Coming together
Why Don’t We blends separate artists into successful group
It takes work for five strong personalities to come together as a unit.
And the members of Why Don’t We have been successful with it.
With three EP under their belt and a single rising the charts and a nearly sold-out tour, they have a lot to celebrate.
In fact, the band’s current single, “Trust Fund Baby,” is becoming a staple at radio.
It’s no wonder, because the track was written by Ed Sheeran.
And Jonah Marais, Corbyn Besson, Daniel Seavey, Jack Avery and Zach Herron are taking it in stride.
“It’s a big dream come true for us,” says Seavey. “We’re playing a lot of venues in places that we have only dreamed of. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get where we are.”
Each member was a rising solo artist with an individual fan following in his own right before they met through a series of national tours and decided to pool their talents in 2016.
“The idea was brought up to us and we were all like, why don’t we?” Seavey says. “Everything about this group is very spontaneous, even the name. That’s our vibe.”
Over the past year, the members of Why Don’t We have truly bonded as friends, and their genuine camaraderie shines through in everything they do, including in their playful YouTube videos and especially in their feel-good, melody-minded, harmony-laden music.
“Our songs are always really positive,” Seavey says. “That’s something we make sure is always a part of it.”
“Fans tell us all the time, ‘You’ve gotten me through hard times in my life with what you do,’” Marias says. “It’s an amazing feeling as an artist to know that you’re affecting people in a positive way and getting them through hard situations. It means a lot to us.”
Besson is enjoying the writing process with the four other members.
“It’s a really cool time to be creative and putting emotions and thoughts down on paper,” he says. “For the new single, Ed came to us with this song and he thought it would fit the vibe. He thought it fit us perfectly. We fell in love with it.”
Seavey says recording “Trust Fund Baby” also marked the group’s first time in a professional studio.
“We used to record out of our bedroom in LA together,” he says. “We totally just hit everything right on the head.”
One of the highlights for the band was playing Jingle Ball 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“Taylor Swift invited us to her dressing room, and we were having a normal conversation with her,” Seavey says. “It’s been insane.”