Earlier this week, OBB dropped their amazing “Is This A Thing” EP, which contains three awesome tracks. It spawned two singles titled, “Mona Lisa” and “Sweater”, which was released in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and they’ve been gaining in popularity, rising the success of this band.
Undeniably catchy, all three songs manage to showcase OBB in the best possible light, easily stamping their way into the music industry. They are a trio made up of the Oswald brothers: Zach, Jacob, and Nich. They released their debut EP back in 2011 and they’ve certainly come a long way since. Their latest singles, which appear on this EP, have gained recognition from Radio Disney to Google Chromebook to Dude Perfect. They’re certainly on the road to success and this EP is certainly a testament to that.
We are honoured to have been able to exclusively interview OBB. They found time out to answer our questions and talk about the EP, the success of their latest songs, and what we can expect from them in the future.
Hi OBB, we hope you are having a great day, what have you been up to lately?
Hey there. We’ve spent most of our time lately writing and recording in the studio.
Before we jump in and talk about your new EP, we would like you to introduce yourselves and how you came up with the name OBB.
We are three brothers. Zach is the lead singer, plays acoustic guitar and is the oldest brother. Jacob plays electric guitar, sings harmony and is the middle brother, and Nich plays the drums, sings harmonies and is the youngest brother. The name OBB comes from our last name being “Oswald” Brothers Band. Early on, our fans would chant “OBB” so it just stuck.
How would you describe your music?
Our music is Big Beat POP/Rock, we love catchy hooks!
Your new EP is titled “Is This A Thing”, can you tell us more about the EP and about each of the songs?
Our EP “Is This A Thing” has three songs, “Mona Lisa”, “Sweater”, and “Is This A Thing”. “Sweater” was written while we were up in New Hampshire doing a few shows. We were talking about how our current girlfriends kept taking our sweaters throughout the winter, so here we were in New Hampshire with nothing warm to wear. “Mona Lisa” was written about women being works of art and we want to do whatever it takes to get their attention and for them to take a chance on us. “Is This A Thing” was written about Nich. Nich, at that time, had a girl he liked and things were moving forward or were they? Ha. That was the point. He was never sure if it was a thing or not.
Which track is your favourite, and why?
It’s hard to pick a favorite, we wrote them at different times in our lives with things we were going through so they all have special places in our hearts.
From the songs on the EP, what is your favourite lyrics, and why?
“Mona Lisa” has our favorite lyrics. We enjoyed the movie dumb and dumber when they were younger and one of the lines was from the movie when the guy asks this girl, “What are my chances?” and she says, “One in a million” and he says, “So you say there’s a chance”. That’s just how we feel. These girls may be out of our league but if there’s a chance, we are willing to take it.
Two of the songs have previously been released as singles, “Sweater” and “Mona Lisa”. What has the reactions to those songs been like?
Our first song, “Sweater”, was picked up by Radio Disney and actually became one of their top three requested songs for several weeks in a row. “Mona Lisa” got picked up by Google and was used throughout the holidays and Dude Perfect used it in their video with over 60 million views. So overall the reactions have been great.
“Sweater” even received an official music video, what was that like to film?
Filming “Sweater” was a blast. Working with the dancers was a lot of fun. The Director was great too and had a real vision.
Do you have a specific memory from the time you were on set?
One of my memories was watching how the choreographer put together the moves with a sweater and watching the dancers execute these moves with a sweater.
We loved watching how the story unfolded.
Can we expect more official music videos from you?
Absolutely.
“Sweater” is approaching two million Spotify streams and is currently your biggest hit to date, how does that feel?
Great! It’s humbling to see a song we wrote mean so much to other people.
Alongside the announcement of your EP, you also released an acoustic video for “Mona Lisa”, what was that like to film?
“Mona Lisa” acoustic video was filmed in New Hampshire. It was a lot of work setting up the set. We spent an entire night shooting it. I remember coming back to the house when the sun was coming up, but it was worth it because we loved the outcome of the video.
The song has been gaining success recently. What was it like seeing it being featured in a Google Chromebook National Ad Campaign, and how did it come about?
The Google ad was a nice surprise. Google contacted our Record Label, Curb Records, after they heard it on Spotify. The first time we saw it on TV we were pretty excited.
https://youtu.be/ojOBx5tc9Jw
Not only that, but “Mona Lisa” also appeared in Dude Perfect’s video “Water Bottle Flip 2”, which has over 70 million views. How does it feel knowing the song has been heard that many times?
We love Dude Perfect and have been fans of theirs for a long time! So every time they use one of our songs we are pretty pumped! It’s cool seeing the reactions from the Dude Perfect viewers.
So, the new track is the title track “Is This A Thing”. What made you decide to name the EP after the song that hadn’t been released yet?
Our EP of three songs is about love. Love/Relationships starts with the “Is this a thing” so we made it the namesake.
Where did the inspiration for the song come about?
Nich was kind of dating this girl and things were moving ahead, he thought but wasn’t sure, and he just talked to us about – if we thought they were in a relationship or not. Nich actually wasn’t with us when we wrote the song. We were on tour and our tour bus broke down and Nich was getting it fixed. When he heard the song later that day, he said: “Did you write this about me?” We all laughed.
What does this song mean to you?
It’s a fun but deep song about what a lot of people go through when they are dating. Does the other person feel the same way about me? Is this going anywhere?
Who and what inspires you? And who do you look up to in the music industry?
There are so many talented artists and bands. We are inspired by John Mayer, Coldplay, One Republic.
What else can we expect from OBB in the future?
We are busy writing and recording music. You will hear more new music soon!
And, finally, do you have a message for your fans?
We love our fans. We have grown up a lot since we started. Nich was only 13 when we officially started as a band, so a lot of our fans have grown up with us. We look forward to continuing the journey with them and introducing a lot more people to our music.
Thank you OBB for taking the time out to answer our questions. We are absolutely loving your “Is This A Thing” EP and cannot wait for you to release even more new music.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, we reviewed OBB’s new EP here on CelebMix, after exclusively premiering the unheard EP title track “Is This A Thing” the day before. Their new EP is available to download and stream right now, through Curb Records.