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Just Try: The Secrets to Getting Discovered With Yassin & Sean Terrio
Episode 79th October 2024 • House of Style • House of Style with Grant Alexander
00:00:00 01:06:42

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Yassin:

When I first heard him sing, it, like, blew my mind and I, yeah, I knew then, just on an artist level, I needed to talk to this human.

Sean:

If you're fortunate enough to be good at something that you like, you almost. You owe it to yourself just to push past something, a feeling.

Grant:

Style is more than just the clothes you wear. It's the essence of who you are, and it's in everything you do. Discover it here and unleash your style beyond what you wear.

From battling creative burnout to viral fame, the dynamic musical duo Yasen and Sean Theriault share their style, music and the good and bad behind their journey to releasing their debut album, just try.

In this two part episode, they reveal how they pushed through rejection, went viral in the most unexpected way, and stayed true to their unique musical style. Plus, they treat us to live performances you won't want to miss.

This is an episode every artist, every entrepreneur, every person facing a challenge needs to hear. So welcome back to House of style. I'm your host, Grant Alexander. And today we have the incredibly talented and creative Jasan and Shontario.

If you haven't heard their music yet, you are in for a treat. They're a genre crossing music duo who've gone viral on social media and bring such fun, positivity and creativity into everything they do.

and performing together since:

And recently, I came across a post of theirs that really resonated with me and I reached out to have them here and I think it sums up what we're all about here at House of Style.

They wrote about the challenges of getting their debut album just try out into the world, and how they refused to give up even when things got tough and their style behind this. And that is what we're going to dig into today.

So we'll talk about their journey, the struggles they faced trying to get their music heard, and how they kept their creative fire alive. And to make it even better, we're going to be treated with those live performances, so don't leave early. Guys, thank you so much for being here.

Yassin:

Thank you for having us.

Grant:

Appreciate it.

You know, like I said, there was that one post that I've been following you and I saw one of the if Trump saying videos that you guys do, which if to the viewers and listeners, if you haven't heard these, they are absolutely hilarious. They take iconic songs and Sean does an outrageously good impression of Trump singing those songs. So definitely check those out.

And those are how I first came across you guys. And then I looked at and went further and was like, oh, my God, these guys can actually play. They can. The voice is amazing.

And when you post that, I was just like, oh, my gosh, this is what so many entrepreneurs go through, so many creatives go through. I have to talk with you, so I'm excited to have you here. And let's get into kind of early beginnings in how things started.

Take me through how you guys met. And even before that, if you want to start off, were you performing early on?

Was music a big part of your lives from a young age, or did it come into the life a little later?

Yassin:

Right. Well, for me at the time, I thought music came into my life really late.

I started playing piano at 14, and I just had this thing, I still have it to this day, where I was like, I'm behind everybody. I need to catch up. And, yeah, I realize now, being 30, like, oh, I was ahead of the game.

I kind of knew what I wanted exactly when I was 14 years old. And so I've been playing ever since then, been writing songs ever since. I was writing and producing for other artists.

I was trying to be the behind the scenes guy for a long time, and that led me all over America, all over Canada. I spent a lot of time in LA working with rappers and r and b singers and country artists.

And at the end of the day, I found, like, something was still missing, and I had to pursue my own thing, being the artist. And that's when Sean came into my life. And the way we met, where we, there's this one music venue in the town we're from in Canada.

And the first day I ever decided to walk into this venue to just check out the open mic, Sean happened to decide that day, hey, I'm gonna try going to an open mic and singing for the first time ever. He had never tried that before. And I saw him sing and I had a song in mind already that he would sound perfect on.

And we met, we had dinner, we had a beautiful bromance began, immediately began.

Grant:

So cute.

Yassin:

Yeah. And, yeah, it's great when you get to just be friends with a person before you start being creative, right.

In every experience I've ever had, that's felt like the best results come from like, hey, you can just hang out with a guy, you know, what was.

Grant:

It that clicked right away? What do you think?

Sean:

I think it was being just funny like that. That definitely helps.

It makes it easier and when someone can kind of, like, catch on to your sense of humor, I mean, then it puts you much more at ease. And I needed a lot of that a few years ago, just being the nervous individual I have been. But, yeah, yeah.

Yassin:

And when I first heard him sing, it, like, blew my mind. And I knew then, just on an artist level, I needed to talk to this human. How do you have this talent? It's mind blowing.

And then, yeah, once you get to know the guy, he is the most outrageous, funny human being ever. And life is easier when you surround yourselves with outrageous, funny human beings.

Grant:

Absolutely. I love that. I want to dig into the nervousness. Was that. Were you nervous?

Yassin:

Hey, Mike, want to. Mike, my phone has been going off in the back. You can just put it on mute just so I don't want that to fuck up the whole vibe.

Grant:

We don't really care.

Yassin:

Okay, good. Excellent. Good. It was annoying me. I was like, someone's at my front door. I could hear the security camera notification going.

Sean:

It was there.

Grant:

Damn, it's just the package guy.

Yassin:

Yeah.

Grant:

Where were we? Oh, yes. Getting into the nerves and is that something that you were nervous as a child? And, you know, what.

What caused the nervousness and how have you kind of pushed through that?

Sean:

What caused it? I'm not so sure. I mean, I've always kind of been like a.

I guess a tender soul or just like, always feeling like a little kid in the room and, yeah, I mean, in terms of pushing through it, it's just kind of like, you think about what you could do in your life, and if you're fortunate enough to be good at something that you like, you almost. You owe it to yourself just to push past something, a feeling. And it's in pushing past that, I've learned more about it.

I mean, I've definitely just shied away from experiences in the past.

Grant:

Sure.

Sean:

But once you take the first step, that is the open mic, like, you know, at that time, I'd never really done. I'd taken some guitar lessons when I was young. Piano even younger. I come from a musical family. My aunt Andrew. Shout out, aunt Andrea.

Terry O is a singer over in Cape Cod. But, yeah, it's like, at 25 years old, I was like, let's try this, because I'll be kicking myself if I didn't go to at least one open mic.

And here we are.

Grant:

Do you still get nervous now, or is it kind of a different nervous energy?

Sean:

I think it's a different nervous energy because when you first start something, you just don't haven't seen it. You don't know what to expect. And so I don't need any help coming up with wild scenarios. Call that my creative side, but it's gotten more used to it.

