BETWEEN FRIENDS — Brandon and Savannah Hudson — are music’s coolest sibling duo. Along with releasing tape 001 at the beginning of the year, they have now treated fans to their second mixtape, tape 002. Like the first, the follow-up also consists of five tracks and will leave you wanting more. And fortunately for everyone, there will be! With a third tape and a full project on its way this summer, BETWEEN FRIENDS sat down with EUPHORIA. to discuss the new material, what listeners can expect next, and more about their creative process.
For those who are about to check out your first two tapes, how would you describe each of them?
Eclectic and colorful. Each tape adds something to the full project whether that be a new mood or a new sound from us. We just wanted to try and bring about new ideas. It’s all so different but comes together in a way that makes it very cohesive and very us.
So far, the songs on the first two tapes have been really short in length. Is this deliberate or just how they’ve turned out?
Like every one our age, we are very A.D.D. We created at such a rapid pace, this is just how it turned out.
Do you each have a favorite song on the second tape you just put out?
Each song has its own sonic world that fits its story. It’s so hard to choose because they’re all good memories. At the moment though, listening back, “princess” feels really good at night. “stay inside remix” and the others are for the isolated party.
Your new single, “tired of your love,” took inspiration from Timbaland, NERD, and Nelly Furtado. Growing up as siblings, were you always a fan of the same music, or are you constantly introducing one another to the material you like?
We are pretty much always on the same page musically, we do like to bring new songs and genres to the table as well. We’re showing each other new music and new sounds daily; it keeps the creative process fresh every time we are in the zone. It’s like, “Yeah this is cool, but what if we tried it like this?”
The fun music video was inspired by the simplicity of the original Apple iPod ads and a dance sequence from Flashdance. When creating songs, are you coming up with the visuals, or does that all come after?
We had movies on throughout the process of the whole project — there’s something comforting about having something we have seen and that we liked on behind us when we are making music. It makes us feel comfortable and ideas come quicker ’cause we aren’t pressing each other for them. Background noise is a big inspiration to us and you can hear it in our music; that kinda brings us back to Earth and allows us to feel our room in our creations. The visuals are like messages hidden within the background of the music — we hear it and see it together.
A third tape is on its way — how will it differ from the first two?
tape 003 is another piece of the whole thing. More ideas, more landscapes.
Were all three tapes made during the same time period or were some songs created from various sessions throughout the years?
We made everything at once over the past year. We wanted to piece together demos we had in hard drives and songs we were making at the time. It honestly happened very naturally without planning. Some nights we’d be in the studio till 4 a.m. just moving on new ideas after working all day on music from the day before.
A “full project” is being teased for the summer. Is this going to be a whole new body of work?
The full mixtape will be tape 001-003 plus a bunch of new songs. It all works together.
With your aesthetic and sound having such a throwback vibe, are there plans to release your music on vinyl and cassette?
Definitely, we have all that in the works as we speak.
Your debut EP was released in 2018. Fans had to wait over two years for another project. Why the wait?
We needed some time to really dissect ourselves and to understand what we wanted next from BETWEEN FRIENDS sonically. We’ve always been afraid of boxes, so our goal was to freely create and start pushing ourselves out of a comfort zone.
How has the ongoing coronavirus helped or changed your creative process?
Being locked in was a huge push to create and move forward. there was this almost static feel to the air. No nightlife, no friends, no happenings. We wanted to fill that emptiness with music that made us feel whole and content. We were bottling feelings and memories within our songs and connecting to experiences we had as well as creating hypotheticals and situations we were longing for.
Are you the type of act that is constantly writing and making music, or do you take time out of the studio to get re-inspired?
We are pretty much always making stuff. Whether that be clothes or videos or music. When people ask us what we do outside of BETWEEN FRIENDS, it’s a bit difficult to answer because this is our favorite thing to do.
One of your earlier releases, “affection,” has gone down extremely well on streaming platforms and has racked up more than 56 million plays. What is it about that song that you think has really resonated with listeners?
It has been very surreal seeing how people connected to the song. We were both in very complex and strange relationships at the time of making “affection” and realizing that those feelings were mutual with a lot of listeners felt like a blanket.
How important are streaming numbers for you at this point in your career?
I think it’s less about the numbers for us and more about the concept of connecting. We are such music heads and the feeling of connecting to sounds has impacted us on crazy levels. We just hope listeners feel that way when they are tuning in.
Have you set yourself any goals for 2021?
Create, release, grow, expand.
