After a two year hiatus from the music scene, brothers Chad and Tyler Sowards have joined together to form the new alt-pop duo, SOWARDS.
The brothers have utilized their groovy guitar style and nostalgic lyricism to create fresh and authentic songs made for more alternative-oriented audiences. And on August 17th, the group released their debut single, “I Don’t Want to Love U,” with their follow up, “Do Over,” dropping Wednesday September 21st.
While the project known as SOWARDS is new, the brothers have seen acclaim with their previous band iterations and are no strangers to the scene. Utilizing retro-styled guitar tones and sticky choruses, fans can expect songs that parallel acts such as LANY, The Band CAMINO, and Lauv. Their lyrics tend to float the border between nostalgic introspection and relationship reminiscing, all while embracing the lessons that came from them. Now, with a sculpted sound more associated with alternative/indie pop, the two have been focused on delivering music that feels natural to them.
We got to chat with SOWARDS to learn more about their new project, singles, and much more.
So I see SOWARDS is newer to the scene. What can you tell us about this project and what people can expect with your music?
We’re brothers, Chad and Tyler Sowards. Hence the name (creative – we know). We’re super excited about branching into our own thing and releasing music we’ve been sitting on for quite a while now, which is where “Do Over” really began. This song comes about in wishing you maybe didn’t say that one thing during an argument because you can’t ever take back the way you make someone feel. What we want people to expect with our music is that our songs are about real life; situations and feelings they can have an emotional connection with. We both enjoy singing, and feel we have the chops (or at least our grandma tells us), so people can expect our music to be vocal-driven, messing with harmonies, and giving something people can relate to.
How might SOWARDS compare or contrast from the music you made prior with your other bands?
We feel like it can take artists several years to develop their sound, and that’s definitely been true for us. With SOWARDS, we’re finally figuring out exactly what we want to sound like and who we want to be. Dipping into our writing style, which has more “moody/indie pop vibes” is something we’ve been chasing for awhile now but feel we’re finally able to deliver.
What led you to release “I Don’t Want to Love U” as your debut single?
We felt like it was the most ready song that reflected the direction and sound we were going for. It was really important to us that we dialed in the first song and we feel like “IDWLU” is that perfect building block for our future releases.
And what can you tell us about your upcoming releases?
We’re planning on releasing a few more singles this year and hopefully an EP in early 2023. We’re hopping in the studio later this month to cut another song, and have about 5 rotating demos that are always in progress. We just want to keep releasing songs we’re proud of and to hopefully find some fans that can share that with us.
Where do you typically find inspiration for your songwriting and song production?
Mostly when we take long walks on the beach or romantic walks through snow covered forests. Kidding, of course (maybe – not really). Our sound is mostly inspired by our favorite bands. We like to make music that we like to listen to, so a lot of times we listen to the artists we like for inspiration. Some of our favorite songs are sad songs about relationships, which is kinda funny because we’re both happily married. We’re able to pull certain aspects from our relationships, but we just like how sad songs can connect emotionally; similarly to Lewis Capaldi. His moodier, sad, songs are amazing, but he comes off so funny and goofy. We love that duality, and he’s 100% our spirit animal.
What messages or feelings do you hope to convey in your music?
We hope that people get hooked by the sound of the song and stay for the lyrics. We think a lot of young people/adults could relate to the music because it’s a lot of what we’ve gone through, maybe continue to struggle with, and what they are most likely going through. We also crave finding addictive melodies. So, if we can do that while saying something real and true, we feel like our music can change someone’s perspective on whatever they may be going through.
What artists might you like to work with in the future? Whether that be songwriting, touring, etc.
We love listening to local Nashville bands. Nashville indie bands have a sound that we’re drawn to and we think a lot of other people are too; Nightly and LANY to name a few. We also get a lot of inspiration from Justin Bieber, Charlie Puth, Lauv, Jon Bellion, and The Band Camino. Writing or touring with any of them would be a dream.
Do you have any touring or regional gigs lined up?
Not yet! We’re taking it slow out of the gate and just releasing music for the enjoyment of it. We’re going to look at hopping around the city come the spring of 2023. There’s so many awesome venues that support up-and-comers so we’d love to play a show in Nashville as our first show as SOWARDS.
What are some of your attainable goals as a band in the next three or four years?
Headlining a national tour with Justin Bieber as our opening act (more jokes). But for real, we’re just enjoying the ride and enjoying making music again. We took two years off during Covid after everything shut down, so it feels good and we feel blessed to even be making music again. We honestly thought we had hung up our cleats for good, so everyday we get to keep making music feels like a bonus. We hope people like our music and connect with it in a real way and hopefully a time comes where we can play some shows with some of the bands we listed earlier!