Yassin:

Yeah. Nervousness. Like, I remember when we first did our first handful of shows. Yeah.

I remember, like, there was literally a time where we were driving to a venue and, like, Sean had to throw up. Like, he was like, hey, pull over.

Grant:

And then it's like, eminem and 8 miles.

Yassin:

Yeah, it was like that. It was the mom's spaghetti moment, and I had the similar, like, a similar feeling of, like, oh, my God, I don't know. Like, there's.

Grant:

You threw up because he.

Yassin:

Yeah. I was like, am I gonna throw up because he's thrown up? We are. We're brothers like that. But now it's kind of like, I don't know.

You learn how to turn nervousness into excitement and energy and adrenaline for when you go on stage, and if you can figure that out within yourself, like, you're gonna be in a great position.

Grant:

Yeah. I always felt like when you stop feeling butterflies and stop, any form of your heart rate should increase a little bit of.

And if it's not, to me, there's something that might be missing or something that's wrong with that.

Yassin:

That's usually our sign to challenge what we're doing. How do we add more if we're so used to, like, before we.

Yeah, we were just doing the duo thing, then we got used to it, and then we're like, okay, let's bring in a band. Let's bring in a band of guys we don't even know and try to build that. That vibe together. And that made me extremely nervous, being a control freak.

Grant:

Oh, yeah.

Yassin:

And, yeah. You know, like, that's always our sign. Like, okay, this is too easy. We know what we're doing.

How do we, like, make it more difficult for ourselves to improve?

Grant:

Yeah. So as you are kind of. So you meet, you like each other as people, which is, you know, the bedrock.

Yassin:

Yeah.

Grant:

Like, what makes it work, like you said. So as you start developing your musical style and start to put it out there, put out your first song, how did that style develop?

Was it sitting around just chatting through things is just like, let's start making music, see what resonates and what we both feel. A vibe, and then we'll get into.

After that, I want to hear kind of, like, bringing in the band members that you don't know, and how do you get them to understand your style? Like, how do you communicate that style to them?

Yassin:

Right.

And, yeah, so at first, just because of my start, like, I started trying to being in the music industry over ten years ago, so I was trying to write, and, like, I was trying to write songs for the weekend. Like, I wanted to write for artists, so I could. I studied people I like, I could hear a voice like Shawn's and be like, I can write to that.

Grant:

Cool.

Yassin:

I can write a sound like that. And I was at first the primary writer, and I just had a bunch of songs that were coming out where I was like, okay, that's perfect for Sean.

That's perfect for Sean.

But at the time, like, I thought he had this more, you know, country rock voice, but then I found out he has this beautiful falsetto, and then our sound kept on evolving because I was like, oh, this guy's. His talents keep revealing themselves, and I was able to write a around that. But then as we developed, we got closer.

I would bring in a song, and I would be like, okay, this is the general idea. And then Sean would manipulate the melody to something he can sing and I can't. Interesting.

Or he would come in with a verse, and I'm like, you got to finish that because there's something special there. And then I can bring in my producer and writing skills that I've developed for ten years to be like, this is how we make this a big song. Yeah.

So, yeah, it was.

It's been very interesting, like, building that up together, and for this album, it's been, every song on the album pretty much has been kind of a magical moment where I either brought some music in or Sean brought some words in, and they just melded together perfectly.

Grant:

Nice.

Yassin:

And, yeah, that magic doesn't happen very often when you're trying to create, and when it does, it's. Yeah, you gotta capitalize on it.

Grant:

I definitely think the being friends with each other, like, knowing each other as people outside of just the craft, makes a huge difference.

Sean, did you know that your falsetto was amazing and that, you know, all these talents that he talks about developing and revealing themselves, did you know you. You had those or those things that you've just sang and you're like, it's probably all right.

Sean:

Well, definitely a lot of concerts in the shower and just singing and being. And feeling for myself, being like, oh, that was pretty good.

But then, you know, thinking more, that thought of me thinking myself as a good singer, it's like, it's kind of crazy, man. That's for other people to do.

And especially when it comes to, like, the falsetto, like, I had these silly restrictions in my mind, like, or, like, oh, it'd be weird if I, who I am, the way I look, I guess, came out and started crushing some, like, oh, but, you know, then that'd.

Yassin:

Be fun, I guess.

Sean:

And it also goes back into making your sound as you see someone else do something, and it's like, okay, well, I know you can never be someone else, sure. But you can aim at something to start yourself up.

Grant:

And, like, who was that for you? Not necessarily, like, inspirations or music you love, but were there a couple?

Cause when I heard your voice, I immediately had a couple people that I thought of.

And I don't usually share comparisons with creatives because as a creative, I don't like being boxed in and labeled and compared because we all do have our individual style and individual sound. Were there one, two, or more artists that you're like, oh, I think I'm similar, and I heard them do that. Let me test that out.

Sean:

Yeah, I mean, um, in terms of the more, like, belty kind of voice, uh, Chris Stapleton in the past little while, obviously, I've got the hair now.

Grant:

You can definitely be a fill in.

Sean:

Yeah. I'm honored to have done parallel. Yeah.

Um, but then in terms of the falsetto stuff, I've really in, uh, when I was at university, not for music or anything related, earth, wind fire, Philip Bailey, crushing falsettos, aging like fine wine, and getting better, I was just like, oh, wow, okay, I can hit that note. Why don't I start to explore this and one day maybe show someone, and then here we are.

Grant:

Do you keep pushing yourself now?

Sean:

Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. I think trying to find new things to do.

Like, I do, like, on top of singing, I like sound effects, making noises, doing impressions, obviously, and just, like, mimicking things. There's something about it, and it seems so silly, but it's so fulfilling.

When I hear something and I'm able to get kind of close to it, it's like, why do I like this? I don't know.

Grant:

The impressions are absolutely nuts. They're amazing. We're gonna, we can maybe allow one or two in the normal section, but we're gonna have some of those for the bonus content later.

Yeah, yeah, we're saving those gems.

Yassin:

You can answer some questions as Winnie the pooh later if you want. Yeah.

Grant:

Where do you guys, did you find inspiration externally? I mean, when I seed, whether it's clothing designs or if I see an outfit I love, I'm like, oh, and that gives me inspiration sometimes.

