August 21, 2023 • 24 mins
Celebrating their smash "If Only I" hitting #1 on the dance charts, Loud Luxury & Matt from Two Friends share how the song was born w Bebe Rexha!
Matt also takes on #FinkysFirsts!!
Find out about:
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
Matt also takes on #FinkysFirsts!!
Find out about:
- the first thing he wanted to be growing up
- the first song they produced in high school
- the first names they were going to use for their artist project
- the first artist he thinks is underrated
- the first thing he would want on 'Planet Two Friends' if it was a real planet
- the first thing he would do if he said to himself "if only I could"
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey a d thirty fam, It'sBrian Fink. First of all, just
want to say thank you so muchfor following in subscribing to America's Dance thirty
the podcast and for being a partof our America's Dance thirty family. You
can count down the biggest dance songsin the country with us every week on
stations around the world. Just lugon to America's Dance thirty dot com and
(00:22):
check out the full list of stations, days and times of when to listen.
Second of all, wanted to sincerelyapologize for their not being an episode
last week. We were scheduled tochat with the amazing Becky Hill. Unfortunately,
my fifteen year old fir child Aidenpassed away and so I was dealing
with that. So I apologize.I thank you so much for the love
(00:47):
and support that everybody showed me.It really truly helped me get stronger.
So thank you so much. Withoutfurther ado, here is a brand new
episode of America's dans thirty the podcast. Okay, now let me try the
camera again one second. Can yousee me? This is how much I
loved you. I'm on my vacationand you're the only person that I would
(01:10):
ever take an interview for it.Dude, I love you so much for
that. I want to make itvery clear that I said, let them
have vacation. No, it's finefor you anything. Don't worry. We're
gonna make this really short so thatJoe can get back to his vacation.
This vacation and oh my god,both of you guys are on vacation.
(01:33):
Yeah, I'm just on the balconyright now, dance counting down the biggest
dance songs in the country. Thisis America's Dance thirty Andrew and Joe.
(01:56):
I gotta say this might be themost spread out interview I've ever done.
Welcome back to America's Dance thirty.Thank you, Thank you. Where are
you guys right now? I'm vacation. I'm in the middle of the ocean
in Sardinia and Italy. I'm inMajorca on my balcony. Oh my god.
(02:17):
Well, first of all, Iknow how we have service right now.
It's crazy. I have no idea, Mary there, it really is.
I love you guys so much fortaking the time. I'm gonna make
it very quick so that you guyscan get back to your vacation. Thank
you for taking the time when you'reon vacation. Congratulations on another number one
(02:40):
we see in Italy mid Nu meddouh no, we look at the party
there. Wow. Well, normallywe would get to know you guys better,
but we've already done that in thepast. Of course, anybody could
(03:01):
just search America's Dance thirty wherever theyget their podcasts and get to know you
guys better on past episodes of America'sDance thirty the podcast. But I got
two questions for you. First ofall, right, how was this smash
born with two friends and baby Rexa? And don't lie because I've got mad
(03:23):
from two friends. Next, andI will fat check everything because it was
a big, big fabricated story.So you got us there for a second,
man, let me hear the fabricatedstory. I mean, the fabricated
story would simply be that we formeda supergroup with two friends called four Friends
(03:45):
and four Luxuries, yeah or fourLuxuries four locos would yes, name for
it. We summoned BBD a carrierpigeon Hood with us, and then we
linked up and became the Avengers ofDance music. There still waiting for David
(04:05):
who wants to join. I lovethat fabricated story. Now, how about
the real story of how the songwas born? Well, we know,
we've known we've known the guys forquite some time, so I mean like
we've been homies for a while,and we were talking about doing a song
together and then we like we gotthe song, and then we sent the
(04:27):
record to Bab and then she literallysent us like literally one pass of it,
and we put in the song andit was like perfection, like literally
perfection. Stop. So the vocalin the song is the original that she
cut. Oh my god, shelegit is the queen of dance music.
That is amazing. Yeah, thehardest part in all honesty, was just
(04:48):
finding a timeline where you have threedifferent artists with release schedules, baby dropping
an album and then also having thesuccess with Ghetta and all this other stuff
going on. Just finding a timing. We're it worked for all three of
us. That was the hardest part. That took about two years. Holy
crap. So this is like twoyears in the making. Yeah, yeah,
(05:09):
by some time. Wow, thatis unbelievable. Now, my second
question for you guys is if youwere to say to yourself, if only
I could, What would be thething that you would want to do?
If only I could eat some pastaright now? Aren't you in Italy right
now? Yeah, but I'm inthe middle of the ocean. There's no
(05:32):
dropping Italian food in the ocean foryou. They send it on I don't
even know. It's like drop doordash. They have a boat. I
just saw a video in Dubai ofa water car literally dropping off someone's food.
Oh my god, it's really inDubai. It is totally real.
