Good Times Ahead Explained

Good Times Ahead
Landscape:yes
Alias:GTA
Origin:Miami, Florida, United States
Instrument:Keyboard, guitar, synthesizer
Years Active:2010–present
Label:Warner Bros., Spinnin' Deep, Musical Freedom, Fly Eye, MixMash, Fool's Gold, SIZE, Mad Decent, Owsla, Monstercat
Website:wearegta.com/
Current Members:Matthew Van Toth (Van Toth)
Julio Mejia (JWLS)

Good Times Ahead (formerly GTA) are an electronic music duo from Miami consisting of house, electro house, trap and hip hop producers Julio Mejia (born December 8, 1990) and Matt Toth (born August 22, 1990).[1] After releasing music with the support of Laidback Luke in 2011, the duo caught the attention of Diplo, who featured them on his 2012 "Express Yourself" which was written by their cousin Joel Santillan. GTA has released music on labels such as Warner Bros., A-Trak's Fool's Gold, Laidback Luke's MixMash, Steve Angello's SIZE, Diplo's Mad Decent and more.[2] They've toured the globe with Rihanna on her 2013 Diamonds World Tour, with Calvin Harris and Tiësto on their Greater Than World Tour, and have headlined their own Death To Genres Tour and Goons Take America Tours.

Beyond their partnership as GTA, Julio and Matt have each produced music individually. Under solo aliases known as JWLS and Van Toth, respectively, both have released original productions and remixes. Julio's individual work as JWLS, includes remixes for A-Trak, Danny Brown and others.[3] Matt's solo work as Van Toth includes remixes for Gina Turner.[4]

In August 2019, they officially changed their group name from the previous GTA acroymn to its full length, Good Times Ahead.[5]

Early life

Julio Mejia and Matt Toth were born and raised in Miami, Florida. They met through social networking in 2010, when a mutual friend introduced them on Facebook. Together the duo began their careers DJing in local bars, college parties and hookah lounges in Scranton. They began producing electronic music from a converted dorm room in an office in Scranton.[6] Deciding on their stage name, Julio and Matt considered Grand Theft Audio and decided on its abbreviation, GTA.[7]

The duo later gave new meaning to the acronym, defining GTA as Good Times Ahead.

Career

Between late 2011 and early 2012, GTA released numerous remixes and productions on Laidback Luke's MixMash Records. They were featured on Diplo's "Express Yourself" EP[8] and released their own debut EP, People Boots, on Chris Lake's Rising Music. In 2013, GTA provided remixes for deadmau5, Kaskade and others, while featuring collaborations such as "Boy Oh Boy" with Diplo and "Hit It" with Henrix and Digital Lab.[2]

GTA has played major music festivals such as Lollapalooza,[9] Ultra Music Festival,[10] Coachella,[11] Made In America,[12] Electric Daisy Carnival,[13] and Tomorrowland.[14] In 2013, the duo toured with Rihanna as an opening act of her Diamonds World Tour,[15] which became the sixth highest grossing worldwide tour of 2013 with a gross of $141.9 million from the shows played from January 1 to December 31, 2013.[16]

The duo toured the globe with Tiesto and Calvin Harris on their Greater Than World Tour, which sold out Glasgow's The SSE Hydro arena three minutes after going on sale.[17] GTA's headlining tours have included 2014's Death to Genres Tour,[18] and 2015's Goons Take America Tour.[19]

In 2015, GTA released "Intoxicated" with Martin Solveig, a remix for Rick Ross and Jay Z's "Movin Bass," and more. "Intoxicated" with Martin Solveig peaked at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart, and also charted in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Switzerland. It became Beatport's top selling house track of the year.[20]

GTA released three EPs by the name of Death to Genres in 2015. Volume 1 was released in March with featured artists Paul Wall, TJR and more,[21] followed by a remix edition known as Vol. 1.5 in August, and the sequel DTG Vol. 2 in November.[22]

On November 27, 2015, GTA released Skrillex's remix of their original record "Red Lips." The music video was made in collaboration with Apple Music and was directed by Grant Singer. It took six months to make, according to Skrillex, who told Pitchfork "We treated it like it was just an art piece that we took our time doing, and it really felt right on the treatment."[23]

In 2016, GTA released an album titled Good Times Ahead.[24]

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Remixes

2011

2012

2013

2014

• Iggy Azalea feat Charli XCX - Fancy (GTA Remix)

