Sweet boy are your best friends
Two best friends who make music can only make the whole experience more engaging and exciting. Their music is a mix of sensations that will warm your heart and free your mind. Their story, we are sure about that, will be a great inspiration.
How did you become “Sweet boy”?
Sweet Boy began as musical way to share inside jokes in early 2018. Our initial intention was to make each other laugh and had very little to do with artistic expression— it had much more to do with our friendship. At our core, we’re best friends making tunes. As it turns out, dedicated goofing around can provide a pretty good foundation for effective collaboration. So we were ready when we decided we wanted to get serious about developing a sound in pop music that incorporates our experiences and inspirations. Both individually and as a duo, we take influence from a wide array of genres and decades of music — pop, indie, alt, hip-hop, rock, R&B— all of which feed the beast that has become Sweet Boy. We want our music to reflect our favorite qualities of all these genres while simultaneously being something new and fun to listen to. The name “Sweet Boy” is multi-faceted for us. First, it very much reflects our demeanor on stage. We strive to present our music in a way that feels genuine and personal for our audiences. As audience members ourselves, quite often we find a degree of separation between the performer and the crowd. It’s our goal to make the listener feel comfortable, connected and familiar to us. Sweet Boy invites the audience to be a part of the music, a part of the band, and a part of our friendship. On another level, the name “Sweet Boy” lends itself to a notable theme in our music. Many of our songs are written from a perspective of sincerity and genuine emotion. We believe the best music is honest and open — qualities that Sweet Boy encompasses.
What is the inspiration behind your debut single “Cycling”?
In many ways, “Cycling” was the track that changed our approach to making music from a casual hobby to a genuine pursuit. While messing around with a bike chain sample we recorded, we became interested in the idea of starting a song with a sound that immediately placed the listener in a setting. From there, we wanted to integrate the sound into the track seamlessly as if it were an instrument itself, which is why we used it in place of a hi-hat in the verse. The sample begins quickly as the wheel spins then gradually slows, creating an almost breathing effect with the tempo of the clicks. After looping the sample for a bit, the chords and first few lines came easily. Musically and lyrically, the song craved genuine simplicity and for lack of a better word, sweetness. The song begins, “hard time trying to keep up // meet you in my bedroom, sitting with your knees up, talk about real love.” From there we knew the song was about the beautifully pure feeling a young love can provide from the perspective of a sweet, genuine guy. Ultimately we felt this was a good song to introduce Sweet Boy as a concept, sound, and band.
What’s the most important step of your creative process?
There isn’t one moment or step that really defines a Sweet Boy song. The project is entirely about our chemistry as a duo and our ability to collaborate throughout every step of the process. We would easily say that the most important factor or aspect of Sweet Boy would be our relationship as friends and bandmates. Again, when you strip everything else away, Sweet Boy is about two best friends inviting you to join our friendship. We’re so thankful for every show we get; it’s a chance to share our music and make new friends with the audience.
When did you fall in love with music?
Beau – I fell in love with music at such a young age I can’t remember the exact experience I had unfortunately. It’s been such a central part of my life since I started playing and performing when I was a kid, and it continues to run my life on a daily basis. I always find myself listening, whether it be to music, movies, or even just the sounds of everyday life. I think a lot of my passion and enjoyment of music comes from my appreciation of sound in a broader sense and the way it can be used to tell a story. Reath – Similar to Beau, I’ve been passionate about music all my life. When I was a little boy of five or six, I would bang on my family’s piano and sing the lyrics to the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it That Way.” Of course I didn’t know how to play the piano or even what the actual lyrics were, but I felt the need to connect with pop music so desperately. I wrote my first song before I could spell; it’s riddled with spelling errors and non-sensical imagery. When I was nine I began playing guitar and piano, writing love songs about relationships I had never experienced. Since then, my only goal in life has been to create and share music. It remains to this day my favorite way to connect with other people.
What’s your next project?
Our next project is an EP that we’ve been working towards for the past two years and that we’re really excited to start sharing pretty soon. It’s a project that we’re hoping to use as the foundation to establish the sound, brand, and image for Sweet Boy. The concept of the EP circles this idea of time travel that takes shape both sonically and stylistically through our music, videos, and overall brand. Personally, we are influenced by so many genres and styles of music – both in the electronic and acoustic families. We want this project to express a juxtaposition between these two types of sound—sweeping synth sounds and big electronic drums alongside classic guitar work and unexpected but identifiable noises from the world around us. By using time travel as our overall theme, we can draw upon influences from various decades and eras of music, incorporating past or future tropes within the project.
Random question: what piece of clothing do you spend your money on the most?
If it’s a question of what we spend our money on the most often, the answer has to be socks hands down. We’re constantly losing or breaking those little guys. If this is a question of what we spend the most money on, it’s either shoes or jackets. We love a good pair of kicks or a sweet shoulder hugger. 🙂