With 3.6 million YouTube subscribers, 1.4 million Instagram followers, and 1.1 million Facebook fans, if you haven’t heard of Bars And Melody yet, you surely will soon.
Six years ago, the UK duo won over the attention of Simon Cowell and his Golden Buzzer on Britain’s Got Talent. After the show, the boys released their debut album, entering the charts at #4 in the UK and #1 in Japan. The album proceeded to go platinum in Poland and garnered them deals with brands such as Air China and Pepsi.
Entering into stardom at only 13 and 15, you would think the two boys would have possibly been led off the tracks. But now, at now 21 and 19, Charlie (21) and Leo (19) are the complete opposite of what you would expect. The boys are a breath of fresh air amidst a music industry that often times feels jaded and saturated with disingenuous artistry that’s sole aim is to make a buck.
Bars and Melody and their newest album SADBOI is exactly what the world and the youth in particular need right now. It tackles complex topics such as love and loneliness, fear of failure, but also courage, confidence and trust. Authenticity radiates from their lyrics as you can hear the genuine passion rolling off the tongues of two young men who have poured everything into their music.
Last week, from the comfort of my bedroom in Los Angeles, I had the lovely opportunity to chat with Charlie and Leo about SADBOI, their creative process and their epic journey over the past six years, They may have possibly divulged some secrets, too, but I’m going to let you be the judge of that when you read the full conversation below.
From the other side of the phone, all the way in Berlin was Leo and Charlie, greeting me with a warm “hello, how are you”, and newest phrase, “how’s my quarantine going?”
Here is a glimpse into our chat.
[Caroline] Congratulations on the album, how are you guys feeling?
[B&M] The best words to describe are absolutely marvelous.
[Caroline] How has the reception been over the past week?
[B&M] “It’s been incredible, we didn’t really know if our fans would enjoy the album because it’s so different from our previous. But everyone seems to like it a lot more than our old stuff. So we’re ready to keep building and making new music.”
The boys spoke a bit about how they both bring a unique style to their music and how that sets them a part from everyone else making music around their age in the same genre.
[Caroline] Can you tell me a bit about SADBOI, it’s overall messaging and what you’re trying to have fans take away?
[Leo] “I think the main thing is just that we’ve always tried to be real in our music. And we understand that right now is kind of dark time in the world. Even before the coronavirus it seemed like the world was a bit dark and people were a bit sad. So we wanted to drop an album about how we’re feeling and kind of the vibe of the world right now. I just think when there is something wrong in the world and things are so much up in the air, It’s not good to have an album that’s about everything being happy and perfect. Because you know I don’t want fans to think our lives are perfect and their lives are bad. We want to be real and let them know we feel it too, we’re all human, we’re all the same. And just because we have been blessed to be able to make music for our fans and we have such a good life, it doesn’t mean that it’s great all of the time. I think that is a common misconception on social media in particular. You know, you have a bunch of influencers who only show the good side of their lives, not the tough times and if they do it’s all stunt to get more popularity or whatever. And it doesn’t really set a good example for the youth and gives false expectations and stuff like that. So we were just like, let’s drop an album with meaning in the songs and the song title. Not even a statement so much but just to be like, ‘ya we’re sad.’ There’s no bigger thing, that’s just what it is. We just want to be normal people who are gifted at music. We want people to hear us and be like, ‘ya these are normal guys and they get sad sometimes.'”
[Caroline] That’s awesome. I mean I feel like since your debut on BGT you have really stayed true to who you are. How have you done such a good job at that? I know it can be difficult when you’re being pulled in so many different directions with people telling you what they think you should do. How do you remain so true to who you are and what you want?
[Charlie] “I think it’s just your songs. You just have to be strong in yourself and what kind of person you want to be. And that’s exactly what SADBOI is about. You know that whole BGT thing, that wasn’t fake. We weren’t doing that just for clout or fame or for anything. It was real. And that’s the problem nowadays that everyone is just trying to be happy all the time and it’s so fake. We have shown from the beginning we’ve been real. You know Leo started crying when he was rapping the song. And it wasn’t necessarily a positive song. Although it’s vibey and catchy, go listen to the lyrics of Hopeful, it’s deep. It’s how we’ve been from the start. We are just trying to open up that side of life to people. There are too many people faking their lives and pretending like everything is perfect when it’s not. And that’s one of the things that has kept us real is just by being real. Like we don’t fake anything. We are exactly who we are. Like we won’t always smile for the camera. If we are in a bad mood that day that’s just how it is. We are humans. I feel like when you stop being yourself that’s when you lose track of yourself. That’s why we have kept our message and our vibes. It’s just that we’ve never strayed from it.”
