Biking with Francis on Their Creative Approach, New Mixtape Bronco, and Inspirations

Interview by Yaw Appiah

Biking with Francis’s new mixtape, BRONCO, is their most adventurous yet. On the new project, the indie-pop rap spans psychedelic trip-hop, gritty rap rock, and melodic boom bap. Despite the differences in sound, each track is held together with a polished structure. The record’s varied sounds and arrangements work in tandem to show the group’s newfound maturity.

Biking with Francis members Max Leonard, Garrett Sparrow, and Joshua Warren have been associated with a certain sound for the majority of the group’s existence. Their first single, “TYPE TIME,” gained traction online for its indie-pop, Flower Boy-esque production. Since then, the group stuck to that colorful sound for years, tweaking it at times but keeping that upbeat nature. 

Their solo careers not only facilitated shifts in sound but also helped harmonize their creative processes, leading to newfound efficiency. Despite living two hours apart in North Carolina, the group completed most of the project in a week and a half. Syncing up their writing and production processes shortened the wait for loyal fans but also produced intrigue to draw in new listeners.

A few weeks before BRONCO was released, I spoke to Max, Joshua, and Garrett about their recording process, inspirations behind certain tracks, and their favorite tracks. Below is a condensed version of a much longer conversation.

Yaw Appiah: Given the gap between SUNROOF and BRONCO, how did it feel to release your longest project to date? 

Max Leonard: I’m excited for people who have listened to our music since “Type Time” to get a longer project. In the past, we’ve usually released EPs with 6 songs, so now our fans are getting a 35-minute, full-length mixtape. People will enjoy this mixtape because it showcases our personalities on a more mature palette, sound-wise.

Can you tell me about the inspiration behind the title BRONCO? 

Joshua Warren: Bronco is an old name that didn’t get used for anything, so I suggested that we should use it as a filler title for our next project. It ended up working out because we were planning to drop this mixtape in 2026, and the window we planned for it fell during the Chinese Year of the Horse. Bronco technically doesn’t mean anything, but when listeners hear the music, they’ll be able to create their own meaning. Bronco is really the friends we made along the way.

“Gimme Up” and “Analog Trash” both feature louder guitars than earlier Biking With Francis songs. What inspired that change? 

Garrett Sparrow: When we made those two tracks, we were listening to a lot of Paris Texas and believed that we could experiment with rap-rock. It also paired well with our efforts to evolve our production as a whole. That chorus-heavy, upbeat guitar sound definitely has its place, but we wanted to try a heavy, more gritty sound.

“Corolla” employs a new sound with trip-hop-inspired production. How did that come together?  

GS: We started sampling a lot recently, and I found this weird, electronic sample, which I looped a two-second section of. I added a little drum sample, and that’s how it started. When Josh went upstairs to start recording, we decided he had full liberty to say whatever. Months later, Max added trap-esque drums to fill it out while he was mixing the track. Originally, we were actually going to cut that song.

JW: I wanted that song cut. However, the song we planned to replace “Corolla” with wasn’t as good, and I didn’t think I could improve it. Also, the drums Max added really made the song for me; before, it was still cool, but it felt stagnant throughout. When you’re making a project, it’s important to trim the fat to avoid any skips.

ML: We actually played this song live during Josh’s tour, and it was directly after “Analog Trash” on the setlist. The crowd loved “Analog Trash,” but “Corolla” wasn’t hitting the way we expected. It’s such a dark, heavy song that I struggled to make it sound as polished as the other tracks on the mixtape while mixing. I added the trap drums on the verse so that when the chorus comes around, it makes the chorus hit a lot harder with the mix of the sample and the 808s. 

Garrett, you mentioned how each of you had a different role in producing “Corolla.” What is the band’s recording process in general?

GS: I think it differs every time. Max and I produce every track either separately or together, and then we bring it to the band. We keep our favorite tracks for our solo stuff. It’s pretty selfish, but luckily, we produce so much that it’s fine. When we work on songs together, we utilize each of our strengths. If we need keys, I’m the best at keys, so I’ll do that. If we need drums, Max has that covered. I’ll handle the instrumentation at times because I have the most experience with it, and Max will throw on headphones, ask for the BPM, make drums on his own, and send them back. We alternate a bunch.

JW: Over time, we’ve found a flow state when it comes to production. We finish projects much more quickly now. It took a year and some change to get BRONCO done, and we’ve lived apart for that entire period. We would pick a spot and dedicate a week to working there, which has made us much more efficient. 80% of the mixtape was made in the span of 10 days. 

