Four years since releasing their debut single “Sober,” ET Boys have incorporated hip hop beats, pop melodies, and electronic flourishes into their sound to make something truly unique. As brothers, producer Sharkeyes and vocalist/lyricist Tacboy have the unique collaborative ability to pull from like-minded sources from their early years together, but still venture into new territory with their distinctive tastes that they’ve developed over time. 

Part of the fun with ET Boys is that you never know that you’re going to get next. It could be a smooth, pop and hip hop hybrid, or it could be an in-your-face electronic dance party. The duo recently shared the new single “Far Away”- a lively ‘80s-inspired pop track infused with hints of modern production and vocals steeped in personality.

A band made of brothers could easily swerve into some melodramatic turns (looking at you Liam and Noel Gallagher), but their bond hasn’t taking any dramatic interjections yet. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. As Sharkeyes points out, he doesn’t want to work with anyone else. 

Currently working on an album for 2025, ET Boys share more about their musical upbringing and provide insight into how a familial bond has shaped the construction of their craft. 

When you were growing up, were your interests quite different from each other? Were you making music at that time? What was that like?

Tacboy: Very similar, I think. I’m the younger brother, so honestly anything that Sharkeyes was into, I would love. We were heavy into manga and anime. I think some of the first things that we saw, which was Dragonball Z and all of the old Toonami cartoons, even Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo and Naruto. I used to love [those] kind of things, and I’m pretty sure my brother does as well.

Sharkeyes: Yeah, definitely grew up watching all of those early anime and cartoons. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo– that was cool. Then, outside of TV, I think we were into the same stuff, I think we were into similar movies. Music-wise, I think we had a little bit of a different taste just because of the age gap. But still, I think we listened to similar stuff like Blink-182, Lil’ Wayne, Linkin Park, Incubus…

And then pop culture, we loved WWF/WWE.

Sharkeyes, do you feel like your interests kind of rubbed off on him, whether it’s music or other interests that you had? 

Sharkeyes: I think maybe a little bit. Maybe he can speak more on that, right Tac?

Tacboy: I think big time. When you’re a younger brother, like 10-12, he’s like the coolest guy you know. I think you start to become your own self as a little brother around 15 or 16, and even then you’re so inspired by what your brother’s doing. You want to be yourself, but you also want to make him proud.

You like what you like, but at the same time, you want your brother’s approval. 

Definitely, for sure. So I know your mom owns the Wake Up label as well, so she obviously has a deep interest in music. Was she a big influence on you musically too from what you were growing up with?

Sharkeyes: I think more so… not in the sense of becoming a creator, or an artist, but she did put us in music lessons growing up. She put both of us in piano and then we kind of both branched off. She put me in drums and she put him in guitar [lessons], so definitely got us started learning music and everything, but starting to make our own stuff was our idea. 

Do you feel like a lot of the music theory that you learned has been helpful for you along the way?

Sharkeyes: I think it’s definitely a good building block. It helps start a lot of ideas in songs, but honestly these days now when I make a beat for my brother, I just send, like, little ideas and beats to him and that’s how we build music. 

I think about keys and stuff, chord progressions and whatnot, but I just try to convey a feeling or a thought or something. I’ll be like, “alright, let me make a feeling of when the main character gets betrayed by his longtime best friend- he stole his woman too.” And I’ll just try to convey that in a beat [laughs], and then I’ll send it over to my brother.

It’s more like a feeling, going by feel…

Sharkeyes: Yeah, exactly. 

Tacboy: That’s it for me. I play guitar, but now honestly, I still know the bass clef and treble clef, but I just play tabs. I don’t even know how to read music as well anymore. 

Going by feeling is a lot more personal and relatable than just technicality, so that makes sense. How has your musical taste changed since you started ET Boys? Do you think that change has manifested itself in the music as well?

Tacboy: I think it’s harder for me to even get into new bands and new music. I feel like I’m still kind of listening to what I listened to in high school [laughs], because I’m listening to them as they grow up also. It’s kind of cool, but if a friend puts something on, and I like it, I have a hard time getting into new groups than I used to. I think when you’re like 17 or 18, especially in high school as a boy, you want to find something that you like and stick with it. 

