Exron Exclusive: Two Friends

This past weekend, musical duo Two Friends made a two-night stop at Irving Plaza in the heart of New York City, where they played back to back sold out shows. This marked a highly successful beginning to their “With My Homies” Tour where they will be hitting all the major stops in the U.S., and even venturing across seas to Barcelona to close the tour out. The New York shows were brimming with excitement and attendees were filled with hype as the crowd grew to see the duo perform. We had a chance to sit down with the guys to talk about music, life and the future of Two Friends. Check out our Exron Exclusive interview below:

Exron Music: What is the story behind the start of the project ‘Two Friends’?

Two Friends: We were in senior year of high school, playing sports and super busy and then we were getting ready to go to college and realized we weren’t really going to be playing sports anymore, so what was our next move? We’ve always kind of dabbled in music so we were like ‘maybe we should just become DJ’s!’ We didn’t really know what that meant at that point but we bought a program the last month or two of high school and started learning. We split up for college but kept at it the whole time. When we graduated we moved back to LA and really got the project started. 

Exron Music: How was working with JUSCOVA and James Delaney on the “With My Homies” Track?

Eli: It was epic! So James actually went to the same University as me and we were both involved in the music scene there so I reached out to friend and said, ‘I need the number one best singer on this campus right now’ and he said ‘James is your guy!’ We did “Emily” with him a few years back and worked with him again on “With My Homies”. JUSCOVA actually hit us up cold with some of their work and we immediately liked their style. We mentioned that we had a song in the works and offered them the opportunity to collaborate on it with us and they were super interested. 

Matt: They helped a bit with the track too and were super constructive. We have a bunch of other stuff that we are working on with them that will be coming out soon. 

Eli: JUSCOVA actually came to our first show in New York for this tour and we performed the track live for the first time. It went so well and was definitely one of the highlights of the show. 

Exron Music: You have been known for your remixes for awhile now; is there something specific that you pursue when looking for a new track to remix?

Matt: We usually just look for tracks that we like. Sometimes it’s a song that we think people would love to hear live with a different twist, or sometimes it’s a banger and we think ‘we have to remix this one’. Sometimes classic stuff, sometimes newer stuff.

Eli: With remixing and songwriting we try to not stick to a formula, it’s good to learn tricks and strategies but our philosophy has been, if something sounds good and it’s giving you good vibes, just go with it. 

Exron Music: Who are some of your biggest inspirations in music?

Matt: Growing up we listened to a lot of rap and classic rock. Now it’s all over the place.

Eli: We would go to a lot of music festivals growing up and subconsciously we’ve picked up on aspects from all of sorts of artists and have created our own sound from that.

Matt: It changes all the time because there are so many good artists out there putting out amazing music. 

Exron Music: We’ve heard you’re releasing a new track this coming Friday, “Take It Off”. What was the inspiration for this single?

Eli: We wrote the song with a girl named Anna who came to the studio and the three of us put our heads together. With a female vocalist it can be hard because we were writing from the opposite gender’s perspective, but we think this song can relate to anyone that’s been in a relationship with someone closed off.  

Exron Music: What are your goals with the “With My Homies” Tour and are you excited about selling out two nights in New York?

Matt: We did not expect it at all! We are so happy. Our goals with the tour were just to amp up the production and visuals, curate the lineups and supporting artists, bringing the sax and the trumpet, and make it more of a live production than just a DJ show. 

Eli: Also just getting the year started and having a good time. We took 6 weeks off to make music and rest and now we are getting back into the groove with the tour. 

Exron Music: Do you have any advice to give to aspiring producers or DJ’s?

Matt: Yeah, work a lot!

Eli: We’ve simplified it to two points: 1. Put in the hours. 2. Have fun. The two must be equal and balanced. Having the both of us makes it so much fun and a lot of times it feels like we are just hanging out. 

Exron Music: Are there any future plans for Two Friends that you can share with us?

Matt: We have a bunch of singles coming out, even after “Take It Off” we have a new remix in February, we have a remix pack of some of our originals, a new ‘Big Bootie Mix’ in early April, more touring, more collabs, and more everything. 

Eli: We are just sticking to what we know and trying to go bigger and harder!

Exron Music: Thanks for sitting down and talking with us, and best of luck on the rest of your tour!