Double Touch Talk Live Performance, Subtle Control, And Melodic House

Double Touch (@doubletouchofficial) return to All Day I Dream with Dreaming Of You EP, a three-track release built around melodic house, live musicianship, and the duo’s long-running connection to the label’s sound. Based between Sydney and Los Angeles, Double Touch brings together classical pianist and composer Van-Anh Nguyen with DJ, drummer, and producer Mark Olsen, and that blend of live performance and club structure has been central to their music since first appearing on All Day I Dream with Adagio EP in 2019.

The EP opens with “Dreaming Of You,” a hypnotic title track built around textured arrangement and soulful vocal work, before “Deep Sleep” moves into a more playful groove with earthy synth elements. “Feel The Love” closes the release with a melodic finish that keeps the project tied to movement, memory, and emotional connection.

The release also arrives as Double Touch continue their place inside the All Day I Dream community, including an upcoming New York showcase at Industry City.

In our conversation Double Touch talk about how their DJing has changed with experience, especially around restraint, layering, and knowing when a record should be left alone. Their answers get into the shift from technical anxiety to reading the room, the difference between overworking a track and enhancing it, and how live percussion and piano let their personality come through without overcrowding the music.

For a duo whose sets sit between DJing and live performance, it is a practical look at how subtlety becomes a skill over time.

Interview With Double Touch

Was there a point in your life as a DJ when you started thinking less about proving you could mix and more about what the room actually needed from you?

Absolutely. When I first started DJing, I was more focused on not train-wrecking a mix than on selecting the right records. Like most DJs, you are concentrating so hard on the technical side that it is difficult to fully connect with what is happening on the dancefloor.

Once mixing became second nature, I was able to pay much more attention to reading the room and understanding what people were responding to. Looking back, I would say that is far more important than executing a perfect mix every time.

How has your use of layering, effects, and technical moves changed as you have gained more hours behind the decks?

I actually do much less of that nowadays. In my early years, I was constantly experimenting with layered beats, acapellas, loops, and effects. Over time, I have come to appreciate the power of restraint. If a track is great, it often does not need much added to it. I would rather let the music breathe and allow it to be heard the way the producer intended.

With Double Touch, the layering we do now comes from live instrumentation. I will play live percussion and Van-Anh will add keys or piano, which feels more organic and musical than stacking extra elements from other tracks.

What tells you that a record has enough of an “it” factor to hold the room without you needing to add much to it?

You can usually feel it pretty quickly.

Some records have such a clear identity and emotional impact that they already sound complete. In our live sets, there are tracks where we intentionally do not add any instruments at all because anything on top would actually take away from what makes the record special.

Are there records you prefer to play with as little alteration, effects, or layering as possible, and what usually tells you to leave them alone?

Definitely. If a track already has a lot of percussion, congas, bongos, or rhythmic movement, adding more live drums can quickly become cluttered. In those situations, I will often either leave it untouched or simply reinforce what is already there by playing along with the existing rhythm rather than introducing something new.

The goal is to enhance the energy, not compete with what is already working.

How do you balance your own personality as a DJ with the discipline of letting the music do its job?

A lot of our personality comes through the live side of what we do. We often use the tracks we are DJing as a foundation and then build on top with live percussion and piano. Since both Van-Anh and I were musicians before we became DJs, that is where our individuality naturally comes through.

Beyond that, your personality is reflected in the records you choose. Every DJ has access to the same platforms and music libraries, and the way you curate and combine those tracks is what makes your sound unique.

What role does subtle control play in the way you play now, especially compared to how you approached DJing earlier in your career?

Subtlety plays a much bigger role now. Earlier in my career, I was constantly tweaking EQs, reaching for effects, and throwing acapellas over tracks like I was competing in a DMC championship. Eventually I realized that, in house music especially, the only person really enjoying all that is often the DJ standing behind the decks.

These days, I am much more focused on creating a flow and letting the music speak for itself. Sometimes the best thing you can do is resist the urge to do something and trust the record.