Half-brother duo, Everyone You Know

Everyone You Know are a half-brother duo whose signature sound is a blend of punk and rave, guitar riffs and hip-hop. Their newly released EP ‘Look After Your Pennies’ explores their experiences as young men in suburbia. The brothers are unafraid to explore themes of frustration, friendship, family and life’s challenges as well as happiness, hope, determination and dreams openly and honestly in their lyrics. Their performances are notoriously high energy and you can catch them performing their new tracks live at Reading and Leeds festival next weekend.

On the release of ‘Look After Your Pennies’ we sat down with the duo to chat about everything from the stories behind the tracks on their new EP to what they are listening to at the moment and more.

How would you describe your sound?

H: In the words of Steve Lamacq “9 at night and 7 in the morning”.

R: Our sound is eclectic. It’s influenced by so many different things that it’s hard to put it in a bracket. But ultimately it’s music for everyday people.

Who are your musical inspirations?

H: The Prodigy, Chase & Status, The Streets, Wu-Tang to name a few.

R: We we were fortunate to grow up around people that love their music, so there are so many. But a few of them for me are Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy, Kano, The Streets, Biggie Smalls, Amy Winehouse. The list goes on and on.

What can we expect from your upcoming EP ‘Look After Your Pennies’?

H: Moments that will make you want to kick down your own front door and moments that will make you cry. There are elements of punk and hip hop through to indie and electro. Musically the sound has matured drastically since Cheer Up Charlie which is noticeable when listening to LAYP.

R: I think you can expect to hear a lot of emotion and a lot of honesty. All the tracks on the EP were made within a couple weeks of each other, and at the time we had a lot going on in our personal lives. So I think all of that comes through in this EP.

Can you tell us a little bit about the title of the EP?

H: At the time we were half pissed at Ally Pally watching The Prodigy, not sure what Rhys heard or saw but he turned to me and said ‘Look After Your Pennies’ should be our next EP title and that was that. Done. Money wasn’t great at the time and we weren’t in an amazing place so it made perfect sense.

Your lyrics are down to earth and relatable?

R: I think there are so many tunes out at the moment that just talk about such surface level nonsense and don’t really mean anything. So I think it’s refreshing for people when they hear artists talking about a normal, everyday life situation and events. It doesn’t take much to inspire me to write a tune to be honest. It could just be a conversation with my pals or seeing whats happening in certain families lives or even just meeting some knobhead down the pub. It’s just real life, normal, day to day stuff.

Can you tell us a little bit about the video for She Don’t Dance?

R: The video is essentially about two young struggling parents. And how difficult it can be raising a child when you don’t have the right support around you. We wanted the video to be a bit darker and almost make you feel uncomfortable at times because that’s the reality of that situation. And we wanted the video to grab people’s attention as much as the music and lyrics do.

What’s your earliest musical memory?

H: Jumping around to 21 Seconds by So Solid Crew in my Grandma & Grandad’s house

R: I think the earliest memory of music I have would be listening to hip-hop in my dads motor. He used to make me tapes and CDs and we would listen to them in his car when he would drop me back to my mums. It was wicked because every week I would discover another tune or artist that I loved.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

H: Slowthai, Mark Ronson, Tame Impala, loads more but those 3 mainly over the last couple days.

R: I liked the slowthai and Loyle Carner albums and I’ve been listening to Jgrrey and Kojey Radical quite a bit. Dave’s album was great too. But to be honest there isn’t much else out at the moment that I’m massively mad about at the moment. I usually listen to the same old heads like The Streets, Arctic Monkeys, Wu tang etc. So I’m looking for a few more new artists and tunes to get in to.

What’s your dream venue or festival you’d love to play?

H: Printworks, Ally Pally, Glasto Pyramid Stage.

R: My dream venue would be Ally Pally. We saw The prodigy there last year and it went off, so I think playing there could be wicked. But I would love to play Glastonbury too.

How was your experience working with Delta Heavy?

H: Wicked, they’re proper good lads and very talented.

R: Yeah it was good to be fair. They are nice lads and we really got on well with them. The tune is an absolute belter too and it goes off live! We were buzzing that Anarchy was the lead single to their album too.

You guys are half brothers, how has your experience been working with family and going through all of this together?

H: We’re brothers, having a different Mum to each other doesn’t change or mean anything for us. The journey so far has been quality, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. We’re very lucky to be in the position we are in and to be doing what we do.

R: Yeah it’s good. It’s nice to be able to share this experience with someone, especially family. And having someone that you can talk to about what’s going on and who knows exactly what you’re going through is good too. Makes life easier. It’s nice for our family and friends too.

What can we expect from you for the rest of 2019?

H: Hopefully some more tunes, potentially another EP and tour towards the back end of the year.

R: I don’t know how much we can talk about right now. But the rest of 2019 is looking very positive and busy for us. Fingers crossed we will have some more music out between now and Christmas too.

Listen to the Everyone You Know’s full EP here: