Since first stepping into the pop spotlight at age 17, David Archuleta has embodied the kind of genuine star power that can’t be manufactured. After years of dazzling audiences with his radiant personality and phenomenal voice—a journey that’s included turning out multiple platinum-selling hits, achieving global acclaim as a captivating live performer, and emerging as an undeniable fixture on the pop-culture scene—the Miami-born singer/songwriter experienced a major personal transformation that radically altered his identity as an artist. As shown in his recent singles “Crème Brulée” and “Hell Together,” Archuleta has dramatically expanded the landscape of his songwriting and devoted himself to making pop music with equal parts uncompromising emotion and exhilarating impact.
Over the next several months David will reveal more new music, he notes that uncovering his most authentic voice has involved finding self-assurance in unexpected places. “Growing up in the church, I was taught to stand up for my beliefs and share them with the world, which is exactly what I’m trying to do with my music,” he says. “Even though I stand for something else now, I still have that same level of conviction in what I do. I believe in being bold in my vulnerability and speaking the truth of who I am, so that hopefully people can come away from my songs feeling like they understand themselves, or others, or just life in general a little better than they did before.”
Cody Doss began producing and mixing records for punk bands at the age of 14. He later studied at Florida State University, earning a degree in Classical Guitar Performance and Music Education. During his studies, he studied mixing privately with Chandler Bridges (Aaliyah, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith) and classical guitar with renowned teacher Bruce Holzman. He also managed and conducted the Homeless Shelter Band in Tallahassee, performing at city events. After graduating, Cody spent four years teaching music at Nina Harris ESE Center, a public school for special needs students in Pinellas Park, Florida.
Currently, Cody focuses on completing musical projects daily. He is the in-house mastering engineer for Symphonic Distribution. He has produced and mixed numerous successful records which have garnered hundreds of millions of streams for artists like Lil Wayne, Big Freedia (Warner), Evening Elephants (Republic), Little Big, and Flipturn (Dualtone). He has produced and mixed records out of Shangri La, Rick Rubin’s Malibu studio, one of which, the Dosey – Terrified EP, premiered at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Additionally, Cody has scored music and provided voice talent for major clients such as Universal Theme Parks, Coca-Cola, NBA, and Nationwide Insurance.
Wallows (composed of Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston) returned in 2024 with their highly anticipated third studio album, Model, which saw them reunite with GRAMMY Award-winning producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten). Recorded at Los Angeles’ legendary Sunset Sound, the album was met by critical applause from the likes of CLASH, proclaiming Model “a no-skips record,” ROLLING STONE heralding it as their “arena-ready third album,” and DORK who stated the album is “a stunning, natural evolution into their next chapter… guaranteed to reward on each and every listen.” Model includes the band’s biggest streaming debut for a single to date and their first song to hit the Top 40 chart in “Calling After Me,” as well as the singles “Your Apartment,” “You (Show Me Where My Days Went),“ “Bad Dream,” and “A Warning.” Not slowing down, the band kicked off 2025 with the release of “Your New Favorite Song” in January and followed with “Coffin Change” which was heralded as BBC Radio 1’s ‘Hottest Record’. The two singles are a part of Wallows’ latest EP, More, released on March 28th.
In March 2022, the band released their sophomore album, Tell Me That It’s Over, produced by 3x GRAMMY Award-winner Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, Haim, Adele). TMTIO saw Wallows continuing on their ever-evolving journey of sonic exploration, fusing a vast array of musical ideas – from lo-fi post-punk and indie-folk to early ‘90s dance-pop psychedelia – into their own one-of-a-kind creative vision. TMTIO marked the full-length follow-up to Wallows’ hugely popular 2019 debut album, Nothing Happens, also produced by John Congleton. The album, which includes the 3x Platinum single “Are You Bored Yet? (feat. Clairo),” proved to be one of that year’s highest streamed debuts and has since gone on to be certified Gold in the United States. As ambitious and successful on stage as in the studio, Wallows are currently traveling the world on The Model Tour with shows at such iconic venues as Madison Square Garden, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, The Kia Forum, Alexandra Palace, Zénith, Hordern Pavilion, and more throughout 2024. Wallows will continue bringing their live show around the globe in 2025 as part of The Model & More Tour.
If you look at Benny’s resume (a crazy amount of huge hit songs by the ripe age of 30ish) you might think he’d be full of himself or at the very least, a diva. He is not either and we love him for that. Among the most real people on the planet, Benny gives his time to Play It Back artists again and again, hooking them up with inspiration and introducing them to amazing artists who also just happen to be his best buds. He has been a champion of the program for the last 8 years (even before it was an official thing). Short version: Everyone Loves Benny.
