Dan + Shay recently had an industry party celebrating their two most-recent No. 1 hits, both for “From the Ground Up” and “How Not To.” The duo, made up of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, included the songs on their 2016 Obsessed album, writing all but two tracks on the record, including “From the Ground Up.”
For Dan +Shay, the chart-topping singles show how far the guys have already come.
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“I think we’ve just grown as people and we write better songs now,” Mooney shared with PopCulture.com at a recent media event. “Just from the sheer fact of, we’ve been doing it for a while, around a lot better songwriters than us. I think that helps you, to be around people that are more talented than you.”
Dan + Shay have learned and experienced plenty since they first joined forces, initially to write together, at the end of 2012. Since then, the guys have released two albums (with a third one in the works), and charted six singles, including their current “Tequila.” Through it all, their most important lesson has been to sit back and enjoy the ride.
“One thing that I’ve learned, really, is just to be able to really slow it down, and to take every single day as it comes,” says Mooney. “You live it like it could be your last, because we’re not promised tomorrow. Not to get weird and be like, ‘Oh, it’s a very ominous feeling,’ but it really is. And that’s not [to say], ‘Man, we don’t have a lot of time left,’ it’s to be like, ‘Man, we have today. We definitely have today and we need to use that.’
“And if you do that, and you live every day like it’s your last, I think that makes you appreciate not only what you have but the people that are in your life,” he adds. “Not only our band guys or Dan — and being able to do this with my best friend is the coolest thing in the world — but with my family. Every singly day I get to see my little boy, I need to take that. Instead of being tired and sitting on the couch and watching TV, to actually get down there and play with him with the time we have.”
Dan + Shay will soon have a little less time to relax at home. The guys will hit the road later this year, to serve as the opening act on Rascal Flatts’ Back to Us Tour, as well as continue to headline their own shows. A list of all of their upcoming shows is available on their website.
Photo Credit: Facebook/Dan + Shay