Compared to Honeydew, where we would pick a song and tinker with it while writing and producing separately. Now, I’ll ask Max and Garrett what they’re writing about and base my lyrics off of that, so there’s a lot more cohesion in terms of lyrics and melodies. The songs on this project are probably the best arrangements in our discography in terms of the flow of the songs. We’ve definitely found our pocket in making songs the best they can be.

Is the band’s experimentation with different genres and instruments inspired by your solo careers?  

ML: I would say confidence and the workflow are the two things I’ve learned from doing my own stuff. Of all the recent solo projects, mine (Runner) was the furthest from the Biking With Francis sound, as I tend to make slower, more acoustic music. Writing, recording, producing, and mixing an entire sixteen-track album has given me little things to bring back to the group, and I feel like we’ve all learned stuff from our solo work. 

So when we come back together, it helps improve the process to the point where we’re all working together. There are songs that I don’t have a verse on, and I don’t really care because I’m prioritizing what’s best for the song. My solo project has given me the confidence to know when we need a slower song and when I should step back vocally and provide bass or something else.

JW: I think everyone just sharpened their swords on their own, and that now we’re back together, we’re coming out and beheading people.

GS: Because of our solo careers, there isn’t a need to be on every song. If there’s a certain song I want to make, I don’t have to compromise with Josh and Max for songs I really want because I can do that on my own. There isn’t much friction in Biking With Francis because we can do our own thing on the side.

How do you guys each balance building your own separate solo careers while also focusing on the group? 

JW: At first, it was a little difficult to balance the two because we would dedicate a year to Biking with Francis, and then a year to solo work. We realized that with three people dropping solo projects and a group project, we’ve shifted to releasing music whenever we can. Besides, a lot of the aspects of our solo careers and group overlap. Alternating your focus from the solo stuff to the group hinders progress in both, so we’ve tried pursuing both simultaneously.

GS: Making and releasing the music can be done at the same time because we make it all in our rooms anyway. We’re about to live together, so it’s going to make the process even easier. The only conflict is videography. They can only do one thing at a time, which means we can’t record everything at once. They’re already doing videos for a lot of other people, so it’s tricky to fit in four people with four separate projects essentially.

Can you tell me why you chose to include “INTERNET COWBOY” on the project?

GS: That’s my dad, and it’s a true story. He’s got all these crazy stories, and Max and Josh wanted him to tell a story for the album. We were inspired by “Facebook Story” and “Be Yourself” on Blonde. He recorded a bunch of his own stories after we taught him to make voice memos. We picked the one on the mixtape, and then the piano is something I just figured out on Max’s piano, and I was like, ‘Can we record this?’ It’s surreal to be playing piano under my dad’s narration, so I’m excited 

JW: There were three other stories, and they were all crazy, so we struggled to pick one to use.

 What are three songs that each of you think are perfect for summer bike rides?

ML: My three would be “Envy Adams Goes Insane” by Babe City, “Australia” by the Shins, and “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” by Radiohead. The last one feels like a pedaling song.

JW: I got “the cops are coming” by Junior Mesa because I’ve been listening to that song almost every day. My next two are “Is Loving Really Bad” by Liim and “Public Opinion” by Zach Villere. 

GS: I’m also picking “the cops are coming” by Junior Mesa, “Sea Song” by Unflirt for recent bias, and then “oh yeah?” by Steve Lacy.

What other artists are you guys listening to right now?

JW: Junior Mesa, Liim, and I mess with Zach Villere and Roy Blair. There are some songs from Jody Fontaine and AG Club that I enjoy. I don’t listen to a lot of music, though.

ML: My favorite artist of the last two years is Samba Jean-Baptiste. His singles are really fire, and both his albums are amazing, especially +3. I’ve been listening to this band called 12 Rods, and their EP, Gay?, is actually crazy. It’s 48 minutes, but only six tracks, so they just go. Their second project, Separation Anxieties, is fully produced by Todd Rundgren. I listened to it at work today, and it was nuts. I’ve also been listening to an artist called bbpue. They have this really weird song called “Stacy” with some Gorillaz-esque production. The last artist I’ve been listening to is Nourished By Time.

Do you guys have any dream collaborations for your solo works? 

GS: I want to make mine attainable, so I’m not going to say Frank Ocean. I would say Junior Mesa and Kevin Abstract.

JW: I wanted to say Kendrick Lamar immediately, but his verse is going to blow me out of the water. I would love to work with Liim.

ML: I would say Samba Jean-Baptiste and Daniel Caesar.

Biking With Francis’s newest mixtape, BRONCO, is out now. Find more of their music here.