(05:53):
Andrew, What about you? Ifonly I could what would it be if
only I could have shot an espressoright now? Because if there's one thing
that's kicking my ass, it's Europeantime zones. Man, I'm never jel
like I'm dying right now. Icould only imagine. Well, congratulations on
this smash going number one really quickly, Joe. I gotta tell you,
(06:15):
I am so impressed with you becausethe picture that you posted from Brooklyn mirage
of Andrew on your shoulders, thatis impressive. I didn't you ask.
He just randomly literally just picked meup and went bang. It wasn't like
a pre planned thing. We didn'teven discuss it. There's not even a
look exchange. It was literally justsomething. I'm on this guy's shoulders with
(06:38):
the best seats in the half.All I know is next time you guys
are in town, that is happening. Joe, you are putting me on
your shoulders. Yes, big squats, Yes, I got you, Joe,
Andrew Loud Luxury, thank you somuch for taking time on your vacation.
Congratulations on another number one buddy,always a no no no. Love
(07:05):
you guys so much. Hav anawesome rest of your days. Time now
over to Matt from two Friends.Matt, I know we're here to talk
about if Only I, but Ireally wish that we could be talking about
(07:28):
more than Yesterday too, because,in my opinion, that is such an
underrated smash. Thank you. Yeah, I know you guys are supporting both.
We're like looking at both of thecharts fighting each other, which is
amazing. More Than Yesterday came outin May and then we followed up with
if Only I in June, soit's definitely been a summer of great music.
Like we've been super pumped, andhonestly, we had our tour starting
(07:51):
right when we put out the firstone, so the whole tour we were
playing both and now it's like thebest moment of each show. This is
one of those situations where you know, too much music gets out and I
really wish that more than yesterday couldhave its moment because it really is like
a song of the summer. Yeah, honestly, we love that song.
(08:13):
Russell Dickerson is the man. We'reable to do it live with him in
Chicago during our tour. Oh wow, I think yeah, he was.
Honestly, he sounds like even betterthan the real song, Like he's just
perfect always, and we're gonna workon doing more with him, and then
with Beebe. We've premiered it atCoachella with her, and we actually have
(08:35):
a surprise this weekend. We're playingan l I and Boebe might or might
not be there doing it with us, so we'll see. That's so awesome.
Well, we're gonna talk all aboutthe smash coming up. But Matt
from Two Friends, Welcome to America'sDance thirty for the first time. Thank
you for having me. Congratulations onif Only I going Number one? Was
(08:56):
this your guys first number one?I think it is. We've gone close
a couple of times but here weare finally cross the finish line. Congratulations
on that, Thank you, andEli would be here celebrating with me,
but he is in the rainforests ofPeru right now. You know that is
not an excuse. We were justtalking to Joe who was in the middle
(09:16):
of an ocean in Italy. Sonow I'm kidding he got that satellite phone
internet or something. In fact,he was holding a brick one of those
old brick phones. Because I haven'teven been able to get in touch with
Eli for like twenty four hours,so I hope he's alive. Well,
(09:37):
we're gonna talk all about this smashcoming up, but let's get to know
you a little better first with thinky'sfirst. All right, now, I
know that you got into music asa kid, and you and Eli got
together in seventh grade, right andformed two friends in high school. Yeah,
(10:01):
so we were middle school friends firstmiddle school and high school, and
then twelfth grade we like started wewere doing music separately, not necessarily production
or DJ stuff, but you know, our own paths. And then as
we were graduating high school, werelike, huh, maybe let's learn how
to produce music and become DJ's didn'teven know what that meant. Like,
you know, all we knew waslike a vic Tso we're just like,
(10:22):
huh, let's figure out what thehell this is. And you know,
many years later, here we are. But you know, we split up
for college. We stayed super diligent. We basically treated like a full time
job throughout college, even though wedidn't go to college together. And then
after college we were just at apoint where, you know, we got
to take a swing and move backto la and do this full time.
(10:46):
I love that well. I lovefinding out the origin story of artists.
Before all of that was music,what you first wanted to get into or
was there something else you wanted tobe when you grew up. I mean
I always was into music, LikeI was playing guitar. I was like
the worst person in our choir,Like you know, I was involved.
I would say my first dream wasprobably to be like a professional baseball player
(11:09):
or something. And then as soonas I was getting the inkling that that's
not going to happen, I waslike, I gotta pivot real fast.
So what happened? Was there aposition that you weren't good at? No?
I was good, but I realizedyou know, in twelfth grade,
I was like, huh, I'mnot going to college for baseball, so
I don't think I'm gonna make themajors, you know. So that's a
(11:30):
big jump from high school no collegebaseball. So so I was like,
all right, I need to divein deeper into another passion. Well,
I gotta say you did an awesomejob pivoting. It was a great joy.