You know, I talk about it on one of my solo episodes. I got inspiration that, five years ago still impacts a lot of my designs now.

It was from how sunlight hit a cup with lines on it and created lines on a table when I moved it. And so I'm, you know, sometimes I have my signatures that I've developed things that, like, I think this is gonna work.

I think it's gonna be cool, and then it will resonate with people. But often I see something, I'm like, me being me, I'm like, I can make it better.

Yassin:

Right.

Grant:

Do you guys find inspiration outside ever, or is it a lot of it just what's in your head?

Yassin:

I think it's always a mix of both. I try not to get caught up in the modern music game of the. Oh, like, so and so just made a great record. Like, let me try to do that.

I was doing that for so many years where I was, like, studying the top ten billboard songs, being like, how do I recreate that sound? How do I do that better?

Grant:

Sure.

Yassin:

And now I still have that skill set, but, you know, I try to just now, with the amount of knowledge I'm sure you can relate of just, like, you know, clothes, you know, how to manipulate it to turn it into something beautiful. Right.

And I feel like I have a skillset where now there's a base level of inspiration that I've had my whole life from listening to Billy Joel as a kid to now. So when I go into a room trying to create, it doesn't feel like me thinking, okay, let me try to do that better.

It's kind of, I want to be in a raw situation where it just comes out naturally and, okay, then I can just try my best to impress us. That's my whole thing. That's our whole thing with our funny, our bits, our music.

We want to make ourselves laugh, and we want to do a song where we're like, wow, this is sick.

Grant:

Yes.

Yassin:

You know, and that's really the thing.

Grant:

Do you guys like playing covers? I mean, your original songs are awesome, and I'm excited for everybody to hear them. Do you like covers? And if you. If you do, do you change them up?

Do you do them similarly? Like, what do you make it into your own style?

Yassin:

You want to go first?

Sean:

I'll go first.

Yassin:

You have different answers.

Sean:

I mean, yeah, I. I love a good cover.

Grant:

Yeah.

Sean:

Just because it's simply, there's so many great songs out there, and if you can, somebody's already put a lot of legwork into something.

Yassin:

Sure.

Sean:

You mean I did this now? This is mine now. No, I do love a great cover.

Grant:

What are a favorite, if you have one on top of.

Sean:

I mean, there's a Chris Stapleton song, death row. It's not like, not like one of the huge songs, but it's just a great vocal performance. Very simple.

Yassin:

Kiss by prince. Kiss started doing that.

Sean:

Yeah, that's a good one. That's a great one. The first song I did at the open mic was simple man by Leonard Skynyrd.

Grant:

Cool.

Sean:

And so it just. It fits. When you find something, it's like, oh, my God, somebody like, I. Not that I was meant to sing this.

My ego, despite the size of my head, is not that big, but, yeah.

Yassin:

And I think my ego is, for me. Like, I have the pretentious.

I have the pretentious artist answer of, like, I don't like doing covers unless we can find a very unique way of doing it. Like, we have a cover that we do of creep that's like this piano ballad thing, and it's gotten us really far. Like, people really love that.

Grant:

It's amazing.

Yassin:

It's always kind of our showstopper. We love doing that. We have, like, an r and B version of all star, like, from Shrek.

Grant:

Right.

Yassin:

And, like, it's. And so we. I like finding those unique situations because to me, in my head, I think Sean is the greatest artist and singer ever. I don't.

I think it's a disservice. It's not honoring his ability to be like, let's just do this exactly like so and so, because he can do so much more.

Grant:

And that's where I think I would step in and not disagree, but change it. And it's not. If you don't do it in a similar way and you change it up to not even just put it in your own voice, but, like, make it your guys.

One of the wildest.

I think there are some people that do covers that are so unique and completely out of what anyone would expect, and that shows such creative talent and ability and musical mastery that that original artist would be like, shit, that was amazing. And one that always. I think it's. I mean, he's so talented. Hosier, when his cover of say my name by Destiny's childhood.

Yassin:

Incredible.

Grant:

It's one of, to me, the wildest. Just contradictions. Yeah, say my name and then Hosier. And it works. So every time I hear it, I'm like, I want to hear this again. And that's.

I mean, it's brilliant. It's like, I mean, creep is a great one for you guys. Like, your voice fits it, the music fits it.

Are there others that, do you want to play around with those and, like, experiment? Or is it like. Or just let's make some original music? Well, no, I keep pumping it up.

Yassin:

I love experimenting. Like, every time a cover, because I'm not never. I don't want to be the guy being like, let's never do covers, right?

The best way to be creative is being open to everything, right? And so to me, I'm always down to try cover, but my first instinct is, how do we change it up? Like, how. Yeah, how do we make it our. Our thing?

Like, we, uh, one that we've dabbled in that with the band that sounds really great now is come together by the Beatles. But it's funny how that came along. We were trying to learn silk sonic song, like a Bruno Mars and Anderson pack.

We're trying to learn leave the door open. And then I was figuring out the chords, and then I just started singing, like, here come.

Grant:

Oh, flat.

Yassin:

Like, the lyrics have come together. And I was like, oh, wait, this somehow fits in some magical way. And, like, now it's.

Again, that's one of our intro songs when we start a show, and it just turns into this jam session, and it's like a soul funk version of come together.

Grant:

And so what I'm hearing is that you guys are looking for an external source to basically say, here are some songs that I think would fit.

Yassin:

Hit us, and we will do it.

Grant:

There's gonna be a. I'm dictating this for their social media presence, but every month they're gonna do a cover that I select for them.

Yassin:

We'll do it.

Sean:

I give. My family always tosses out covers, and for some reason, I'm just like, stop, guys.

Grant:

Oh, my God. So I think I used to do that, and that's. I had one of my closest friends is the stereotypical, like, starving actor in LA.

And I, you know, lord, I'm a huge nerd. And when I learned that Lord of the Rings started filming, I was like, dude, you have to get on Lord of the Rings.

He's like, oh, thanks for telling me what I should do with my career. Oh, you're right. Like, oh, there are all these shows that are starting to film now. Why don't you try to get onto it?

He's like, don't you think as a starving actor, I would try to get onto these if I could? Don't you think I want to go to New Zealand.

Yassin:

Frodo.

Grant:

Yeah.

Yassin:

I want to be fro.

