Musical duo SFAM moved its friendship from the soccer field to the stage a little over a year ago when members officially decided to venture into the electronic music scene, and now the two are scheduled to play BUKU Music + Art Project.
Mississippi natives Michael Pearson and Jacob Hoerner scored their festival appearance after winning this year’s BASSIK 2 BUKU, a competition where local DJ’s and producers go head to head to vie for the opportunity to perform a set during the two-day event.
Pearson described their sound as being similar to trap music, but not definitive trap. He said he and Hoerner weren’t always collaborating on their sound together.
Hoerner said he became involved with electronic music during his senior year of high school, and after attending his first show at New Orleans’ Club Ampersand, he bought a mixing board and practiced on his own.
“I just wanted to learn” Hoerner said. “I entered a DJ competition at Bourbon Heat about two summers ago, and I performed there three times and won first place all three times. And that’s how I got my name out individually.”
Pearson soon took interest in the scene as well, and began practicing in his dorm room using Hoerner’s old speakers and controller. The two and their styles eventually merged, and SFAM was born.
While they produce music together, the actual collaboration isn’t the easiest part. Pearson lives in New Orleans while Hoerner’s finishing college in Mississippi, so he travels to Pearson’s apartment whenever he can to work on music, but they don’t let distance stop them. The two share private links back and forth over SoundCloud, at least until Hoerner moves to New Orleans this summer.
Even though they occasionally have to freestyle a set, their main focus is still putting on the best performance possible. SFAM thrives off of crowd interaction during its sets, whether fans are throwing up the “S” symbol or chanting “SFAM.”
“Whenever we play these huge shows,” Pearson said, “we get to see everybody jammin’ out to music that we make. Just seeing everybody going insane with us — that’s probably the most rewarding part.”
BUKU isn’t the first festival appearance for SFAM, but the duo said it’s definitely the biggest. Hoerner said it’s a crazy feeling to be playing one of the largest music festivals out right now, especially after about a year and a half of DJing together and six months of production.
“The fact that it’s sold out right now of every single ticket is just a thrill,” Hoerner said. “It’s a great feeling. I’m very excited.”
Pearson attended the festival last year, but this will be Hoerner’s first BUKU, and they both feel fortunate to be performing. Just because they’re playing, doesn’t mean they aren’t sticking around to listen to their fellow performers on the lineup.
Between the two, Bassnectar, Flosstradamus and Porter Robinson are on their list of musts. They said they’re grateful for the opportunity to be backstage and meet some of their favorite artists and producers, but Pearson and Hoerner are also making time to visit with their friends as spectators.
SFAM doesn’t have any plans to slow down after BUKU. Future shows are booked and they hope to acquire a few more contacts after this weekend’s festivities. Friendships with other local artists also show promise for future collaborations.
“Coming up soon, especially when Jacob moves over, we’re definitely going to have some projects in the works with other artists here locally,” Pearson said. “We’ll see what comes out of that.”
Once both are in the same city, Hoerner said they’ll finally get their production where it needs to be, but for now, both are excited for the weekend.
“I know it’s going to be a crazy time no matter where we’re playing or anything,” Hoerner said. “It’s just about going out there, enjoying all different genres and the vibes from everybody that’s going to be out there, and that’s really what I’m looking forward to this weekend coming up.”
SFAM wil perform on BUKU’s Back Alley stage on Saturday at 3 p.m.

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Kara Rayes