Are we having fun yet? After years building their respective legacies in the independent music scene, Derek Ted and Braden Lawrence let this question guide the trajectory of their latest project: beaming, a playful indie pop venture built around an ethos of curiosity, collaboration, and levity.

The duo’s 2025 beaming EP introduced the project with four infectious songs at the intersection of pop, rock, and folk. This comes as no surprise given the band’s pedigree: Braden spent over a decade playing in Philadelphia-based indie darling The Districts, while Derek is a solo artist and prolific producer who has lent his talents to rising stars like Odie Leigh, Runnner, and Field Medic.

Now, the band proves the model on their debut LP horseshoe, out April 2026 on Brooklyn-based label Rose Garden. Over 10 indie earworms, beaming’s razor-sharp pop production and soul-searching lyricism capture the spirit of embracing joy and rejecting rigidity even in moments of emotional turbulence. After a busy year opening for Vundabar, Runnner, Goon, and more, beaming has found their footing both on the road and in the studio. The result is a band that knows exactly who they are and an album that cuts straight to the heart of what makes pop music so disarming.

“We’ve found more of our sound in what we create together,” explains Derek. “Going on tour, playing shows, and spending hours in the studio have inspired us to understand how to make our songs better and what their purpose is. We’ve got more of a north star, aesthetically.”

Derek cut his teeth in the DIY music scene of the San Francisco Bay Area, busking around the East Bay and studying audio engineering before moving to Los Angeles to dive into production. In addition to producing for his frequent collaborator Field Medic, Derek lent his talents to a wide array of projects including Dora Jar’s “Look Back,” Hunny’s album new planet heaven, and several tracks on Jesse Rutherford’s album Wanted?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country in Pennsylvania, Braden was living in a very different kind of artistic ecosystem. He and his friends started their band The Districts when they were still in middle school and signed to Fat Possum Records right after high school graduation. Over the next 13 years, Braden wore a variety of different hats for his band as they played all over the world, touring with the likes of Modest Mouse, Hippo Campus, and Dr. Dog.

beaming came together organically after a series of serendipitous encounters in Los Angeles, where both Derek and Braden had relocated. Braden was already frequenting Derek’s studio as a drummer for his production projects, and he eventually started playing drums in the live band for Derek’s artist project. After spending enough time in the studio, they began working together to produce for local artists — and, eventually, for their own project.

This penchant for casual collaboration was evident on the beaming EP, which features musical cameos from former Districts bandmate Pat Cassidy, Kississippi’s Zoe Reynolds, songwriter/producer Ben Burney, and Field Medic. The latter also features prominently on horseshoe, with co-writing credits on two songs.

Derek and Braden took a different approach for their first full-length record, often starting and finishing songs in one sitting. Writing and producing the album together from scratch was an exercise in invention that led them down several paths — the bright early-aughts nostalgia of “say goodbye,” the bittersweet, Hovvdy-esque melancholia of “Stuck (here),” the brooding, distorted guitars in “SLOWER.” The beaming boys aren’t shy about loving the journey just as much as the destination, and listening to this album feels like being along for the ride.

“I don’t even know what this album is yet, but I know we worked hard on it and did the best we could,” says Derek. “I’m excited to see what it actually is that we made.”

As they look toward the future, Braden and Derek only really have one firm plan: keep the vibes high. Their years in the musical trenches have rendered them refreshingly devoid of ego or expectations, and they approach beaming with the candor and enthusiasm of two seasoned vets propelled by pure love of the game.

“There’s nothing else we have in mind at this point beyond ‘Do we like this?’” says Derek. “It’s kind of freeing, in a way.”