For many artists, the task of releasing 100 songs in 100 weeks might sound daunting, if not next to impossible. But Bryce Savage and Cameron Wales, known collectively as Neffex, embraced the challenge and indeed thrived. Now, they’ve dropped their debut EP Q203 and all of the hard work is now paying off.
“A lot of the 100 songs in 100 weeks, we were just making whatever we felt like that week,” says Savage. “We had different experiences each week, we were finding new instruments each week, so it was like a playground of music and we just made a ton of different genres. But now, we’re really trying to home in on what our sound is. Still trying to remain genre-less, but also home in on a sound that’s more polished and ready to be broadcast around the world. We just want a sick, polished sound that’s all our own.”
That initial two-year burst of work is particularly impressive when you consider the fact that it generated 1.5 billion streams for the duo—a ridiculous number for a band fresh off the blocks.
“I think it was number 40 when it started snowballing,” says Wales. “20 was when it started picking up and people were taking notice, but 40 was like it was doing well.”
“I think it was around 25 when we were making enough that we could quit our jobs,” adds Savage.
The two musicians have known each other since they were 15, playing in a garage-punk rock band that wasn’t going anywhere, so Savage and Wales started making music on the side on laptops.
“All these different softwares were popping up where you could just basically have an entire band on your computer,” says Savage. “So we started doing that, pretty much all through high school. When it came to college, I went to school and Cam went to LA to start a studio. In my senior year of college, we met back up and realized we were both doing music. We were happy when we were 15 just making music together, so we might as well do that again. So right after college, we got an apartment together and started Neffex.”
Boy, has it paid off. And with the sort of numbers that the boys were generating online, it wasn’t going to be long before the labels started knocking. Enter 12Tone.
“I believe Ari [Berger, A&R] found us,” says Savage. “We had her over, we really liked her vibe, really good energy, and then she brought Steve Bartels down. He flew out, hung with us in the studio, and we just loved him. We thought they felt like family, so we decided to sign.”
That Q203 EP is out now. Since our interview with them, the band has released two singles, "Space" and "New Beginnings."
Date Signed: N/A
Label: 12Tone
Band Members: Bryce Savage and Cameron Wales
Type of Music: Pop-Alternative
Management: Omid Noori and Ryan Sullivan - ATG Media
Booking: Phil Quist - CAA
Legal: Renee Karalian
Publicity: Lydia Kanuga - 12Tone
Web: Neffexmusic.com
A&R: N/A
