The rise of British house music duo Joshua Grimmett and Ethan Shore from bedroom producers to Grammy nominated chart toppers has been a meteoric one to say the very least. Headliner recently caught up with the boys following the release of their latest dance anthem on Atlantic Records, Black & Blue, to reflect on what has been a whirlwind of a musical journey so far.
There’s something instantly likeable about Grimmett and Shore AKA Goodboys when they join Headliner on a Zoom call from their studio located in the depths of London’s Soho.
Catapulted from being two best friends making music for fun to one of the most sought-after producer/songwriting acts in the world, Goodboys burst onto the scene in 2019 with their debut feature Piece of Your Heart – written with Meduza – which has now amassed billions of streams. Their follow up Lose Control was met with similar praise, achieving platinum and gold sales internationally. Both tracks share an irresistible blend of infectious hooks and melodies; two massive earworms for every dance music fan, created by two dance music fans.
“We’ve been locked in the studio just creating, creating, creating,” replies Grimmett when asked about the pair’s activity of late. “Our rise was very different to most – as an artist project we hadn’t been working together for five years and then had a hit. Our first song became massive, which made it slightly difficult after that to work out what we actually sound like. We’ve almost had to rewind a bit and do things the other way around, which is what we’ve been doing these last two years during the pandemic.”
“It allowed us to pause for a second and really try and carve out a new sound and a new direction for Goodboys, and figure out who we want to be,” adds Shore. “Obviously things have been tough, but we’re trying to look at it like a blessing in disguise.”