Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay on the 2022 Billboard Music Awards. Picture Press Company/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
After making music collectively for a decade, Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney had been almost prepared to provide all of it up — till they turned a nook of their friendship.
“After we stopped attempting to pressure issues, Dan and I obtained collectively and actually [decided to rekindle] this friendship,” Mooney, 31, advised Zane Lowe throughout a Friday, August 4, interview with Smyers, 35, on Apple Music 1. “And we determined, ‘Let’s get collectively two, thrice every week and simply hang around.’ And that actually began the start of this album course of, with out us actually which means to. We began getting collectively at Dan’s home or certainly one of our buddies’ homes, and sitting down with an acoustic guitar and began writing songs.”
Dan + Shay are set to launch their newest (and self-proclaimed “finest”) album, Larger Homes, subsequent month. The report options loads of songs that precisely depict their friendship journey.
“You possibly can really feel the closeness of our relationship, I believe, by way of each little fiber of what that track grew to become, and I believe that is the primary time a whole report has really felt like that is who we’re as individuals and that is the place we’re at in our lives, however that is additionally the place we need to go,” Mooney added on Friday. “I really feel like we believed each phrase that we had been singing. We’ve both been by way of it or going by way of it proper now, and I simply suppose that that got here out by way of the recording course of and the writing course of. It simply felt sort of meant to be.”
The Grammy-winning group beforehand revealed in a YouTube video in July that they almost disbanded after not talking for 4 months. “I used to be within the lowest low of my whole life,” Smyers recalled on the time. “Got here off the street and I used to be like, ‘Man, I f—king hate music. I’m able to give up.’”
Smyers and Mooney additional mirrored on their mindset, explaining on Friday that writing their new track “At all times Gonna Be” modified every part.
“After 10 years of being a band, issues sort of occurred,” Smyers mentioned. “After our area tour, the best excessive of our whole lives, I really feel like we had been within the lowest private place and our relationship wasn’t as robust because it had been, and it was simply because being in a duo is hard. It’s like a wedding. Should you don’t exit of your method to foster that relationship, foster the expansion, life can get in the best way and you may develop aside.”
Whereas he famous that the pair weren’t “enemies,” they weren’t spending “sufficient” high quality time as pals after touring commitments ended. “We sat down one evening, we weren’t positive, actually, full transparency, if we had been going to be a band anymore,” Smyers recalled. “We aired every part out.”
Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay carry out outdoors Rockefeller Heart in New York on December 2, 2020. ASON SZENES/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
He added: “We had been identical to, ‘Look man, our music has meant loads to lots of people. It doesn’t matter what occurs… if we resolve that is going to be our final tour, or if that is going to be the start of a brand new chapter and we’re going to only maintain elevating the bar, maintain doing the factor, we obtained to get ourselves proper. We owe that to ourselves. We owe that to our followers.’”
Mooney chimed in, noting that the duo needed to prioritize open strains of communication and be taught to “actually admire” the band’s successes.
“Communication is the largest factor. That’s one thing that… proper now, we’re in lockstep [about],” Smyers replied. “And that’s one thing that we realized, it might probably go away. Should you’re not specializing in it, in case you’re not going out of your method to talk, be open with one another, every part’s out, put it on the desk, issues can [end and] we will go our separate methods.”
He continued: “Communication is essential [for us] to maintain this factor going and make it infinitely sustainable to permit us to make one of the best data we probably can and do our followers proper. Simply speaking, being open with one another, speaking, hanging out, being one of the best pals that we’re, and remembering that. Not taking it without any consideration, not taking one another without any consideration. As a result of man, this really is a dream to get to sit down with my finest buddy on the earth, make music, journey round and see locations we’ve by no means been earlier than. It’s really unbelievable.”