Thank you, Thank you. Now, you guys actually started out making
hip hop beats for other artists.Do you remember the first actual song that
(11:54):
you produced. So we started,like I think initially we're like, all
right, let's get into dance music. And then we just like, first
of all, it was a littlebit harder back then, like you know,
just certain DAWs and the stuff.We're just like not as user friendly,
so we're just having like trouble likegetting the sound rights. We're like,
all right, let's let's do hiphop beats, which obviously they can
(12:16):
be super complex or you can makethem super simple. So we started like
doing like sampling a lot of liketaking songs or instrumentals. So the first
beat we made that like became likea song for some college rapper was we
took If you know that song Daylightby Mad and Kim Dad done Da Da
Da, So we like sampled thatinto a hip hop beat. It was
(12:39):
actually pretty dope. You know,it wasn't all there, like if I
listen back, I'm like, kindthis is only okay, But the concept
was there, the legs were there. So that's the first thing ever.
And what about the first song thatyou guys produced in e DM. I
think we made a bunch of remixes. I'm trying to think like what actually
got released. My instinct is mostof it is not on the internet day
(13:03):
probably for good reason. Either itnever made it up or we took it
down. But we dabbled in alot like we dabbled in like we've made
like a couple of Dove Step remixes. They were really not good. We
made like we definitely like tried likea Taylor Swift remix that never came out.
We tried like a lot of stuff. But honestly, I think that's
(13:24):
how that was our learning, youknow, our blocks to get to like
the first time we release something andwe're like, huh, this is better,
and then if you look back fiveyears, you'm like same with that
Daylight beat. It's like, allright, the concept is there and you
just are improving on the technical side. Yeah, you gotta start somewhere.
I mean that totally makes sense nowas two friends. Now, do you
(13:46):
guys still have any contact with anyof the rappers from high school that you
produce stuff for. I think maybevery minimize, you know, maybe maybe
a Twitter DM every five years orsomething. I feel like a couple of
hit us up. But we're definitelylike not in their space. They're probably
(14:07):
like older with kids now. Idon't even know, you know, so
they're not They're not, you know, invited to the family barbecue. And
none of them have made it tosuperstardom. Like none of them are jay
Z or anything. I don't thinkanyone that used their beats are huge or
no. Unfortunately, note that itwas you guys that would make sure a
(14:31):
great story. Yeah, okay,Now it's very obvious where the name two
friends came from with you guys beingfriends for so long, But was that
the first name you guys were gonnago with? I really wish I had
(14:54):
this piece of paper because I vividlyremember it. We were in a class
senior year of high school, andwe like it was some class that was
like a requirement. You didn't reallyhave to pay attention, like everyone had
to take it. It wasn't likean academic class, more of like a
I don't know, like a lifeclass. So we're just in the back
row for like a week and we'rejust like brainstorming names. If we had
(15:16):
this paper, this would be soepic. But I literally remember just like
making sounds and like offshoots of likea Vici, but two Avali, Tayasta,
like all these like names of likethese VJs, and like how do
you get their names? And we'rejust like this feels so forced. So
we just were like, you knowwhat, two friends kind of has a
(15:37):
vibe, and back then it wasthe two friends. So we're like all
right, and you know what,we're not fooling anyone. We are the
two friends. So that's how itcame about a lot of cringing names that
almost came into existence. And whendid you drop the the I think we
dropped it. It was after theFacebook movie came out, so that was
definitely an influence. I'm trying tothink probably maybe like seven years ago now,
(16:02):
back in twenty seventeen, the chainSmoker has actually named you guys as
one of the most underrated artists.Who would be the first artist right now
that you would say is underrated?That's a good question. First of all,
there's so many artists that are underrated, and it's also like, honestly,
(16:22):
every year it gets more saturated ina good way in the sense there's
so much good music out there.I don't want to like miss someone.
Someone that I've been listening to abunch that I think definitely has throughout the
years, has like had you know, had a cool style and has some
really cool stuff that I've been hearinglately. Is Bunt Yeah, Yeah,
he was amazing. Yeah, Andlike he has that like stutter House five
(16:45):
and he also has you know,like the Country House five from before and
both were like just super dope.So he's really cool. There's so many
artists I would have to go throughmy Spotify right now, but he's one
of them for sure that I'm like, damn nice. I mean you mentioned
how oversaturated everything is. That goesback to more than yesterday. I mean
it's so hard for good songs topeek through now totally, and we're like,
(17:08):
luckily you know, we have aplatform and like we're playing shows and
stuff, so like we can likesee you know, the fruits of our
labor, like when people learn thewords that shows. But there's so much
music that like is really good andit's just hard, so that just I
guess it pushes people to just dosomething different when you can to stand out.
(17:29):
Yeah, but it's also stressful,you know, people have to get
creative on the marketing and put somuch time into that when they'd probably be
rather you know, focusing on themusic. Absolutely. Now, you guys
had a massively successful Planet two Friendstour. If there was a real Planet
two Friends, what would be thefirst thing you would want on it?
