Matt Halper and Eli Sones are the two men behind L.A.-based electro-pop producer duo Two Friends, and they’ve been best friends since meeting in Los Angeles in 2005, in 7th grade.

“Towards the end of high school, on a random weekend hanging out together, we decided to do a Google search for ‘best music production software’,” they say. “We chose one of the top results from some random forum discussion and bought it (ProTools) and just dove in. Slowly as some of our songs and remixes started to gain some momentum online, we thought it would be smart to learn how to DJ so we could eventually do performances. So we did a similar thing – Googled ‘best DJ software and hardware’ and bought some and dove in. It was always serious, but I’d say right after we graduated college in 2015 is when we were able to really focus ALL our attention on music. ”

The guys describe their sound as “dance-pop,” though add that it’s a blend.

“It usually has a foot in the dance world in terms of structure and energy,” they say. “But we love to incorporate organic live elements and take inspiration from a lot of other genres– within the dance realm, some of our stuff leans a little more alternative/rocky, some more folky/indie, and some more poppy.”

Two Friends are super excited about the current state of electronic music.

“Since we first got into it, we’ve always been excited to be honest,” they say. “Since the barriers to entry are relatively low – so many amazing songs have been made with just a laptop and headphones, no super-fancy equipment– there’s new producers popping up every single day that are doing very creative and innovative things. So far, the energy at our shows in 2022 has been the best we’ve ever experienced in our careers- and hopefully that keeps going up.”

Their latest release is “Wish You Were Hear” (not the Pink Floyd tune).

“Super pumped about this song,” they say. “We’ve actually been playing it at shows on our Adventureland Tour since January, and it was always a highlight even though it was unreleased. It was crazy to see some people even sing along with the lyrics, if they had been to multiple shows or maybe seen snippets on social media. And now to finally have the song out feels great. John K, the singer on it, is so insanely talented and it was a pleasure to work with him. The crazy part- since it was mostly made and recorded during the pandemic, we’ve actually never met John in person, only online, so we cannot wait to do a live version of the song one day soon with him.”

Looking ahead, the duo has plenty planned for the rest of 2022.

“We have more in the pipeline than we ever have before – SO much new music, new Big Bootie mixes, new collaborations, new shows, new live activations… a lot of big things planned that we can’t wait to start rolling out,” they say. “If there was one positive thing to take from the pandemic, it was that it of course gave us way more time in the studio than we’re used to in a normal touring year. So not only did that mean more time to write and to work on a lot of new music, but it also meant more time to get creative in other ways. We’re extremely excited for the rest of 2022 and beyond.”

Two Friends Make Beautiful Music Together: The “Wish You Were Here” single is out now.

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