Grant:

Don't you think I want those things, too? It's like, thanks for shoving it in my face. And literally, from that conversation, I was like, oh, I can't.

I can't put those thoughts on other people. But now that I know better, and I respect that, now I'm gonna tell you guys what to sing every month.

Yassin:

Go do it.

Grant:

This is gonna be big. We're gonna have some fun with it.

Yassin:

I can't wait. I cannot wait.

Grant:

I want people to get a taste of what you do. So let's pick a song. Whatever you wanna sing. Let's get this performance number one going. And, yeah, I'm excited for everyone to hear this.

Yassin:

Okay, let's do it. Let's get this keyboard over here.

Sean:

Enough. But what I do know.

Grant:

Yeah.

Sean:

Is absolutely.

Mike:

Maybe I should be a little further away or should I get right in?

Yassin:

Oh, yeah, it was good.

Grant:

Kind of right now.

Sean:

Okay, cool.

Yassin:

Okay, so here's my sign.

Grant:

This system.

Yassin:

Okay.

Grant:

Wouldn't it be. Wouldn't it be like, you're fine right there and like, no, you're not fine. You need to come closer.

Sean:

Yeah.

Yassin:

Oh, yeah.

Grant:

There's me with my non musical knowledge. Yep. There we go. All right.

Yassin:

Yeah, that's good.

Grant:

Yeah, it's great for me too.

Sean:

Should we preface?

Yassin:

Yeah, you can explain.

Grant:

Yeah, preface.

Sean:

This is an original song. It's our latest single that we've released. It'll be on. Just try our debut album.

Grant:

Awesome.

Sean:

It's. We're doing a little broken down, slower version of. It's called all Summer.

Yassin:

This is kind of how we wrote the song and then we turned it into more of a summer bop. But this is how it originally sounded.

Mike:

Baby, don't you worry about in these long flights he come to an end 30,000ft of dream enough skin in the.

Grant:

Sand.

Mike:

And if I had a single shine baby I would shoot it for you and if I'm running out of luck I'd cry because it's still better come politicals and let's sit on our day all night I laugh with you, babe sharing the laps of a lifetime as you build a little lone past the city line baby I been trying to reach you awesome awesome I been trying to get you awesome awesome never want to leave you awesome awesome comebillico's a little sip that's on all day I'm not out laugh with you babe always in a hurry for you driving just as fast as I can.

Grant:

Yeah.

Mike:

Who I'm never good at waiting when this way to zebie and I plan yeah and if I had a single shine baby I would shoot it for you and if I'm running that luck I'd crop it up it's still better you baby comebilly cools and let's set the tune all day, all night I laugh with you, baby? Oh, yeah ooh, sharing the laughs of a lifetime as you build a little on bath sitting line, baby I been trying to reach you?

Awesome awesome I been trying to get you?

Awesome, awesome never want to leave you awesome, awesome come politicals and let's sit the tune out day on night I love trumpethe I been trying to reach you? Awesome, awesome I been trying to get you?

Awesome never want to leave you awesome awesome comebackles let's sit up there I've been trying to reach you? Awesome, awesome I been trying to get you?

Awesome awesome never want to leave you awesome awesome come a little girls and let's set the tonight I'm not laugh with you, babe.

Yassin:

Nice.

Grant:

Goddamn. Goddamn. It's okay. I mean, this is golden. Excellent. You know, when you. It's so good when, when I heard all summer on, like, the Instagram clips.

Yassin:

Yeah.

Grant:

Like, that was the first song, I was like, oh, shit, he can sing. Hearing it live is a completely different experience.

Like, it's already so powerful when you hear it on your phone or the computer, but, oh, my gosh, your voice is goosebumps. It's unbelievable hearing it live.

Yassin:

Thank you. Thank you.

Grant:

And the mouth trumpet is, I think, one of my favorite things ever. It's incredible. Where'd you learn the mouth trumpethe?

Sean:

This is Jason Mraz. Jason, thank you so much for.

Grant:

Thanks, Jason. Thank you, Jason.

Sean:

Life is wonderful.

Yassin:

We're yours.

Sean:

Yeah, we're yours.

Grant:

I'm yours, too.

Yassin:

Yeah.

Grant:

Wow. Awesome.

Then we can get into talking about social media, part of the post where the one I reached out after and it being, you know, a lot of people said no because you didn't have the following. And the numbers behind it is that, you know, were those conversations when people shared that feedback.

As shitty and terrible as it is, I don't believe in that. If you're talented, numbers shouldn't matter as much.

But was that what made you think, and we need to come up with something that is going to bring the numbers or, I mean, really, how did the if Trump sang blank song come to be?

Yassin:

So, I mean, I mean, somewhat. It influenced us trying to even get on TikTok. I'm. We're 30.

We're not the TikTok demographic, really, it's like, I think it's supposed to be, like, 15 to 20 is the thing. But. But, you know, the numbers weren't there. Yeah. To labels.

But the weird thing was, we were having a lot of conversations with labels that were, like, egging us on, you know, telling us, like, we love what you got going on, but it never took the next step to something. And. And so for me, I'm like, I hate getting rejection, as everyone does, and I'm like, let me show you what we got.

And so I really studied TikTok and Instagram, and we are already doing Instagram in a way that, like, I think we found a way to love it because we get to make, like, comedy bits and, like, play with the absurdity of just posting stuff all the time on. On the Internet.

But so I studied, like, people who do have a strong following, artists in similar situations, but they have half a million followers on TikTok. How. How did they get there? I would actually DM artists. I would talk to them, like, what did you do?

And we tried to do those things, sitting in your car saying, here's a song about me getting broken up with, and then just lip syncing and, like, all these very. And, like, even typing out specific captions that, that are supposed to get the algorithm right, none of that worked for us.

We were still in the world where we were getting 200 to 300 views on each post on TikTok, and it just came down to a point where I'm like, okay, I've tried literally everything I've posted. Like, people are telling me post, like, five times a day, which is insane.

Grant:

Insane to have to come up with that content. It's a daunting task. It takes you away from what you want to do, and that's what makes me dread social media.

Yassin:

And I don't think it's good for the health of an artist's creativity, because all of a sudden, you're trying to dumb down and. And do the simplest thing, because that does better on social media platforms instead of, like.

And I'm like, that's why there's no David Bowie's anymore, because, like, everyone's just trying to not think about. Just post everything.

