Dan + Shay came precariously close to being no more. The duo, made up of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, open up for the first time about their recent struggles in a new video on social media.
The two captioned the video “The Drive” which shows them in a car, recalling the pivotal conversation they had in 2022, after going four months without speaking to each other, to determine if they wanted to move forward with Dan + Shay, or if they were ready to bid a final farewell to their time together.
“Whether we break up and we hug it out, and we say, ‘Man, this has been the best ten years of my life,’ or we say, ‘This is a launching off point. This is a new beginning, a new chance for a whole new outlook on life,'” Smyers recalls of the important conversation.
Dan + Shay went on their headlining The (Arena) Tour, which was originally scheduled for 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. It was while they were on the road that Smyers and Mooney realized that they were no longer as happy and satisfied, personally and professionally, as they used to be.
THE DRIVE pic.twitter.com/F5G0SPoFXg
— Dan + Shay (@DanAndShay) July 9, 2023
“We didn’t ever take time to be able to appreciate winning a Grammy or all these things, because it was just happening so fast,” Mooney says.
“I had no balance before,” adds Smyers. “It was completely one-sided. I was ignoring my marriage, I was ignoring all my friends. I completely burned myself out, entirely burned myself out.”
Mooney reveals he was in a “feeling very sorry for myself place,” which is why he shut everyone out, including Smyers.
“I think that’s a lot of the reason why I was unhappy during our (Arena) Tour,” he shares. “We built this thing up in our head, and I was hanging so much of my happiness on the success of that (Arena) Tour, and even when it was successful, I got to that show, and then we would leave mad about something stupid. And it was because we put so much weight on that moment, that when it was over, what a downer. Especially at that point, I was drinking a lot. So those highs became really high, and the lows became really, really low.”
Fortunately, Smyers and Mooney finally reconnected and discussed their future, both as friends and bandmates, ultimately deciding they had a lot more music they wanted to make, together.
“We just weren’t working on it,” Smyers shares. “We let things get in the way. We let things fly out the window. That moment where we sat down and just talked it out, I feel like was so healthy. That night changed it all.”
“That was such a big turning point,” Mooney continues. “It was us saying to each other, ‘Look, I’m willing to fight for this.'”
Once Dan + Shay decided to reunite and work on music together, this time with a new outlook and determination, they both found themselves closer than ever.
“I can feel the closeness of our relationship and our friendship when I listen back to the music,” Smyers says. “We are by far, a million times the closest we have ever been, for so many reasons. But because we worked at it, that makes what we’re doing now infinitely sustainable. I could do this the rest of my life with you.”
As Dan + Shay ready new music, they both admit they are unsure what all will unfold in their future. But whatever its, both Smyers and Mooney feel excited about their next chapter.
“I don’t know where the destination is. I don’t know where we’re going,” Mooney says. “But the lessons that we learned along the way, it is the drive there. And I just think that the accumulation of this journey has really taken us to this point, because it’s changed our lives. Honestly, the process of this album completely changed our lives.”
In addition to working on new music, Dan + Shay will also appear next year as the first co-coaches on The Voice, alongside Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper. Keep track of music and tour updates at DanandShay.com.
