Best friends and musical collaborators Exon and Banks have one of those stories that, dominated by happy coincidences and just following their gut feeling, would have never been predictable yet somehow turned out just the right way. Maybe because everything the two Swedes do just comes natural to them, developing from their genuine interests and passions. “We have lived in the same town since childhood, but it was not until our common friends decided to do a road trip to Berlin together that we found each other, in the dusty morning hours at a techno club. We got talking about life, music, and future dreams. Back in Sweden we started to produce music and video art together and Exon Banks was born”, the two describe how their collaboration started.
It’s no surprise then that their newest track, a cover of 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop”, originated from that same place of just going with the flow. “Exon always sings this song in the early morning hours or just when she’s in a good mood, so one day while we were cooking, singing, and making music Exon sang Candy Shop again while Banks made this smokey electronic beat and there it was… But of course in the end the interesting thing with doing this cover is that we’re kind of bending limits of what’s ok and not ok to say as a man or as a woman.”
With that in mind Exon and Banks created a downtempo version of 50 Cent’s 2000s hit, focusing on giving the song their own interpretation and questioning why it differs so heavily from the one a man might have. “The meaning of the song is still the same, but we think it will be perceived differently depending on whether it’s sung by a man or a woman. We thought it was interesting to expand those perspectives a bit. Most people like to have sex because it’s a natural part of being a human, but very often it feels like society or whatever it is makes different ideas about how you are expected to talk about it.” Or, in Exon Banks’ case, sing about it. With their own version of “Candy Shop”, the two girls start their personal mission of channeling that – and put together a playlist with their favorite perspective changing covers for INDIE below.
