From Voice Memo to Song of the Summer: How ‘Sunroof’ Conquered Radio

variety.com:

Mike Wass “Sunroof” is capping off the summer as a No. 1 song on radio’s Top 40 format. The pop song that could started out as a rough voice memo from newcomer Nicky Youre, sent to equally green producer Dazy, and went on to become ubiquitous after catching fire on TikTok.

From there, “Sunroof” cracked the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 (it’s currently at No. 6 and climbing) and, this week, leads Top 40 radio ahead of two Harry Styles songs. “We didn’t really have anything going for us at the time,” Youre, 23, says. “Dazy had taken two years off and I hadn’t dropped anything for over a year.” The Orange County singer-songwriter, who had only released one song prior, started sending the producer voice memos and eventually conjured the “Sunroof” hook while fighting off a throat infection. “I was sick the day I wrote it, I just wanted to feel happy and good.” Dazy, aka Nick Minutaglio, still remembers the first time he heard it. “Nicky sent me just a straight-up shitty voice memo,” he laughs.

But there was something there, and he got to work. ”I did a really quick production over it,” the producer says. “Just guitars and drums.” Nicky liked what he heard and they spent the next four months sending it back and forth, going through 22 versions before arriving at the final product. “We both knew that it was special,” Youre says, “but I never thought it would do what it’s done.” He was still using his debut single, “Sex and Lemonade,” as a measuring stick. “I had one song out and it had done 500,000 streams and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do that again.” Dazy’s expectations were similarly modest. “We knew it was a cool idea, but we didn’t think it was a smash hit.” “Sunroof” has amassed more than 250 million Spotify