They release genre-bending debut
WHEN Drew Love puts his mind to something, telling him “no” only fuels his determination.
The singer-songwriter chose his craft, seemingly, as a means of resisting his rigidly structured military upbringing. As with many children of the armed forces, he has lived in several places. He was born in San Antonio and moved to El Paso before arriving in the suburbs of Montgomery County, Maryland, in seventh grade. There, throughout his years at Wootton High School, his passion for music and his black sheep status in his family became more defined.
“My parents wanted me to focus on other things, and there were things I sacrificed because I wanted to go record. I would be late for work or miss an interview. The bane of their existence was me wanting to be a musician so bad,” he says with a laugh over the phone.
His bullheadedness paid off. The 24-year-old is in Los Angeles, where the pursuit of his dreams landed him in 2014. His musical partner, Dante Jones, is on the phone with him; together, the duo is known as They.
Their recently released debut, Nü Religion: Hyena, is a genre-bending accomplishment that blends R&B and hip hop with pop and rock elements.
The two met after moving to the City of Angels separately. (Jones, 28, hails from Denver.) He playfully jabs at Love as he recalls having to meet him three times before Love even remembered him. But once their friendship was cemented, the potential for partnership quickly revealed itself.
“After a while, we started working together and I showed him some of my more left-field ideas I’d been working on that I hadn’t shown to anybody,” Jones says. “Next thing we knew, we had four or five songs.”
Their chemistry is unmistakable, even over the phone.
“Dante and I have always been like a yin and yang. We’re both goofballs and always joking around,” Love says. “But, like, he likes more emo, and I like more punk and pop rock, like the Blink 182s and Sum 41s. He’s more Taking Back Sunday.”
Jones adds: “Even on a personal level, he’s more open to meeting people. I’ll be the last person in a room to talk to someone. If Drew had a role, on a social level, he’s more like the diplomat or ambassador of They.”
Musically, their voices share the spotlight. Jones specialises in plush productions that can involve anything from skittering 808s to arresting electric guitars, while Love does most of the vocal heavy lifting.
Before they ran into each other, both were active on the behind-thescenes circuit. Jones had penned and produced for such pop mainstays as will.i.am and Kelly Clarkson (for which his work earned him a Grammy); Love was writing records for R&B crooners that included Chris Brown and Jeremih.
Their forté lies in their elastic treatment of genres and defiance of any definitive sound. Love matter-offactly considers his counterpart the best producer out there, but Jones relies on him to reel in his sounds when they become too renegade.
“Drew brings great taste. A lot of the time, I’ll try to be way too out there, and he’s the one to be like, ‘What if we changed this or scaled that back’,” he says.
“He’s studied a lot of hits. It’s definitely a blessing to have someone like that to collaborate with.”
The art of collaboration was something Love took with him from his time in the Washington, DC region. As a solo artist, he offered his airy vocal styles to tracks with rap’s Phil Ade, the rising Ezko (whom he credits with introducing him to formally making music) and fellow DC-to-LA transplant and producer Imad Royal. Ironically, he says it was the lack of perceivable unity among local artists, in addition to a thirst for inspiration, that pushed him away from the area.
The connection between the Washington area and Los Angeles has grown. They even share their label home at Mind of a Genius with Maryland vocalist Gallant.
Even three years removed, Love hasn’t completely averted his eyes. Throughout the conversation, he name-checks several artists with ties to the area – some who remain and some who have moved elsewhere – and his admiration is unsullied.
“It’s a melting pot of talent. There’s constantly somebody new or a new idea,” he says of the place he spent his formative years.
“There’s at least a couple of people each week that meet from back home, and it always feels good… but I give all the respect in the world to anyone who can stay in their home town and do their thing.”
It’s definitely a blessing to have someone like that to collaborate with