Good Times Ahead

Good Times Ahead (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.

For other uses of "GTA", see GTA.
Good Times Ahead
Also known asGTA
OriginMiami, Florida, United States
Genres
InstrumentsKeyboard, guitar, synthesizer
Years active2010–present
LabelsWarner Bros., Spinnin' Deep, Musical Freedom, Fly Eye, MixMash, Fool's Gold, SIZE, Mad Decent, OWSLA
Associated acts
Websitewearegta.com/
MembersMatthew Van Toth (Van Toth)
Julio Mejia (JWLS)

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.[8]

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[9] 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,[10] Ultra Music Festival,[11] Coachella,[12] Made In America,[13] Electric Daisy Carnival,[14] and Tomorrowland.[15] In 2013, the duo toured with Rihanna as an opening act of her Diamonds World Tour,[16] 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.[17]

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.[18] GTA's headlining tours have included 2014's Death to Genres Tour,[19] and 2015's Goons Take America Tour.[20]

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.[21]

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,[22] followed by a remix edition known as Vol. 1.5 in August, and the sequel DTG Vol. 2 in November.[23]

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."[24]

In 2016, GTA released a full-length album titled "Good Times Ahead".[25]

Discography

Studio albums
  • Good Times Ahead (2016)

Extended plays
  • DTG, Vol. 1 (2015)
  • DTG, Vol. 1.5 (2015)
  • DTG, Vol. 2 (2015)
  • DTG, Vol. 3 (2018)
  • La Nueva Clásica - EP (2018)

Singles

2011

  • U & I
  • Next To Us

2012

2013

  • Ai Novinha
  • Alerta
  • Hit It (with Henrix and Digital LAB)
  • Landline (with A-Trak)
  • Landline 2.0 (with A-Trak)
  • Turn It Up (featuring Wolfpack) (with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike)
  • The Crowd
  • Boy Oh Boy (with Diplo)
  • Bola

2014

  • Hard House (with Juyen Sebulba)

2015

2016

2017

  • Hold On To Me (with Yellow Claw)
  • Fiya Blaza (with DVBBS and Chris Marshall)
  • Buyaka (with Falcons, featuring Stush)

2018

2019

2020

  • "Bmb" (with Fight Clvb)[29]
  • "Quando Toca Essa"[30]
  • "Let Go" (with Tony Romera)[31]
  • "Pshet"[32]
  • "No Time" (with Will K)[33]

Remixes

2011

2012

  • Laidback Luke, Arno Cost and Norman Doray - Trilogy (GTA Remix)
  • Breakdown - F_ckin’ Lose It (GTA Remix)
  • Silver Medallion - Stay Young (GTA Remix)
  • Clockwork - BBBS (GTA Remix)
  • Michael Woods - Last Day On Earth (GTA Remix)

2013

2014

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

2015

2016

2018

2019

JWLS

Singles

  • Let's Swag (with Gianni Marino) (2012)
  • Bashin’ (2012)
  • Lagrimas (2012)

Remixes

  • Simo T & Paris FZ - Dancing Alone (JWLS Extra Sauce Remix) (2011)
  • Tommie Sunshine - Tonight's The Night (JWLS Remix) (2011)
  • Codes - Ready Aim Fire (JWLS Remix) (2011)
  • Buraka Som Sistema - Tira o pe (JWLS Remix) (2012)
  • From the Back (featuring Danny Brown) (JWLS Remix) (2012)
  • Lady Chann - Darkness (JWLS Remix) (2012)
  • 2 Edit - Datsun Tropicalia (JWLS Remix) (2012)
  • Craze - Selekta (JWLS Remix) (2012)
  • A-Trak and DJ Zink - Like The Dancefloor (JWLS Remix) (2012)

Van Toth

Singles

  • Don't Stop (2010)
  • Grimecoat! (2010)
  • Banana (2010)
  • Fang Shui (2010)
  • How You Feelin’ (2010)
  • Influences (2010)

