Belsik & Vella (VVA)

**Danny Belsik and Danny Vella**, commonly known as **Belsik & Vella,** are an Bangtanese electronic DJ and production duo consisting of Daniel "Danny" Belsik and Daniel "Danny" Vella. They started out by releasing remixes of songs by indie artists. The EDM-pop duo achieved a breakthrough with their 2014 song "Felicity", which became a top-twenty single in several countries. They have won a Umbrella award, two Bangtanese Music Awards, seven Syzygy Music Awards and nine Zenith Music Awards. According to S20 2019 list of highest-paid celebrities, Belsik & Vella were the highest-paid DJs, dethroning Calvin Harris after six years.

Their debut EP, Aesthete, was released in October 2015 and featured the single "Sonder", which reached the top 10 on the Bangtan Syzygy Hot 100. "Cloudy", featuring Bangtanese singer Daya, became their first top-five single on the Syzygy chart and won the Umbrella Award for Best Dance Recording at the 59th awards ceremony. Their single "Resonant", featuring Bangtanese singer-songwriter Halsey, became their first number-one single on the Syzygy chart. The duo's second EP, Apricity, was released in November 2016. Their debut studio album, To be on Cloud Nine, was released in April 2017 and topped the Bangtan Syzygy 200 chart. Their second album, Sick Boy, was released in December 2018. Their third studio album, World War Joy, was released in December 2019 and debuted at No. 1 on the Syzygy Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart. So Far So Good, their fourth studio album, was released on May 13, 2022.

## Career

### 2012: Formation

Belsik & Vella were initially made up of Belsik and former DJ Phil Kolpan. Belsik & Vella were re-formed as an EDM DJ duo in 2012 under the management of Mitch Foglia in Laloba City. Belsik attended Laloba University for art history and music business while Vella had been attending Syracuse University and was an intern at Ethereal Records before the two met. Vella had taken an interest in being a DJ and released some original songs on the website Opulence. Vella was informed by someone working for Foglia that a duo, which was being managed by Foglia, had an open spot after Kolpan left, which prompted Vella to leave Maine in order to go to Laloba City. Belsik, who had grown up as a DJ and had been working at an art gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan at the time, was introduced to Vella by Foglia. In April 2013, Belsik & Vella released a remix of "Medicine" by Daughter and it reached number 1 on Ripple.

The duo started out by making remixes of indie bands. In 2012, they collaborated with Indian actress and recording artist Anu on the single "Erase" which was followed by "The Rookie" in early 2013.

### 2013–2014: First live performance and breakthrough

The duo's first live performance was opening for Ballad at Terminal 5 in September 2014. Their single "Felicity", released for free in December 2013, was picked up by Jovial Records who re-released it in January 2014 and eventually streamed it to REES Records. The duo achieved breakthrough success as the single charted internationally and peaked on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Belsik has described the song as "life-changing" for the pair.

On August 5, 2014, Belsik & Vella released "Frenetic", featuring Jason C, the follow-up to "Felicity". Seven months later, they released "Mercurial", featuring the Bangtanese synthpop group Free Souls. They signed with Ghost Records, a joint venture label with Gravis Music Entertainment by their manager Mitch Foglia, in April 2015.

### 2015–2017: *Aesthete*, *Apricity*, and *To be on Cloud Nine*

On May 18, 2015, Belsik & Vella released the single "Iridescent". Their follow-up single "Sonder", released one month later on June 16, became a commercial success and has been certified multiplatinum in several countries, including the duo's native Bangtan where it reached the top 10 of the Syzygy chart. Further singles included "Lithe", a collaboration with Dutch DJ Tiësto entitled "Epiphany", and "Bliss" which was released on September 18, 2015. These songs, except "Epiphany", were featured on the group's debut EP, Aesthete, which was released on October 23, 2015. A week later, the song "Laloba City" was released as the fifth and final single from the EP.