(17:51):
All? Right, So first ofall, I want Eli Eli to be
found from the throw. I wouldneed him to you know, you know,
be the co co president there.Well, we're very into uh we've
been getting into pickleball, so we'dhave a couple of those courts. I've
been getting into golf. We'd havea nice golf course, maybe a thirty
six holder. What else, definitelya sick venue, you know, maybe
(18:17):
an outdoor and an indoor vibe.Maybe even like a late night small intimate
club vibe. So we have wehave a great complex there, like a
planet two friends mirage. Oh yeah, oh yeah yeah, maybe like the
msg sphere thing, we'd do oneof those. Yeah, that would be
the whole planet. You know what, that could be the whole planet.
(18:37):
I'm down with it. That wouldbe so awesome. We'll make sure to
invite me. I'll get my passportready. Do you do you even need
a passport for intergalactical Our borders arefree and open. Oh yes, great.
Here now, finally, in honorof if only I going number one?
If you said to yourself, ifonly I could, what would be
(18:59):
the first thing you would want todo? Go to Disneyland? You got
a number one? You didn't winthe Super Bowl. Here, I'm working
on that now that that was alsoone of the dreams, you know,
being in the NFL, because we'reobsessed. Eli and I both obsessed with
football, obsessed with fantasy football.You know, I just enjoy the moment.
(19:22):
You know, it's been cool playingthat song and like slowly see people
like learn the words as shows andit's even cooler, like you know from
radio, all the Shazam's and allof like the love I'm out that side
of things, which is dope becauseyou know, it's been been a long
journey. Yeah, and let's talkabout this journey. We were just talking
(19:42):
a Loud Luxury about how the songcame together and they shared that it was
like a two year process. Howwas this song born? With all of
you guys. I mean, I'msurprised it ever came out because it was
such a long process. You know, I think the first time we got
in this studio at them was ithonestly might have been two years in like
(20:04):
a week to the day or something, and you know, it was a
lot. It was. It wasa long process. But basically, you
know, there were some amazing writerswe worked with, and then we got
into the studio with Love Luxury workedon it with them. Then eventually we
got Baby involved and that was awhole other process. So we got that,
(20:26):
then we had to go back inthe studio with them. Then the
writers and producers got like it wasjust a basically a lot of people cared
about the song a lot, soit ended up as good as it can
but you know, definitely ends upbeing a little more stressful. But we're
so glad like that it was becausethe product ended up exactly however, and
(20:47):
wanted it. You know, suchan amazing song. Now, I should
have done my due diligence before thisinterview, but I didn't, So I'll
just throw that out there. Butwas there any writer that we would know,
like for example, finding out thatGeorgia Coup has been a part of
so many number ones? Was thereanybody involved in this that we would know?
(21:10):
I mean, there's definitely a bunchof pop writers here. I'll go
through. I'll go through the Spotifycredits right now because I don't want to
leave anyone out. This is yourGrammy moment. Don't leave anybody out.
I would I would never dream ofit. Like some of the producers,
we worked with a bunch with NickHenriksen, Sean Frank, awesome dudes,
both Canadian dudes. I don't knowif we've actually worked with any of the
writers, but some of them Iknow, our big names, like Michael
(21:33):
Pollock's done some amazing, amazing popwriting, so we've always wanted to work
with him. Stefan Johnson. Imean, Beebe ended up rewriting parts and
stuff, and she's obviously an iconicwriter. Lauren Christie Alden Hayne, who's
like another big pa I think hegoes about all day, but like,
(21:56):
yeah, great great pop writers.So like we kind of had the best
of both worlds, like dance worldand pop world, and everyone just really
wanted the song to come together asgood as it can. So you know,
when you have a lot of cooksin the kitchen, sometimes it could
be more stressful, but sometimes theproduct can also, you know, come
together great, especially with the schedulingand trying to get it released. Now
(22:18):
was it when you guys were puttingit together? Was BB the first person
you were thinking of for it?Or were there other artists? So when
we first got involved with it,BB was definitely at the top of the
list because so at that point wehad recently signed with new managers and they
also managed BB, and like we'vebeen fans of BB forever and obviously she
(22:41):
has like some huge hits of herown, huge hits in the dance world,
and she can sing anything amazingly,so she was pretty much like the
top of the list. So whenit came together, that was pretty awesome.
That's so incredible to hear. Now, something I love to find out
is how many did friend tweaked versionsthere are from when you start working on
(23:03):
it to when it's finally put out. Do you remember what the final V
was of if Only I. It'snot really a fair question because I know
the final V numbers, but theywere decimal points. The whole the whole
integer number was twenty three or twentyfour, but there was decimal points,
(23:23):
you know, like twenty three one, two, three four, So you
know that that means there was alot of love and thought put into it.