Grant:

Yeah.

Yassin:

No one gives themselves enough time to really, really create something special. But so, like, we were trying everything. It wasn't working.

And, you know, all Sean's impressions, not just the Trump thing, everything he does, every time we're in the studio, when we're hanging out, like, it's always happening. We're always improvising nonsense. And I was like, hey, let's just do one of those, because that makes us laugh.

And we literally, the first one we did, welcome to the Black Parade, which.

Grant:

Is one of my favorite songs when I been sharing about you guys coming on, that's one of the ones I send to people because it, I love it. So, I mean, I went through my punk emo thing growing up. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Mike. Mike said.

For our listener, Mike said he's still very much on it, and I am too. I totally agree with that. That one I absolutely love.

Yassin:

And that was our first one. And the way it came about was we didn't think about it. I was like, okay, TikTok's just not our thing. We're not those artists.

We'll have to come up with something else. I don't know what it is yet, but we're going to keep going. But I was like, let's just post this nonsense.

And the day it happened, Sean was at my place, and I was like, okay, let's just do something. Let's sing a song. And you're doing trump. And then we didn't think about it. Sean was like, welcome to the Black Parade. I was like, yep.

And then just started playing the notes and first take is what you see on the Internet. That has almost 30 million views.

Grant:

First day.

Yassin:

That's all the videos. Hell, yeah. All the videos, though, are that. Because it's just improv. We're not planning what Sean's saying. We're not. We sit there. We do.

That's why I'm always laughing, because I don't know what the hell he's gonna say.

Grant:

That's my favorite. Like, you know, it's so real when it's not this big shtick. Like, we can't laugh like it should be.

Sean:

It's.

Grant:

It's funny. You can laugh, too, when the sketch comics on SNL. Oh, it's the best laugh, too. It's literally the best thing.

Yassin:

That is it that's made Jimmy Fallon's career.

Grant:

Oh, for sure.

Yassin:

And, yeah, so it happened. I remember the day we had a show in Toronto, and I posted that video in the morning, and I didn't look at it at all.

I drove to pick up Shawn to head to the city early, and I did open my phone then just being like, whoa, that's. It had, like 500 views, which was crazy to us at the time. And I was like, this is nuts that we're just 500 views. I don't look at it again.

after our show. So it's like:

And we literally kept refreshing, and we saw it hit a million, and that was the crate we all like, cheers.

Grant:

And it was this huge, oh, yeah, I go nuts.

Yassin:

But then it kept going and it 5 million, 10 million, 20 million people are sharing it. And all of a sudden, our following on TikTok, before that one video was 300. Now it's a 93,000 and. And it's all from.

And I, now I try to preach this to people. It's like at the end of the. And this is so true to my life as a creative person. It's like, yeah, learn from the industry around you.

You learn from the best. But at the end of the day, the thing that connects will always be something that you just love yourself, you know?

Grant:

Absolutely.

Yassin:

We didn't think anything of it other than that's hilarious.

Grant:

Yeah, yeah.

Yassin:

That made us laugh. So let's just put it out.

Grant:

I love so much of that.

You know, there's the piece where you, you know, you studied it, and I don't think people think of musicians and creatives and stylists and designers doing the legwork of the technology side. I design all of my websites, and I studied for months how to write proper SEO for a website so you rank better.

And then I learned there's proper SEO for podcasts and there's proper SEO for you, too. Oh, my goodness.

So much of it is putting in that work, but I wholeheartedly agree that it is about the content at the end of the day, because if you're not putting out something that's genuine to you, people won't listen, no matter how good your SEO might be.

You can write the best caption for YouTube, come up with the best thumbnail, but if it doesn't match what you're saying you're going to do, doesn't match the vibe of that.

Yassin:

Yeah.

Grant:

People aren't going to stay. And ultimately, you want them to stay. You want them to gauge, because for you guys, those are listeners.

Those are people that are going to buy the vinyl. The album is coming out on vinyl, and we saw how beautiful this thing is. So everybody should get the vinyl, too.

Yassin:

Yes, they should.

Grant:

So how did you just kind of now just pick song and you're like, oh, I think this will be a good one.

Yassin:

Yeah. Like the day after, I mean, this is trade secrets, I suppose, but whatever.

The day after that one went viral, I was like, you have to come over because we need to capitalize on this opportunity. And for me, I'm, like, immediately thinking, how do I translate these people who think we're comedians now to, like, listen to actual songs?

Which was. Is a challenge, but still, it's working. And it's just a slow burn.

But the slow burn now isn't a couple dozen people, it's thousands and thousands of people.

And I feel, like, very lucky that we got, like, the point is, like, if you keep going and keep trying at the thing, some idea will, the universe will throw you some great idea that will just connect and then push you even further. Right.

Grant:

Was that transition where you were thinking, we have to get people to know that we're legit?

There have been a couple posts that was, I think it's like, when you realize the, if Trump saying, this guy can actually sing, was that the transition?

Yassin:

Yeah, that was, that was the thing.

Grant:

I clicked on that after the black parade. Like, that was my exact trajectory. Well done. It worked. You nailed that.

Yassin:

Yeah, yeah. And, you know, that's all you can kind of do. It's like, it's not going to be the same. It's not going to be.

Even with the millions and millions of people seeing the. For sure, still a fraction of 50 million is pretty damn good.

Grant:

Absolutely. Yeah.

Yassin:

And, yeah, no, it's been, it's been great. And the people who are now just a fan of our overall vibe with the funny stuff, with the songs, like, that's what we could.

Any artist would ever dream.

Grant:

Right, right.

Yassin:

People are really listening, they're engaged, they're laughing, and that's all the stuff we want to do in the world. If we can make people laugh, make people feel some stuff.

Grant:

I feel those videos are even more important than the if Trump saying this ones, because that is the conversion. You don't need the 50 million, you need the 50,000 that are like, oh, I want to hear this thing. I want to like that.

That's what got me in the spiral of listening to all of them being like, oh, shit, these guys. Like, they're extremely talented musicians and cool people. Like, that's exactly what builds the following.

I don't think a lot of people think about it from that. They're just thinking about, like, what's going to go viral, not what's going to convert people into what we're trying to do. And, you know, our goal.

Yassin:

Totally. And again, I feel very lucky that we didn't get.