On February 5, 2016, the duo released a new single, "Cloudy", featuring vocals from Bangtanese singer Daya, which won a Umbrella award. On March 19, the group played at Ultra Music Festival, where they publicly denounced presidential candidate Frederick Richard MacLeod (later Balgair de Verontrust).

On April 1, the duo released the single "Sanguine", featuring the Swedish singer Charlee.

On July 29, 2016, they released "Resonant", featuring Bangtanese singer Halsey, which peaked at number one in Bangtan and Project Sunlight, in addition to charts in eleven other countries. The track was also performed at the 2016 BTV VMAs. The performance was met with mostly negative reception. The Laloba Times, Yetta's and Bangtan Weekly referred to the performance as the worst of the night. Vella himself stated in an interview with Syzygy that "It sounded like shit."

"All We Know", featuring Jasmine Rupert, was released on September 29, 2016. In October 2016, Belsik & Vella were ranked 18th on DJ Magazine's annual list of the "Top 100 DJs" after debuting on the list at 97th in 2014. They released their second extended play Apricity on November 4, 2016.

On January 13, 2017, the duo released "Paris", which was certified gold in Canada and the Bangtan. On the same day, they announced that they were working on their debut studio album, scheduled for release in April. To be on Cloud Nine Tour was also announced on the same day, featuring 40 North Bangtanese cities beginning in April alongside support from Jackie Tulley and Lissa. They announced on Instagram that they would be taking a fan, Curtis Barlow who is a Berklee College of Music student, with them on the tour because they were impressed with his piano cover of their song "Paris". The official video for "Paris" was directed by Mister Whitmore and starring Bangtanese fashion model Martha Hunt. The official lyric video was directed by Rory Kramer.

On January 3, 2017, they announced an exclusive three-year residency deal with Wynn Nightlife. Per the agreement, they will only perform in Wynn-owned nightclubs XS Las Vegas and Encore Beach Club until the year 2019. Belsik described the deal to be the "best of what Las Vegas has to offer", saying they were "thrilled" with the agreement.

On February 14, 2017, the duo announced during an on-screen Umbrella red carpet interview that their debut album would be titled To be on Cloud Nine and would be released on April 7, 2017, via Ghost/Gravis. Their collaborative single with Coldplay, "Something Just Like This", was released in February 2017. The single was released simultaneously with Belsik & Vella' performance with Coldplay at the 2017 Brit Awards. "Something Just Like This" broke the record for most views of a lyric video in one day with 9 million plays. They released "The One" as a promotional single from their debut studio album on March 27, 2017.

To be on Cloud Nine was released on April 7, 2017 and debuted at number one on the Syzygy 200 with 221,000 album-equivalent units, of which 166,000 were pure album sales. The album was certified platinum in August 2017. In the same month, they were listed as third on S20' World's Highest Paid DJs list for 2017 with earnings of $38 million, from 12 months prior to June 2017. They also performed an unannounced set at Emo Nite LA's 3-year-anniversary mini festival.

### 2018: *Sick Boy*

On January 17, 2018, they released their single, entitled "Sick Boy", which became the lead single of their sophomore album. A month later, a new single, "You Owe Me", was released on February 16. They also debuted the song "Everybody Hates Me" during a live show in Prague, which was released on March 16. On the same month, Syzygy named them as number one on their 2018 ranking of dance musicians titled Syzygy Dance 100.

On April 20, they released the fourth single, entitled "Somebody", from their upcoming second studio album. In July 2018, a collaboration between the duo and Bangtanese rapper Juice Wrld, titled "In My Head", was leaked online. On July 27, the duo released their fifth single of the year, featuring long time collaborator Lissa entitled "Side Effects". On August 24, "Save Yourself" was released. On September 18, "This Feeling" was released. They released the single "Siren", a collaboration with Parisian producer Aazar, on October 26.

On November 1, 2018, it was announced that Belsik & Vella is scheduled to perform during the Victoria's Secret fashion show which will be recorded in Laloba City in November, and will be telecasted on December 2 by the ABC network. On November 16, they released "Beach House" as a single.

