“Digital Friends” explores the illusion of human connection online – how can we miss someone, before ever meeting them? No Mana, with nostalgic, whimsical basslines, breathes life into the fantasy of ‘digital friends,’ with lyrics reflecting online intimacy from SOFI.

No Mana’s distinct electro soundscape has found fans in deadmau5, REZZ (who remixed his track “Clear”), and Don Diablo. Collaborating with names like Tommy Trash, i_o, and EDDIE, he effortlessly proves that his sound is for the masses.

SOFI is the voice and writer behind the deadmau5’s “Sofi Needs a Ladder,” and “One Trick Pony” from the GRAMMY-nominated album ‘4×4=12.’ Also working with Skrillex, Zedd, and Porter Robinson, she’s continuing to solidify her stance as a prolific voice in the electronic scene.

How did this collab come about? What inspired it?

  • J: The track started without either of us together, actually. Production-wise, I started it as a bootleg like how I start many of my songs, and unlike most of those songs it was the closest I’ve considered clearing the samples to make it an original. Obviously that didn’t happen, so I approached Sof (whom I’ve met through EDDIE, video shootings and random LA outings with artist-friends) to see if she would like to take a stab at it with something new or something she already had, so she sent Digital Friends which was something she was working on during the pandemic. I took the vocals and just produced around this fun but melancholic vibe that reminded me that most of life was on the internet (it kinda still is). I used a lot of sounds that remind me of the music I listened to at that time – lots of electro house, Van She Tech, Digitalism, and dare I say, SOFI Needs a Ladder. I think taking a blog house influence couldn’t be any more fitting for this track especially for one titled “Digital Friends” (who would do that).
  • S: Jordan (No Mana) and I have been friends for a few years now, so it was kind of inevitable that we’d collaborate on a song sooner than later. He told me he was working on an album and asked if I’d be down to get on a song. He is such a creative in all facets and just a great dude. We went back and forth a bit on the arrangement and overall sound but everything flowed so easily.

What made you want to explore the themes of digital relationships?

  • J: I’m really excited to explore this theme together just because digital culture feels second nature to me based on my own experiences and relationships, and I get to express that through dance music and shitposting about it on the internet.
  • S: Like most people during the pandemic I found myself being more active on social media, checking messages and connecting with people online I didn’t know in real life, way more than I normally do. At some point during one of those text conversations, the term “Digital Friends” came up, so I leaned into it and started playing with lyrics around the topic.

How did the digital revolution impact your own relationships?

  • J: I’m pretty introverted so it made me feel like I actually had a social life (even though it probably wasn’t real). I’d meet people in chat rooms, explore what their life was like on the other side, talking to strangers til like 4am. At some point it got as bad as logging onto IMVU just to have a connection with someone (if that isn’t the epitome of what the song was warning me about then I dunno). As much as it made relationships, it broke just as many. I had a relationship end because it was believed the face-to-face value made it real, albeit it was long distance. On the other hand, my wife and I’s relationship started mostly with sending each other dumb YouTube videos on Facebook and having dance-offs in World of Warcraft.
  • S: The sense of connection we feel from texting someone on a regular basis and how it can feel like you really know a person, even though I believe it’s mostly the fantasy we create in our heads, the dopamine spikes that come with anticipating hearing from them that create this  sense of intimacy and connection. I had written a lot of lyrics, but in the end, I wanted to keep it fun and light-hearted, so this is the version everyone gets to hear now. At the end of the day, we are all in our own heads, so if you are having a real, visceral experience that feels exciting, who can argue that? On the flip side, being able to reach out to people online all over the globe is so incredible. I mean I vividly remember dial up internet and how insane it felt that someone was on the other end of this clunky computer connecting with me in a chat room. 

How did it impact your art and career?

  • J: It literally is my art and career. I remember spending most of my time on deviantART, which is where I got a lot of inspiration to dive into photography, illustration and then pixel art which at some point I ended up making an emoticon or two for the site. The site had a really healthy social aspect to it which allowed artists to talk and collaborate with each other, but at the time I just saw it as some fun thing I did on my teenage free time (equivalent to a metric fuck ton of free time). In terms of music, other than relationships built in school I would say pretty much all my music connections were made or derived from the internet. SoundCloud was now my deviantART where I just thrived on feedback on the music I created. To make it even more dopamine heavy, there was this site called CloudKillers that would give you real comments from other SoundCloud users (mostly if not all artists) on one of your tracks, in exchange for you commenting on other SoundCloud tracks. Although it wasn’t the most organic way to build a fanbase or profile, I connected with one person from that site and then was led into a small and very intimate Facebook group of like 25 producers (R!OT, Slippy, Exude, Xaebor, Guy Arthur to name a few, and I think Sikdope was there for a second) – I can’t speak for everyone but at the time I’m sure none of us has played a single show yet. We would share our demos and provide constructive feedback (and talk about girls I guess). R!OT connected me to my first manager who made the connections with the labels and agents. So yeah. Internet kinda goated.
  • S: oh man, the nostalgia! I mean yeah, the fact that you can now reach out to an artist or producer, agent, connect with fans all over the world and you can easily collaborate sending files back and forth changed the game. I guess I’m a bit of a dinosaur though and although that’s all super beneficial and amazing I really enjoy being in a room together and vibing. Even with digital friends, we were sending notes back and forth but when Jordan came over and we listened to the track it just sped up the process. 

How did you approach this track from a musical standpoint?

  • J: I took a lot of inspiration from the mentioned music that was nostalgic to me. This production was one of the simpler ones as it’s just drum loops and fx over lots of INIT synths in a row. I focused more on utilizing melodies and rhythm as opposed to having the game be all about sound design. Also, as I’m doing mixing and mastering commissions for others and lots of music to come out soon I decided to invest in a new pair of monitors to improve that part of my skill set – this is the first track that will be released that has been done on those monitors!
  • S: The maiden voyage on the monitors! I didn’t even know that!