and fun we pour into our music. We love leaving a lasting impression live for individuals and creating an engaging lively experience.

We were born out of an absolute itching to start fresh and began to collaborate, write, and record our own music at our own home studios. Snag any of our live performances and you’ll uncover us shifting harmoniously from rock to blues, to power pop, to you name it. Our modern pop approach and wide array of vintage influences are key to our collective and individual songwriting skills. We are afraid to experiment all while incorporating our love of harmonies. Our debut EP “You With Me” was released in early 2022 to local and regional acclaim along with our single “Refresh” in late 2022. “All In My Head” is our latest single. The song’s heartfelt lyrics explore the challenges of forming genuine connections in today’s society. The self-doubting lyrics are disguised by a driving rhythmic section and layers of vocal harmonies reminiscent of brit/modern pop.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being able to meet other artists and musicians around different communities in NJ/NY and even beyond has been an extremely rewarding experience. Sharing the stage, making friends with other artists by supporting each other, going to shows, and collaborating are some things that put many things in perspective as artists. Those same talented friends and creatives are part of our backing band which we are very grateful for. Being creative should not be a competition but an experience in finding your voice and experimenting, which we love to do. Another rewarding aspect is being able to share our songs in a live setting either as a duo or full band as both forms of the dt’s elicit different fans and new listeners. We also love it when an original idea of a song that we have finally come to life. It’s fun to noodle around and come up with ideas in your bedroom. But it’s magical to work with other people, get different inputs, and take the song in a direction you didn’t even know was possible.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

We love making micro content like TikToks, Reels, and YouTube shorts. We began posting to these outlets more frequently during the pandemic. A cover of a song we enjoy, an original, an evolution of music, or using a trending sound to make a funny video is what fills our micro content platform. We started posting after also being inspired by seeing others having the same passion as us. Eventually, we said to ourselves, “Hey, we can do that!”. So, we did. Common feedback that we get when interacting with our fans, peers, friends, and even family, is that they love our content. We are always genuinely grateful and appreciative whenever we hear this because the truth is, we are just being ourselves. We are lucky and proud to say that a recent Reel that we posted hit over 7 million views. Oddly enough when we posted to TikTok or YouTube shorts, the video did not do as well. These are the biggest pieces of advice we would offer to someone looking to build a social media presence. Be yourself, and post to every social media platform. Don’t be afraid to post that TikTok to Reels and YouTube shorts. You never know which platform is going to get you the most engagement. Also, it’s okay to go a little outside, experiment, and even use a trending sound. But only post something that you believe authentically reflects who you are, or what your brand stands for. We take what we do very seriously but not ourselves seriously.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thedtsmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedtsmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedtsmusicmusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedtsmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedtsmusic
• Other: TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@thedtsmusic

Image Credits
Images – 0-1, 4, 3, DSC03127 – Salvatore Zeppi Rubinetti – https://www.instagram.com/zeppi_productions/ Images – 5, 1-1 – Eric K. Andersen – https://www.instagram.com/ericactive/ Images 2-1 – Thomas Garrigan – https://www.instagram.com/tommy_g_ster/?img_index=1