Exclusive: Interview with Full Circle Boys – Breaking Boundaries and Living “Free 99”

Words by Aisha Alli-Balogun

With Full Circle Boys‘ newest single “Free99”, the genre-bending trio prove that freedom in music – and in life – doesn’t have to come with a price tag.

There’s an easy energy about the Full Circle Boys – the kind that makes you feel like you’ve stumbled into the middle of an inside joke. Jagger Moon, James Herron, Sean Garrity, Dossan Bell, and Ollie Hincy sprawl across the worn-in couch of a small studio at 9 am, still riding the high of their latest release, “Free 99”. The single, a hypnotic blend of raw lyricism and slick production, feels both spontaneous and intentional if it were made in one take, but lived through a hundred stories.

In a world obsessed with numbers, streams, and likes, the message hits differently. “Free 99” isn’t just a track – it’s a statement. One that challenges the idea that authenticity can be monetised. Over the next half an hour, our conversation drifts from learning hard choreography to hopes for the future and creative differences.

I sat down with the Full Circle Boys to discuss the making of “Free 99”, how they stay grounded in a fast-paced industry, and why this song feels like the most accurate reflection of who they are so far.

Photo by Kasitz Jay

What was the story behind the song? Like, what was the process, and how long did it take to kind of finally make the song?

Ollie: Yeah, so it’s the first song we’ve ever written together. So we were in the. We were in the studio with Max Levin and Jack. Jack Newsome. Sorry, Jack Newsome. And. Yeah, I mean, like, Dawson could tell you a little bit how Free 99 came to be.

Dossan: Had like a six-hour session, but this was. Yeah, this is our first time, so we’re all kind of new with it. So we were just going with vibes then. Jack Newsome, being the amazing writer he is, we all did some melody passes because that day we went in saying we wanted some like Journals vibes. Justin Bieber, like, what is the song?

Sean: Confident

Dossan: Like confident vibes, you know, that was kind of the vibe of the track. And then Jack was laying melodies and he started saying like, he started making like references to money, like it don’t cost a thing, like he had that set in stone. And then we just kind of started playing with the idea of like free, free 99. And then it just rolled out and it turned out so fun. So now we have a banger song.

So, how was it filming the music video and just kind of knocking on random people’s doors and like performing for them?

Sean: We filmed the music video in three days. So the first day was everything to do with Kita, the amazing dancer and choreographer featured in the video. Day two, we spent knocking on tonnes of doors in San Diego. And then the third day was everything to do with like that Rooftop and with the prop doors. And they were filmed back to back to back. And also to rewind that. The day before we started filming with Kita, we had our only rehearsals for the music video. So there was only one rehearsal to learn an entire song of Choreo. And this is the first time we’ve ever done Kita Choreo. So we were all a little bit nervous and obviously very excited, but we were doing somebody’s choreo for the first time. It’s pretty nerve-wracking to know that it’s going to be cemented on video the very next day.

Jagger: So to answer your question, though, going up to people’s doors was quite nerve-racking at first, I would say. We, like, didn’t know what the response was going to be and, like, if people would even give us the time of day. And we were kind of worried about that. And then as we went on, like, the first couple, nobody was giving us the time of day, so we were just like, we’re just gonna have fun no matter what. Like, even if they open the door or not, we’re just gonna have fun. And I think you can tell in the video how much fun we’re having.

So would you say this choreo was probably the most difficult that you’ve ever learned?

James: I think I would say so. I mean, Keanu is just the go-to choreography and also Kid as well. Yeah, I think learning the choreo. I think learning the choreo, like I did have a difficult time learning it, just because I don’t know, I feel like it was very different from what he has done in the past. So I think, honestly, personally, I had a difficult time learning the choreo. I don’t know about you guys.

Dossan: Yeah, no, it’s hard.

Sean: I think it was also difficult learning the choreo because we had learned all Kiyomi’s choreo first, and then we did Kita’s choreo, so by the time we got to Kita, like my brain was already overstimulated and had like I’d already learned enough choreo for that day.

So who would you say is, like, your inspiration for the kind of music that you create?

Jagger: I think just, like, this might be me just speaking for myself. I think it just, like, we don’t have a specific person that inspires the type of music we make. I think if, like, we. I know, like, for me and Dawson, if we, like, hear a song and we really like that song, it doesn’t matter what artist it is, we’re like, oh, I want to make a song like that. So I think our. Our musical influence is, like, coming from all over the place. There isn’t, like, a specific person or genre that we’re keen to, which I think is cool, because a lot of boy bands are very much like, I gotta be this sound. We gotta be like this. And all of us are like, we just want to make whatever we want to make that day.

So, if you guys could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

Jagger: Ooh. Ooh. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. And my pick is… would be Doechii. That’s my pick right now. 

Sean: In a similar vein as Jagger, I think a great collaboration for us would be somebody that sounds completely different than us. So like a rapper. One of my favourites, Busta Rhymes. I would love to do a dance break with Busta Rhymes or Ludacris. Our generation we grew up with that Ludacris feature. It wasn’t a pop smash if Ludacris didn’t hop on. 

James: So me, I wanna collaborate with another group. Any group, honestly, I feel like that’d be fun.

Ollie: Doechii and Doja Cat because she just did a performance, and she can dance, bro. She’s like, popping and then she’s like doing all the head movements. I was like, dang, okay! 

Dossan: I don’t know, we just need like a good female vocalist, singer, you know. Maybe like a fun vibe that would be so unexpected, like The Marias.

Since becoming a group, would you say there are things that you’ve learned about each other that have really surprised you? Like, oh, you bite your nails that often? 

Jagger: She just called Ollie out.

Sean: Something that may be surprising about James that people may not know, he likes to play like phone video games. 

James: Oh, I’m a sucker for video games. Clash Royale, Brawl Stars. That’s when I’d be hopping on Brawl Stars. 

Jagger: One thing about Sean, Sean’s getting much better at this. And just speaking of the time right now, there was a time period where you could not speak to Sean before 11 a.m. And I would like to point out it is 9:15 a.m. right now, and he’s doing a great job. Yeah. But like that was a thing known in the house. It was like, don’t talk to him before 11 a.m. because you’re going to get nothing.

Ollie: Okay, I’ve known Dawson the most out of all these boys. One thing I’ve learned is that he loves a seafood boil. 

Dossan: Oh, I love a seafood boil. I haven’t had a seafood boil in a while. Okay, you know I love a seafood boil because if you look in my Instagram search, it’s just seafood boil. It’s all just seafood. 

Ollie: Every time I look over at his phone, he’s always looking at seafood boil.

“Free 99” might be their newest release, but it already feels like a defining moment – a snapshot of who they are right now, caught between hunger and harmony. And with that, they’re off – five artists chasing freedom in every sense of the word, no price tag attached.