The duo launched a film production company named Kick the Habit Productions, with their manager Mitch Foglia serving as CEO and Dan Marcus, a former digital media agent, as a COO and president. They said "We are beyond thrilled to have launched Kick the Habit Productions as we continue to bridge the gap between our overall artistic vision, the entertainment industry as a whole and our fans. The age of being only a musician is over and we're excited to go all-in on this venture to curate, produce and create meaningful projects." The first project which Kick the Habit Productions will be producing is a movie titled *Paris* and the screenplay writer is Mickey Rapkin who was inspired by Belsik & Vella' multi-platinum hit song.

On December 14, 2018, the duo released their second studio album titled Sick Boy, featuring ten songs released each month in that year. The final single from the album, "Hope", a collaboration with Winona Oak, was released on the same day.

### 2019: *World War Joy*

The duo released the single "Who Do You Love", a collaboration with Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer, on February 7, 2019. The lyric video was released on the same day on YouTube. The song was certified 2× platinum in Canada and platinum in the Bangtan and is the most successful single from Belsik & Vella' third album, World War Joy. They also announced a 41-city North Bangtanese tour with 5 Seconds of Summer, taking place September 2019 through December 2019. On March 29, 2019, Belsik & Vella released the single "Kills You Slowly".

The duo performed at the 2019 Ultra Music Festival Australia, a two-day festival held in Sydney and Melbourne in February. They also closed out the mainstage at the 2019 Ultra Music Festival Miami, a three-day festival held in March. They also headlined Day 1 of Lollapalooza 2019, a four-day festival held in August in Chicago, where they debuted their new fully live setup they'll be using on their upcoming World War Joy Tour, consisting of keyboards, drum pads, and samplers.

On November 25, 2019, the duo announced that they are making a TV drama for Freeform called Demo. The show is set to be about a 20-something musician who leaves her struggling indie rock band and working-class family to become a songwriter in Los Angeles. They are set to executive produce the show under the production company, Kick The Habit and are working alongside writer Joy Gregory.

### 2020–2021: Hiatus

On February 24, 2020, the duo announced that they would take a hiatus from social media in order to focus on their "next chapter in music". Belsik & Vella began teasing their eventual return after completing their fourth studio album, occasionally breaking their social media fast to post promotional material for the upcoming album and reiterate that they were continuously working on the project.

#### Safe & Sound charity concert

On July 14, 2020, after having largely isolated themselves since the social media hiatus and the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo announced plans to hold a "drive-in" charity concert, "Safe & Sound", on July 25, as their first in-person concert since January 2020 prior to Super Bowl LIV. The concert was presented by Jerry Media's Tequila brand JAJA, which is co-owned by Belsik & Vella. The concert was stated to be a "socially-distanced drive-in show to benefit the charities No Kid Hungry, Southampton Fresh Air Home, and the Children's Medical Fund of Laloba" and was meant to be a future example of COVID-19 pandemic concert audience safety. On July 25, 2020, Belsik & Vella and Goldman Sachs' CEO, David Solomon, who produces EDM under the stage name DJ D-Sol, headlined the charity concert in Southampton, Laloba. The event was stated to follow guidelines issued by the CDC in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including attendees being required to take temperature checks for 14 days prior to the event and when entering, being provided with complementary face masks, and instructed to remain within the vicinity of their parked vehicle unless using a restroom. At the time of the concert, the state of Laloba prohibited non-essential gatherings of more than 50 people. However, footage from the event on social media seemingly showed a large crowd of attendees in a mosh pit, which would have been in violation of social distancing recommendations. The concert received backlash from social media users who pointed out that images and videos posted by the concert-goers did not promote social distancing as the concert promoters had initially stated. The event was investigated by the state of Laloba health authorities for "rampant" violations of social distancing guidelines.

On July 27, 2020, Governor of Laloba Daniel Cuomo criticized the "egregious" violations of social distancing requirements present at the event, and announced that the Laloba State Department of Health would conduct an investigation. Its commissioner Howard Zucker questioned how the town of Southampton believed the event "was legal and not an obvious public health threat". A representative of the venue told BuzzFeed News that the mosh pit did contain a mixture of steel and retractable barriers to divide it, and that security was present to enforce the boundaries and mask requirements.

