The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Why Don’t We’s name fits its origin
Singers hung out and decided to go for it together
As an aspiring musician growing up in Virginia, Corbyn Besson was inspired by Dutch girl group O’G3NE. Granted, the overseas fascination could have grown organically, but it turned out the sibling trio members were family.
“They’re my cousins, who won ‘The Voice Holland,’” said Besson, 20, calling from Lincoln, Nebraska. “They’re so talented — their voices are just insane. Seeing them do their thing was cool because I grew up around music.
“My dad was born and raised in New Orleans, and my mom is a harpist, so maybe it’s in my blood. It was really cool growing up to see them doing their thing and be successful. I would say my cousins definitely had an impact on my drive. If they can do it, I can do it.”
That drive led to the singer not only growing an online following as a teenager but also releasing the single “The Only One.” While initially pursuing a solo career, Besson joined up three years ago with four other singers — Daniel Seavey, Zach Herron, Jonah Marais and Jack Avery — to form pop act Why Don’t We.
Considering the notion of five solo acts joining together as one outfit is a familiar recipe, a la Fifth Harmony, Besson said he was game to give it a go.
“We went out to Los Angeles and hung out for a week, mostly with the intention of singing together,” Besson said. “Then we got there, and this sort of magic happened. It was like a weird sort of fate kind of thing, I guess. We all felt it and were like, ‘Maybe we should try and turn this into a band.’”
That magic translated into pop success. So far, Why Don’t We’s music has more than 1 billion global audio streams and total YouTube views of more than 460 million, with
2.8 million subscribers. The band also has 4 million Instagram followers.
After releasing numerous pop, hip-hop and R&B-based EPs, the quintet watched the title track from its 2018 debut album, “8 Letters,” go gold and become a top-20 hit.
This year, Why Don’t We, which comes to Northeast Ohio for a show Aug. 28 at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, has been busy releasing singles “I Still Do,” “I Don’t Belong in This Club” with Macklemore, “Come to Brazil,” “Unbelievable,” “Big Plans” and “Cold in LA.”
There’s no doubt that Why Don’t We is a product of the viral-sensation times — the intersection of short attention spans leading
to short pop hits. In fact, one knock on the outfit is the majority of its songs are roughly three minutes long — the entire “8 Letters” album is 26 minutes total). You have to remember, through, that today’s youth grew up watching one short YouTube video after another.
For proof this is where pop music is at, look no further than “Old Town Road.” Lil Nas X’s one-minute-and-53-second tune is the longest-running No. 1 song in history.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Besson said. “We sort of noticed this shift in duration — a lot of the songs are short. What’s cool about that, too, is we kind of play off that. You just never want your song to drag, so that’s always been our goal — to keep people interested.”
Why Don’t We has garnered the boy band tag, which is often used as a pejorative among critics. Besson said the group doesn’t have time for labels.
“When it comes down to it, we are what we are,” Besson said. “We’re just letting the music speak for itself. I think if someone in any musical space isn’t willing to give an artist or musician a chance just strictly based on their look or their name or genre, then are they really music lovers?
“Probably not. We like to let the music speak for itself, and if people like it then, hell yeah. And if not, your loss.”