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Photo by Jorge Rico 

Celebrating the release of their latest album, HYPERYOUTH, we caught the genre-bending duo Joey Valence & Brae to hear the latest. They give us the scoop on the freedom of creative control, their upcoming tour, Mozart & Bon Jovi, and the top tier Cheesecake Factory order. 

OnesToWatch: Thank you guys for meeting with me so early on a Monday. I really appreciate it. I heard you guys were in Portugal.

JVB: We were. Back home now in State College, PA.

The last time we caught up once to watch if you guys, was at Lollapalooza in 2022. What's changed since then? 

Joey Valence: Nothing really. I think, you know, the music's been really stagnant. We haven't had any, like, you know, creative things going on. We're kind of just hanging out and really enjoying the fame. 

Brae: Touring has been really busy. We've been on the road consistently. We just put out our new album, HYPERYOUTH, and the reaction to it is incredible. We're super happy, it's everything we wanted. And, yeah, we got more plans for all the same stuff that we always do, more touring. Joey and I were literally already sending new music back and forth to each other last night, so we're already working on new shit.

You guys have a sound that pays homage to so many different eras, but is uniquely yours. How would you describe your style and how it's changed over the last couple albums?

Joey Valence: We make very energetic and genuine, authentic music. It's focused on a live setting. A lot of the music we make is for a live purpose. But with this album, we switched it up a lot, and we took not only the obvious influences that we have, but some more niche ones, and, all the music that we're listening to right now, and just put it into a project that really reflected who we are right now, what we want to be and what we want to do moving forward. We just had a lot of fun with it, and it's very genuine, but it's dance music at the end of the day, and that's what we really wanted to focus on with this album.

How did HYPERYOUTH come together? 

Brae: There was a consistent theme with HYPERYOUTH. We sat down and storyboarded out a lot of things for this album, everything from the set of the track list, and how all the songs will sound together, and the colors and the imagery and the music videos. We sat down for a month or two beforehand and really tried to figure out what we wanted the general overall theme to be, which is what Joey mentioned, you know, growing up and dancing and aging and still being yourself. This was the first time we didn't have a bunch of songs on some files and threw them into an album.

Let’s talk about the features on this project, because the lineup is pretty stocked. What was it like working with Peggy, Rebecca Black and Tia Corrine?

Joey Valence: They’re people that we have been wanting to work with for a long time. And when we approach songs, we have an exact feature in mind while we're making it. We're really lucky that we got the exact people that we were looking for for those songs, all generally different to work with, but all amazing at the same time. JPEGMAFIA specifically, was a big deal for us, because we're both huge fans. He's a leader in the alternative music space. So it's really cool to have someone in the same lane as us, give us flowers. And with Rebecca and Tia, we wanted a massive female presence on this album, and it’s a nice contrast to our sort of voices that me and Brae have. It was wonderful working with them and being able to have that representation on the album.

What do you hope your listeners take away from HYPERYOUTH? 

Joey Valence: I hope they can be themselves, that's really a lot of it. I want them to reconnect with the dance floor. We made this album specifically to just get people dancing again, get them reflecting, make them feel nostalgic about their youth and childhood. We made everything that we have experienced with youth and put it into an album. We want people to know it's okay to please just fucking dance and enjoy yourself. Even though we're getting older and maturing and doing new things, just enjoy yourself.

What song on the album do you think best represents this new direction you guys are heading in?

Brae: Good question. I would say Joe and I's favorite song, and all encompassing of a noise that was new for us, and can continue to be new, is “LIVE RIGHT.”That song has some really cool and alternative sounds. It's not even really super hip-hop. It sounds like old Mac Miller stuff, but it also leans into more. Joey and I are singing on that one. And the melodies are really cool. It's just a bit softer than what we're used to doing. We definitely could be leaning into more stuff like that, and then the production on, like “DISCO TOMORROW” is so just floaty and ambient sounding, and the washed out vocals. Stuff is so cool to Joey and I, so you could see more stuff like that from us in the future.

How important is creative control in in your art direction is?

Joey Valence: Brae and I control everything, and we're very lucky to have a partner with RCA who allows us to like. That's why we sort of built ourselves up and sort of came with this sort of power with them and and we're very lucky to have them, and they help execute our creative ideas how we want.

At the end of the day, we have the say, which is really cool. We know what we like, and if you don't, that's okay. Sometimes people need help, and there's nothing wrong with that. Brae and I are very specific about what we like. Whether it comes to producing the music for me or doing the videos, Brae and I are always working together to make sure that the creative vision is just like, purely ours. And so we were just always, like, very locked in, like that. And, you know, it's important, because I feel like we'll never truly fall off, if it's just coming purely from the enjoyment that we have making music together. And I don't mean fall off is like, eventually people are gonna stop listening, which is fine, eventually people are gonna stop caring. But the enjoyment that we get from making music, I don't think will fall off because we control everything and do everything ourselves.

 If you can have one artist alive or dead to collaborate with, who would it be?

Joey Valence: Mozart. 

Brae: Oh, I'd love to make a track with Madonna. Are you kidding? especially for this album. She would have fit the bill. Madonna, Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga? Yeah, Lady Gaga is another great one. We say this in every interview. But Tyler, The Creator. We love him. You know anyone really that likes us? Not a lot of people like us, to be honest, anyone who wants it.

Joey Valence: Bon Jovi. 

Just make a rock album.

JVB: Oh god, that won’t happen. But it may, we could try that. You convinced us right now. 

Alright, alright. Cheesecake Factory, what are we ordering?

Brae: Okay, so you start the evening with a Coke Zero and water. Then you order a Buffalo blast appetizer for the table, two orders of bread, two bread out the gate, and then Buffalo Blast. We move on from there. And then people sleep on the skinnylicious menu, because there's some bangers on there. Joey gets the avocado tacos a good bit. I order the steak medallions a good bit. But if you're feeling fatty, which you know, that's almost every time you go off the skinny list and you get something crazy. I get roadside sliders every now and once in a blue moon, delicious.

Joey Valence: Yeah, there's so much on that menu. My go to used to be the chicken parm sandwich. Yeah, that's good. But as far as cheesecake goes, the Red Velvet is always really good.

Brae: I have become a new fond lover of the caramel turtle pecan cheesecake over there. Wow. It's a big slammer. It's a big sleeper. 

JVB: There’s a white chocolate raspberry. That's quite good. We know way too much. It's so embarrassing we ramble for like 20 minutes.

Not embarrassing at all. You guys are Cheesecake Factory enthusiasts, and isn't it the dream one day to open one?

JVB: If, you know, if we can be the first people to open one, we will, that'd be pretty great. No, that's awesome.

We're slowly, might have to move that sort of idea over to Jersey Mike's. But it's a franchise, so we can definitely do that.

Besides the album, what's next for you guys?

JVB: Tour. A lot of shows are coming up in the US. Go get your tickets at jvbsucks.com.

To close things out, who are your OnestoWatch? 

Joey Valence: Bickle is amazing. Pokari Sweet and Yuragi are like two Japanese shoegaze artists I've been listening to a lot. I listen to a lot of MGMT, their most recent album, Loss of Life is incredible. Listen to a lot of Porter Robinson and yeah, that’s what's in my rotation right now.

Brae: Also shout out to our openers, AG Club. They're going to be opening for us in the States and I in Europe too. So go listen to them. If you haven't listened to AG club, they're fucking awesome.

Thanks for chatting with us!