Kenli Mattus has been a professional multi-instrumentalist, singer and producer for over 25 years. Originally from New Jersey, Kenli moved to New York to pursue a career as a recording artist after graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Kenli has toured across the country several times, appeared on national TV performing his songs with his band and written, produced and performed with numerous major label and independent artists. For years, Kenli took his free time to volunteer in many New York City hospitals where he would go room to room and perform songs for people battling cancer and other ailments. Over the last 20 years, Kenli has performed room to room for over 30,000 people. In 2000, when a young adult patient asked Kenli to help him record a song, it became the seeds of the Play It Back music program. After moving to LA in 2009, Kenli met Hilary Gan Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA and together they dreamed of making Play It Back available to patients worldwide. Since 2018, Hilary and Teen Cancer America have helped Kenli grow Play It Back Songs to help many young people dealing with cancer. The benefits have been extraordinarily positive and healing. As of the beginning of 2020, Play It Back Songs has logged over 500 hours with young cancer patients and survivors, written over 50 songs and performed live many times. Kenli believes, “The song always heals,” in any context and it’s an obvious all-around win to facilitate the song-making process for young people dealing with the struggles of their cancer experience. When Kenli is not creating music he is spending time with his family or playing ice hockey.
Most people know Sabrina as a triple threat, if not more…she acts and sings incredibly and also, she is super-cool. She took time out to zoom with one of our artists to talk about CLOUDS, a movie about a young songwriter and his battle with cancer. She’s incredibly gracious and fun to hang with on zoom. We also think she should play Madonna in an as yet unwritten biopic, and she agrees, so please Hollywood, make it happen.
Andrew is our buddy Benny Blanco’s manager and has been since Benny was just a wee lad. Andrew has worked with all the biggest names in the music business, but he prefers to stay out of the spotlight. He is generous enough to spread his industry wisdom to us and for that we are grateful. His incredible work ethic and vision are an inspiration to all of us here at Play it Back. We are honored to have him as a PiB homie!
Dan was the original drummer in OK Go, the indie rock band that went on to become viral video sensations (maybe amongst the first wave of music viral video sensations ever). Dan has gone on to become a music mixer and has mixed and played drums on PiB artists’ songs. He’s multi-talented, knows how to float in an airplane, dance on a treadmill and make music sound really really good! We’re so happy Dan is willing to dive right in with us and help our artists’ musical visions come true through his many talents.
Tasha is a great singer-songwriter who also happens to be a great music coordinator at Bad Sneakers Inc. She’s worked on many TV and Film productions choosing music, securing rights and doing all the things successful music supervisors do. Tasha gave Play It Back artists the lowdown on placing music in TV and Film. She also actually placed some of PiB artists’ songs in a current Apple TV+ production. Pretty great! She’s basically a super-relatable and cool person. It’s no wonder she has done so well in the production world…people like to work with who they like…we like her too.
To know Nando is to love Nando (I think you’re seeing a pattern here). It’s an amazing thing considering someone who is such a talented guitar player (and multi-instrumentalist) is able to be so well-liked. He must have spent an awful lot of time practicing alone in a locked room to get that good and yet, he’s great with people. Nando is one of the most sought after arrangers and producers in Brazil and is also one of the top 7-string Nylon players in the world. He also loves to meet and play for Play It Back artists. He can basically do anything and everything in music and does it well.
Since first stepping into the pop spotlight at age 17, David Archuleta has embodied the kind of genuine star power that can’t be manufactured. After years of dazzling audiences with his radiant personality and phenomenal voice—a journey that’s included turning out multiple platinum-selling hits, achieving global acclaim as a captivating live performer, and emerging as an undeniable fixture on the pop-culture scene—the Miami-born singer/songwriter experienced a major personal transformation that radically altered his identity as an artist. As shown in his recent singles “Crème Brulée” and “Hell Together,” Archuleta has dramatically expanded the landscape of his songwriting and devoted himself to making pop music with equal parts uncompromising emotion and exhilarating impact.
Over the next several months David will reveal more new music, he notes that uncovering his most authentic voice has involved finding self-assurance in unexpected places. “Growing up in the church, I was taught to stand up for my beliefs and share them with the world, which is exactly what I’m trying to do with my music,” he says. “Even though I stand for something else now, I still have that same level of conviction in what I do. I believe in being bold in my vulnerability and speaking the truth of who I am, so that hopefully people can come away from my songs feeling like they understand themselves, or others, or just life in general a little better than they did before.”
