When Diplo is playing your music on his radio show, you know you’re on the cusp of something big…

Just ask Auckland-based producers Nick Chrisp and Will Thomas, who you might know as the electro/dance duo, Sachi. Responsible for the catchy, Diplo-approved singles ‘No More’ feat. Zoe and SYSYI, and more recently ‘Hold On’, the pair was a highlight at last year’s Rhythm & Vines festival and tonight they open for Rudimental at Vector Arena. Fashion Quarterly caught up with them before the show.

You are opening for Rudimental tonight, are you nervous, excited, or both?
Nick: Both for sure, playing at Vector will be a big milestone for us. It’s crazy how quickly it’s crept up but we can’t wait.

What do you do to prep for a set like that, do you have any good luck rituals or do you just try not to overthink it?
Will: We give our all every time no matter what the show is but this set has a few more unreleased tunes in it. We keep it pretty chill before our shows, usually have a few drinks, maybe a cheese platter or two and a group hug but that gets awkward real quick when its just the two of us.

What do you like to wear while you are performing and how does this differ to your day-to-day style?
Nick: We wear white on stage, to stay neutral to our production. Our visuals and lighting have a lot of colour in them. I wouldn’t wear all white day-to-day, I like darker tones. I take a lot of style inspiration from guys like Ian Connor, Kanye and A$AP Nast. Will rocks a lot more vintage influenced clothing. Similar to A$AP Ferg’s style.

Listen to Sachi’s new single ‘Hold On’ here.

What albums/songs do you have on repeat right now?
Will: Majid Jordan’s new album. Drake – Views, Yung Lean – Warlord. Manuel Darquart’s latest one ‘Next Dance’ is rad. Gallant’s album. The Life of Pablo, of course. Sandboards have some unreleased heaters too.

What were some of your key musical influences growing up?
Nick: We listened to a lot of rock and punk, bands like Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Blink 182, Green Day. Also guys like Daft Punk, Gorillaz, MGMT and Soulja Boy.

Tell us about how you got your music into Diplo’s hands…
Will: When he was here for a festival last year, I saw he was eating at a restaurant in Ponsonby on his Snapchat, so we went to the restaurant, waited outside, and when he drove out we passed him a USB with some of our tunes on it through the window. The whole interaction was real quick but it worked a charm.

Where were you when you found out that he’d played your track on Diplo & Friends, and how did you react?
Nick: I was snowboarding in Japan when Will chatted me saying Diplo played ‘No More’ on BBC Radio1. Will was on a date with a model. We were both lost for words and super stoked, Will cried. That’s definitely been a highlight for us thus far.

Your set at R&V last year was widely regarded as one of the highlights of the festival, why do you think audiences are responding so well to your music?
Will: Wow, thanks, that’s rad to hear. Yeah, we walked away from that performance buzzing. We try to keep our music positive, and most of it is quite upbeat and easy to dance to in a show environment. The sun was just setting as we got off, it was a pretty special moment for us.

If you weren’t producing music what would you be doing?
Nick: Definitely doing something creative. Working in design, creative directing or in the film industry. We aim to do some of that stuff later in our careers.

What would you like to have achieved by the end of 2016?
Will: We’d love to do some international shows, work with our idols, and continue to grow as artists.

*Sachi is opening for Rudimental tonight at Auckland’s Vector Arena. Buy tickets now at Ticketmaster.