Today we’d like to introduce you to DataBaes.
Hi DataBaes, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We’re DataBaes, a husband-and-wife Producer/DJ duo with a deep love for Sci-Fi and Space Disco.
We met back in 2015 through mutual friends and both came from Film/TV production backgrounds. We got married in 2018, and our journey as DataBaes began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like a lot of people during that time, we suddenly found ourselves out of work, with a lot of free time and in need of a creative outlet. That’s when I asked my husband, who had already been DJ’ing professionally for over 20 years, if he would teach me how to DJ. After months of practice, we started doing back-to-back sets, and something clicked. Performing together was way more interesting. That was the moment the idea for DataBaes was born.
A big part of our aesthetic was shaped by this really specific era of sci-fi and disco from 1977 to 1982, when aliens, robots, and space travel were new and exciting concepts. That feeling really shaped the world we wanted to build.
We were heavily influenced by Japanese illustrators like Shusei Nagaoka and Hajime Sorayama, whose work felt sleek and futuristic. Musically, we’re big fans of early electronic artists like Bernard Fèvre, Roland Romanelli, and Jean-Michel Jarre. We also love Italian disco, Giorgio Moroder, Kano, Gino Soccio, Kasso, and of course, Space Disco legends like Ganymed, Space, Dee D. Jackson, and Venus Gang. We were obsessed with the look, the sound, and the vibe of that whole scene, and we wanted to bring that energy back.
Visually and thematically, a lot of our inspiration also comes from the golden age of sci-fi in film and television, think Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Space: 1999, Battlestar Galactica. All of these shows captured a moment in time when space exploration was still full of mystery and potential. The real-life space programs happening then only added to the excitement.
Nobody knew what was really out there, and that unknown sparked so much creativity. We wanted to tap back into that feeling, the wonder, the adventure, the sense that the universe is vast and weird and worth exploring. That’s the energy we try to bring to everything we do as DataBaes.
Around the same time, we started watching some of our favorite DJs and producers livestream on Twitch. Up until then, most DJs just posted mixes to SoundCloud or YouTube. But seeing them perform live, interact with chat, and build a global audience in real time was exciting to watch. Twitch combined everything we loved, music, video production, and performance, into one place. That was our lightbulb moment. We thought: What if we produce our own show? We already had the gear and the vision. We just needed to bring it to life.
We didn’t want it to be just a DJ stream. We wanted to create an immersive experience, a cosmic dance party you could be a part of, wherever you were, and this seemed like the perfect pairing. That’s how DataBaes came to life.
A funky robot and a charming cyborg taking you deep into space for an intergalactic dance party! Your hosts: FunkBot and Cindy Cyborg. The mission: An epic musical dance party in space.
We thought our well-polished concept would take off as soon as the first few people saw it. It didn’t. It took us nearly two years to hit 1,000 followers. Despite our frustrations, we kept our heads down and kept building. What started as a small living room experiment evolved into a full-scale weekly production with custom visuals, themed shows, VFX, remixes, edits, original albums, rare vinyl, and sounds that reflected our combined DJ knowledge and production experience.
In our third year, we became Twitch Partners. That was huge. Finally, the vision we’d been building was resonating with people. Later that year, we were invited to perform at the official TwitchCon Afterparty at AREA15 in Las Vegas, and that motivated us more than ever to keep pushing.
Since then, we’ve grown exponentially. We’ve performed in Tokyo two years in a row and played shows all across the U.S., including events like Neotropolis and iconic venues like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in LA and Hi-Fi listening bar Part Time Lover in San Diego, plus a second appearance at another TwitchCon.
For the past five years, we’ve been sharing our unique sound and sci-fi vibe both online and on the dance floors. Not everyone can make it to a club or a live show, but Twitch lets us bring that experience to them. Whether we’re DJ’ing from our home studio or livestreaming from a club in Tokyo, our community comes with us. That’s the real magic of livestreaming.
Getting to do all of this together, as a couple, has made it even more special. We’ve grown through this, not just as artists but as partners. Building something we love side by side, seeing it grow, and seeing the joy it brings to others has been the most rewarding part of it all.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
DataBaes has taught us a lot of things, but one thing remains consistent:
“It’s always something.”
This phrase has become a motto for us. Every day, something is bound to go wrong. But the real test is how you deal with it. You adapt, fix it, and keep moving.
In the beginning, our futuristic style actually made things harder. Some people didn’t really know what to make of us or how to categorize what we were doing. Some still don’t. But we have always stayed true to our vision and knew it was worth it. Over time, people started showing up and saying, “I’ve never seen anything like this on Twitch.” That kind of feedback gave us the motivation to keep going.
We’ve also had to learn how to do everything on our own, how to run a stream, how to build a community, how to troubleshoot tech issues, how to keep going when nobody’s watching. There were plenty of hard lessons along the way, whether it was dealing with gear malfunctions or figuring out how to market a show better. It was exhausting, but also incredibly fulfilling. We knew if we kept building something meaningful, despite our growing pains, the right people would eventually find us, and they did.
One of the toughest challenges today is the expectation that creators must wear all of the hats, DJ, producer, videographer, social media manager, editor, graphic designer, marketer. There’s constant pressure to stay relevant, post new content, release new music, show up on every platform, even if it means quantity over quality, which is a tough one for us to swallow. And if you’re not doing all of that all of the time, it can feel like you’re falling behind. We’ve had to work hard to find balance and protect our creative energy without burning out.
Now, five years in, we’ve managed to build something we’re deeply proud of, a global community, a platform for creative exploration, and a life project that’s made us stronger as a couple. Most importantly, we’ve cultivated a space that inspires others to take creative risks, follow their weird, wonderful ideas, and believe in themselves. We still run into the occasional hiccup, but the difference now is that we’ve got the experience and perspective in how to deal with it.
If there’s one big lesson we’ve learned, it’s this: don’t wait for the “perfect” moment to start. Just start. You’ll figure it out as you go, and you’ll keep evolving. That’s how we did it. That’s how we still do it. And we’re just getting started.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We don’t tend to share too much about our personal lives or who we are outside of DataBaes, and that’s by design. There’s something special about the anonymity of it all, we like that our project creates a bit of mystery. It allows for more escapism, for us and for our audience. It’s not about who we are as individuals, it’s about the world we’ve built and the experience we’re inviting people into. We personally don’t want to be known, we want our art and music to be known.
That said, one thing that has deeply influenced our work is our background in Film and Television production. Years of experience in that field, working behind the scenes, helping others bring their creative visions to life, has shaped how we approach everything we do now.
We’re most proud of how we’ve taken all of that knowledge, discipline, and creative problem-solving and poured it into building something of our own. DataBaes is the result of that shift, from being the support crew on someone else’s project to becoming the creators of our own universe.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way to support us is to share our music, stream or purchase our original albums (available on platforms like Spotify, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud), tune in to our Twitch shows, join the community, and spread the word. Whether it’s sharing a set you loved, adding our tracks to your playlists, hyping us up in chat when we’re live, or showing up to hit the dance floor with us at a live show, it all makes a huge difference. We’re a grassroots project, so word of mouth and community really do power the ship.
Booking us to DJ is another great way to support what we do, we’re always looking to connect with new places and new crowds.
If you’re interested in collaborating or booking us, the best way to reach out is via email or Instagram message. We love working with people who resonate with our vision and want to build something together.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/databaes
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/databaesmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKs5ZmAxn3Smcm09nG_YjQQ
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/databaes
- Other: https://www.twitch.tv/databaes
Image Credits
Nate Kalushner, Ryan Chin, Katie Clavette
