On April 4th, MUSIC Matters is bringing DJ duo Louis the Child with special guest Lost Kings and U of M student DJ Miller Guth to the University of Michigan's Hill Auditorium for MUSIC Matter's annual social impact lifestyle festival, SpringFest.
MUSIC Matters (Michigan Undergrads Serving In the Community Matters) is in its seventh year at the University of Michigan. MUSIC Matters is a student-run non-profit that organizes local music events to unite the Michigan community and seed-fund promising philanthropic efforts.
According to President Matt Ladis, “The goal of SpringFest is to provide a vehicle that unites all corners of Michigan’s campus and the broader community... We are thrilled with our artist selection for the night portion as well as the programming we have in store for the day, all of which should make for the most dynamic SpringFest yet."
Before seeing this incredible duo, here are some fun facts that you should know.
1. They are only 18 and 19 years old
Unless you're a freshman, Robby Haulden and Freddy Kennett are probably younger than you.
2. They went to high school together but didn't know each other
Haulden and Kennett are from Winnetka, Illinois; a suburb of Chicago. They both went to New Trier High School but didn't meet until an EDM concert.
According to Hauldren, "We met at a show, and that was kind of it. We had a bunch of mutual friends. It wasn't 'til a couple of months after that that we started talking on Facebook. Originally, we wanted to put on a show together, and by the time the show ended up coming around, we had formed Louis the Child, so we turned it into a Louis the Child show."
3. They got their name from a Wikipedia search
According to Hauldren, Louis the Child was inspired by Louis the Child, the king of East Francia in the year 899, but the duo didn't come up with the name on their own. Rather, they got their name by going on Wikipedia: "We hit the random article button a couple of times, then Louis The Child popped up and we thought 'yeah, that sounds good' and went with it."
4. They weren't college students for long
Robby Hauldren left to attend the University of Southern California already being a successful, up-in-coming pop star. Freddy Kennett was still in high school when Louis the Child blew up, so they worked long distance until he graduated. However, Hauldren eventually dropped out his freshman year to keep up with the success of Louis the Child.
5. They have already scored six entries on the U.S. Billboard Dance Chart since 2015
Since 2015, Louis the Child have been all over the U.S. Billboard Dance Chart with the songs Fire (#30), Right To It (#33), Last To Leave (#35), It's Strange (#38), Slow Down Love (#42), and Love is Alive (#42).
6. Taylor Swift publicly praised their breakthrough hit, “It’s Strange"
In fall of 2017, Taylor Swift shared a photo on Twitter with a notebook page titled, "New Songs That Will Make Your Life More Awesome: (I Promise!)," including a list of songs from start-up singers and bands. Hauldren explained his feeling when he saw the photo for the first time:
"I had just gotten out of a movie and looked at my phone and saw I had tons of texts and Facebook. I opened up one text and it said something about Taylor Swift and twitter. I looked at her twitter and when I saw the photo I freaked out...It's just such a huge honor for us and something neither of us would never have seen coming."
7. They have performed at major U.S. music festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Ultra
Imagine being 18 and 19, still in college, and getting an offer to play in one of the biggest music festivals in the country. That's what happened to Haulden: "We got the (offer to play) Lollapalooza while I was sitting in my dorm room. Within the sort of bubble we had back home in Chicago, I knew kids at school knew about our music, but then to go out to California and see all these people who I'd never come in contact with already knew our music.
"I'd walk by people's dorm rooms, and they're playing 'It's Strange,' without even knowing that I lived in the same dorm. It was crazy to see how much bigger it was than we really realized." They played at Lollapalooza, Coachella, Ultra, and now are on a world tour.
8. Their song, “Go,” was featured in Apple’s recent iPad Pro advertisement
It's all right there: even Apple loves them.
9. Snapchat says we should watch them
Last December, Snapchat named Louis The Child one of 2016’s three EDM artists to watch. The reveal came out of Snapchat’s “EDM story,” which took users through the EDM artists that defined 2015. In addition to Louis The Child, Snapchat also named British electronic music producer Mura Masa and Vancouver-based duo Bob Moses as the other two acts to watch
10. Robby will listen to any genre of music except for country
Damn, Robby. But I guess some of us can get on board with that.
11. According to Hauldren, Freddy likes to produce music while naked
I'm not quite sure how much I love that image, but it's always interesting to think about artist processes and how they do what they do. Hey, if Freddy can make amazing music while naked, then so be it. I just wonder if Robby is usually in the room with him... I guess they're just that close.
Clearly, Louis the Child is a lot more than just an interesting band with pretty awesome music. And we as students have the chance to go see them live at Springfest. Buy your tickets and get hype!!
