For The Lyric’s kickoff concert of the semester, Two Friends, a DJ duo known for remixes of popular songs, will take the stage at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night.
Matt Halper and Eli Sones are the minds behind Two Friends. The pair have been best friends since middle school and have always bonded through their mutual passion for music.
During their senior year of high school, they started putting their dreams into action. Halper and Sones began remixing songs and other dance music, thus creating Two Friends.
Two Friends eventually went viral, with remixes of popular songs including “Trap Queen,” “I Miss You” and “Mr. Brightside” streaming all over popular music stations and devices. After gaining popularity from the internet and radio, they now perform live shows.
“Being able to do what we love — and do it as a career — is often surreal,” Two Friends said in an email exchange with the Daily Mississippian. “And getting to do it with your best friend — that’s just the icing on the cake. But being able to work on music in our studio each week and then travel all over on weekends to perform that music — we try to never take that for granted, and it motivates us to keep working even harder.”
Halper and Sones are no strangers to Oxford. Although Two Friends started in Los Angeles, this will not be the group’s first time performing in the city.
“We’ve been to Oxford a couple times in the past two years, and it is always such a blast,” Two Friends said. “We have a feeling that this Wednesday is going to top them all though. It’s a great town with a beautiful campus, but the best part is definitely just all the students (that have) so much energy each time. It always turns into quite the party.”
Citing progress as a main goal, Halper and Sones say there is much to look forward to in the future of Two Friends, and they have not wasted time coming out with new collaborations. Their most recent single, “Bandaid,” came out two months ago.
“Some of the music we’re finishing up and some of the music we’re just starting on with awesome collaborators, it gets us so excited for what’s ahead,” Two Friends said. “Get ready for a lot of new music, bigger and better shows, more mixes, more fun videos (as always) and just continuing to grow Two Friends as best as we can. We’re so pumped for Oxford to kick off this fall back-to-school season.”
With music tailored to a college-aged audience, Two Friends already have fans on campus.
“‘Mr. Brightside’ is definitely my favorite remix that they have put out,” said freshman psychology major Kristi Stewart. “The song is great by itself, and it (is) made even better by Two Friends’ own personal spin on the tune. They seem like they have a great time on stage, and I am very excited to witness that at The Lyric on Wednesday.”
Two Friends’ concert is an 18-and-over event presented by the Bonfire Social Club at Ole Miss.