Well, congratulations on it going numberone. My final question for you
is, what did Clarence ever doto you? Guys? You don't want
to know. That's between us andClarence. That was so epic. Matt,
(23:49):
congratulations on if Only I going numberone. Thank you so much for
your time with us on America's Dayan'sthirty. Thanks so much for the support.
We appreciate it. An America's Dancethirty counting down the biggest dance songs
in the country. America's Dance thirty
Hey a d thirty fam, It'sBrian Fink. First of all, just
want to say thank you so muchfor following in subscribing to America's Dance thirty
the podcast and for being a partof our America's Dance thirty family. You
can count down the biggest dance songsin the country with us every week on
stations around the world. Just lugon to America's Dance thirty dot com and
(00:22):
check out the full list of stations, days and times of when to listen.
Second of all, wanted to sincerelyapologize for their not being an episode
last week. We were scheduled tochat with the amazing Becky Hill. Unfortunately,
my fifteen year old fir child Aidenpassed away and so I was dealing
with that. So I apologize.I thank you so much for the love
(00:47):
and support that everybody showed me.It really truly helped me get stronger.
So thank you so much. Withoutfurther ado, here is a brand new
episode of America's dans thirty the podcast. Okay, now let me try the
camera again one second. Can yousee me? This is how much I
loved you. I'm on my vacationand you're the only person that I would
(01:10):
ever take an interview for it.Dude, I love you so much for
that. I want to make itvery clear that I said, let them
have vacation. No, it's finefor you anything. Don't worry. We're
gonna make this really short so thatJoe can get back to his vacation.
This vacation and oh my god,both of you guys are on vacation.
(01:33):
Yeah, I'm just on the balconyright now, dance counting down the biggest
dance songs in the country. Thisis America's Dance thirty Andrew and Joe.
(01:56):
I gotta say this might be themost spread out interview I've ever done.
Welcome back to America's Dance thirty.Thank you, Thank you. Where are
you guys right now? I'm vacation. I'm in the middle of the ocean
in Sardinia and Italy. I'm inMajorca on my balcony. Oh my god.
(02:17):
Well, first of all, Iknow how we have service right now.
It's crazy. I have no idea, Mary there, it really is.
I love you guys so much fortaking the time. I'm gonna make
it very quick so that you guyscan get back to your vacation. Thank
you for taking the time when you'reon vacation. Congratulations on another number one
(02:40):
we see in Italy mid Nu meddouh no, we look at the party
there. Wow. Well, normallywe would get to know you guys better,
but we've already done that in thepast. Of course, anybody could
(03:01):
just search America's Dance thirty wherever theyget their podcasts and get to know you
guys better on past episodes of America'sDance thirty the podcast. But I got
two questions for you. First ofall, right, how was this smash
born with two friends and baby Rexa? And don't lie because I've got mad
(03:23):
from two friends. Next, andI will fat check everything because it was
a big, big fabricated story.So you got us there for a second,
man, let me hear the fabricatedstory. I mean, the fabricated
story would simply be that we formeda supergroup with two friends called four Friends
(03:45):
and four Luxuries, yeah or fourLuxuries four locos would yes, name for
it. We summoned BBD a carrierpigeon Hood with us, and then we
linked up and became the Avengers ofDance music. There still waiting for David
(04:05):
who wants to join. I lovethat fabricated story. Now, how about
the real story of how the songwas born? Well, we know,
we've known we've known the guys forquite some time, so I mean like
we've been homies for a while,and we were talking about doing a song
together and then we like we gotthe song, and then we sent the
(04:27):
record to Bab and then she literallysent us like literally one pass of it,
and we put in the song andit was like perfection, like literally
perfection. Stop. So the vocalin the song is the original that she
cut. Oh my god, shelegit is the queen of dance music.
That is amazing. Yeah, thehardest part in all honesty, was just
(04:48):
finding a timeline where you have threedifferent artists with release schedules, baby dropping
an album and then also having thesuccess with Ghetta and all this other stuff
going on. Just finding a timing. We're it worked for all three of
us. That was the hardest part. That took about two years. Holy
crap. So this is like twoyears in the making. Yeah, yeah,
(05:09):
by some time. Wow, thatis unbelievable. Now, my second
question for you guys is if youwere to say to yourself, if only
I could, What would be thething that you would want to do?
If only I could eat some pastaright now? Aren't you in Italy right
now? Yeah, but I'm inthe middle of the ocean. There's no
(05:32):
dropping Italian food in the ocean foryou. They send it on I don't
even know. It's like drop doordash. They have a boat. I
just saw a video in Dubai ofa water car literally dropping off someone's food.
Oh my god, it's really inDubai. It is totally real.
(05:53):
Andrew, What about you? Ifonly I could what would it be if
only I could have shot an espressoright now? Because if there's one thing
that's kicking my ass, it's Europeantime zones. Man, I'm never jel
like I'm dying right now. Icould only imagine. Well, congratulations on
this smash going number one really quickly, Joe. I gotta tell you,
(06:15):
I am so impressed with you becausethe picture that you posted from Brooklyn mirage
of Andrew on your shoulders, thatis impressive. I didn't you ask.
