Hold on. Before you stop and Google B00ty, let it be known it’s B00ty with two zeros for a reason… As ½ of the duo states, “If you’ve never just Googled the word booty before… there’s a lot of stuff out there.”
Now, B00ty is what you get when you put two Los Angeles based singer/producers Edan Freiberger and Adam Epelbaum together. The two whose ‘70s soul + Marvin Gaye-esque caught the attention of Geffen Records just released their latest track “Modern Romance” to the masses which has us excited for the debut EP later this year. We spoke with the two to hear about their start, eating grapes with Kendrick Lamar, and some covers you need to hear right about now.
The Young Folks: First off, tell us a bit about yourselves. When did you decide to pursue a career in music and how did you two end up collaborating to eventually create B00TY?
Edan Freiberger: We met our freshman year at UCLA, and we each had very different backgrounds in music. I was classically trained from age 4 and was writing, singing and producing music as a kid, and Adam came to music from theater, comedy and freestyle rapping from a young age.
Adam Epelbaum: We lived and grew up together in college, both as people and artists. Our apartment was located in a historic party complex called The Treehouse (apparently Jim Morrison once lived there), which we turned into a DIY venue. That experience is the backbone of what makes B00TY work the way it does now.
The Young Folks: What’s the story behind the name B00TY? Were there any other names up for consideration before this one was chosen?
Adam: Yeah we definitely went through a handful, didn’t we…
Edan: Yeah, our first band name was Amish Rake Fight, followed by Jews on Acid, followed by Babes, naturally leading us to B00TY… Pretty much tells the story of our life in a nutshell.
Adam: We originally just went by booty but decided to change the o’s to zeros because, well… if you’ve never just Googled the word booty before… there’s a lot of other stuff out there.
The Young Folks: How did you guys come to a decision to fuse both your music preferences and genres to create the sound you wanted for B00TY or was it an easy agreement for the two of you?
Adam: While each of us has specific artists that inspired us growing up, more often than not, we like the same music and our taste overlaps a lot.
Edan: It’s something that’s developed over time in the studio as well. At this point, when one of us has a thought or idea, the other can complete it without needing to ask any questions.
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The Young Folks: Props to your song “Modern Romance.” What sparked you two to write this song and decide this will be your first release of 2018?
Edan: Thank you. We made that song with Pomo and Danny McKinnon. We reached out to Pomo initially because he produced one of our favorite songs of all time – “Am I Wrong” by Anderson Paak featuring Schoolboy Q. Pomo’s an unbelievable musician and producer.
Adam: We met up with Pomo and Danny McKinnon (one of the best guitarists in the game) for a session at Interscope Studios, and we wrote the whole and recorded pretty much the whole song that first day in the studio together.
Edan: They’re just great guys too. Honestly two of our favorite people.
The Young Folks: Since dating, today is super weird or complicated, what’s your choice or approach when it comes to dating? Do you opt for the apps or are you all about meeting face-to-face for the first time?
Edan: Dating is definitely trippy right now. Definitely more of a fan of the face to face kind of deal, call us old-fashioned…
Adam: People are getting catfished more than they ever have, but also allows a lot of people to connect as well. Pretty sure we’ll be able to 3D print our significant others soon so ultimately, do whatever you want, if it works it works. It’s 2018, shit’s crazy right now.
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The Young Folks: You’ve been able to collab with dope artists and literally work right next to Q & Kendrick. What was it like being in that atmosphere? How did that inspire your work during that time?
Edan: We look up to those guys a lot. They’re GOATs. Just to be able to see their work ethic and vibe has been surreal and huge motivation to step up our game. We haven’t collaborated with Q or Kendrick yet, but when you walk out of the room in between vocal takes, and you find yourself eating grapes with K Dot… What more inspiration could you dream of when a month earlier we were making all our tracks in our bedroom on a broken laptop?
Adam: It’s inspirational to be in the presence of greats like that. And to be able to work with guys like Pomo, Mr Hudson and Sam Spiegel, people who have produced some of our favorite music of all time… they all push us to be better. Also, Q’s dog Yeerndamean pissed on the rug in the middle of our session one time though… I feel like we should get a Q feature for that…
The Young Folks: What can you tell us about your forthcoming EP? How’s it been putting it all together?
Adam: It’s been a lot of 14 hour studio days, where you barely go outside, the only food you actually eat is hummus, pita chips, and coffee, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re excited to be dropping new stuff and show the world what we’ve been up to. We’ve got more singles dropping soon, which we’ll follow with a body of work.
Edan: Our new music definitely represents a new chapter for us. A lot has happened this past year both in our lives and in the world. Also, being signed to Interscope – Geffen has been an incredible experience. We knew from our first meeting with Neil Jacobson that Geffen was going to be the right home for us, and that Neil could see our vision for the project right away. He’s a genius, and it’s an all-star team over there as well. We’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazing producers and artists so far, work in legendary studios and just go in on our music.
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The Young Folks: Your cover of Sza’s “The Weekend” is a much different rendition than what I’ve heard in the past. What would be the next song you’d like to cover?
Adam: We have a “Bootylicious” cover that we’ve performed live a bunch of times…
Edan: Yeah, we should probably put that out eventually.
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The Young Folks: All your songs are pretty much songs you can groove to so what song(s) is your go-to dance track?
Adam: How ’bout “All Night” by Chance?
Edan: Yeah for sure. That’s Kaytranada on that beat too. Those guys are amazing.
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