Two Friends and PATRÓN: A Match Made in Music Heaven
BY
Erica Campbell | Aug 05, 2025
“Lovers & Friends” by Lil’ Jon, The East Side Boyz, Usher, and Ludacris. “Pour It Up” by Rihanna. “Marry You” by Bruno Mars. “Whatever You Like,” by T.I.. Whenever there’s a hit song you can’t help but learn all the words too — a mention of PATRÓN is not far behind.
Lyrically, artists have always incorporated the premium tequila into their nights out and biggest hit songs, and now, PATRÓN is bringing that vibe from airwaves to IRL experiences at seven major music festivals. PAPER had the pleasure of hanging out at one of these festival stops for Lollapalooza — in the beautifully decorated, equipped with ceiling fans and bamboo chairs (thank goodness), multi-story PATRÓN Hacienda. That’s where we sipped on their signature Headliner Margarita cocktail, danced to DJ sets, and got to hang backstage with Producer/DJ duo Two Friends.
Before they played a headlining set on the festival’s famous Perry’s Stage (with a drumline, horn section, saxophonist, and 500 drones) they played a set at PATRÓN Hacienda (basically a music heaven), including life-changing (in our humble opinion) remixes of “I Will Survive” and “Mr. Brightside.”
Below, we catch up with Matt Halper and Eli Sones to talk about festival antics, new music, and (of course) how music sounds better with PATRÓN.
You recently dropped a single. Tell us about it. What was the inspiration?
Matt Halper: “No One Else” is our latest single and the release has been really fun because it’s our first song in a while. It took a minute to get out, but it’s finally here. It’s the start of a lot of new music. We filmed the music video in June. We actually had PATRÓN with us, we did a whole party scene on a roof. It has Corbyn Besson as the singer; he’s amazing, he’s the absolute dude. He was in a band called Why Don’t We now he’s doing a solo thing. People love the song. We premiered it a while ago and have been playing it every show since. We can’t wait to play it at Lolla.
Speaking of performing, what songs do you think fans are having the most fun with right now live?
Eli Sones: I’m gonna give one of our own songs and a separate song. Of our own songs, we just talked about “No One Else.” Believe it or not, there are a couple of unreleased songs that we’ve been teasing in our sets, and people are starting to catch on. I think there’s gonna be two in our Lolla set. People have been singing the words even though they’re not even out yet. One’s called “Way It Was,” and one’s called “Waiting For You.” And then a song that’s been a great reaction in general, do you have one?
Halper: Yeah, I mean in electronic music, one of the songs of the year, which we’ve been doing edits of is The Days’ “Notion Remix." It’s a massive, massive song in our sets. Actually, I don’t think we’re playing it at Lolla.
Sones: I think we are.
Halper: Yes, at Hacienda House. We’ll get a little bit of it. That’s been a banger.
What are you most excited about when it comes to playing a festival like Lollapalooza?
Halper: Let’s just say Chicago ... they go hard. The elevator was a party in and of itself. When I was going up from the airport, going back to my room, I was in sweatpants and a t-shirt. No one recognized me. It was all good. On the way down though, it was a party. People are really showing up in Chicago for Lolla. We’ve been here once before. I guess I forgot how hard people put on.
What can we expect from your headline set?
Sones: I mean, energy-wise, we’re going 10 out of 10. We aren’t holding back. We’ve been ready for this weekend for a long time, so we’ve been putting a lot of sweat and tears into this with the whole team. I know our post-show vibe, we celebrate with PATRÓN, obviously. There’s a lot of great artists performing, there’s afterparties as well. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We’re hoping to get the energy up, for sure.
Ok, marathon not a sprint. Any other advice you'd offer festival goers?
Halper: Lolla not being a camping festival ... you’re already 10 steps ahead. If it was a camping festival, I’d have way more tips. But hydrate, sunscreen and earplugs. Easy. As he said, it’s a marathon not a sprint. It’s a long day, be safe.
Sones: I need to add to that, because Matt’s are all very tangible things. What about an intangible tip: open mind and willingness. Maybe you’ve never heard of the band or the act. It’s ok if your friends are pressuring you to go to someone else. Explore new people. Back when we were growing up, going to music festivals one year we went to Lollapalooza, we drove from LA to Chicago. I remember that’s how you’d discover your favorite new acts. You chill at one of the stages and you’re like “Who’s this?” and they become one of your favorite artists.
You drove from LA to Chicago? That's wild.
Halper: It was a memorable road trip. We’ll never forget it. We did two weeks, starting in LA. We got to Chicago probably the day before Lolla and we went the whole weekend. It was one of the reasons we started Two Friends.
That's beautiful. Ok, before we go, what can we expect next from Two Friends?
Sones: On the music side, there’s a lot coming. We’ve got a bunch of new songs. Stay tuned, we’ve got a bunch of new music coming this fall. I would say we have some surprises at our set. With our friends, PATRÓN, we’ve got a big surprise. It’s something we’ve never done before. I would say be there. Be there. It’s fun.
Photography: PATRÓN
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