Cody Doss began producing and mixing records for punk bands at the age of 14. He later studied at Florida State University, earning a degree in Classical Guitar Performance and Music Education. During his studies, he studied mixing privately with Chandler Bridges (Aaliyah, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith) and classical guitar with renowned teacher Bruce Holzman. He also managed and conducted the Homeless Shelter Band in Tallahassee, performing at city events. After graduating, Cody spent four years teaching music at Nina Harris ESE Center, a public school for special needs students in Pinellas Park, Florida.
Currently, Cody focuses on completing musical projects daily. He is the in-house mastering engineer for Symphonic Distribution. He has produced and mixed numerous successful records which have garnered hundreds of millions of streams for artists like Lil Wayne, Big Freedia (Warner), Evening Elephants (Republic), Little Big, and Flipturn (Dualtone). He has produced and mixed records out of Shangri La, Rick Rubin’s Malibu studio, one of which, the Dosey – Terrified EP, premiered at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Additionally, Cody has scored music and provided voice talent for major clients such as Universal Theme Parks, Coca-Cola, NBA, and Nationwide Insurance.
Wallows (composed of Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston) returned in 2024 with their highly anticipated third studio album, Model, which saw them reunite with GRAMMY Award-winning producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten). Recorded at Los Angeles’ legendary Sunset Sound, the album was met by critical applause from the likes of CLASH, proclaiming Model “a no-skips record,” ROLLING STONE heralding it as their “arena-ready third album,” and DORK who stated the album is “a stunning, natural evolution into their next chapter… guaranteed to reward on each and every listen.” Model includes the band’s biggest streaming debut for a single to date and their first song to hit the Top 40 chart in “Calling After Me,” as well as the singles “Your Apartment,” “You (Show Me Where My Days Went),“ “Bad Dream,” and “A Warning.” Not slowing down, the band kicked off 2025 with the release of “Your New Favorite Song” in January and followed with “Coffin Change” which was heralded as BBC Radio 1’s ‘Hottest Record’. The two singles are a part of Wallows’ latest EP, More, released on March 28th.
In March 2022, the band released their sophomore album, Tell Me That It’s Over, produced by 3x GRAMMY Award-winner Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, Haim, Adele). TMTIO saw Wallows continuing on their ever-evolving journey of sonic exploration, fusing a vast array of musical ideas – from lo-fi post-punk and indie-folk to early ‘90s dance-pop psychedelia – into their own one-of-a-kind creative vision. TMTIO marked the full-length follow-up to Wallows’ hugely popular 2019 debut album, Nothing Happens, also produced by John Congleton. The album, which includes the 3x Platinum single “Are You Bored Yet? (feat. Clairo),” proved to be one of that year’s highest streamed debuts and has since gone on to be certified Gold in the United States. As ambitious and successful on stage as in the studio, Wallows are currently traveling the world on The Model Tour with shows at such iconic venues as Madison Square Garden, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, The Kia Forum, Alexandra Palace, Zénith, Hordern Pavilion, and more throughout 2024. Wallows will continue bringing their live show around the globe in 2025 as part of The Model & More Tour.
If you look at Benny’s resume (a crazy amount of huge hit songs by the ripe age of 30ish) you might think he’d be full of himself or at the very least, a diva. He is not either and we love him for that. Among the most real people on the planet, Benny gives his time to Play It Back artists again and again, hooking them up with inspiration and introducing them to amazing artists who also just happen to be his best buds. He has been a champion of the program for the last 8 years (even before it was an official thing). Short version: Everyone Loves Benny.
Most people know Sabrina as a triple threat, if not more…she acts and sings incredibly and also, she is super-cool. She took time out to zoom with one of our artists to talk about CLOUDS, a movie about a young songwriter and his battle with cancer. She’s incredibly gracious and fun to hang with on zoom. We also think she should play Madonna in an as yet unwritten biopic, and she agrees, so please Hollywood, make it happen.
Andrew is our buddy Benny Blanco’s manager and has been since Benny was just a wee lad. Andrew has worked with all the biggest names in the music business, but he prefers to stay out of the spotlight. He is generous enough to spread his industry wisdom to us and for that we are grateful. His incredible work ethic and vision are an inspiration to all of us here at Play it Back. We are honored to have him as a PiB homie!
Dan was the original drummer in OK Go, the indie rock band that went on to become viral video sensations (maybe amongst the first wave of music viral video sensations ever). Dan has gone on to become a music mixer and has mixed and played drums on PiB artists’ songs. He’s multi-talented, knows how to float in an airplane, dance on a treadmill and make music sound really really good! We’re so happy Dan is willing to dive right in with us and help our artists’ musical visions come true through his many talents.
