New Zealand hip-hop duo Muche and Shingi Murare—the twin brothers who make up eleven7four—had a lot celebrate while writing their debut EP, 1174. Having just signed a record deal, they were “doing crazy shit, like two-day benders,” says Muche. You can hear it in songs like the raging, synth-driven “We Met in France,” with the lyrics “We smoked, we drank until the sun came up.” “But all that caught up [with us] quite quick,” adds Shingi with a laugh. “I was like, ‘I can’t continue this for the rest of my career.’” Away from the partying, the duo’s drive is on display on the creeping, bass-heavy “Do It,” a song about staying focused on their music amidst the mayhem. Here, Muche and Shingi talk through each track on 1174. “Music X Molly” Muche Murare: “They go hand in hand. The feeling of both those two things together is orgasmic.” Shingi Murare: “That’s kind of what the melody sounds like. Fun-loving, pure joy. [Sings chorus] ‘You just want to dance like music and molly. Throwing up your hands like this is your party.’” Muche: “I think it was more a metaphor than actually talking about the drug itself, though. It was more saying, ‘You just want to dance like you’re on music and molly.’” “C-Note” Muche: “We were just reckless, just on the cloud after being signed. You feel like a rock star. So ‘C-Note,’ to me it sounds like a bad coke bender.” Shingi: “We were going to the casino and doing a bunch of bad things. At the end in the last bridge, we did sample some slot machines.” “Do It” Muche: “That’s the only song we recorded at home, but the vocals were too good to try and cut again [in the studio], so we were like, why don’t we just keep that bedroom vibe?” Shingi: “It’s like, you’re having a great time, but the message of the song is do it, do it, do it, get it done. Don’t forget that you’ve got this fucking crazy train ride [of a career] and you need to make it to the fucking end. And it’s about friends and family and our moral foundation, I guess.” “We Met in France” Shingi: “It’s a fantasy. It’s like a dream. You’re away on holiday and you go to a random bar [in the afternoon] and you bump into a girl and she’s like, ‘Meet me back here at 6,’ and then she takes you on this crazy night out in a foreign country where you have no idea what’s going on.” “High Stakes” Muche: “The song is about the industry we chose to be in. It’s high stakes. High risk, high reward. But you have to be running at your hardest pace to even make it through. So it’s very competitive.” “Golden Hour” Muche: “The golden hour is the perfect time, but you’ve only got a small window. Grab it while it’s fresh. Take the photo now while the lighting is great.”