As I get older, I definitely listen to more EDM. I like trance right now, but back then I was listening to mainly rap, pop-punk. I still love pop-punk though. It has a soft spot in my heart. I will never stop listening to that, but I think I’ve delved more into electronic. 

And Sharkeyes, do you feel like the same way? Do you feel like you’re more into electronic music at this point? 

Sharkeyes: It has been the opposite for me. So my big electronic phase was when I was like, in the end of high school and beginning of my early college days. I really liked trance back then. I really liked EDM. I thought Bassnectar was an absolute genius. I thought everything he put out was just incredible, so I listened to a lot of EDM back then, but I don’t listen to it as much these days. I still listen to a lot of Lil’ Wayne. I love his mixtape stuff. I listen to that- it gets me going in the gym. 

I have branched out. I produce the stuff and I make the sounds, so I have branched out my listening quite a bit recently. I’ll be listening to like, a Japanese jazz group from the ‘70s, and it’s just like, “man, this is crazy stuff.” It does help inspire me. I think the name of the group is Casiopea. They have these crazy breakdowns and compositions where I’m like, “whoa, this is crazy shit.”

At the end of the day, if i’m just at my house chilling, I still listen to the stuff I grew up with, unfortunately. I think a lot of people fall into that trap. You always think the best music ever was when you were in high school and college, so I do have to agree with that. 

Do you ever clash with figuring out where to take a song, because maybe you have a different direction, or is it pretty easy? 

Tacboy: No, never. I think we sectioned our way of making music so well that we’re never going to clash. He’s pure production and I’m pure vocals, so it’s kind of hard for us to clash, because if I like the beat, I’m going to do something with it. I don’t think we’ve ever clashed, [to Sharkeyes] what do you think?

Sharkeyes: Yeah, I agree. We’ve never clashed. I just make a bunch of little beats or ideas and send them over to him. Whichever one he likes, he puts vocals on. Every time he sends them back, I always like them. I’m never like, “oh, I was thinking more of this with the vocals…”

Honestly when I’m making a beat, I don’t even think about what the vocals are going to sound like. I just try to make the beat sound cool. I don’t even think about where the vocals would fit or anything like that. I just leave that all to my brother, and he does a pretty good job, so I just let him do his thing. 

That’s cool. So what is the dynamic like making music while you’re being based in different cities from each other? Is that difficult?

Tacboy: It sucks! Yeah, I hate it. When you’re together and making music at the same time, you’re constantly flowing with each other and then I’m getting pumped up because my brother’s liking it, and that’s making me perform better. When you’re together…

Sharkeyes: It’s that synergy. A song takes so much longer to make not being in the same place. If we’re in the same area, having a jam session, just making music, we can literally make a couple of songs in a few hours just because we’re physically in each other’s presence. You can’t beat that in-person feeling and  energy that gets created. You can’t beat that.

What is it like balancing having this musical connection, being in a band, but you’re also brothers? Is it difficult to balance the music side and also your personal lives? Do you separate those two?

Sharkeyes: I think it makes it a million times easier that we’re brothers. If he was just some guy I was sending the music to, and he was sending me lyrics back, I wouldn’t really care about the project at all, if I’m being honest [laughs]. It makes it a lot easier. We don’t ever fight about anything. We got all our fights out when we were younger. I don’t think I’ll fight with my brother ever again to be honest. I’d do anything for him. You know, when you’re kids, you get all of the fights out. We’re brothers.

I feel like some people, even when they work with someone whose a best friend or sibling, sometimes they say “I argue and I don’t like this part and I want to change that part,” so it feels like you have this synergy that’s very unique. 

Sharkeyes: I guess people with only siblings that they really love will understand. I have best friends too, but it doesn’t come close to a bond that you have with a brother or sister. 

And you have worked with a few different producers as well. What do they bring to the music, and production-wise how have you been inspired?