We didn't go viral in our first year of making music together, so we had so much content, so much stuff. Stuff and so much art. Not content. I rather say art out there that people could just discover naturally.

And that just helped the whole process, and it's still helping to this day. Like, I get comments, 100 comments every day, of someone realizing, whoa, this guy just saying, creep. And it gave me chills.

Or, this guy's voice is the most incredible I've heard. And things like that. Like, we get that every day now. And, like, we, that's the.

I keep trying to remind myself, because obviously it's also a thing as an artist where you just want more. And for me, especially, I feel like my job in our duo is like, what's next? What's the big, what's the biggest thing we can aim for?

How do we get bigger, better everything? And I'm trying to remind myself, like, hey, this is the dream. We're living the dream.

Sean:

Yeah.

Grant:

I was gonna say, yeah. How do you balance chasing that next thing with celebrating where you are? I mean, I can't imagine that feeling.

And maybe it will change after, you know, we put some of this on TikTok, that feeling where you hit a million views, like, you should be celebrating that. Like that. That's incredible. That's no small feat.

Yassin:

No. And we did that for the first million. We did. And, I mean, the sad thing that we've talked about a lot is, unfortunately, you can immediately tell.

And, like, I think I'm a very self aware person. We both are. Where we, like, we're like, hey, this could disappear at any second.

This viral thing, it could stop at the million and never happen again. And we kept reminding ourselves of that while we were, like, trying to appreciate it all.

But then the first video that did only 100,000, we're like, oh, my God, I feel bad about myself. And, like, I'm looking at, I'm thinking, like, why do I feel that way?

Grant:

Yeah, still a hundred thousand people in a roof.

Sean:

Exactly.

Yassin:

But it just shows how bad, like, social media can be for your mental health. But, you know, I really try to take in moments every day where I could just say, hey, appreciate this. Even on the plane ride here.

Like, it is a fantasy to be like, yeah, we're flying up to Chicago for a day to do a podcast with this really cool designer, and then we're going to go home and play a show at a festival. Like, we have a festival show on Saturday. Like, like, that is the dream.

Grant:

Yeah.

Yassin:

And, you know, it doesn't, when you're a kid, you imagine this thing being, oh, millions and millions of dollars, like the flashy everything, the glitz and glam, but it doesn't always feel like that. But if you look around, you're like, wow. Well, yeah, this is what the fantasy is. How many times have we been in the shower just being like, oh, yeah.

Like, imagining yourself give it. Like talking on a podcast?

Sean:

Like, yeah. Oh, no. I mean, I'm.

I feel sometimes I'm just constantly in a constant ted talk in my mind, being like, okay, today this is how I feel, and this is how the world is, and it's fine. My name is Sean, and I'm gonna. Everything because.

Yeah, and I mean, that, that goes back to the, uh, just the mental state you are and reminding yourself that you've really not felt good at certain times in your life.

And so I guess we'll call it the background music, the elevator music, the finding that balance of let's go for something else, but let's really enjoy the elevator music changes. You're still in the elevator. The music's playing, you're trying to go up, but then the songs keep getting better in the elevator.

So you're enjoying being right there.

Yassin:

That's a great.

Grant:

I think that would be a great theme for a TED talk. I think that's it.

Yassin:

Yeah, that's a good analogy. Yeah. And, like, that's totally, totally it. It's like, you know, we, it's, all this amazing stuff's happening.

I think it's easy to dream if you're just born a dreamer. You know? Like, a lot of people are. You're born with, like, it's like, when I was 14 and I started playing piano, I thought I was so behind the world.

I was like, I need to be have my whole career right now, and I was 14. Like, people have that instinctual ambition and that dreamer mentality, I think. I believe it shows up early for a lot of folks.

And it's easy to think bigger, but, like, it's way harder to be in a moment and say, like, wow, I've done good. I hate, like, pat on your, pat on my back. Like, we achieved something that a lot of people would kill for.

A lot of people would really, really do anything to get there. And we're, we're happy. We've done something that brings us joy.

Grant:

Yeah.

Sean:

I mean, I'm gonna be coasting off the high of that elevator analogy. I'm gonna be like, I'm gonna be like, two weeks, you know, and be like an elevator.

Grant:

You're. I mean, I feel like I'm gonna hear a clip every month of like, you know, this month's elevator music. Yes. We're going up still the mouth trumpet.

Sean:

It's back.

Grant:

That's awesome. You know, I think that's a big part of what I envision this podcast to be about. It's helping people unlock that.

I don't know that the dreamer is something that you're born with or not.

I feel especially working with so many people over every demographic, every industry, I think everybody is a dreamer, and at some point, they got too scared to take action.

Yassin:

You're totally right.

Grant:

And that I hope that this podcast, talking with people like you guys and sharing these stories helps them.

You know, they might not go for their big dream that they had when they were 14, but if they can do something that's going to positively impact their life in the smallest way, it could be a presentation at work. It could be whatever it might be.

It could be in a relationship in the way you treat people and be walking around smiling, looking around at the trees and how beautiful a day is. That's really what I hope to unlock, is that dreaming? And it's so refreshing to hear this from you guys. It's so energy. I mean, I have so much energy.

Always too much energy. And I am never shy for self inspiration and getting myself motivated to, you know, keep pushing through.

But hearing all this from you guys, too, it's so energizing. And I want people to walk away with that because it's infectious. It's. It's fun. It's so fun. And, like, life should be fun.

Yassin:

And you're totally right about everything you just said. And, like, yeah, it's, you know, you are correct. Like, everyone is a dreamer. And, like, it's about maintaining that childlike enthusiasm.

You know, like, that kid gets killed real quick with society.

And, like, if you can just keep that going, keep that enthusiasm through life, that wonder that you had when you were a kid, even if it doesn't need to be all the time, if you just give yourself a day, a week to be like, hey, like, wow, this. This is all magical. And life is magical.

Grant:

You're going out teepeeing all the houses.

Sean:

In the neighborhood, buy ice cream.

Grant:

I do plenty of that. Yeah, no shortage of that. As an adult, my family definitely thinks of me as an adult child, so that resonates pretty well.

How do you guys, before these things started happening, in taking the elevator up, how did you maintain the confidence in the drive. Was it just a, you know, keep pumping each other up and just say, like, hey, we'll get through this. Was it a.

