Dan + Shay recently released their sophomore album Obsessed on June 3rd via Warner Bros. Records -- the follow-up to their 2014 debut album Where It All Began, which was #1 on the Top Country Album Billboard chart. Obsessed includes its debut single "From The Ground Up," in addition to 9 other new tracks. The guys told us that their album title Obsessed is inspired by the title track. When asked about the meaning behind the song 'Obsessed,' the two told us it's about "being so in love with someone that you're basically obsessed," but also a nod to fans when they tell the guys they are obsessed with the duo's music.
"It's funny, because our fans often tweet the word obsessed, like I'm obsessed with Dan + Shay, or I'm obsessed with your music, or I'm obsessed with your new song, and we just thought it would be a cool nod and tip of the hat to our fans to call our album 'Obsessed,' and to write a song called 'Obsessed.' Shout out to all the fans out there for helping us with this one."
Keeping in line with the Obsessed theme, Dan + Shay recently stopped by iHeartRadio HQ in New York City for a one-on-one interview about all of the things that they are obsessed with. We learned about all of their favorite things including favorite memory from the making of Obsessed, favorite food, favorite movies, favorite band, and more. Check it out below!
THE SONG THAT YOU'RE OBSESSED WITH 'OBSESSED' (OBSESSED INCEPTION):
Dan: "I would have to say that the song I'm obsessed with on Obsessed is 'Already Ready.' I love 'Already Ready,' and I know Shea does too. It's a fun one. It was one of the most fun songs to write and, we're proud of the way it turned out. It's kind of a different flow for us, something unique, something new, but it sounds cool on the album. And, fans seem to dig it, we love playing it live."
THE "FROM THE GROUND UP" LYRICS THAT YOU'RE OBSESSED WITH:
Shay: "I think one of my favorite lyrics in that is, 'I'll be the man your dad hoped that I' be.' I would say that would be one of my favorites. I think that everyone can relate to that. There's always that pressure of the dad, you know, being like, 'you better take care of my daughter.' So, I like that one. It's lot of pressure with dads. I feel like, I remember with my girlfriend's dad, the first time that I met him, there was a lot of pressure. The handshake, that's intimidating, yet accepting. It's a man handshake, and it's like, 'don't screw this up.'"
FAVORITE MEMORY FROM WRITING/RECORDING OBSESSED:
Dan: "I would say our favorite memory, and I'm going to speak for the both of us, from recording our Obsessed album was on the title track, 'Obsessed,' we got to record a full horn section. That was insane. We were at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, and we got to record with Jim Horn, who's played with Elvis [Presley], The Beach Boys, [Frank] Sinatra, you name it, which is crazy. He came in with a great band, and it was just this other worldly experience. I think after the recording process was the coolest part. We sat down and he just told us stories for like three hours. I was sitting there with my phone to film it, but I was just, like, listening to this guy tell stories, and he is just the coolest guy. He's been so many places, done so many cool things, and is extraordinarily talented. So, recording the horns on 'Obsessed' was next level. It was awesome. We got connected with Jim Horn [through] the community in Nashville. It's such a great place. All the musicians, all the producers, songwriters, our co-producer on our album, Scott Hendricks, who's produced, like, 70 number ones. He produces all Blake Shelton's records, Brooks & Dunn's records, Alan Jackson, you name it, it's awesome. He had connection with Jim Horn, and he reached out, and we were like, 'There's no way Jim Horn's going to play on our record.' For some reason, he came and played on our record that day. It was insane, and it was one of the coolest experiences, and listening back on it, it was a once in a lifetime kind of thing."
FOOD OBSESSION:
Shay: "I think we're both pretty obsessed with pizza. Pizza is really really good. I wish I could be a pizza right now. If you could just turn me into a pizza, that'd be pretty great.
Dan: I was going to say, insert a pizza emoji like, right here. Somewhere in this region, you know what I'm saying?
PIZZA OBSESSION:
Dan: My favorite pizza is ... there's a place called Italia Pizza ... well actually, 5 Points Pizza, those are my two joints in Nashville; East Nashville. Really, really good. Any kind of vegetarian pizza, [with] lots of veggies, vegan cheese, possibly almond cheese. That's my go-to. It's really good, high protein, low fat. It's next level."
Shay: I would say Artichoke Pizza in New York, if I was picking a New York spot. It's one of my favorites. There's also the famous Italian pizzeria Domino's [pronounced Domeeno's], also known as Domino's. This is a fun fact ... probably for the first two years that I knew Dan, him and a couple of our friends would call this place called 'Domeeno's,' and I didn't know what they were talking bout. They'd always talk like, 'Yeah there's this great Italian spot called 'Domeeno's.' And forever, I had no idea what he was talking about. Turns out it was Domino's Pizza. So if you want to act fancy, you can call Domino's, 'Domeeno's.'"
HOMETOWN OBSESSION:
Dan: "My hometown obsession would have to be ... I'm from Pittsburgh, so obviously the sports teams; the Steelers, the Penguins, the Pirates. Steelers, obviously a way of life in Pittsburgh.
Shay: "I grew up on a farm, so anything outdoors. Maybe four wheeling, that's a pretty big obsession of mine. I like doing that. Going camping, and whatnot. When I get home, I like to do a lot of outdoor stuff."
FAVORITE FAN MOMENT:
Dan: "A tattoo is a pretty ... that's a next level tribute to us. When somebody gets our lyrics tattooed or the plus sign (+) tattooed. We've got a couple of our lyrics tattooed on ourselves. We've seen some fans get the same ones. That's big deal in somebody's life. That's permanent, so shout out to the fans who are doing that."
Shay: Especially our signature or something. That is very nerve-wracking because you're doing it and you're like, 'I've got to make this perfect, this is going to be permanent.'"
MOVIE OBSESSION:
Dan: "I'm definitely obsessed; I've watched them 30,000 times: The Star Wars movies, and the Christopher Nolan Batman movies. Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. I can't tell you how many times I've watched them."
Shay: I'm a huge movie guy. You can ask Dan, I'm always at the movies. I went to a movie last night by myself because I'm a loser. Small tears. No, it was great. I would say the old Star Wars, and also Anchorman is probably my favorite movie of all time, and Super Troopers is another one. Those are a couple obsessions of mine. My whole high school education that was wasted on quoting Anchorman."
ARTIST OBSESSION - YOUR FAVORITE MUSICIAN/BAND OF ALL TIME:
Dan: "I'm going to speak for the both of us has to be Rascal Flatts. We know every single word to every Rascal Flatts song ever. Shea just wrote a number one song for Rascal Flatts, which is really cool."
RASCAL FLATTS SONG YOU'RE OBSESSED WITH:
Shay: "For me, it would be 'These Days.'"
Dan: "There are so many good ones, uh, I always find myself coming back to 'Fast Cars' and 'Freedom.' It was my ringtone when I had a flip Nokia phone -- they were awesome, you could play Snake after you open the phone.
EMOJI OBSESSION:
Shay: "I would say the smirk emoji, for me. You can make it work for anything. Like, 'just went to the gym!' 😏 I would never say that, but ... Hanging out with my friends, people would be like, I don't know what he means by that, and that's like, kind of cool. You could even say like, "I don't know, what is my favorite emoji?" And then use the smirk, and it would make sense. Makes sense with anything. "Just went and got some food!" You know what I mean?"
Dan: "One of the monkey ones. You know, the hear no evil, see no evil ... Those things are pretty cool. We get ourselves into a lot of trouble, so those re pretty good."
Photos: Rachel Kaplan