[Leo] “Something that opened my eyes was meeting people off Instagram who are so cool online, then when you meet them in real life it’s so underwhelming. I didn’t want people to feel like that with me. How we portray ourselves online is so important. We don’t always have to be smiling and doing crazy stuff all the time. People need to see you when you’re normal and just hanging. We don’t want young kids to get false hopes or depressed and compare their lives to ours. There needs to be a balance between the people who are posting all the good stuff online and the people who are keeping it real.”
[Caroline] And ya, then when you’re authentically happy it translates more and people know that it’s genuine. That’s lovely thank you for that answer. So you guys first appeared on BGT six years ago. Have you give any thought as to where you guys are going to be six years from now?
[Charlie] “I mean, right now I’m just trying to aim for another four so I can say that I’ve been in it for at least ten. I’m just trying to stretch out those four so I can say I’ve been in it for a decade. I think if we can say we’ve been in it for a decade, that’s successful to some degree. But it’s really hard to determine because this could end tomorrow or it could last 50 years. Like there is no rule book, in this industry you can never anticipate what’s going to happen. I mean I think me and Leo would love to be sixty-five years old singing Hopeful on stage and doing tribute concerts and stuff. But whether that happens or not is a different story. I think we are both very realistic and trying to set ourselves up in a place in our lives where we are just comfortable and making sure we are doing music forever. We just want to be in this for life so we are trying to build everything for longevity. So everything we are doing we are trying to look to the future, but where we will be in six years, I have no idea. Thinking back six years I can’t believe what’s happened and to predict what’s going to happen over the next six is nearly impossible. The exciting thing is not knowing what’s going to happen. I think if we knew what was going to happen in the next six years it wouldn’t be so interesting.”
[Caroline] Can you guys tell me a bit about your creative process? Obviously you’re a duo so that’s going to add an interesting dynamic and I’m just curious about how you guys go about writing, creating treatments for your music videos, etc.
[Charlie] “The most important thing is that from the very start we have always written out own music.”
[Leo] Ya, we never had writers in at the start. It was always just me, Charlie and the producer so we were always learning. We wanted to learn for ourselves before we got with writers because we didn’t want to be controlled. We always wanted to be savvy and know the ins and outs of music. So the past six years has just been about us learning everything. You know we work with some of the best producers in the world and we’re super privileged to do that and you know, people like that you only get to meet once in your lifetime so you have to learn as much as you can in the moment. So it’s really great and now it’s all about compromise. You’ve got to respect the fact the person in your band has a vision as well. Most of the time we are on the same page, we know each other so well by now. I know when to shut up and he knows when to shut up.
[Charlie] The thing is it’s been so long that it’s just obvious now as an adult who’s ideas are better in the moment. There’s not as much childish confrontation over who’s melodies are better. We both want the best product and we both have ears. If Leo comes up with something that’s better than mine I’m like “that’s dope” and it needs to replace mine. The creative process is so chill. It’s just I write stuff, he writes stuff and we merge it all together.
[Leo] That’s the most fun part. My least favorite sessions are the ones with a time limit. You can’t rush the creative process.
[Charlie] Ya like we’ve been writing for the past hour and a half but really just bobbing our heads writing down words and waiting for it to come. Just bouncing off each other.
[Leo] and that’s what so sick is when you go sing it on stage it’s just something you and your friend wrote. It’s the best feeling and that’s why I never want it to stop.
[Caroline] I love talking to you guys, you’re so eloquent and great to talk to. Big compliments and shouts out to you guys. Our platform is called CelebSecrets so I’m wondering if you guys could tell me a secret about yourselves that perhaps your fans might not know.
[LEO] I think that people really thing that I have like had 100 girlfriends. But I haven’t, I’m a faithful guy. I’m like the opposite of a player or a womanizer. It’s only when I really like someone who I’ll start opening up to them. I’m a believer in a one true love.
[Caroline] Well I’m sure a lot of girls are going to love to hear that haha.
[Charlie] I think my biggest secret is how many video games I play. I filter how much I show it to not be like one of those guys who plays video games all day, but I actually am one of those guys. I wouldn’t be considered a gamer but I have a crazy obsession with video games. No one knows though. Everyone knows Leo is, but no one knows that I am. Really I spend 80% of my time playing video games.
[Caroline] What’s your favorite?
[Charlie] For the past few months Fortnite was my guilty pleasure but I just switched to War Zone, like the call of duty version of Fortnite.
The boys and I continued to chat a bit about their Fornite obsessions and why I should start getting into the game during quarantine. I can genuinely say these were some of the loveliest boys to interview. I felt as though I was speaking two friends about their newest project. I highly recommend you take a listen to SADBOI as soon as you possibly can. I can assure you, it will not disappoint.
Listen to SADBOI below and make sure to follow the guys on Instagram at @barsandmelody.
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