Marian Hill is “Down” with their AirPod-related success

March 3, 2017 Andrea Dresdale

Timothy SaccentiMarian Hill has a hit on its hands with “Down,” in part due to its use in the eye-catching commercial for Apple AirPods featuring dancer Lil’ Buck defying gravity as he moves down the street. But let’s get it straight: Marian Hill isn’t a person, it’s a male/female duo whose members have known each other since middle school.

Jeremy Lloyd and Samantha Gongol became close friends in eighth grade when they starred in their school’s production of The Music Man. Samantha was the female lead, Marian Paroo, while Jeremy was the male lead, Harold Hill. “We were looking for a name that meant something to us, and putting those names together made sense,” Jeremy explains.

Though the duo released their first EP in 2013, “Down” has taken them to a whole new level. Samantha says they were “cautiously optimistic” that the commercial would boost the song, but she admits, “This wildly exceeded expectations, for sure, in terms of the response, and also just the spot itself is beautiful.”

“I don’t think we would have predicted it,” adds Jeremy. “It’s just a very Marian Hill song….to us, it’s doing exactly what we want to do…and for it to cross over is super exciting and exactly the kind of music we want to be making in the pop realm.”

Marian Hill has been performing “Down” for about a year. “It’s always been a favorite among our fans,” Jeremy says, “The main difference is that the crowds are bigger.”

But here’s the real question: did they get free AirPods as a result of the spot?

“Yeah, we did,” Samantha laughs. “They’re really great, I have to say!”

Marian Hill kicks off a headlining tour in May. One dollar from every ticket sold will be donated to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, or the NRDC.