‘Building the Band’ Standout SZN4 Talks Kelly Rowland’s Advice, DMs From Viewers & That Hug From Liam Payne

You don’t need to come in first in order to win.

That’s something SZN4 – one of the bands to come out of Netflix’s recently wrapped singing competition Building the Band – are learning and living as they begin to plot the next phase of their career.

Early on in the show, Cameron Goode, Katie Roeder, Aaliyah Rose and Donzell Taggart put themselves in a group together, sight unseen, based solely off audio-only performances and conversations with each other. (The show brings a Love Is Blind flavor to the singing competition format.)

After meeting each other for the first time mid-performance, SZN4 – the only mixed group in a competition that featured girl groups and boy bands – routinely blew away the judges with their impassioned performances and unlikely chemistry. They eventually came in second (the also impressive girl group 3Quency won the show), but one week after the final episode’s airdate, SZN4 stands on top as the most-streamed band of the show’s top four finalists when looking at global official on-demand song streams, according to Luminate.

It’s easy to see why. I was on set for Building the Band’s final day of filming, and while there was talent aplenty, SZN4’s fiery, confessional and soul-stirring cover of Rag’N’Bone Man’s “Human” left the entire studio shook. A follow-up version of Jazmine Sullivan’s “Bust Your Windows” demonstrated their vocal abilities and stylistic diversity, ultimately helping them lock down the runner-up spot.

Certainly, many pop stars have come out American Idol who didn’t win the crown – and One Direction, one of the most successful boy bands of the 21st century, actually came in third on The X Factor. That’s a fact which Liam Payne – one of the Building the Band judges alongside Kelly Rowland and mentor/judge Nicole Scherzinger – made a point of emphasizing to the show’s contestants while providing feedback and encouragement. (Payne tragically died at the age of 31 last October, after the show wrapped filming.)

Now, with the building blocks of Building the Band beneath them, SZN4 (pronounced “season 4”) is planning for their future as “family” together – and they gave Billboard a taste of what to expect from what they’re cooking.

After you all sang “Human” in the finals, host AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys was legit tearing up. What did those final performances feel like in the moment?

Cameron Goode: Being on that stage is just such an unreal experience. The moment we get on stage, we just turn on like these superstars that we are. But I know for “Human” in particular, that song, and the message that we wanted to tell with that, it was truly so therapeutic to be on that stage in that moment and to let out all these emotions that we had bottled up. All these ideas that we have projected onto us (by others) when at the end of the day, we’re just people that live in this world: we’re just taking it day by day. It meant a lot. I can only remember bits and pieces of how I truly felt — when I’m on the stage, I tune out, it’s just about telling that story. It was so powerful from top to bottom.

So obviously, you didn’t win the whole thing — you came in second — but you left an incredible impression on viewers. So far, your Spotify numbers are actually the highest of the top four bands on Building the Band, which has gotta feel good.

Donzell Taggart: I ain’t know that!

Looking back on the whole experience now, how are you feeling?

Aaliyah Rose: As cheesy as it is, I feel we got the win: the win for us was meeting each other. And honestly, I can’t believe I’ve gone my whole 23 years of life without knowing them. It’s weird to even think that we just met last year and it was an instant click. We just get each other, and we get each other on a deeper level because it’s music. It’s like we all speak the same language, which is so cool. I would do it a million times over to meet them again and have the experience that we had. Also, to have the mentors we did, being mentored by them was insane. I feel like we get to cherish that forever.

Watching it at home, did you learn anything about yourselves? Did anything surprise you?

Donzell Taggart: Honestly, I feel like it really helped me being on the show. It just brought the full picture of everything. It really helped me be able to be myself ‘cause I used to always say “I’m not going to do no video longer than 30 seconds” — another story for another day — but the show really helped me and it got me to be able to be who I am. So thank you Netflix.

Katie Roeder: Seeing us up there and seeing us do what we love to do was also empowering in and of itself. Being able to watch that from our homes and then especially on social media, to see the amazing feedback and the awesome comments we’ve been getting. I’ve been getting so many DMs of people being like, “Seeing you guys on stage is inspiring me so much to be who I am” and I tear up a little bit. Clearly, I’ve been emotional on the show, and I’m emotional afterwards. These DMs are making me tear up because people see themselves in us and they get to aspire for things because they see us. It pushes them to follow their dreams, which I love.

That’s sort of the ultimate win, inspiring others to follow their dreams. What have you been doing since then as a band? Working on any songs, originals?

