Meet BETWEEN FRIENDS: Bringing Mixtapes Back with Music
Photo by Lauren Leekly
BETWEEN FRIENDS is the creative union between siblings Savannah and Brandon Hudson who have been making music since a young age.
After auditioning for America’s Got Talent in 2013 and then leading the band The Heirs, the creative collective BETWEEN FRIENDS bloomed to life in 2018.
“... No boxes, no bridges, no walls.” The duo said in a tweet announcing their debut, “We hope to keep this between friends.”
Having amassed over 1.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify with their EP “we just need some time together,” and hit single “affection,” today, they’re sharing “tape 001” — a 5-track mixtape that’s the first in a series of three, leading to a full project this summer.
It features their single “shiny,” (out Feb. 12) which highlights Savannah’s bold yet sultry vocals that effortlessly glide with Brandon's left-twist on pop production.
For the “shiny” music video, BETWEEN FRIENDS wanted to tap into LA scenes which are constantly overlooked.
Skate parks underneath highway bridges in downtown LA. Brake lights from cars on the freeway. Their favorite video FX shop on the east side and moments in their car — all of which they saw throughout the majority of their year driving around an empty city.
On their new project, “tape 001,” the duo says their source of inspiration was lost formats.
“When we conceptualized our mixtape, our number one source of visual inspiration was found in old storage boxes in our garage. Old VHS cameras, tapes, cassettes, CDs, old boom-boxes, etc.”
Unpublished caught up with the duo to talk about “tape 001,” how they want to bring back mixtapes and what they’ve learned so far in their journey as BETWEEN FRIENDS.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You’ve both been making music since you were young, how would you describe your journey with music?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: Music wasn’t really something we stumbled upon. It was this, kind of, odd obsession we had that neither of us could get rid of. As we grew more and more so did our desire to really do this and we have been growing our ideas and creating as much as possible ever since.
[UNPUBLISHED]: BETWEEN FRIENDS hasn’t released music since 2019! Was there a reason you waited to release music until now? Did this small hiatus help create your mixtape series?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: After we released “we just need some time together,” We took some time to really evaluate what we really wanted BETWEEN FRIENDS to sound like and to be. Observing the normal patterns of what new artists usually do, we decided we wanted to do something that actually excited us, so we bunkered into the studio and created as much music as possible. Our biggest goal was to stop thinking so much and to just do.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Were there any artists that inspired you in the creation of “shiny”?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: Our biggest source of inspiration for ‘shiny’ came from stories and people. Something about hopping into someone else’s brain felt super stimulating to us. We wanted to write from the perspective of someone who is trying to channel energy or get a rouse out of you. When we created the beat for ‘shiny’ we knew we wanted it to feel gutsy.
[UNPUBLISHED]: In the music video for “shiny,” and in many of your songs, this theme of youth prevalent — something your fans enjoy about your music — is this always on your mind when creating music?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: Absolutely. Everything we make we do it on our own or with friends and the goal is to always make something that feels like it was made by us. Even if we had giant budgets to create, we always want to be making things that feel authentically BF. Now is such an incredible time for young creatives, considering you can make something on your own now and get eyes on it rather than having to go through so many middlemen. The “do it yourself” attitude is extremely exciting to us.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Visually, your mixtape was inspired by nostalgia — from old VHS cameras, cassettes to CDs. Did this nostalgic feeling also translate into the series musically?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: In a visual sense with the aesthetic of the project, it definitely did. When we created the music we constantly had old movies on in the studio without the sound on. We’d be continuously flicking through films while finalizing records and that sort of visual ADD really transformed the project into something that essentially matched that transitional energy.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your favorite song on “tape 001”?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: OoooOoooo, that’s very tough because we feel so much for them all. I’d say at the moment, probably “stay with it bby.”
[UNPUBLISHED]: You’ve said this project focuses on the things society often overlooks as a result of the fast-moving 21st century. What do you hope listeners take away from it?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: We hope that our listeners take a trip with us. It’s so easy to half-listen to music these days considering how quickly we hear blips on Tik Tok. The goal for us was to bring back that mixtape mentality, listening to a whole project and getting lost within it for an hour or so.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is the dynamic when you both are creating music?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: It is very fluid and very fast-moving. when we are excited about something we can’t contain ourselves and try our best to complete it so we can listen to it later.
[UNPUBLISHED]: In a tweet introducing BETWEEN FRIENDS, you said, “sometimes a little growth goes a long way.” How have you both grown since then?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: Wow, since then it has been continuous growth, learning more everyday and experiencing as much as possible. The beautiful thing about music is that it constantly moves and changes and we have been following the lead.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Is there anything you want your listeners to know?
[BETWEEN FRIENDS]: tape 001 is the beginning of something much bigger. We can’t wait for you all to hear. Thank you so much for keeping up with us. Much, much luuuuuv.