We know this is what we're meant to do, and let's. Let's just keep trying a few things and, like, this is going to work.

Sean:

Yeah, I mean, definitely some external validation. Some, some, hey, you're doing well. That, that helps.

But I think, yeah, you get to a point where maybe you feel you haven't had that awesome thing in your life where you're like, oh, like, this is, this is my thing.

Kind of like what you're saying, we're meant to do this, and you start to do it, and so even though it's not working out, you're like, okay, well, I got 1% of this crazy idea in my head, and, you know, people aren't going to pursue your dreams or just goals for you, so you kind of have to do it. So I guess you learn to say 1% today.

That's pretty awesome still, because you could just have less than 0% of the thing you want to do, even if you're not exactly clear on what it is. So, I guess, long story short, enjoy the process.

Yassin:

Yeah. You know, this last year, like, has been, like, I'll say, like, very. Especially the early part of the year. It was very difficult for us because I.

For me, I was always. I always had the vision. I always had an idea, okay, we're doing this next. We're doing this next.

Every day, I would call Sean or text and be like, this is what we're doing today. This is how we're going to get to the next stage. Here's the song idea. Here's how we do this bigger and better.

Grant:

Yeah.

Yassin:

And I've been like that for, like, most of my life. And there's been so many ups and downs. I'm sure, like, everyone knows.

And, like, there are many, many times where I've thought, like, okay, like, is this a mistake? Right? As we all feel. But again, it's about just, like, when you love something so much, it's like you just have to keep going.

It's not like you have to force yourself.

It's like, at the end of the day, it's like, if I chose a day when I was in my early twenties to be like, okay, I have to, like, look at colleges to go to. Cause this isn't working. At the end of the day, I'll just write a new song, and then my enthusiasm would be back, and I'm like, I have to keep going.

And this. Yeah, this last. The beginning of this year was really hard. Cause we got to this point, we got all this momentum. We finished an album.

My favorite thing ever. I've always wanted to make albums, and we were able to achieve that in a massive way. And then all of a sudden, we did it. We made it. Now what?

We have to rely on external validation, which, like, is, like, it's good in the short term, but the long term, it'll fuck you up.

Grant:

Oh, yeah. It's scary, for sure.

Yassin:

And so, because now we have to. We have to get the approval of the big industry folks, to be successful. That's at least how it felt at the time.

And I felt I was in a place where I didn't know what to do next. For, like, the first time in ever, I was. I could always find an answer of what to do, and I had no idea. But you just keep showing up every day.

We would still, like, when there was nothing for us to do, we'd show up. Sometimes we would barely even play music. We would just be in the room together.

Grant:

Sure.

Yassin:

That happened. That's happened a million times at this point. We just like, hey, come over. I'm cooking dinner.

Like, it just about showing up and moving forward, and that's awesome. You know, we kept doing that until, okay, this thing went fine. I. Okay. Like, we have those numbers people told us we didn't have before.

We have a fan base now. All sudden, in America, people want us to see. Want.

They want to see us play all over America now, which is, as a canadian artist, impossible to break into.

Grant:

Yeah.

Yassin:

Like, all these things are happening. We're on your podcast right now, and that. That came from, like, just keep going.

Grant:

Yeah.

Yassin:

And I truly, like, I believe in Sean more than anything. Like, he, to me, is the greatest artist ever, and I have the ability to facilitate his talent to be something that everyone can see.

Like, to me, like, yeah, I write songs, and we are a duo, but Shawn is the star of the show, and I have the ability to be like, hey, here's another door we can go through and create another opportunity to another dream, like, coming true for both of us. And, you know, you're all right.

Sean:

I'm.

Grant:

You seem. You seem decent. At least average.

Yassin:

At least average? Yeah, that's what people tell me. He's at least average. Yeah, he's all right.

Sean:

Yeah, well, we. We joke around. If it was left to me in terms of marketing or even selling merch or what, we just wouldn't make any money. I'd be like.

They'd be like, I don't know. I'd be like, oh, no, you don't need this.

Grant:

Then another unsolicited thing that I'm, you know, already going to do these covers that you guys are forced into now, but another unsolicited thing. I've always believed that for the longest time, musicians, touring musicians, their merch has been awful.

They don't actually consider the fashion aspect and the design aspect of it. I am happy, happy. We're going to talk to design some merch for you.

Yassin:

Please.

Grant:

You guys are musicians and you should do music. Just like, I'm not gonna do your music or try a trump singing, whatever. Although that might actually go viral in a completely wrong and opposite way.

Yeah, we're gonna avoid that one. I'm not comfortable enough to do that yet. Maybe eventually that could be a future one. Yeah.

But I think, you know, being an artist and I'm being a musician, whatever the profession is, whatever an entrepreneur might be doing, it's not just one thing anymore. You have to consider socials, and it's really easy to get lost in it. And I'm wondering, do. I mean, it's a little different than the merch, but. Merch.

I'm gonna make some. We're gonna design some merch.

Yassin:

Yes, please.

Grant:

Do you. Do you define success differently now?

Because your album, you've completed it for a while, and you just said, you know, the way you think about, and you made quotes around success and getting those numbers, whether that's selling out arenas or has your definition of success changed now because you are living the dream, you are doing what you want to do, you're creating what you're excited about.

Yassin:

Yeah. I feel like success is always. The definition is always just evolving for us as we keep progressing through this.

I never believed success is the numbers. I believe it's a feeling, right? Like, can you wake up and feel good?

Grant:

Yeah.

Yassin:

Because, oh, my God. Like, look at the stuff we're doing. Like.

Like, we were in the studio yesterday till I got home at, like, midnight, had to wake up at three, get on a plane, come here. And, like, some people get tired from that stuff. I like, I don't even. I don't drink coffee. I got up, I was in. I'm like, wow, this is good for.

Grant:

You, not having coffee.

Yassin:

This feels like success to me. And there's obviously, I can look at it on another side of my brain that's like, yeah, I want to do the numbers. I want to do arenas, I want to.

I want to sell a lot of tickets. I want to. I still want to achieve that.

But I think there is a balance between, like, and the more important thing is, like, there's a balance between the numbers and just the feeling can get inside and. And nothing thinking about that. You don't need the grandest achievement to get that feeling.

Grant:

Sure.

Yassin:

You know?

