Enigmatic half-brother duo Everyone You Know are preparing for their debut headline tour across the UK, following the release of their much anticipated 2nd project Look After Your Pennies. We spoke to the pair about their recent work with Reebok, and why stag dos are always welcome at their shows…
Has being related helped shape the group?
It has definitely played a part. Growing up as part of a family that loved their music has been a real touch for us to be honest. I don’t think a lot of people’s parents are bang into their music like ours were. So that definitely helped in shaping our sound. And also growing up we were always really close and have always been like best mates. And all our pals and families have always been around us and have been apart of this journey too. So that’s played a massive part in shaping Everyone You Know too.
How did Everyone You Know develop from two siblings messing about with decks at home to becoming an established group?
It was a very long process to be honest. I think because people see that we only released our track last August and now we are in this position, that everything just kicked off for us straight away. But we were making music and grafting away, trying to create our sound for years and years before we got signed to RCA and released ‘Our Generation’. So I guess the answer to the question is hard work. We knew that we both loved music and that’s what we both would love to do with our lives, so we put our heads down and grafted.
What artists/bands inspire you the most?
It would be hard to only name a few to be honest. We are influenced by and love so many different types of music, but our first real love of music was definitely the 90s East Coast hip-hop scene. So we have to mention Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Biggie (the list goes on and on). But we also love artists like Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy, The Streets, Shy FX, Kano, Amy Winehouse, Sam Cooke. Literally we could be here all day reeling names off.
Fashion is also a great passion of yours, having already worked with Reebok and Adidas. What other brands would you love to integrate with your music?
Yeah, fashion is a big part of who we are. We’ve just signed a Brand Ambassador with Reebok which is wicked. It’s a brand we grew up wearing and that we absolutely love, so to now be associated with the brand is a dream come true in many ways. There are plenty of other brands we would love to work with in the future, but at the moment we are enjoying being part of the Reebok team.
Your music focuses on the honest reality of your surroundings such as employment and escapism. If you didn’t live in London, do you think your music would be any different?
We actually don’t live in London, we both live on the outskirts. So I think our music would be different if we DID live in London. In both the towns where we live, there isn’t much going on, you’ve really gotta make stuff happen. I think it’s cool not living in town, because you can go in and get involved in everything that’s going on in there but then come back out where there is sweet FA happening. Its a good balance to have.
This is your first headlining tour, what are you the most nervous and excited about?
We both absolutely love playing out live, so I think we are lot more excited than we are nervous. We’re excited to see how people react to our music up and down the country. We’re also looking forward to going back to playing some of the towns and cities we played at the back end of last year, and playing in new places that we haven’t gigged before. And of course seeing how people have responded to the new EP.
What city are you most looking forward to exploring?
That’s a good question. A lot of the places we have been a few times before and are quite familiar with like Dublin, Manchester, Southampton etc. But neither of us have ever played in or been to Glasgow, so we are both really looking forward to that. But saying that I think every town and every show is gonna be as hectic and enjoyable as the next. So we’re buzzing for the whole lot!
What’s the most memorable thing that’s happened during a show so far?
We played a wicked little show in Stoke in a 40 cap venue at the back end of last year. A group of lads that were on a stag do came in, absolutely battered. And in the middle of performing one of our tracks, one of them tried starting on me. Was a great show though!
What can fans expect from your show?
They can expect a lot of energy and heavier moments with tunes like ‘Sinners’, ‘Money’, ‘Anarchy’ etc. But we also have the softer more singalong moments in the show too with ‘Our Generation’, ‘Wasted Love’ and ‘She Don’t Dance’. So I guess they can expect to feel a lot of different emotions in a short space of time! One minute they might be mosh pitting and having a ruck, the next they might be crying on their mates shoulder.
Which songs from your new EP Look After Your Pennies are you most excited to play live?
To be honest we love playing them all. We haven’t played ‘Wasted Love’ out live yet so we are looking forward to seeing what reaction that gets. But each tune gets a different response and draws different emotions from people, so it would be to hard to say which one we are most excited to play!
Tags: everyone you know / interview