Fresh off Coachella, Two Friends made time during their tour to chat with us about Planet Two Friends, their influences, and what’s to come.
The story couldn’t have written itself better. Childhood friends Eli Sones and Matthew Halper grew their bond over a shared love of music, making escapes to the desert for Coachella, and experiencing some of the best of the best acts. In high school, they would turn that love into Two Friends, and then just a month ago, they would find themselves performing at the Sahara tent where it all began. Their set was also streamed worldwide. It was a dream come true, a full-circle moment.
The duo grew in popularity with their Big Bootie mix series and remixes for the likes of Lana Del Rey, The Killers, Tove Lo, and The Chainsmokers. Their ability to take today’s top hits, older classics, and original productions, and mash them together at breakneck velocity with seamless transitions, made Two Friends certified party starters. Their own tracks combine the best of dance-pop and other genres to create an uplifting, danceable vibe.
Two Friends is now currently on their Planet Two Friends Tour, which brings their high-energy mixes to life. Be transported away on their UFO to a land where nothing but fun lives. Those in Chicago can travel to Big Bootie Land, which will be nothing but mayhem in the best way. Among everything going on, the duo took time out of their touring schedule to chat with us about their massive Coachella performance, the origin of Big Bootie, and their packed 2023.
Press play on Two Friends’ latest single “More Than Yesterday” featuring Russell Dickerson, check them out on a tour stop near you, and keep on reading for our full interview.
Stream Two Friends – “More Than Yesterday” on Spotify:
Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. Congrats on two huge performances at Coachella. I’ve read that you were just two friends that met in school, that happened to find themselves in the Sahara Tent, loved music, and wanted to give it a go. Such a full circle moment. How did it feel coming off the stage? And how did you prepare for those sets?
Matt: I mean, it was a big one for us. We grew up in LA, and in middle school/high school, we would caravan to Coachella, basically, every single year. And then in college we went too. So being able to go from going so many times, to playing – obviously wild.
Prepping for it, we were always going to take it super seriously, but it was honestly kind of the debut of our tour, which we just started last weekend. So it took a lot. We found out [we were playing] in October and a lot of time has been prepping that and this tour. When it all went to plan – big, big, deep breath after. So we’re stoked.
I can only imagine, and pulling off surprise guests, which is such a huge part of Coachella, and of course the saxophone was such a fun element. You guys also surprised an entire bus with VIP tickets. Who came up with idea? Did you randomly just pick a bus?
Eli: It was actually a collab with Coachella. I don’t know if they do that every year, but they hit us up and they’re like, “We have this idea to surprise a bus and upgrade everyone.” We’re like, “Yeah, of course we’re down.” So it was pretty funny. There was no reason it was that bus, that just happened to be the bus that pulled up when we were there.
M: And not all the buses were full. This one was completely full every single seat, so lucky!
The video was super funny because you had the whole gamut of people on the bus. You’d been going to Coachella since middle school, skipping school to go to the festival. What was one of your favorite memories as attendees over the years?
M: Well, we definitely went together a lot so we might have overlapping favorites. I mean, dance music for sure, my first experience was totally Coachella, Sahara; seeing Kaskade, DJ AM and Travis Barker, seeing Madeon when he was our age, like 16, it was absolutely wild. It was really, really cool stuff. Then obviously, there’s just so many classic bands and artists that inspire you.
Who were some of your early influences, then?
E: I think it really runs the whole spectrum, some of them are obviously more dance/DJ-based, and then some of the ones Matt named. At the Sahara stage we saw Swedish House Mafia one year. We saw Avicii somewhere – I don’t think it was Coachella – but a lot of those guys on the DJ side.
Then also just growing up with different tastes and music, Matt was definitely a little more of rock and some alternative stuff. I was a little more hip hop, and indie. So we tried to bring a little of that flavor to songs we’re working on. We like to say that, definitely most of our songs have a foot in dance and kind of work in that environment, but they’re not necessarily straight up club tracks. They kind of have those influences of pop and rock and alternative and hip hop even, blended all together.
Speaking of which, a lot of your originals are more dance pop leaning, but most recently, you have singles that have country influences and rock. So what draws you to the dance pop sound given those varied influences you have?
M: We are producers, we are DJs, but at the same time, we listen to a lot of stuff. Our last song just came out last week, “More Than Yesterday” with Russell Dickerson, and I really like listening to country. So it’s cool to write with that goal, but then obviously, we’re not just writing a straight up Jason Aldean song. We’re in the dance world. I think that’s the most fun, basically combining two genres and seeing where it goes.
Are there any genres that you would want to dabble your toes in that are completely different from what you do?
E: The last single definitely has some country flavor. We’ve had “Timebomb” and “Chloe” last year that had some rock alternative vibes…
M: …pop punk. Maybe we need to do some hip hop thing, like a hip hop dance track, that’d be sick. We haven’t really done that., but we’ve had plenty of ideas. It’s going to happen!
You guys started your Big Bootie mix series while you were in college, and I think that’s when I found you as well. I just remember hearing it and being hit by how much fun it was, how fast the transitions are and how you guys mash up things that don’t seem like they’d go together, but are just super fun. What was the catalyst for starting the mix series?
E: I mean, you kind of named some of it already in what you just said. I think at the time, mashups – where it was kind of like an individual mashup, just a three minute song, one vocal, one beat mashed together – there were a lot of them. As we were kind of starting to move into the DJ world, I think we were looking for a new format, where instead of just doing one, we could put together a full hour where it could be, like you said, fast transitions and mixing things from all genres and all decades.