Grant:

Yeah.

Yassin:

It could be something small, like someone coming up to us and telling us, like, wow, this song, like, got them through school or something like that. And that's success, you know, and you can. You can want both and. Yeah. But for just happiness, overall happiness.

Feel like, to rely too much on one or the other can be tricky.

Grant:

I hear that. Yeah.

Was there a song that when you're kind of going through it and, you know, it's hard, you're not having the numbers, rejection, whatever it might be. Was there one song in particular or a couple that you were like, this is it. You mentioned writing and, like, that energizing you?

Was there one that you're like, this is really it for you, whether it's, you know, the most loved on the album or not. But for you guys, was there one that you're like, this is it. This is so us, and this is.

Yassin:

Yeah, you go, Sean.

Sean:

We have a. We have kind of, like a prelude to the album, like. Or is it halfway through? Just try.

Yassin:

That's the beginning.

Sean:

Beginning. I know things. The intro, the intro. And it's just the track titled just try. And it comes from back in the day when we really started.

Started out, and Zach was just running some stuff on pro tools, and he was like, okay, just sing some stuff to these chords and kind of just saying about how I was feeling that time, but then how we were feeling in general, just, like, feeling lost. And then the tag of that is just try, you know, just my favorite.

Yassin:

It's my favorite lyrics that Sean, it was, again, this was a one take moment. I came, I had this new synth sound on my. On pro tools, and I was just playing these chords, and Sean sang these lyrics like.

Like, it doesn't have to look like anybody else's life. Just try and that. It's funny enough, at the time, we were like, it's a random, like, it was literally 30 seconds. We're like, whatever.

And we just kept on revisiting it over the years, and we realized it was the. The core of what we believe of, like, what we're doing. Sean doesn't need to sound like Chris Stapleton. He doesn't need to be a copycat.

Of Chris Stapleton or Teddy swims or all these people who, like. Who can sound like, sing like Sean. We can do it very specifically us, which is doing some comedy stuff, singing some emotional tunes. Just. Right. Yeah.

Is a really special one to me. And, yeah, the first lyrics, even, like, the first lyrics are like, I was lost, so lost, drowning in the crowd.

Grant:

So lost.

Yassin:

And. And, yeah, just. It's about us trying to, like, figure out what we are and, like, how to present that to the world.

There's also, like, another song for. For us that I think is really special on the album that makes me. I listened to it, and I'm like.

Grant:

How do we make.

Yassin:

This? Is this song called happy it exists where Sean wrote all the lyrics.

Like, he was in the back of the car with me and my fiance in Vancouver, and he was just writing all these lyrics down. And he didn't, for months, didn't tell me about it. He just, like, kept it to himself.

And every day we rehearse in my parents basement, you'd come over, we would just jam. And months later, he's like, hey, so I came up with these words I wrote down a couple months ago when I was.

Grant:

Did you ever tweak it or you just wrote it and then you.

Sean:

I think it, like, maybe some subtle things, but mostly what I wrote in the back of that car that day, just, like, staring at them from the back, being like, yeah.

Grant:

They're like, what? What is he doing?

Sean:

Yeah.

Yassin:

And then the day. The day he. He told me about those lyrics, he didn't read them to me or anything.

I just said, well, I just had a dream last night of this chord progression, and. And. And then he just started singing those lyrics without. Without even thinking about anything. And it turned into, thank you, sir.

And, yeah, the song just happened. I just played the chords that I had literally had a dream of. He just found a melody to those. To those words, and the song was done within an hour.

And that's so magical to me how. Yeah, something he wrote months ago that he forgot about for a while and then decides to bring up at rehearsal.

Grant:

One day, randomly, the perfect time, when you just had this. Okay, I want to hear one of these. And not to, you know, force you into picking one of those two songs, but one of those.

Sean:

I want to hear version of chorus.

Yassin:

Yeah, let's do it.

Sean:

Yes.

Mike:

I've watched you walk at you from afar the way you give a love through a screen and distance shows up right before bed only to burn in the heat of your heartbeats it's not in mine but it's so much bigger than the years? This living proof that's right in front of me? I've seen love? I've seen love? I see the love love and I'm happy it exists? Said I'm happy it exists?

I've heard you calling him from far.

Yassin:

Away.

Mike:

Those phones almost dead God damn these hours ahead but it's always there between his nights and your bed it's not even mine but so much bigger right in front of me? I've seen love? I've seen love? I've seen love?

Grant:

Love.

Mike:

In a man be it exists.

Sean:

But it.

Grant:

Goddamn.

Yassin:

Thank you.

Grant:

That's beautiful. The words are beautiful in that. That's so incredible that you just made that in the back of a car and that you just dreamt about this progression.

Yeah, it's like, at the right time.

Yassin:

Yeah.

Grant:

Boom.

Sean:

It is.

It is funny because, like, I remember when I was writing it and then when I brought it to you, like, obviously there's a bit of vulnerability to be like, hey, so while you guys were driving, I was actually writing about you. And, like, I just like, oh, my God, this is so creepy. And then. But then if you just, like, you know, you let your walls come down.

Grant:

That's actually when you started singing I'm a Korean, and that's how they're coming together. Figured it out.

Sean:

Radiohead did that.

Grant:

That's. That's incredible. I. Have you tried writing more in the back of the car? Have you, like, got back at driving? Just.

Yassin:

That's a good question.

Sean:

Not yet, but maybe that's next album.

Yassin:

Yes.

Sean:

In the driveway.

Grant:

Maybe the next album is just titled from a car.

Yassin:

From a car. That's a good idea.

Grant:

From a car in a dream because.

Sean:

You got a backseat writer.

Grant:

Actually should be. Yeah. All right, we are going to probably switch over to part two now.

Yassin:

Love it.

Grant:

This has been awesome. We covered the early on. I want to get into.

Really dive into the creative process, because, like, I think there's so much to dive into from a style perspective and what makes you guys you and what will help inspire others. So we're not done yet. In part two, we're going to dive even deeper into the creation of their debut album. Just try and.

And they'll take us through the process of taking a song from its initial idea to the final version like we just heard, and more live music. So stick around and make sure to tune in for that viewers, be sure to subscribe, and if you're listening, be sure to subscribe.

Thanks for joining us on House of Style. And remember, style isn't in your closet. It's in.

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