Pal put new life in Mars BRUNO’S FIRED UP FOR DUO WITH .PAAK

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felt creatively stuck until he teamed up with pal on a project.

The duo have released the soulful single Leave The Door Open under their Silk Sonic moniker, and it offered them both new ways of working.

Bruno explains: “I’ve been fortunate to be around for a while and written songs I’m very proud of and at a certain point it gets harder and harder. If I can’t top That’s What I Like or When I Was Your Man, why am I doing this any more?

“It’s like fighters – you gotta have this monster inside of you. If you don’t, it’s dangerous to step into the ring. You get knocked out.

“I always had that monster, but I was trying to search for what’s gonna make me proud of it.

“I want to make sure you keep your fans and music evolving, but being in study with the right cat – that’s how you create this.”

That cat was .Paak, who had toured with Bruno and has a different approach to soul music.

He says: “We are honest musicians who still listen to Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, and when you find people like that you have to link up. We bounced off each other –

JOE

Wicks isn’t just about wacky outfits and breaking wind. Turns out he loves cheesy boyband music too. The fitness guru said: “There is a playlist on Spotify called 90s Boyband – like Westlife, East 17, Take That and N’Sync. It reminds me of being a teenager and disco and stuff.” With that hair, I thought he loved the Bee Gees… that’s the best part of being in this duo, you hit a gear you might not get to otherwise.

“He’s got a sixth sense. He has spider-sense. He figures out the math. He knows what to do to get to the right spot.”

This is no one-off. As Anderson puts it, “We stuck for life” and an album arrives later in the year featuring funk great Bootsy Collins – who actually came up with their name.

So why did he choose Silk Sonic? Anderson laughs: “You can’t question the OGs. It sounded good when he said it.” Leave The Door Open is out now.