Assemble Magazine

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When not entrancing the hoards of music patrons along with his Far East Movement brothers during concerts and shows, what does DJ Virman do on his free time? The answer: entrancing other music lovers wherever and whenever he can. This past night (Wednesday, Sept. 8th) Virman was a guest DJ at Mai Tai Bar in Long Beach, CA. Having completed two successful ISA (International Secret Agents) concerts in Los Angeles and New York in the past two weeks and now awaiting a flight to Arizona today to do another show, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how super busy he is. I caught up with Virman and asked him a few questions outside before he went up on the 1’s and 2’s  to rock the crowd.

Earlier this year Far East Movement signed with Cherrytree Records. How are they treating you?

• VIRMAN – We can’t be in any other better label than them. They treat us so good. You could say that Martin Kierszenbaum, the founder of Cherrytree Records, is the best boss you could have. He takes care of us and guides us. He gives us the freedom to do what we want to do, but he also guides us in the right direction. It’s a blessing to be on the label. They have amazing artists: Sting, Lady Gaga, La Roux, LMFAO, the list goes on and you can see it on the website.

Speaking of Lady Gaga, you toured with her in Japan. How was it?

• VIRMAN – That’s another blessing. Being on this label gave us the opportunity to be on tour with Lady Gaga. And being with Lady Gaga is just like…she’s like the top. Who else would you want to tour with? She’s like the number one pop artist in the world. Being able to learn from her and just seeing her work ethic…she’s very professional and very humble. Her show is on the next level. You could tell she puts a hundred percent in her performances. It’s an honor to even open up for her.

You guys were in Japan, are you thinking about doing any other shows in Asia?

• VIRMAN – We did a couple shows in Asia a while back before we were signed. Hopefully, we’ll be able to go back to Asia, though. The Philippines is in the works right now. Hopefully, we could go back to Japan. It wasn’t my first time there, but it was the guys’ first time and they loved it. The people there they treated us really, really good. What’s so good about Japan also is they’re very open arms when it comes to music. They probably didn’t know who we were, but the appreciation and the love they showed us was just amazing. There was nothing better we could have asked for.

International Secret Agents Concert [ISA] – you guys just finished two sold out shows. Were they what you expected?

• VIRMAN – No, we never thought it would get like this. It is such a blessing to have these shows sold out. There has never really been a concert dedicated to the Asian community. There are so many gifted Asian artists that are not recognized and ISA gives them that opportunity to showcase their talents.

Tell us about FM’s newest album, Free Wired.

• VIRMAN – The album Free Wired comes out October 12! It’s produced by Stereotypes. We have guest appearances from the legendary Snoop Dogg, Lil Jon, and Ryan Tedder from One Republic. We also have some of our Cherrytree labelmates in the album, as well: Colette Carr, Natalia Kills. Nobody has heard this yet, but two days ago we got Keri Hilson, too.

You guys just finished a music video for your new single “Rocketeer” with Ryan Tedder. Do you think it’s going to be as big as your song “Like a G6”?

• VIRMAN – Man, I hope so! As of today, “Like a G6” is number 41 on the Billboards and number 12 on iTunes. It got to number 9 yesterday, but it’s back to number 12 so we made the top ten for a day. But, “Rockeeter” is a different record. It’s not the typical Far East Movement sound. The BPM’s (beats per minute) are a little slower and it’s like a love song. So when you see the video and hear the music you’ll understand what “Rocketeer” is. Honestly, it’s my favorite record on the album.

Now five years ago, I knew you as a DJ from Power106. And during that time you met so many celebrities that visited the station. Now you’re a celebrity, how does it feel?

• VIRMAN – Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m a celebrity still. You know what’s funny, I feel like I’m just a regular person. I don’t feel like a celebrity; I feel like you could just come up to me and say ‘hi’ – and I’m still Virman. I’m Virman, I’m not a a celebrity. Maybe to other people, but to me I’m me.

So where do you see yourself five years from now?

• VIRMAN – I hope we’re still doing the same thing. I hope we’re releasing a new album. Maybe our seventh or eighth album for Far East Movement. That’s what I want to do in five years. I can’t picture myself doing anything else other than music right now. This is my career. I graduated from DeVry with a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications Management. DeVry was something for my parents. They always said, “finish school first then do what you want to do” and I did that just for them because I love them. And now I’m doing what I love best. I don’t even care how much money there is in this, it’s just what I love to do. Music is everything.

You guys will be touring with Mike Posner next week, correct?

• VIRMAN – Yeah, it’s going to be a month and a half long tour on a tour bus. It’s going to be fun. We actually toured last year with LMFAO on the Party Rock Tour and the guys had a lot of fun. This is going to be my fourth tour on a tour bus so I’m really used to it. It’s good; It’s going to be perfect. We get to be with someone that has one of the hottest singles in the country right now. Shout out to Mike Posner. You know he’s ‘cooler than’ all of us so its a blessing to be on that tour.

Do you love your life right now?

• VIRMAN – I love my life because I have the greatest family and the greatest friends around me. The music industry is great, but at the end of the day I have the best supporting cast: FM, my family, my friends. I can’t say there is anything better than this right now.