Remixes

  • Dub Kay - Let It Go (Van Toth Epic Remix) (2010)
  • DJ DLG - Visions of Love (Van Toth Remix) (2011)
  • Gina Turner - Giovanna (Van Toth Remix) (2012)

References
  1. "GTA: Information". The DJ List.
  2. "GTA".
  3. "JWLS".
  4. "Van Toth".
  5. Stack, Chris (2 August 2019). "GTA change name to Good Times Ahead, preview new mixtape through Diplo-assisted 'Milky Cabrera'". Dancing Astronaut. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  6. Kat Bein (14 December 2012). "GTA's Matt Toth and Julio Mejia Are Taking Over EDM From a Converted Dorm in Kendall". Miami New Times.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2016-01-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "WE ARE GTA - Good Times Ahead. - Facebook".
  9. "Diplo – Express Yourself EP - Album Reviews - Consequence of Sound". Consequence of Sound.
  10. "GTA At Lollapalooza 2014". GRAMMYPro.com.
  11. "Ultra Music Festival 2015 Lineup: Phase 1 Includes Avicii, Tiesto & More - Billboard". Billboard.
  12. "Coachella 2014 Lineup". Stereogum.
  13. "Made in America Festival Announces Full 2015 Schedule, Livestream". Fuse.
  14. khrisd (28 May 2014). "Here is the 2014 EDC Las Vegas Lineup". Complex.
  15. "Tomorrowland 2015 Day 3 Highlights: GTA, Yellow Claw, Thomas Jack & More".
  16. "Rihanna Support Acts For 'Diamonds' UK Tour 2013: Haim And GTA". Capital FM. 20 May 2013.
  17. https://www.webcitation.org/6MGJM1ibK?url=http://www.pollstarpro.com/files/charts2013/2013Top20WorldwideToursChart.pdf
  18. Michael Baggs. "Calvin Harris and Tiesto Glasgow tickets sell out in three minutes". gigwise.com.
  19. "GTA Announce New Death To Genres Tour". Mixjunkies.
  20. "GTA Announce Goons Take America Tour, 'Smokers United' Video, K Camp 'Lil Bit' Remix". Music Times.
  21. "Top Selling House of 2015".
  22. "Stream GTA's New 'Death To Genres' Vol. 1 EP". HYPETRAK.
  23. "INTERVIEW: GTA Reveals The Meaning Of Songs On 'Death To Genres Vol. 2' EP -Track By Track". iHeartRadio.
  24. "Skrillex Talks About the Making of His Sci-Fi Psychological Thriller "Red Lips" Video - News - Pitchfork".
  25. "Interview: GTA - Death to Genres". The Huffington Post. 17 December 2015.
  26. "Buscando - Single by GTA & Jenn Morel on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  27. Dancing Astronaut staff (8 March 2019). "Party Favor & GTA – 'Work It Out'". Dancing Astronaut. Archived from the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  28. Baer, Ethan (6 June 2019). "GTA's highly anticipated festival ID 'Fk It' gets official release on Diplo's Mad Decent". EDM.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  29. Narozniak, Rachel (22 February 2020). "FIGHT CLVB and Good Times Ahead issue an invitation to the dance floor with 'BMB' [Stream]". Dancing Astronaut. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  30. "Quando Toca Essa - Single by Good Times Ahead on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  31. "Good Times Ahead & Tony Romera Deliver Fiery New House Tune "Let Go"". This Song Is Sick. 2020-07-10. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  32. Scruggs, Rugby (8 October 2020). "Good Times Ahead drop destructive deep number 'Pshet' on Malaa's Illegal Mixtape Vol. 3". Dancing Astronaut. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  33. "No Time - Single by Good Times Ahead & WILL K on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  34. Cameron, John (12 April 2019). "GTA and Valentino Khan mix jungle terror and bass house on 'Break Your Neck (Pt. 2 Vip)'". EDM.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  35. "Que Calor (with J Balvin & El Alfa) [Good Times Ahead Remix] - Single by Major Lazer on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
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