We thought we were being cheeky with the bigger artists like MJ Cole, and didn’t expect anything to come of it. Tommy: “Oh my god, yes! It was mind blowing we sent over a massive list of artists – big and small – to the label. ‘Soft Spot’ has been remixed by UK garage legend MJ Cole. It’s introducing a whole generation of kids to dance genres that they may not have known before.” Piri: “Especially with Planet Rave on Spotify, that’s a whole playlist dedicated just to this kind of sound. Tommy: “A lot of people have nostalgia for the rave-y, mid-90s sounds, and a lot of people are just hearing for the first time, so I think its all connecting with a huge audience right now.” Why do you think that there’s been a resurgence of old-school dance sounds? It’s so jokes to imagine the chefs bopping along to our drum ‘n’ bass.” Tommy: “Something weird that happened recently was when ‘Soft Spot’ was played on Sunday Brunch on Channel 4. We love hearing Radio 1 blasting drum ‘n’ bass in the morning!” Piri: “Yeah, especially when it’s a morning show. When we first self-released ‘Soft Spot’, I paid three TikTok creators to use the song – and then it just snowballed from there!”ĭoes it feel surreal to hear your song played on the radio? Piri: “When I wrote it, I did think it had the right kind of vibe to do well on TikTok, but still felt like a very distant dream. It’s easy to sing along to as well, which helps.”ĭid you expect it to blow up in the way that it has? Tommy: “I think because it’s got such a hook-y chorus and lyrics that can stay in your head, people have really latched onto it. ‘Soft Spot’ is about falling for someone and being unsure if they feel the same, but still having no way to stop yourself – but with optimism that it will all work out.” Piri: “I think all of our music pretty much involves me singing about Tommy. Why do you think that ‘Soft Spot’ has connected with so many people? Piri: “I always loved writing songs but I was felt limited by my mediocre guitar playing – I could never have imagined making an actual record! Once I met Tommy, I finally had the opportunity to write over really good beats. Either we’ll set a vibe and I’ll make a fresh 8 bars, or we decide we like one of the old beats from my hard drive and I will send it to Sophie, and then she comes back with a song.” Tommy: “I’ve been making beats in my free time since I was about 17. Piri: “It probably only took us a couple of weeks before we started making music together, and because of the lockdown, we had so much time to be creative and work on tunes.” ![]() Tommy: “We met for a date in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester and it was the best first date ever… so then we had another one… and another one…” I then found Instagram and soon slid into his DMs!” Piri: “Basically, I saw a picture of Tommy’s other band on Twitter and thought he was handsome. Piri: “To be honest, life is pretty chaotic for us right now! We don’t have our own place, so we’re travelling around a lot and staying between our parents’ houses, but feeling very blessed overall by our careers.” Hi Piri and Tommy Villiers! How are things? ![]() Here, they tell NME about what it’s like to be at the forefront of a DIY dance scene explosion and why – with an album’s worth of bangers ready to go – this is just the start for them. Now, the track has clocked up more than seven million streams on Spotify, and the couple now count PinkPantheress and Charli XCX among their fans. A few months later, it received a major label re-release due to its sudden viral success. ![]() The pair’s breakbeats-inspired single ‘Soft Spot’ started blowing up seemingly out of nowhere on the social media platform throughout the summer, standing out thanks to its singalong chorus and racing beats. The Manchester duo’s colourful brand of drum ‘n’ bass with a Gen Z touch has made them the latest TikTok success story. After (virtually) meeting via Instagram DMs earlier this year, the pair – who bonded over a mutual love of generational dance artists like Disclosure and Kaytranada – decided to bubble up in a student house together and make music as a duo.Īlthough spending most of her time with Tommy instead of focusing on uni might have initially been risky (vocalist Piri – real name Sophie McBurnie – was studying Chemistry before meeting her producer boyfriend, who is also in the indie-pop band Porij), things have certainly paid off since. For IRL couple Piri and Tommy Villiers, lockdown has been somewhat of a blessing in disguise.
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