The first one kind of just started just for fun like, “let’s see what happens if we put together this full hour.” Luckily, we called it volume one, and we had that hope that it would be a series that we could continue. Then from there, people liked it, let’s keep it going, and it’s lasted the past 11 years.
That’s crazy to think that it’s been 11 years! When you’re creating the mixes, how is the collaborative process, are you sending the file back and forth? Are you just throwing ideas in, and just different songs you want to include?
M: We can’t release it every month because we wait for new music to come out, even though we’re obviously hitting old decades. But sometimes Eli will play with a lot of random ideas, bounce little quick snippets, and send them over. I’m like, “Okay, these, these, this, try this, try that.” And then do it again, do it five more times, and then start figuring out which ones go together when you have multiple vocals on one instrumental. It’s a lot of work, honestly.
E: Now we’ve definitely got a good rhythm and process. It’s still a lot of work, but we kind of know the steps and what needs to happen.
Obviously, on top of the mixes, you’re releasing your own tracks, which you’ve been doing since the start of this project. How do you guys split the balance between prioritizing either the mixes, which are really known for, or making a name for yourself with your originals?
E: I would say, it’s been this way since the start, where we’re always constantly juggling a lot of things, whether it’s original music, the Big Bootie mixes, remixes, touring, our radio shows that we’ve had. I think definitely having two of us is a huge help, doing it alone seems scary. First of all, we’ve known each other even longer than we’ve been working together, it’s almost second nature now where certain things we know we can do together. It’s important that we have this conversation together and start the ideas together, but then certain things we say, “All right, let’s split up. We’re still six feet apart in the studio, but like, you work on this for a few hours, I’ll work on this. Alright, let’s now show each other.” A lot of that has just become such a part of the process that we have a good system for it.
Yeah, that’s awesome. The relationship you have with your work partners is so important, and you’re often talking to them more than anyone else. Since you were friends already, that helps in that relationship so much.
You’re embarking on your Planet Two Friends tour, which is full of the space motifs and the UFO, what can your fans expect during the sets? Are you playing something new every night? Are you mixing new things depending on the city?
M: We kind of premiered part of it at Coachella. We have this whole stage production, this UFO, all this planning designed to make this cool, all encompassing world. So definitely, we lean into that on some of the production. Then musically, we’ve been working on this set for a while, and we’re trying to keep the best moments, the best production…
E: It’s kind of a mix of the original music, the highlights from past Big Bootie mixes, definitely some unreleased stuff and some new stuff that will be in Big Bootie 23 that no one’s heard yet, and some of our remixes. So like Matt said, all of our favorites.
That’s so exciting! It’s so nostalgic to see your sets, and then really exciting to hear that unreleased stuff as well. Now that things are back in full swing and you’re on the road again, what was something surprising that you didn’t realize you missed about being on tour?
E: Summer-ish/Fall of 2021 is kind of when things started picking back up, and to me, the crazy part was just how quickly it felt like, we could just get back in the rhythm. Obviously, there was that period where some people were a little hesitant to go out, but for the most part, once it was ok to start doing some shows, there was so much pent up energy from the past year and a half. Those first few shows that we did were like, “Wow, we’re back.”
M: In COVID, we did use our time really well. We were in the studio, basically every day. So when you are on the road, you kind of have two jobs – making music, and touring – which definitely has its benefits. You can kind of get to the studio with fresh ears and get to the show after being in the studio all week like, “I’m ready.”
You have Big Bootie Land as well, and the second edition is happening in June. Obviously, planning a tour versus a festival is very different, but what has been your biggest learning putting on your own festival?
E: Right now it’s a challenge just because they’re kind of happening simultaneously, like, Big Bootie Land is basically a stop on the tour, but it’s basically its own entity. Versus the first one was kind of more of a one-off weekend, when not a lot else was happening, so a little bit easier to focus on. But that first one, I think we learned a lot of things that went so well and we could never have even hoped for, and then obviously certain hurdles that now I think this time around, we’ve learned how to handle, and the team around us has been crushing it.
The goal is every edition of it, to grow it a little bit whether the production goes a little bigger, the audience size goes a little bigger, the activations and experiences go a little bigger. It’s not like we need to go crazy and triple it every year, but the goal is, in a few years, five years, 10 years, it can be a destination.
Artists curated festivals are really awesome, and it’s cool to see more people doing them. Why did you choose Chicago?
M: It’s always been a great city for us. We were there a couple times last year and all the shows were epic. We did Aragon, we did after parties, we did festivals, so it was a natural choice. We want to hit some of the bigger markets and blow it out. It’s going to be an awesome day.
Yeah, that’s super exciting! I have two more quick questions. What’s in store for the rest of 2023? Is a debut album on the way… more singles?
M: We just released our newest single and that’s cruising, we’re like super stoked. Big Bootie Mix: Vol 23’s coming right after Big Bootie Land. We have another single coming out after that. We have so much music, we’re on the road constantly, so besides a lot of music, a lot more shows leveling up. Then at some point I’m gonna take a nap.
Last question, what is one thing each of you is obsessed with right now?
M: Oh, that’s a good question. Definitely since COVID I’ve gotten into golf. It totally takes me away from everything else, and it’s so hard. It’s just the challenge.
E: Right now, I’m obsessed with the Lakers. It’s fun to have that going on while we’re on the road.
Well, thanks so much! I really appreciate your time. Good luck on the rest of the tour, and I hope you get that nap in!
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