Eighty Ninety’s distinct indie-pop sound and lyricism are hard to ignore. Comprised of brothers Abner and Harper, Eighty Ninety has released their first single of the year, “10k Summer Nights.” The laid-back, story-like track comes in anticipation of the duo’s sophomore EP, slated for release sometime in the late summer.
Eighty Ninety rose to fame after their single “Three Thirty” became an immediate success. Their first EP, “Elizabeth”, followed soon after, and the duo has been hard at work with new music ever since.
I was recently given the opportunity to chat with Eighty Ninety and discover a little bit more about their music.
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First of all, congratulations on the management deal with Hard 8 Working Group! You’ve had quite the success in the past couple of years, including catching the attention of Taylor Swift. What does that feel like?
Thank you so much. We’re so for the opportunity to work with them – our manager, Jared Kaner, is the absolute best.
We’ve played music our whole lives. The fact that the first song we put out together as Eighty Ninety (“Three Thirty”) reached #2 on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart and then Taylor Swift picked our single “Your Favorite Song” for her Spotify playlist still doesn’t feel real. Taylor has been an inspiration for years and that was — still is — absolutely mind-boggling. We’re so thankful for the chance to reach people.
You guys are brothers, correct? Tell me about your dynamic… why did you want to work together?
That’s a cool question. Lots of people ask what it’s like in a band as siblings, but this might be the first time anyone’s asked why we made the choice. As brothers, we grew up with a lot of the same reference points and overlapping interests, musical and otherwise.
But we also had very distinct differences in taste. Harper was in punk bands and also studied jazz really seriously. Abner loved movie scores. We both loved Tom Petty. We became interested in producing and writing, but Harper went a bit deeper into producing and Abner into writing. The collaboration feels really natural because we’ve found that in the studio we have similarly overlapping but complimentary priorities — while Harper is building the low-end, Abner will be finding the perfect word for the second verse. If we’re both happy with everything, it’s usually good to go.
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Something I noticed about your music is that it has a very distinct, unique sound. Where do you draw your musical inspiration from?
Thanks. We take that as a big compliment. We named our sound “808s and telecasters” because we draw from a range of genres — indie, pop, alternative, dance, electronic, singer-songwriter — and feel like those two sounds encompass the range (and are pretty much on every song so far). We’re really inspired by classic songwriting but also by all the new and experimental sounds we hear on the radio. So we try to operate in a space somewhere in between that stays true to everything we love.
“10k Summer Nights”, which is a lovely song, by the way, is a part of your new EP. What can you tell us about it?
We wanted “10K Summer Nights” to be big in every way — musically, lyrically, and thematically. We know that title is a lot to live up to, haha. The song is about feeling forever in one moment. How loving another person changes the way you experience the world. The busted headlight in your car becomes a disco-ball to dance under. One night feels like forever, and at the same time, you know forever isn’t enough time to have with that person.
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How long has each of you been involved in creating music?
Since before we can remember (at least, so our parents tell us). We got serious when we were about ten, though.
What do you have planned for the future of Eighty Ninety?
We’re so excited about the team we have in place now and all the music we’ve been making that we’re going to release over the coming months — and how much fun it’s going to be to play it live. We recently went on our first tour — supporting Savoir Adore— and it just made us want to do more. We even saw our first Eighty Ninety tattoo in the audience! The future of Eighty Ninety is going to be about continuing to expand the world we’ve been creating with our songs.
You can find Eighty Ninety on Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and their Website. Listen to “10k Summer Nights” on Spotify, Soundcloud and Apple Music now.
Featured Image by Ashley Yu, courtesy of Tallulah PR & Management
