DBMK
When I heard “Tough” for the first time, I thought to myself “how am I only discovering them??” They’re amazing and their new single is perfect.
I love that the second verse melody is different from the first verse melody - it is smart and it keeps the song interesting. The production is brilliant and unique. “Tough” is just very refreshing and it feels great to hear something like this. Congrats DBMK on this release and thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
“Tough” is now available everywhere :)
Photo credit: Luke Rogers
Introduce yourselves - what's your story?
We’re Kyle and Colton, and we perform as an alt-pop duo called DBMK. We met through mutual friends in our hometown of Saint Petersburg, Florida in 2016. The two of us played shows all around Florida for years and then toured nationally. We moved to Nashville, TN about two years ago and the rest is history.
"Tough" is your new single - what's the inspiration behind this song?
Kyle: Simply put, “Tough” is a song we wrote about being fed up with our day jobs. Your favorite artists either do or did work a 9-5 at one point and sometimes it can be super frustrating trying to balance the two. This song is all about being fed up with wherever you are in life — it might be a job, school, relationship, group of friends, etc. You have to find the courage within yourself to change your circumstance and not let your circumstance change you.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this single? Who helped you create it?
Colton: I had just gotten off a terrible shift at the coffee shop job I was working at and stopped by Kyle’s house. As soon as I walked in the door he showed me a beat he was working on that morning and immediately we both felt like it was special so we started writing. Both of us were feeling exhausted by having to split our time between work and music, and decided that’s what we wanted to write about. By the end of that day we had what we felt like was a pretty solid demo. The next day we sent it over to our friend Jeff Hazin in Toronto to get some feedback and to see if he wanted to mess with some production. He immediately went to work on it and by the end of that same day, we felt like we had a finished product. It all came to fruition very quickly and we were extremely proud of what we had created.
What did you feel when writing this song?
Kyle: After weeks and weeks of digging for a song like this, “Tough” fell out of us in basically one sitting. While we were writing this it almost started to feel like a catalyst for the new body of work we were wading through.
What made you want to release "Tough" as a single?
Colton: We’ve often said, “I don’t feel so tough” is the idea that captures the main ethos of our messaging right now. After being largely beaten down by the hellscape of our world as of late, I think many of us feel more vulnerable and uncertain than ever before. This song felt like taking back some of that power and confidence. What better time than now to release it when our culture is so obviously experiencing such a turning point and young people everywhere feel like the weight of the world is on their shoulders.
What can you tell us about the artwork?
Kyle: The artwork was something we got to collaborate on with our good friend Luke Rodgers. We dreamed up this concept of the “DBMK Kreamery,” a make-believe ice cream shop manned by yours truly. We’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for the workday in our uniforms, but as you can tell, we’re going a little bit insane.
What lessons did you learn after the release of your EP Jump in the Dark?
Colton: That nothing will go the way you plan, ever. We spent almost a year off the road, writing and preparing for the record release. We were gearing up to release our lead single the exact same week the US was put into lockdown. It really made us take a step back and realize, damn, the universe will do what it wants no matter what. I think we learned to go with the flow and roll with the punches, and that you can only be so prepared when it comes to stuff like this.
As artists, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
Colton: I would say the most challenging part of being an artist is missing out on certain things that people who aren’t artists experience. I started touring when I was fifteen years old and obviously felt left out of some things that my fellow fifteen-year-old friends were doing. To go in tandem with the worst part, the best part is getting to experience things that people that aren’t artists won’t get to experience. Being able to meet new people from around the world that listen to your music is a rewarding experience like no other. I honestly wouldn’t change it for the world.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Kyle: God where do I even start? I promise I’m not jaded! The very first thing that comes to mind is that I wish the industry at large realized how unsustainable the current ‘turn-and-burn a micro-influencer for a master of a viral song’ model is. Meaning, ultra young and non-savvy artists are being scooped up by major labels and pushed into the micro-influencer space for the sake of owning the rights to a brief moment of a song.
What advice would you give to artists?
Colton: The best advice we were ever given was to keep your head down and stop paying so much attention to what everyone else is doing. One decision is not going to put you on the map, rather hundreds of thousands of tiny, seemingly mundane decisions. Build a community of like-minded people and take on the world.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
Kyle: Amplification and education on the climate crisis and just how deep-reaching global civil rights movements are. We should not have to explain the complexity of these things to people in power!!!! Stop stanning politicians. They are not looking out for you. We do not stan!
What message do you want to deliver to the world?
Colton: There is hope. For you, for me, for them, for all of us. Also, life is short, so be true to who you are no matter what. Give them hell!
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