Most of the time, the Marriage Pact can help you make a new friend or even provide the spark for a burgeoning romance. Rarely does it lead to the formation of a new musical duo. But for Stanford graduates and best friends Mina and Kadin, the algorithm might’ve done just that.
Mina and Kadin weren't strangers to the Marriage Pact when they took the survey in November 2020.
Kadin:
It had been around since my freshman year at Stanford, so it was an annual thing by the time we took it in 2020. Everyone was like, “Oh, it’s Marriage Pact time!”
Stanford hadn’t yet permitted undergrads to return to campus that fall. Jaded from the monotony of Zoom classes, students were more eager for social connection than ever.
Kadin:
Especially during lockdown, I was definitely looking for the Marriage Pact to just connect me with more people who were similar to me at Stanford.
Mina:
For me, the entertainment aspect of it was pretty big too. It was COVID times, so I thought it’d just be fun to fill out a questionnaire that asked me interesting questions about myself, and see how it aligned with the rest of Stanford.
Kadin and Mina matched with one of the highest compatibility scores at Stanford—though it would take another 7 months for them to meet in person. Kadin took a leave of absence at home in Wisconsin, while Mina spent much of her virtual fall quarter with friends in San Diego. Suffice to say, their options for communication were limited.
Kadin:
Once a week or so, I’d get like 30 text messages recapping everything that had happened that week.
Mina:
Wait, what?
Kadin:
It was very much a pen-pals sort of thing for a long time, since we were 2,000 miles apart.
Mina:
Ok, I don’t remember doing that. But that is how I communicate with people, so it checks out.
While Mina returned to campus that spring, it wasn’t until the end of the quarter that she and Kadin finally got the chance to meet face-to-face.
Kadin:
I was only around Stanford for a week or so, when I was moving from Wisconsin over to my summer internship. That was the first time we were within a couple miles of each other. We got lunch at Coupa. The classic lunch spot.
I asked what they talked about during that first lunch together.
Kadin:
Hot sauce.
Mina:
Kaytranada.
Kadin:
We both love hot sauce, so we talked about that. And Coupa plated Kaytranada. We both love Kaytranada, so we talked a lot about music and music-making.
Mina and Kadin say they were “scarily similar” right off the bat. One of their most salient similarities is their appreciation for music—alongside their nearly identical birth charts.
Mina:
We have talked at length about how we’re both Aries. We’re actually born one day apart.
Kadin:
We’re both very chaotic in our endeavors. Very much down to do…
Mina:
Any shenanigans.
Kadin:
Yeah, big shenanigans fans.
But I do think our shared music taste definitely goes a long way. And just appreciation for music in general. For me, music has always been a really important part of my life. So whenever I find someone I can really vibe with and talk about music with—not even specific artists, but just music in general and what’s cool—it’s super duper fun.
Mina and Kadin not only share many of their favorite artists—Kaytranada, EARTHGANG, and Kendrick Lamar among them—but deeply value the artistry and ingenuity that goes into making music. They appreciate the power that artists hold to fill a space with energy—or as Mina puts it, “create vibes”—so much that they decided to hone the craft themselves.
Kadin:
I started DJ-ing around Thanksgiving break last year. I think it was a combination of there being a ton of DJs in my house that year, and Mina talking about DJ-ing back in the spring. Which, looking back, is hilarious. I definitely think you brought up Dj-ing one of the spring parties on campus, and I was like, “Oh, that’s so sick!”
But there were a lot of people who were like, “You should do this, it would be so cool!” So I got into it and just loved it instantly.
Mina:
Mine is more of a long-winded story. But TL;DR, I was obsessed with myself on Spotify for a while. I asked everyone to follow me.
Kadin:
You still do.
Mina:
Yeah, I still do. Not past tense. I called myself DJ Minz ironically for a bit. But people started asking me to AUX everywhere I went, so I thought, “Maybe this is unironic.” And then eventually I got my hands on a table. This was probably in April, a little before we met. And I very slowly started learning the technical parts of it, so I could keep up with the persona I had built.
One of the first opportunities they had to flex their new DJ-ing skills came early in spring quarter—and they did not disappoint.
Mina:
We threw a joint birthday party where we both DJ-ed that was fairly successful. It was fire themed since we’re both Aries. We had hot sauce there. We just thought, we’re born like one day apart, we’re both very chaotic and love partying and love DJ-ing, so we have to throw a joint birthday party. Obviously.
We spent months planning that party. The Aries theme, the hot sauce, all the music. We planned these long playlists of songs, and found music to play when we weren’t DJ-ing to make sure the vibe was right. We went hot sauce shopping and everything.
