If you’ve been to any dance music festival in the last couple years or tuned in to any deep house radio station, you’ve probably heard Blonde's dancefloor-ready feel-good take on house music. Looks like everything Jacob Manson and Adam Englefield produce turns into a hit, from the Alex Newell-assisted “All Cried Out” to their fresh effort “Nothing Like This,” which marks the homecoming of the UK’s pop-garage king Craig David as well as Blonde’s US debut. Can they get into Debbie Harry’s headspace and repeat the iconic lines from “Tide is High”: “I’m gonna be your number one”? After our chat with Jacob, we’re positive that anything is possible for these guys with some serious ambitions. Before you hear the name everywhere, here are 10 things you should know about Blonde.

They’re From Bristol

Jacob was born in Bristol aka the birthplace of trip-hop and Adam went to a university there. “It’s a great city for musical history and culture”, Jacob comments. “Growing up there taught me that there’s a big community of people who are very open to different types of music. It was never just one genre. Grime was very big when I was growing up, so was dubstep, so was house, so was garage and funky house. And everyone loved everything. You’d see the same people at the techno and house nights.”

They Met Through YouTube

In the age of Internet collaborations, you don’t even need to meet the person you’re working with. “I was in university in Leeds and Adam was studying in Bristol,” Jacob explains. “He was running a YouTube channel and I was making music. Then a friend pointed me towards Adam’s channel, I found his email, sent him a track and he email back saying that he loved it. He started uploading songs that I was making to his channel. Then he sent me some stems for the tracks that he wanted me to remix. So we started working from there.”

Only One of Them is Blonde

Adam is blonde and Jacob is not, but the duo’s name has nothing to do with their hair color. “There’s no specific reason for our name,” Jacob explains. “We’d written about four songs before coming up with the name. We were trying to find the name that would fit the sound as opposed to having a name and then starting writing. We wanted something summery, bright and fun and we wanted it to be one syllable and easy to pronounce. The whole ‘blondes have more fun,’ everyone goes a bit blonde in the summer, that kinda idea.”

They Haven’t Collaborated with Blondie Just Yet

You guessed it: People mistake them for Blondie quite a lot. “I’m surprised by how many people here in England misread our name to be honest. We have an ‘e’ on the end, c’mon!” They didn’t remix any Blondie records yet. “If I was drunk enough that would probably seem like a good idea,” Jacob laughs, “but I’m not sure how good it would sound… But maybe I’ll do it!”. What about getting Debbie Harry to provide vocals for a track? “Blonde featuring Blondie, now that's interesting. Okay, you’ll be the first one to hear it!”

They Do Like Blondes

…which is a no-brainer. But which famous blonde is their favorite? “That’s a tricky question. Marilyn Monroe is a very iconic blonde.” Good, classic choice, Jacob!

People Love to Play Blonde Records…to Their Kids

House music is known to provide a great soundtrack for all sorts of special moments: pre-gaming, partying, proposals, one night stands…Are there any special stories Blonde fans have shared with the duo? “We’ve been sent some very cute videos of people with their kids dancing to our music. That’s really nice to know that even at such early age they can still relate to the music. It proves that it’s infectious and makes you wanna dance.”

They Once Played in a Bunker Made of Shipping Containers

Not every artist would dare stepping in a shipping container for the fear of getting kidnapped, but apparently Blonde are not easy to scare off. “That was very cool! And at Secret Garden Party we played inside this giant owl head, which was awesome, too. When I was younger, before Blonde, I once played inside a cage. The door was locked.”

They Had a Hit with 'Glee'’s Alex Newell

You may remember Alex Newell as Unique, a trans woman with some killer pipes from the later seasons of Glee. But Jacob and Adam had no idea that they were locking the deal with the television star when they recruited Newell to sing on their single, “All Cried Out.” “We had the song and were looking for the right vocalist. Then someone from the label sent us his version of the song. We loved it. We had no idea who we has at the time and it looks like the label didn't want us to find our either.” And no, they still haven’t seen him on Glee.  

They Have a Single Out with Craig David

Yep, that Craig David—the early-00s r’n’b prince from the UK. We have just one question regarding this collaboration: did he try to walk away from troubles in his life by working with Blonde? “Haha, we was probably just walking towards his UK fans as he spends a lot of time in Miami these days. He seemed very excited to get back to England. He was writing in Miami, but his sound is very UK-based, so it makes sense for him to write and record in England. It was kind of like a homecoming for him.” Will they return the favor and produce his record now? “Yes, I’ve done about five or six songs for him, but obviously I don’t know if they will end up on the album. We’ve got more session scheduled to make more old school garage stuff he's known for.”

Their Music is Sex Store-Approved

As they're constantly on the road, Blonde have lots of funny tour stories to share. “We filled our drummer’s bunk with balloons once on our tour bus. He was very very drunk and we were all laughing watching him trying to get into his bunk all confused. It was his birthday a few days before. We did it very secretly. Or that time in Leeds when we played outside the city and our tour bus was parked across the street from a sex toy store. So we went there for fun and were looking around when suddenly “All Cried Out” came on. It’s probably the weirdest place I’ve ever heard our song playing at!”