Sharkeyes: I do make all of the beats, but I never really went to school for sound engineering or sound design or any professional mixing and mastering, so they help put all of those finishing touches and give it that professional studio feel. Essentially, we’re a bedroom studio. My studio is a damn laptop, a keyboard, and my brother’s studio is a microphone in his closet [laughs], so that is where the music is coming from. We do need a little help to make it sound more professional. I do eventually want to learn that stuff, and I will get to it, but for now I just like making this music and writing the songs. 

And because you’ve had so many styles in your music, is it sometimes challenging to determine which direction you’re going to take the sound on a track?

Tacboy: I honestly wouldn’t say so. I think that my brother makes so many different kinds of different styles. Whatever it comes out through the night, then I’ll just do something with whatever he’s making at the time. I honestly think that’s he’s definitely the glue behind me and him. He created the swag of us. 

Sharkeyes: It’s funny he says that, because I think the opposite. I just make whatever I think sounds cool, and if I find a sound that I think sounds cool, I just work with it. That’s why it sounds like a lot of different genres at times. It’s whatever I think sounds cool and is fun to bop to. He thinks I’m the glue, I think he is because without his vocals and without his lyricism, they’re just beats. No one wants to listen to random beats with no story and no vocals and no sounds. If it wasn’t for him, there would be no project. 

It sounds like you guys couldn’t imagine working with anyone else in a band. 

Tacboy: Doubt it.

Sharkeyes: Yeah, I don’t want to. A lot of the live guitars that you hear…we do have two friends that help us with the guitars, and they’re dope as hell, but it’s not like working with my brother. 

You’re releasing a full-length album this year. What can you tell us about it and how it differs from some of the previous material? “Far Away” sounds much more ‘80s, so is that the direction you’re taking the album or is it going to be different than that?

Tacboy: I wouldn’t say the same as “Far Away,” but I think some of them do stem from “Far Away.” We sound a little bit more professional now. I personally think that my lyrics have gotten- not to toot my own horn or anything- but I’m starting to listen to my own stuff again and I definitely like the way that what I’m saying nowadays is what I was saying three to four years ago. It’s just a little bit more professional. [To Sharkeyes] What do you think? 

Sharkeyes: Yeah, I’m definitely inspired by a lot of ‘80s music. I really love Phil Collins. I listen to a lot of Phil Collins, so you will hear some ‘80s sounds in some of the tracks. Like all of our prior projects, you’re going to hear songs that dip into a lot of different genres, but ultimately creates a sound that’s unique to us. This album is going to have a lot of different types of songs, but I think as we keep making music each year, we’re getting a little bit better- slowly but surely. I think it’ll definitely be our best project and there’s going to be a lot of cool and fun songs on there. 

What’s your favorite anime?

Sharkeyes: It’s a basic answer, but I grew up with it and it means a lot to me, so Dragonball Z. I grew up with it, and you know, it’s just ripped guys fighting. It makes young boys want to be tough and be strong. That’s just a good message, not just for young boys, but any young person. It’s a basic message, but it’s about going past your limits and doing things that you thought you couldn’t do before. You can’t hate that. People hate that these days, but c’mon, it’s Dragonball. 

Tacboy: My favorite anime would definitely be Parasyte- Parasyte: The Maxim. Amazing story, but I’m reading this manga right now where it’s about free diving. I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s really cool. This guy, apparently he was born by dolphins but he’s a human, but he’s really cool [laughs]. It’s really well written and the full page drawings are just excellent. It’s honestly inspirational just seeing the way people can create stories sometimes without even text. Just a drawing for a full panel… I love that kind of stuff. That’s what gets me inspired as well. 

So as far as the next few years are there any particular goals that you have for ET Boys? Whether it’s music, what kind of success or tour you want to have?

Sharkeyes: I would love to be in a movie. Not me myself, but one of our songs in a movie or a video game or a TV show or an anime. I think that would be sick

Very cool. That would be easier to do I feel like because you have so many different sounds, so it could work for a lot of projects.

Sharkeyes: A lot of times I’ll be making a song that I think would fit with a certain type of emotional scene, so hopefully one day it’ll happen.