iio: Radio Ga Ga.

iio play Rumba at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on December 11. At The End is in stores now.

New York duo iio hit big with their first commercial release. Rapture quickly climbed to the top of the dance music charts not only in their home country, but across the world. And it stayed there. Now Markus Moser and Nadia Ali are bound for Australia to play Rumba, and their second single At The End has just hit stores.

How did you guys hook up?

Markus: “It was over two years ago. I was looking for a singer for some songs that I had, and I wanted to have someone that doesn’t have that usual R&B voice. A friend of mine used to work at Versace here in New York, and she said we have someone here who would be great, check her out. We hooked up and that was it.”

What was the first track you wrote together?

Nadia (laughing): “It wasn’t Rapture. We worked a lot before Rapture, because we never really set out to make dance songs. It kind of happened as a favour to one of Markus’ friends. It wasn’t a planned out situation.”

What were you originally working on and writing together?

Markus: “The beats were a little more urban. I started out as a DJ and I was making remixes. So for me, making dance music was not a real big step. It was a very natural thing. Nadia always loved it, she was always saying ‘let’s make a dance song’.”

Nadia: “He tortured me. he play something dancey and then say we’re not working on that. It was funny.”

At what point with Rapture did you realise you had a hit?

Nadia: “I don’t think we thought it would be big. We loved the song, and we had a good feeling about it from the beginning, but we never thought it would be a hit. I was out the other day, and it’s still getting played all over the place. It’s really crazy?”

When was the first time you heard it in a club or on the radio?

Nadia: “Oh my God, actually I remember I was at a club at four in the morning and I was leaving. I turned on the radio and I said to my girlfriend ‘are you playing the CD?’ no. And I looked at the dashboard and it was the radio and I just started screaming. So I called Markus.”

Do you mind being called at four in the morning?

Markus: “I don’t mind, you know,” he laughs. “If you have good news you can call me anytime and scream into my phone.”