\n Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.<\/span> Image Press Agency\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
After making music together for a decade, Dan Smyers<\/strong><\/a> and Shay Mooney<\/strong><\/a> were nearly ready to give it all up \u2014 until they turned a corner in their friendship<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we stopped trying to force things, Dan and I got together and really [decided to rekindle] this friendship,\u201d Mooney, 31, told Zane Lowe<\/strong><\/a> during a Friday, August 4, interview with Smyers, 35, on Apple Music 1<\/a>. \u201cAnd we decided, \u2018Let\u2019s get together two, three times a week and just hang out.\u2019 And that really started the beginning of this album process, without us really meaning to. We started getting together at Dan\u2019s house or one of our buddies\u2019 houses, and sitting down with an acoustic guitar and started writing songs.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan + Shay are set to release their latest (and self-proclaimed \u201cbest\u201d) album, Bigger Houses<\/i>, next month. The record features plenty of songs that accurately depict their friendship journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can feel the closeness of our relationship, I think, through every little fiber of what that song became, and I think this is the first time an entire record has truly felt like this is who we are as people and this is where we\u2019re at in our lives, but this is also where we want to go,\u201d Mooney added on Friday. \u201cI feel like we believed every word that we were singing. We\u2019ve either been through it or going through it right now, and I just think that that came out through the recording process and the writing process. It just felt kind of meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n The Grammy-winning group previously revealed in a YouTube<\/a> video in July that they nearly disbanded after not speaking for four months<\/a>. \u201cI was in the lowest low of my entire life,\u201d Smyers recalled at the time. \u201cCame off the road and I was like, \u2018Man, I f\u2014king hate music. I\u2019m ready to quit.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Smyers and Mooney further reflected on their mindset, explaining on Friday that writing their new song \u201cAlways Gonna Be\u201d changed everything.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter 10 years of being a band, things kind of happened,\u201d Smyers said. \u201cAfter our arena tour, the highest high of our entire lives, I feel like we were in the lowest personal place and our relationship wasn\u2019t as strong as it had been, and it was just because being in a duo is tough. It\u2019s like a marriage. If you don\u2019t go out of your way to foster that relationship, foster the growth<\/a>, life can get in the way and you can grow apart.\u201d<\/p>\n While he noted that the pair were not \u201cenemies,\u201d they were not spending \u201cenough\u201d quality time as friends after touring commitments ended<\/a>. \u201cWe sat down one night, we weren\u2019t sure, honestly, full transparency, if we were going to be a band anymore,\u201d Smyers recalled. \u201cWe aired everything out.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cWe were just like, \u2018Look man, our music has meant a lot to a lot of people. No matter what happens\u2026 if we decide this is going to be our last tour<\/a>, or if this is going to be the beginning of a new chapter and we\u2019re going to just keep raising the bar, keep doing the thing, we got to get ourselves right. We owe that to ourselves. We owe that to our fans.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mooney chimed in, noting that the duo had to prioritize open lines of communication and learn to \u201creally appreciate\u201d the band\u2019s successes<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunication is the biggest thing. That is something that\u2026 right now, we\u2019re in lockstep [about],\u201d Smyers replied. \u201cAnd that\u2019s something that we learned, it can go away. If you\u2019re not focusing on it, if you\u2019re not going out of your way to communicate, be open with each other, everything\u2019s out, put it on the table, things can [end and] we can go our separate ways.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cCommunication is key [for us] to keep this thing going and make it infinitely sustainable to allow us to make the best records<\/a> we possibly can and do our fans right. Just communicating, being open with each other, talking, hanging out, being the best friends that we are, and remembering that. Not taking it for granted, not taking each other for granted. Because man, this truly is a dream to get to sit with my best friend in the world, make music, travel around and see places we\u2019ve never been before. It\u2019s truly incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/How-Dan-and-Shay-Overcame-the-Lowest-Personal-Place-in-Their-Friendship-Almost-Disbanding-Inline.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay perform outside Rockefeller Center in New York on December 2, 2020.<\/span> ASON SZENES\/EPA-EFE\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n