Ontario indie-pop band New Friends found success at a rapid fire pace in 2018 with their first single, “Purple Candy”. Now, years later, their music is continuing to evolve and mature as they explore different sounds. They’ve just released a brand new single, “Sad Sugar”, so we caught up with the band to chat about the song, how New Friends got together, and their musical influences.
From The Strait: Tell us about the new single, “Sad Sugar”.
New Friends: Sad Sugar is a song we have been excited to release since the day we made it. The song tackles the themes and subject of bonding romantically with someone over toxic traits you both possess. The energy of the song is a nod and bow to the energy and demeanor of some of our favourite artists growing up. We made Sad Sugar with our good friend Derek Hoffman who was a part of some of our favourite records and we all bonded over our love for 90’s alternative music so when it came time to make Sad Sugar, we all knew we wanted to try and bring those influences into the track.
From The Strait: How did New Friends get together?
New Friends: The band formed when they met in college back in 2018. Each member was brand new to the school and didn’t know anyone and within a few weeks, we all started gravitating towards each other. We ended up making our debut single, Purple Candy shortly after and we’ve been going as a band since.
From The Strait: Every band has their own way of creating songs – what is your songwriting process like?
New Friends: No song comes the same way for us. We are in a constant state of nurturing creativity moments and ideas. Whether it’s in the back of the tour van, in a hotel room, writing with friends, or an instrumental the band made, we never limit ourselves to a certain approach. We like to treat each song as its own moment and draw inspiration from previous ideas, processes or experiences.
From The Strait: Who were your musical influences growing up, and how do they differ from your current ones?
New Friends: The beautiful thing about being in a band is that every one of us had completely different musical influences throughout their lives. It’s been a great part of creating a blend of sounds in our music that are nostalgic to each of us in our own ways. From Coldplay and Steve Miller Band, to Tchami and Linkin Park, those influences have stuck with each of us as musicians and continue to bring new meaning to our musical lives as we mature as songwriters and producers.
From The Strait: Describe each band member in one word.
New Friends:
Cole – Thorough
Ayden – Passionate
Stefan – Reckless (in a wholesome way)
Nico – Jack-Russel-Terrier
Conrad – Driven
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Check out “Sad Sugar”, the latest single from New Friends!
Follow New Friends on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter!
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