He just randomly literally just picked meup and went bang. It wasn't like
a pre planned thing. We didn'teven discuss it. There's not even a
look exchange. It was literally justsomething. I'm on this guy's shoulders with
(06:38):
the best seats in the half.All I know is next time you guys
are in town, that is happening. Joe, you are putting me on
your shoulders. Yes, big squats, Yes, I got you, Joe,
Andrew Loud Luxury, thank you somuch for taking time on your vacation.
Congratulations on another number one buddy,always a no no no. Love
(07:05):
you guys so much. Hav anawesome rest of your days. Time now
over to Matt from two Friends.Matt, I know we're here to talk
about if Only I, but Ireally wish that we could be talking about
(07:28):
more than Yesterday too, because,in my opinion, that is such an
underrated smash. Thank you. Yeah, I know you guys are supporting both.
We're like looking at both of thecharts fighting each other, which is
amazing. More Than Yesterday came outin May and then we followed up with
if Only I in June, soit's definitely been a summer of great music.
Like we've been super pumped, andhonestly, we had our tour starting
(07:51):
right when we put out the firstone, so the whole tour we were
playing both and now it's like thebest moment of each show. This is
one of those situations where you know, too much music gets out and I
really wish that more than yesterday couldhave its moment because it really is like
a song of the summer. Yeah, honestly, we love that song.
(08:13):
Russell Dickerson is the man. We'reable to do it live with him in
Chicago during our tour. Oh wow, I think yeah, he was.
Honestly, he sounds like even betterthan the real song, Like he's just
perfect always, and we're gonna workon doing more with him, and then
with Beebe. We've premiered it atCoachella with her, and we actually have
(08:35):
a surprise this weekend. We're playingan l I and Boebe might or might
not be there doing it with us, so we'll see. That's so awesome.
Well, we're gonna talk all aboutthe smash coming up. But Matt
from Two Friends, Welcome to America'sDance thirty for the first time. Thank
you for having me. Congratulations onif Only I going Number one? Was
(08:56):
this your guys first number one?I think it is. We've gone close
a couple of times but here weare finally cross the finish line. Congratulations
on that, Thank you, andEli would be here celebrating with me,
but he is in the rainforests ofPeru right now. You know that is
not an excuse. We were justtalking to Joe who was in the middle
(09:16):
of an ocean in Italy. Sonow I'm kidding he got that satellite phone
internet or something. In fact,he was holding a brick one of those
old brick phones. Because I haven'teven been able to get in touch with
Eli for like twenty four hours,so I hope he's alive. Well,
(09:37):
we're gonna talk all about this smashcoming up, but let's get to know
you a little better first with thinky'sfirst. All right, now, I
know that you got into music asa kid, and you and Eli got
together in seventh grade, right andformed two friends in high school. Yeah,
(10:01):
so we were middle school friends firstmiddle school and high school, and
then twelfth grade we like started wewere doing music separately, not necessarily production
or DJ stuff, but you know, our own paths. And then as
we were graduating high school, werelike, huh, maybe let's learn how
to produce music and become DJ's didn'teven know what that meant. Like,
you know, all we knew waslike a vic Tso we're just like,
(10:22):
huh, let's figure out what thehell this is. And you know,
many years later, here we are. But you know, we split up
for college. We stayed super diligent. We basically treated like a full time
job throughout college, even though wedidn't go to college together. And then
after college we were just at apoint where, you know, we got
to take a swing and move backto la and do this full time.
(10:46):
I love that well. I lovefinding out the origin story of artists.
Before all of that was music,what you first wanted to get into or
was there something else you wanted tobe when you grew up. I mean
I always was into music, LikeI was playing guitar. I was like
the worst person in our choir,Like you know, I was involved.
I would say my first dream wasprobably to be like a professional baseball player
(11:09):
or something. And then as soonas I was getting the inkling that that's
not going to happen, I waslike, I gotta pivot real fast.
So what happened? Was there aposition that you weren't good at? No?
I was good, but I realizedyou know, in twelfth grade,
I was like, huh, I'mnot going to college for baseball, so
I don't think I'm gonna make themajors, you know. So that's a
(11:30):
big jump from high school no collegebaseball. So so I was like,
all right, I need to divein deeper into another passion. Well,
I gotta say you did an awesomejob pivoting. It was a great joy.
