“Obviously, everyone has been experiencing a lot emotionally throughout this past year,” the sibling duo BETWEEN FRIENDS tells HollywoodLife. An understatement, for sure, but an accurate assessment. After a year of canceled concerts, delayed album releases, and delayed festivals, it’s been a rough go. As soon as 2020 was in the rearview, BETWEEN FRIENDS – sibling duo Savannah and Brandon Hudson – hit the ground running, dropping the tape 001 mixtape, the first of in a trilogy that sees its second installment today (March. 26.)
On tape 002, BETWEEN FRIENDS deliver five-tracks of revitalizing electrified pop. Though there’s a current of wariness running through tape 002 – an unavoidable byproduct of enduring a year of monotony – their production on the mixtape seems light, airy, and optimistic. Even the mixtape’s lead single, “tired of your love,” depicts a struggle to maintain a relationship (“don’t you wanna talk about it? / I can make you stay”), it’s paired with a vibrant beat that gets your head nodding.
“We wanted to travel sonically through everything we are interested in and everything that’s kept us sane,” the band shares with HollywoodLife. The duo also gives some insight on tracks on their album (‘’princess’ was a demo living in our hard drives that we almost forgot about”), how digging through their parents’ stuff led to the tape series, and what fans can expect on the third and final installment.
HollywoodLife: You’re releasing tape 002 on March 26, a month after sharing tape 001. This is the second in a three-part series. Is there a narrative to this trilogy and if so, what does tape 002 represent in the story?
Between Friends: tape 002 is definitely an ode to nightlife in a way. a longing for that after a year of watching mixes on our laptop and dancing in our bedrooms. Instead of expressing a story-like-narrative with the full tape, it’s for sure more of a tour through our brains very centered in our home studio. Obviously, everyone has been experiencing a lot emotionally throughout this past year, we wanted to travel sonically through everything we are interested in and everything that’s kept us sane.
You’ve said you were inspired by “lost formats and things that we consistently overlook in our fast-moving 21st century” for this project. What do you find alluring about cassette tapes instead of other physical media?
I think this minor obsession happened while digging through our parents’ old boxes. The writings on the tapes, the stories behind getting them or giving them. It’s a physical piece of emotion. Time spent scanning the radio trying to record a single song that moved you, everyday carrying this small object around that contains a substance that can make you feel something. Our goal was to translate that same feeling and to piece together something that fit that landscape in a digital age.
The song “stay inside remix” has a timely title, considering we’ve spent the last year inside. It seems unrelated to the past year, though. What sparked this song’s creation?
We thought it would be quite ironic to make a 2-step dance track with the title ‘stay inside’ because we’ve been doing the same thing all year. At the time of making the song, we were reading up on the beginnings of garage and 2-step in the UK and the quick spread of the genres to the US. Something about the way people reacted to this music really resonated with us and we wanted to try and get that same feeling out.
“princess” is a bit of a standout track, both with its production and the vocal performance. How did this song come to be?
“princess” was a demo living in our hard drives that we almost forgot about. We were digging through folders one night and came across it and knew we had to finish it. It has this euphoric almost floaty feeling within it and sounds unlike anything else on the project. Most times when something is appalling to us we know it’s right to put into our mix.
Do you remember a favorite song that you discovered from a mixtape (or a playlist someone made for you?)
We found a tape in our garage that belonged to our mom and dad back in the 90’s. It was all dance music, Daft Punk, Stardust, Corona, Sweet Female Attitude. they must have bounced it out for a party or something. We obviously hung on to it and made a playlist on Spotify with its contents. Maybe we will put it out.
What can we expect on tape 003?
Each tape has its own vibe and feel, it has its own thing and we hope everyone enjoys.
—
tape 002 is out now.