And we had people submit memes about us, because as Aries, we both needed to be extremely at the center of attention. We gave people a folder of goofy pictures of us, and had people write memes about us that we could put on the walls. It was a very goofy party, and it was a lot of fun.
Kadin:
It was a really, really good time. That was one of the most fun parties I have ever helped throw. It was really fun to have someone who was that much into the idea of a goofy party, and willing to go all out on executing it.
Mina:
We had a google drive and everything. With folders.
Kadin:
We managed to avoid spreadsheets though.
Mina:
Yeah, no spreadsheets.
But the birthday festivities didn’t end there.
Kadin:
For our birthdays, we went to an EARTHGANG concert. We got soundstage VIP passes to the show—well, Mina got us passes to the show—and it was still the best birthday present I have ever received.
That whole day was such an adventure. We started here at like 4:30, and then we Caltrain-ed and BART-ed over to Oakland. On the BART we ran into a group of kids who were so incredibly vibrant in their energy, I was just shocked I wasn’t in the middle of a movie.
Mina:
They gave us free jewelry. Lots of it.
Kadin:
They singled Mina out and were like, “You need more jewelry.”
Mina:
“You need 10 rings. Now.”
Kadin:
I don’t think anybody could really argue with them. And the concert itself was just so, so good. We were able to get there early, so we got front row spots. All of the openers were better than the last. The vibe in the place was so, so insane. EARTHGANG are just such incredible performers.
Mina:
It was incredible. And just exactly the vibe that we both like. And we were able to get autographs and chat with them too, and we were just super starstruck. It was pretty sick.
We also got these glasses.
Mina reaches down to grab a pair of pink, retro, cloud-shaped lenses with crystal pendants dangling from the rim.
Mina:
So Kadin and I wear cool glasses when we DJ sometimes.
Kadin:
Yeah, it’s required. You gotta.
Mina:
We were inspired by that concert, about how to be better performers. And one of those ways is to have cool glasses, so we got these for ourselves.
The pair say that their complimentary energies have made for a thrilling spring quarter—though sometimes, it’s up to Kadin to be the voice of reason.
Kadin:
I really appreciate the way Mina pushes me to do more chaotic and exciting things. Being friends with her this year, especially this past quarter, has really helped me come out of my shell, and just enjoy having fun a little bit more on this campus.
But I do feel like sometimes, I’m unable to match Mina’s energy level. Depending on how the day is going. Mina is definitely faster to rally than me.
Mina:
Yeah, I can be a tad bit more chaotic. And reckless. Sometimes Kadin tells me to be responsible, and I feel betrayed. Because it’s like, I thought you were my chaos buddy, and you’re telling me to rein it in?
Kadin:
Ok, but like, when I say, “Maybe you shouldn’t fly to LA without getting any sleep for an interview you know nothing about,” there might be something to it.
Mina:
So, in the middle of spring quarter, there was this random audition in LA, and it was completely unreasonable for me to go at the time. But I was like, “I’m gonna send it, because what if I can be famous now?” And Kadin was like, “Maybe you should chill, because you have, like, 4 different events going on this week.” And I was like, “Don’t tell me what to do.” But then I couldn’t go, and he was right.
So sometimes Kadin holds me in check, which I value. Mostly.
Even when he’s forced to hold Mina back from overly ambitious undertakings, Kadin has been a source of unyielding support for Mina’s creative goals.
Mina:
I really appreciate how encouraging Kadin is with me wanting to make music. I can be tentative and unsure about that at times, but you’re definitely very encouraging and supportive—in many ways, but especially in that way.
This fall, Mina says she’ll be home in the Bay Area, while Kadin will be working towards a graduate degree at Stanford in Aerospace Engineering. With big plans in the works, Kadin and Mina hope to see a lot of each other over the next year.
Mina:
We have plans to be a celebrity music duo soon.
Kadin:
I took a bunch of music productions classes at Stanford this year. Mina also took a couple of them as well. So between that, and the fact that we’re both getting into DJ-ing and music making, and just have very similar vibes…
Mina:
And a mild desire to be famous…
Kadin:
We just thought, why don’t we start something together? And you know, speaking for myself, a large desire to be famous.
While they haven’t brainstormed many names yet, they’re confident it will have something to do with hot sauce. Or being Aries. Or both.
Whatever the case, keep your eyes peeled for their names on Spotify in the next few years. And if you’re ever feeling uncertain about the Marriage Pact, remember that you might just find the other half of your dynamic duo.
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