Thank you, Thank you. Now, you guys actually started out making
hip hop beats for other artists.Do you remember the first actual song that
(11:54):
you produced. So we started,like I think initially we're like, all
right, let's get into dance music. And then we just like, first
of all, it was a littlebit harder back then, like you know,
just certain DAWs and the stuff.We're just like not as user friendly,
so we're just having like trouble likegetting the sound rights. We're like,
all right, let's let's do hiphop beats, which obviously they can
(12:16):
be super complex or you can makethem super simple. So we started like
doing like sampling a lot of liketaking songs or instrumentals. So the first
beat we made that like became likea song for some college rapper was we
took If you know that song Daylightby Mad and Kim Dad done Da Da
Da, So we like sampled thatinto a hip hop beat. It was
(12:39):
actually pretty dope. You know,it wasn't all there, like if I
listen back, I'm like, kindthis is only okay, But the concept
was there, the legs were there. So that's the first thing ever.
And what about the first song thatyou guys produced in e DM. I
think we made a bunch of remixes. I'm trying to think like what actually
got released. My instinct is mostof it is not on the internet day
(13:03):
probably for good reason. Either itnever made it up or we took it
down. But we dabbled in alot like we dabbled in like we've made
like a couple of Dove Step remixes. They were really not good. We
made like we definitely like tried likea Taylor Swift remix that never came out.
We tried like a lot of stuff. But honestly, I think that's
(13:24):
how that was our learning, youknow, our blocks to get to like
the first time we release something andwe're like, huh, this is better,
and then if you look back fiveyears, you'm like same with that
Daylight beat. It's like, allright, the concept is there and you
just are improving on the technical side. Yeah, you gotta start somewhere.
I mean that totally makes sense nowas two friends. Now, do you
(13:46):
guys still have any contact with anyof the rappers from high school that you
produce stuff for. I think maybevery minimize, you know, maybe maybe
a Twitter DM every five years orsomething. I feel like a couple of
hit us up. But we're definitelylike not in their space. They're probably
(14:07):
like older with kids now. Idon't even know, you know, so
they're not They're not, you know, invited to the family barbecue. And
none of them have made it tosuperstardom. Like none of them are jay
Z or anything. I don't thinkanyone that used their beats are huge or
no. Unfortunately, note that itwas you guys that would make sure a
(14:31):
great story. Yeah, okay,Now it's very obvious where the name two
friends came from with you guys beingfriends for so long, But was that
the first name you guys were gonnago with? I really wish I had
(14:54):
this piece of paper because I vividlyremember it. We were in a class
senior year of high school, andwe like it was some class that was
like a requirement. You didn't reallyhave to pay attention, like everyone had
to take it. It wasn't likean academic class, more of like a
I don't know, like a lifeclass. So we're just in the back
row for like a week and we'rejust like brainstorming names. If we had
(15:16):
this paper, this would be soepic. But I literally remember just like
making sounds and like offshoots of likea Vici, but two Avali, Tayasta,
like all these like names of likethese VJs, and like how do
you get their names? And we'rejust like this feels so forced. So
we just were like, you knowwhat, two friends kind of has a
(15:37):
vibe, and back then it wasthe two friends. So we're like all
right, and you know what,we're not fooling anyone. We are the
two friends. So that's how itcame about a lot of cringing names that
almost came into existence. And whendid you drop the the I think we
dropped it. It was after theFacebook movie came out, so that was
definitely an influence. I'm trying tothink probably maybe like seven years ago now,
(16:02):
back in twenty seventeen, the chainSmoker has actually named you guys as
one of the most underrated artists.Who would be the first artist right now
that you would say is underrated?That's a good question. First of all,
there's so many artists that are underrated, and it's also like, honestly,
(16:22):
every year it gets more saturated ina good way in the sense there's
so much good music out there.I don't want to like miss someone.
Someone that I've been listening to abunch that I think definitely has throughout the
years, has like had you know, had a cool style and has some
really cool stuff that I've been hearinglately. Is Bunt Yeah, Yeah,
he was amazing. Yeah, Andlike he has that like stutter House five
(16:45):
and he also has you know,like the Country House five from before and
both were like just super dope.So he's really cool. There's so many
artists I would have to go throughmy Spotify right now, but he's one
of them for sure that I'm like, damn nice. I mean you mentioned
how oversaturated everything is. That goesback to more than yesterday. I mean
it's so hard for good songs topeek through now totally, and we're like,
(17:08):
luckily you know, we have aplatform and like we're playing shows and
stuff, so like we can likesee you know, the fruits of our
labor, like when people learn thewords that shows. But there's so much
music that like is really good andit's just hard, so that just I
guess it pushes people to just dosomething different when you can to stand out.
(17:29):
Yeah, but it's also stressful,you know, people have to get
creative on the marketing and put somuch time into that when they'd probably be
rather you know, focusing on themusic. Absolutely. Now, you guys
had a massively successful Planet two Friendstour. If there was a real Planet
two Friends, what would be thefirst thing you would want on it?