2015

2016

2018

2019

2021

JWLS

Singles

Remixes

Van Toth

Singles

Remixes

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: GTA: Information. Thedjlist.com.
  2. Web site: GTA. Pro.beatport.com. 2016-01-07. 2016-04-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20160403210420/https://pro.beatport.com/artist/gta/50791/releases. dead.
  3. Web site: JWLS. Pro.beatport.com. 2016-01-07. 2016-03-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094019/https://pro.beatport.com/artist/jwls/205613/tracks. dead.
  4. Web site: Van Toth. Pro.beatport.com. 2016-01-07. 2016-02-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20160213135408/https://pro.beatport.com/artist/van-toth/134213. dead.
  5. Web site: GTA change name to Good Times Ahead, preview new mixtape through Diplo-assisted 'Milky Cabrera' . Stack . Chris . 2 August 2019 . Dancing Astronaut . https://web.archive.org/web/20190825050219/https://dancingastronaut.com/2019/08/gta-officially-change-name-to-good-times-ahead-preview-new-mixtape-through-diplo-assisted-milky-cabrera/ . 25 August 2019 . 26 December 2019.
  6. News: GTA's Matt Toth and Julio Mejia Are Taking Over EDM From a Converted Dorm in Kendall. Kat Bein. 14 December 2012. Miami New Times.
  7. Web site: Interview with GTA - Virgin.com . 2016-01-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140716003358/http://www.virgin.com/music/interview-gta . 2014-07-16 . dead .
  8. Web site: Diplo – Express Yourself EP - Album Reviews. consequence.net. 11 June 2012 .
  9. Web site: GTA At Lollapalooza 2014. Grammypro.com. 2016-01-07. 2016-03-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20160306195002/https://www.grammypro.com/professional-development/video/gta-lollapalooza-2014. dead.
  10. Web site: Ultra Music Festival 2015 Lineup: Phase 1 Includes Avicii, Tiesto & More . Billboard.com.
  11. Web site: Coachella 2014 Lineup. Stereogum.com. 9 January 2014 .
  12. Web site: Made in America Festival Announces Full 2015 Schedule, Livestream. Fuse.tv.
  13. Web site: Here is the 2014 EDC Las Vegas Lineup. 28 May 2014. Complex.com.
  14. Web site: Tomorrowland 2015 Day 3 Highlights: GTA, Yellow Claw, Thomas Jack & More. Yahoo.com. 28 July 2015 . 21 March 2022.
  15. Web site: Rihanna Support Acts For 'Diamonds' UK Tour 2013: Haim And GTA. 20 May 2013. Capitalfm.com.
  16. Web site: Archived copy . www.pollstarpro.com . 9 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924075542/http://www.pollstarpro.com/files/charts2013/2013Top20WorldwideToursChart.pdf . 24 September 2015 . dead.
  17. Web site: Calvin Harris and Tiesto Glasgow tickets sell out in three minutes. Michael Baggs. Gigwise.com.
  18. Web site: GTA Announce New Death To Genres Tour. Mixjunkies.com. 2016-01-07. 2016-04-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160404150003/http://www.mixjunkies.com/gta-announce-new-death-to-genres-tour/. dead.
  19. Web site: GTA Announce Goons Take America Tour, 'Smokers United' Video, K Camp 'Lil Bit' Remix. Musictimes.com.
  20. Web site: Top Selling House of 2015. Pro.beatport.com. 2016-01-07. 2016-03-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095644/https://pro.beatport.com/chart/top-selling-house-of-2015/377932. dead.
  21. Web site: Stream GTA's New 'Death To Genres' Vol. 1 EP. Hypetrak.com. 31 May 2023 .
  22. Web site: INTERVIEW: GTA Reveals The Meaning Of Songs On 'Death To Genres Vol. 2' EP -Track By Track. News.iheart.com.
  23. Web site: Skrillex Talks About the Making of His Sci-Fi Psychological Thriller "Red Lips" Video. 30 November 2015. Pitchfork. 21 March 2022.
  24. Web site: Interview: GTA - Death to Genres. 17 December 2015. The Huffington Post.
  25. Web site: Buscando - Single by GTA & Jenn Morel on Apple Music . . 30 September 2018.
  26. Web site: Party Favor & GTA – 'Work It Out' . Dancing Astronaut staff . 8 March 2019 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190311134158/https://dancingastronaut.com/2019/03/party-favor-gta-work/ . 11 March 2019 . 11 March 2019.
  27. Web site: GTA's highly anticipated festival ID 'Fk It' gets official release on Diplo's Mad Decent . Baer . Ethan . 6 June 2019 . EDM.com . 26 June 2019.
  28. Web site: FIGHT CLVB and Good Times Ahead issue an invitation to the dance floor with 'BMB' [Stream] ]. Narozniak . Rachel . 22 February 2020 . Dancing Astronaut . https://web.archive.org/web/20200304143241/https://dancingastronaut.com/2020/02/fight-clvb-and-good-times-ahead-issue-an-invitation-to-the-dance-floor-with-bmb-stream/ . 4 March 2020 . 4 March 2020.
  29. Web site: Quando Toca Essa - Single by Good Times Ahead on Apple Music . . 5 May 2020 . 29 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210929133332/https://music.apple.com/us/album/quando-toca-essa-single/1505672113 . dead .
  30. Web site: Let Go - Single by Good Times Ahead & Tony Romera on Apple Music . . 5 May 2021.
  31. Web site: Scruggs . Rugby . 8 October 2020 . Good Times Ahead drop destructive deep number 'Pshet' on Malaa's Illegal Mixtape Vol. 3 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201023170339/https://dancingastronaut.com/2020/10/good-times-ahead-drops-destructive-deep-number-pshet-on-malaas-illegal-mixtape-vol-3/ . 23 October 2020 . 24 October 2020 . Dancing Astronaut.
  32. Web site: No Time - Single by Good Times Ahead & WILL K on Apple Music . . 23 December 2020.
  33. Web site: So Good - Single by Good Times Ahead on Apple Music . . 5 May 2021.
  34. Web site: King . Ariel . 3 July 2021 . Get down to Good Times Ahead's new party starter, 'La Fiesta' . https://web.archive.org/web/20210704074212/https://dancingastronaut.com/2021/07/get-down-to-good-times-aheads-new-party-starter-la-fiesta/ . 4 July 2021 . 10 August 2021 . Dancing Astronaut.
  35. Web site: findyoursounds . 2022-09-03 . Good Times Ahead - DBL Park . 2022-09-11 . FindYourSounds . en-US.
  36. Web site: GTA and Valentino Khan mix jungle terror and bass house on 'Break Your Neck (Pt. 2 Vip)' . Cameron . John . 12 April 2019 . EDM.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20190424144004/https://edm.com/music-releases/valentino-khan-gta-break-your-neck-pt-2-vip . 24 April 2019 . 24 April 2019.
  37. Web site: Que Calor (with J Balvin & El Alfa) [Good Times Ahead Remix] - Single by Major Lazer on Apple Music ]. iTunes Store . 26 December 2019.

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