Eighty Ninety is the musical project of brothers Abner and Harper James. They first launched into the scene in 2016 with their breakout single “Three Thirty”, which quickly found its way to #2 on Spotify’s Global Viral Charts.
Since then, Eighty Ninety have raked in over 22 million streams, received support from Billboard, Ones To Watch, Alternative Press, and have even been featured on Taylor Swift’s “Songs Taylor Loves” playlist!
Yesterday, Eighty Ninety released their latest single “Know Me”. I got to chat with Abner and Harper about making the track and how they’re staying busy during this time!
Hey guys! How about we start off with an intro. Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
Hey! We’re Abner and Harper James. We’re brothers who grew up in a small coastal town and now make music in NYC.
If you could describe your sound using three words, what would they be?
808s and telecasters.
Let’s talk about your new single “Know Me”. Can you give us some insight on the meaning of it?
“Know Me” is about the power of feeling seen and loved by someone over time, and how that experience can bring hope and meaning to life – even in the face of loss and grief.
How was the process of creating this track like?
Life’s most important moments can be big and small. We kept it very intimate feeling in the verses and really built it up during the choruses. The lyrics describe really personal moments between two people — but in our experience those can feel like the biggest there are. We wanted the feeling of the song to reflect that.
A while back you guys released a track called “Your Favorite Song” – and Taylor Swift added it to her “Songs Taylor Loves” Spotify playlist! What was your initial reaction to this?
We still can’t believe that happened. Taylor is a big inspiration and influence. Storytelling has always been a big part of what we try to do and there’s no one that does it better than her. “Your Favorite Song” is in part about the power of music to soundtrack the important moments of our lives – the thought that we were soundtracking hers in any small way is wild, and something we’ll never get over.
Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
We love storytelling and listen to a lot of the classic songwriters. Sonically, we’re really inspired by the artists around us and what’s happening now across all genres.
Are there any singers or songwriters you guys would love to collaborate with in the future?
We’re currently working with Gian Stone on our next EP. He’s an incredibly talented songwriter/producer and we immediately clicked with him. Can’t wait to do more. And can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on!
So I know things are pretty crazy in the world right now. How are you guys staying busy during this time?
We’ve actually been able to work long-distance to finish our next EP. We’re in the mixing phase so we’ve been video conferencing and then streaming the sessions and mixes as they progress. We’ve also been writing and demo-ing new songs by sending ideas back and forth — the hope is that we could be ready to start a new record as soon as things get back to some semblance of normal and we can get back in the studio.
“Know Me” is out now, so be sure to give it a listen… and say hi to Eighty Ninety on Twitter @eighty_ninety_ and Instagram @eightyninety8090!