(17:51):
All? Right, So first ofall, I want Eli Eli to be
found from the throw. I wouldneed him to you know, you know,
be the co co president there.Well, we're very into uh we've
been getting into pickleball, so we'dhave a couple of those courts. I've
been getting into golf. We'd havea nice golf course, maybe a thirty
six holder. What else, definitelya sick venue, you know, maybe
(18:17):
an outdoor and an indoor vibe.Maybe even like a late night small intimate
club vibe. So we have wehave a great complex there, like a
planet two friends mirage. Oh yeah, oh yeah yeah, maybe like the
msg sphere thing, we'd do oneof those. Yeah, that would be
the whole planet. You know what, that could be the whole planet.
(18:37):
I'm down with it. That wouldbe so awesome. We'll make sure to
invite me. I'll get my passportready. Do you do you even need
a passport for intergalactical Our borders arefree and open. Oh yes, great.
Here now, finally, in honorof if only I going number one?
If you said to yourself, ifonly I could, what would be
(18:59):
the first thing you would want todo? Go to Disneyland? You got
a number one? You didn't winthe Super Bowl. Here, I'm working
on that now that that was alsoone of the dreams, you know,
being in the NFL, because we'reobsessed. Eli and I both obsessed with
football, obsessed with fantasy football.You know, I just enjoy the moment.
(19:22):
You know, it's been cool playingthat song and like slowly see people
like learn the words as shows andit's even cooler, like you know from
radio, all the Shazam's and allof like the love I'm out that side
of things, which is dope becauseyou know, it's been been a long
journey. Yeah, and let's talkabout this journey. We were just talking
(19:42):
a Loud Luxury about how the songcame together and they shared that it was
like a two year process. Howwas this song born? With all of
you guys. I mean, I'msurprised it ever came out because it was
such a long process. You know, I think the first time we got
in this studio at them was ithonestly might have been two years in like
(20:04):
a week to the day or something, and you know, it was a
lot. It was. It wasa long process. But basically, you
know, there were some amazing writerswe worked with, and then we got
into the studio with Love Luxury workedon it with them. Then eventually we
got Baby involved and that was awhole other process. So we got that,
(20:26):
then we had to go back inthe studio with them. Then the
writers and producers got like it wasjust a basically a lot of people cared
about the song a lot, soit ended up as good as it can
but you know, definitely ends upbeing a little more stressful. But we're
so glad like that it was becausethe product ended up exactly however, and
(20:47):
wanted it. You know, suchan amazing song. Now, I should
have done my due diligence before thisinterview, but I didn't, So I'll
just throw that out there. Butwas there any writer that we would know,
like for example, finding out thatGeorgia Coup has been a part of
so many number ones? Was thereanybody involved in this that we would know?
(21:10):
I mean, there's definitely a bunchof pop writers here. I'll go
through. I'll go through the Spotifycredits right now because I don't want to
leave anyone out. This is yourGrammy moment. Don't leave anybody out.
I would I would never dream ofit. Like some of the producers,
we worked with a bunch with NickHenriksen, Sean Frank, awesome dudes,
both Canadian dudes. I don't knowif we've actually worked with any of the
writers, but some of them Iknow, our big names, like Michael
(21:33):
Pollock's done some amazing, amazing popwriting, so we've always wanted to work
with him. Stefan Johnson. Imean, Beebe ended up rewriting parts and
stuff, and she's obviously an iconicwriter. Lauren Christie Alden Hayne, who's
like another big pa I think hegoes about all day, but like,
(21:56):
yeah, great great pop writers.So like we kind of had the best
of both worlds, like dance worldand pop world, and everyone just really
wanted the song to come together asgood as it can. So you know,
when you have a lot of cooksin the kitchen, sometimes it could
be more stressful, but sometimes theproduct can also, you know, come
together great, especially with the schedulingand trying to get it released. Now
(22:18):
was it when you guys were puttingit together? Was BB the first person
you were thinking of for it?Or were there other artists? So when
we first got involved with it,BB was definitely at the top of the
list because so at that point wehad recently signed with new managers and they
also managed BB, and like we'vebeen fans of BB forever and obviously she
(22:41):
has like some huge hits of herown, huge hits in the dance world,
and she can sing anything amazingly,so she was pretty much like the
top of the list. So whenit came together, that was pretty awesome.
That's so incredible to hear. Now, something I love to find out
is how many did friend tweaked versionsthere are from when you start working on
(23:03):
it to when it's finally put out. Do you remember what the final V
was of if Only I. It'snot really a fair question because I know
the final V numbers, but theywere decimal points. The whole the whole
integer number was twenty three or twentyfour, but there was decimal points,
(23:23):
you know, like twenty three one, two, three four, So you
know that that means there was alot of love and thought put into it.
Well, congratulations on it going numberone. My final question for you
is, what did Clarence ever doto you? Guys? You don't want
to know. That's between us andClarence. That was so epic. Matt,
(23:49):
congratulations on if Only I going numberone. Thank you so much for
your time with us on America's Dayan'sthirty. Thanks so much for the support.
We appreciate it. An America's Dancethirty counting down the biggest dance songs
in the country. America's Dance thirty
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