Watch The Reaction with Brad & Lex -Interview by Rob Smittix

RRX: First off, I know you do more than just reaction videos on your YouTube channel but I also know that you have done quite a few and this will be the focus of our conversation today. So, I informed you that I am friends with Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult and that I shared with him your reaction video for “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. He got a kick out of it for sure, especially because I’m sure he hasn’t heard new reactions to the song in decades. How does it feel knowing that the artist saw your video? Have you heard of any other artists that have come across your reaction videos of their music?

BRAD: I love it. Knowing that the artist actually watched and liked our reaction brings a big smile to my face every time. We’ve heard from a few artists; they’ll tag us on Facebook or comment directly on one of our videos usually. It happens every now and again but not too often. I’d say less than 10 times in the past year.

LEX: It’s cool to bring the artist some kind of positive feeling after they’ve had such a huge impact on so many people over the years with their music. I would think it might feel like an empty exchange after playing a song so many times, once they’ve got the money and fame or whatever.

RRX: When a song is really popular for decades, how and why do you think that you haven’t been exposed to it before? A lot of reaction video channels focus on new music, but I found that with your channel many of the songs are considered classics. Is it because maybe you were raised listening to other genres?

BRAD: I was raised in a hip hop and rhythm and blues bubble. As a kid, you’d get made fun of by your peers if you listened to music outside of that bubble. In the privacy of my car, I would listen to a radio station that played a wide variety of music, but it was all newer music. My biggest exposure to classic hits was through Guitar Hero. It never occurred to me that these were songs I could listen to outside of the video game. It was all just fun video game music to me.

LEX: Yea, I think so. My parents were also in two different generations so what was culturally relevant to one parent, was slightly different for the other. I think I took an interest in certain things about each of their generations – a mix of Boyz II Men and Sam Cooke vibes (plus we listened to a lot of musical scores and some opera), and then the pop culture I grew up in (Britney Spears, Rihanna, Spice girls, etc), and that was “music” to me. It’s funny because I didn’t feel like I was missing out, even though there was a vast amount of music I had never heard of or listened to. I guess you “don’t know, what you don’t know.”

RRX: I make fun of my son because he’s a gamer and he spends hours watching others play video games. I never understood that but as a music connoisseur I find myself watching endless hours of reaction videos. So, do you think that’s sort of the same thing? Me watching others listening to music.

LEX: Yea probably. I think music reactions are addictive because you can only listen to a song once for the first time, but you can vicariously experience 100 first times via reactions. It’s a different way of listening to your favorite artists and reminiscing about times in life the music got you through. 

BRAD: I think so! When you love something it’s so fun to share it with others, but you can only share it with so many people. With reactions, it’s like introducing your friends to your favorite music and watching them experience it for the first time.

RRX: Any other thoughts about reaction videos you’d like to add? Like what compelled you to do it?

LEX: Originally, we were reacting to social experiments and one of our subscribers suggested we check out an artist in the UK. So, we did, and from there commenters suggested we check out more and more. We never intended for this musical journey to happen but I’m so glad it did.

BRAD: When we got our first music reaction suggestion, we had roughly 100 subscribers. We were hesitant about doing a music reaction because we had never even seen one and didn’t know how to do one. Taking that suggestion led us down a life changing path that has been so much fun! Our subscribers have been guiding us through this whole journey. They’re the best!

RRX: Lastly, anything you’d like to plug? Anything you’d like to say to our audience to get them to come check out your YouTube channel? 

LEX: Thanks for taking the time to interview us. I think it’s so cool bonding over music, and I wish I’d heard “Stairway to Heaven”, “Simple Man”, “Cemetery Gates”, and all of Metallica’s catalog and Slash’s guitar work (and much much more) earlier in life.

BRAD: Lex is the cutest most bubbly girl in the world who has a good ear for music, and I am musically challenged. It’s an odd dynamic but it’s been so fun to listen to songs we’ve never heard together and try to understand the song and each other’s perspective.

Check out Brad and Lex for yourself CLICK HERE.