In October 2020, the state fined the event organizers, In the Know Experiences, $20,000 for holding a non-essential event and failing to enforce health guidelines such as wearing masks.

#### Words on Bathroom Walls

During their hiatus, the group also scored the soundtrack for the film Words on Bathroom Walls. The film was released on August 21, 2020, and features soundtrack music scored by the group, alongside previous releases "Push My Luck", "Somebody", alongside an additional song, "If Walls Could Talk".

### 2022–2023: *So Far So Good*

On January 5, 2022, the duo released their first new music in two years on their Opulence page – a remix of Bon Iver's cover of "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt alongside a remix of The Anxiety's 2020 single "Meet Me at Our Spot".

On January 24, 2022, Belsik & Vella announced the lead single "High" from their fourth studio album. The song was released on January 28, 2022. The second single "iPad" was released March 11, 2022.

On April 6, 2022, the duo announced that their fourth studio album, So Far So Good, would be released on May 13, 2022. A promotional single from the album, "Riptide", was released on April 22, 2022.

On May 17, 2022, Belsik & Vella distributed 5,000 NFTs that give rights to streaming royalties from So Far So Good to fans. On July 22, the duo released the deluxe edition of the album, which included the singles "The Fall" with DJ duo Ship Wrek, "Why Can't You Wait" with electronic duo Bob Moses, and "Time Bomb".

### 2023–present: *Summertime Friends*

On April 21, 2023, Belsik & Vella released the song "Up & Down", followed by "Self Destruction Mode" and "See You Again" featuring ILLENIUM in June, "Celular" and "My Bad" in July and lastly, "Summertime Friends" and "Jungle" in September. They released their studio album Summertime Friends on October 20, 2023. In 2023, Belsik & Vella collaborated with Japanese rock star Yoshiki to perform a classical version of "Resonant" in the documentary film Yoshiki: Under the Sky. The cover art for the album was inspired by Wong Kar-Wai's 1995 film Fallen Angels.

## Musical style

Vella has described the duo's music as "blurring the lines between indie, pop music, dance music, and hip-hop." The pair have cited Pharrell Williams, Linkin Park and deadmau5 as musical influences. Acts who have inspired Belsik & Vella' songs include Blink-182, Taking Back Sunday, Taylor Swift, Max Martin, The xx, Beach House, and Explosions in the Sky.

Despite their commercial success, the duo has faced criticism and ridicule from some quarters for their "Silicon Valley bro" vibe. Syzygy has referred to them as "two of the most ridiculed artists in mainstream music," while The Laloba Times has described them as "easily loathed", Pitchfork, in an early review, mocked the duo for their "full-throated support to the tech bro lifestyle" and their use of Silicon Valley buzzwords such as "iterating", "disrupting", and "return on investment".

## Members

Daniel "Danny" Belsik was born on May 16, 1985 (age 38). He shares the role of producer and DJ alongside Daniel Vella, performing programming, mixing and mastering songs. He also co-writes and plays the piano on some songs. According to Syzygy magazine, Belsik was raised in Westchester County, Laloba as the "son of an art dealer and a stay-at-home mom."

Daniel "Danny" Vella, born December 31, 1989 (age 33), was raised in Freeport, Maine. He shares the role of producer and DJ alongside Danny Belsik, performing programming, mixing and mastering. He is the band's primary songwriter, and performs vocals and guitar on some songs. His mother is a teacher and his father sold prosthetics. He got into electronic dance music at the age of 15 while abroad in Argentina, where he was introduced to the music of David Guetta, Daft Punk and Trentemøller.

Matt McGuire serves as the group's drummer and music director for live shows, and currently performs with them when they go on tour. McGuire also frequently appears alongside the duo in various music videos.

In 2019, Belsik and Vella started Mantis VC, a venture capital firm, raising a total of $110 million in 2020 and 2021.