Aaliyah Rose: For sure. Obviously on the show we did covers — we would take a song and we would always make it our own, that was our thing. It’s been so fun doing original music and being able to create. All the emotions and storytelling that we want to tell, we’re trying to put that all into our music. The creative process is the most fun.

Cameron Goode: Obviously, we’re a part of Building the Band, but even outside of the show, we’re literally family. We get each other in all wavelengths, but we’re still continuing to figure out our sound and who we are in real time. And it’s cool that we can now essentially continue to build this band now with people and fans that love and support us.

Aaliyah Rose: It’s only the beginning. Looking back, it’s like we were babies on the show. Now it’s like we have these monsters that just want to come out whenever we’re on stage, so hopefully we put that into our music as well.

Katie Roeder: Yeah, we definitely are. We’ve been cooking for sure. We have some things coming, which is really exciting.

Glad to hear you’ve been cooking. Donzell, there was a moment on the show where Liam got off the judges platform, went into the crowd and hugged your mom. That was so sweet.

Donzell Taggart: No, literally I was on the phone with my mama today. Even while we were there on the show, it was just like…I don’t know. We love Stephanie [his mom]. We love everything about Stephanie. I just want to thank God for her, so I’m just going to go shout out my mama real quick. He walked up to her, he’s like, “Can I just give you a hug?” And that’s the Holy Spirit. But we love Liam, and I love that moment that he had with her because she got to experience that with me. We get to share that together.

Are there any particular critiques or bits of advice from the judges that have stuck with you?

Katie Roeder: Overall, one that we got multiple times is just how much we trust each other and to stay true to that trust and stay true to ourselves. So bringing that into our music going forward and who we are as people, just making sure it’s present, because that’s what makes us special and that’s what makes us SZN4. That’s definitely stuck with me and I know that we’re going to continue bringing ourselves into everything that we do.

Cameron Goode: Heavy on the fact that every other time we performed, Kelly would say that it doesn’t seem like it would like work — you know, it’s so unconventional — but what she’s also saying is that when we sing it just works. That’s how you know the music is what binds us all together. And it’s so exciting that we’re figuring out our sauce in real time. This is just such a new caliber for SZN4. We’re just having fun and figuring out what works and what doesn’t and figuring out our own sauce. We are all aware that this is something so fresh and so new.

Aaliyah Rose: Being like one has been a huge thing for us. Every time before we step on stage, we always do like a huddle, we do a pinky promise, we pray and we all breathe and just get on like the same breath. Then we all feel like we’re connected. The second we step on stage it’s like we’re all locked in and at peace with each other. So I feel like that’s a big thing that’s also helped us stay grounded before we perform.

Donzell Taggart: We’re still figuring it out. There’s no formula to life. We got to figure out who we are. We just living, we just want to love people, we want to put it on music, we want to tell stories. Music is so dope, it’s so beautiful. I’m glad we get to do this together. We couldn’t have planned this out — it’s just magic for sure.

There’s a lot on the show you’re getting critiques about – not just your singing but choreography and even fashion. What was the hardest part for you to get through?

Cameron Goode: I know for me the wardrobe and the hair. I never really take risks when it comes to what I wear and what I’m doing with my hair. This is the first time I’m actually stepping out of, not necessarily my comfort zone — because it was all in me to experiment with my clothes and my voice and my hair – but I definitely got out of my comfort zone with this show in the best possible way, ‘cause I always had it in me. There was a whole moment in the show that didn’t air actually: I was just talking about my past and how I felt like I wasn’t able to wear certain things or be this person that I wanted to be because of my environment. It’s truly so cool, such a blessing that this show really took off whatever mask I was wearing and I was able to get out of my head be a part of this beautiful band and just cook.

Is there one moment that stands out as the absolute most fun you had on the show?

Donzell Taggart: (Our performance of) “Bust Your Windows” for me. That was the most nerve-racking, terrifying. We came out singing “Don’t Cha” ‘cause Nicole was performing for the crowd (before us). That was the most fun performance ever. I love that one.

Katie Roeder: One thing that was really fun that obviously you don’t get to see as much in the show is how amazing the crew was. We loved everybody on the crew and in the cast. Spending time with them and talking and joking — anytime we had downtime, we’d be dancing or singing or playing some kind of game. It was so fun to have such an amazing group of people to work with.

Cameron Goode: One of my faves was just figuring out every time we did the arrangements, just when it all comes together. Particularly when we get on those stages and it just shines, it just comes out of us. We’d go to sleep at night knowing that we practiced to the best of our ability, but the fact that when we got on stage, it was just 110%.