Cherub wsg Mystery Skulls and Forte Bowie
The Intersection, Grand Rapids
Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m.
$15 in advance, $17 day of show
sectionlive.com, (616) 451-8232
When Jason Huber and Jordan Kelley met, they never doubted their abilities to make music a full-time career. The two were attending Middle Tennessee State University’s recording industry program when they formed Cherub in 2010. Sounding like Daft Punk on muscle relaxants, the two have made a living on stretched-out electro-pop jams. Cherub’s music, simultaneously careless like a lazy Sunday and wound tight like a Saturday night, found a niche with the spread of its YouTube hit “Doses and Mimosas” in early 2014.
“We never predicted that 'Doses' would be the song that everyone shared. Mainly because of the lyrical content,” Huber said. “With all the drug references, it’s been crazy hearing it on alternative and mainstream radio.”
But drug references aren't the group’s go-to. Often, Cherub's music puts a psychedelic spin on breakups, coping mechanisms and the duality of life’s choices.
In addition to the five million plays on YouTube, signing to Columbia Records further pushed the duo's chances at success. Rather than stifling creativity, signing with a major label allowed Kelley and Huber to take root in their hometown of Nashville and continue to produce music how they always had: By writing collaboratively and editing their material with ProTools in a friend’s studio.
According to Huber, all of the best bands are self-made.
“If a shortcut [to success] is found, you will fall as quickly as you rise, but we have slowly built a grassroots following similar to how it was before [the] Internet existed as a promotional tool.”
Huber and Kelley have stood by their taking-it-to-the-streets philosophy to set them apart from the one-hit wonders and wunderkinds on the charts today. The duo is on tour more than they are at home or in the studio, which is why the latest Cherub EP consists of songs conceived during previous recording sessions.
“Leftovers is all the music that we made during the recording sessions of Year of the Caprese," Huber said. "So the idea was to get it out there before we started working on new material for the next album."
In the meantime, Cherub has been touring with no end in sight, and enjoying every second.
