MADE MUSIC
MADE: And Mike is 18 as well right?
MB: Yep, yes he is.
MADE: Being 18 and 20 at that pivotal age
when most kids are in school, partying and
doing what normal teenagers do. Do you feel
like you’ve missed anything or do you feel like
the industry is accelerating your success?
Princeton: I feel like the Internet has just
accelerated our success. I feel like even though
we missed a lot in our childhood, I mean, it
doesn’t beat traveling the world and meeting
amazing fans. You know, it’s kinda like the life
we chose so, we can’t really complain.
EJ: I think we’ve balanced it out, but also like
he said, we chose this lifestyle and I wouldn’t
change it for the world. We do what we love
for a living.
MADE: A lot happens between 18 and 21 and
you’re mentioning these things in your music.
Going into the industry at 14 is way different
from 18 and 20. So, you all are not 21 yet, but
between 18 and 20 so how do you feel like it’s
different now that you’ve grown.
Princeton: I believe it’s very different because
since people have seen MB grow up, they kind
of feel like they know you already. Because
they’ve kind of seen you grow up. When you
see them, it’s kind of more personable more
than more of a star struck. It’s kind of like, “Oh
yeah, we’ve known you since you were 14
years old,” and it’s kind of true. The internet
has played a big part as well. Even when we
were 14 years old, when we first came out with
our first single, Instagram wasn’t even invented
and now it’s like the biggest thing in the world.
So, the internet has definitely changed...A LOT.
MADE: And with that, we’ve noticed that
you’re using hashtags on each of the song titles.
How has social media impacted your strategy
this time around?
EJ: One thing is that our fans are already
hashtag a bunch and we’re very active on
Twitter and Instagram. That’s the kind of thing
we saw about what way to make this connect
to our fans online. We made the decision that
everything will have hashtags. We kind of
wanted to make it more interactive with them
and make it easier for them to start hashtagging
the album name and the songs - so maybe
it can start trending like that - kind of start
interacting with them more on social media.
MADE: Right, so being in that social media
generation, where everything gets old pretty
quickly, how do you guys make sure you stay
fresh?
Princeton: It’s very different because when the
first album came out, within the first day we
already knew the fans’ favorite songs because
it’s quick when you can post videos and send
DMs...so it’s really helpful. You get a lot of info.
We’re always updating Instagram, Snapchat,
Instagram stories, Twitter, Facebook, and our
website. Always being in our fans’ faces makes
it personable.
MADE: For all of the millennials who are
entrepreneurs and artists – especially those
interested in entertainment as well – what does
it look like and how do people navigate things
as an independent artist?
EJ: I think it’s definitely more work. Definitely
more of a grind. That’s one thing with us,
I think we always try to put 100%, 110% in
whatever we do. Really, if you care about the
music and the craft and art of it, it’s worth it.
That’s one thing that we did, we really got to
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