Bonenfant and Clark warm hearts with ‘Hot Cocoa & Harmony’
Within the bustle of the school year, there is limited time to relish in the magic of the holidays. Exams, meetings, and homework replace dreams of stuffed stockings, while lectures drown out the music of carolers and mistletoe is passed without a second glance. However, as most students were counting down the days until winter break, two WA seniors were counting measures to bring the holiday season back to life.
Seniors Tommy Bonenfant and Nolen Clark released their debut Christmas album Hot Cocoa & Harmony on Nov. 13, marking their emergence as WA’s newest artists. All nine tracks feature modern renditions of classic songs, recorded and composed in Clark’s home studio as a way to spread Yuletide cheer this holiday season. The album is currently available on Spotify and Apple Music under their artist name, Nolen C and Tommy B.
“I want [my community] to realize that music doesn’t have to end where it started. Music is a forever, long journey of love,” Clark said. “[When you say], ‘Hey, Alexa, play some Christmas music,’ it plays the same 20 songs. I want people to realize that it doesn’t have to be that way, and that Nolen C. and Tommy B. can change that for them.”
While it is currently taking WA listeners by storm, this project started far before either artist had stepped into a studio. Clark’s journey with music was ignited by piano lessons at five years old, after which he learned drums at six, music software at nine, and a variety of instruments along the way. Once he had become versed in a foundation of music, Clark started creating his own tracks, taking a particular liking to jazz.
“I’ve always had a love for jazz. My parents would play me jazz CDs. And then, knowing how to play jazz music, it just kind of builds up,” Clark said. “[When] you know how to do something and you like it at the same time, that just makes you want to keep doing it.”
Clark released his first independent EP titled The Hall in eighth grade under the pseudonym Ensee. The project features five instrumental tracks that highlight soulful composition and his love for music.
“It was pretty big through the student body of Stony Brook Middle School, and my parents liked it,” Clark said. “My parents spread it on Facebook, and it just [grew] from there.”
Bonenfant met Clark before this musical journey at only three years old, forging a bond that would last throughout their childhood and adolescence.
“Tommy’s my everything. Every phone call we share ends with an ‘I love you’, and this companionship kind of shows how we work so well with each other,” Clark said.
According to Bonenfant, he never quite developed the same musical footing as Clark, but he does harbor a devout love for all things Christmas. Along a mid-October drive, Bonenfant reveled in prematurely singing holiday music. Between the chords of Bing Crosby and Michael Bublé, an idea dawned on him.
“I know [Clark] loves music, and he’s good at this. He’s got a recording studio, and so I called him and I said ‘we got to record a Christmas album. This would be fantastic’,” Bonenfant said. “I went over to his house one night, and we just decided to record. And the amount of amazingness that sprung from that [session] and how awesome that night was—I can’t even speak the words.”
After a long game of pool led to a recording session, the project was realized in Clark’s basement.
However, the process was not without its issues. Although the duo managed to each record their raw vocal tracks in single takes, they faced a disheartening betrayal when it came to adding the layers of instrumentals that were necessary in fleshing out each song.
“I don’t like Mariah Carey. She stemmed a lot of problems with us being [threatened to be] sued and stuff,” Bonenfant said. “I’m not a big fan of her […] don’t worry, we got it passed. But I don’t like her. And that was a bigger shock, because I looked up to her. I love listening to her Christmas music, and then to find out that she’s a little stickler with her music [and] doesn’t let anybody sing it, that was a big shock to me.”
With seven of the nine songs that they recorded having been flagged for copyright issues by Clark’s music distributor, DistroKid, the album’s progress stopped dead in its tracks. Despite the hefty roadblock, Clark refused to let the music remain unheard; instead, he opted to record all of the instruments himself.
“Every single time I would release it, I would get an email saying ‘Copyright issue. Delete the song.’ I’m not deleting that song, right? There’s no way we recorded, sang our hearts out [just to delete the songs],” Clark said. “We worked hard on these songs, so why not work even harder to remake these instrumentals so we can release them? And that’s how I got around that copyright issue.”
Using a metronome and a MIDI keyboard to replicate each instrument, Clark spent hours carefully crafting synth-based melodies to overlay onto drum beats and other musical tracks. He listened to the seven songs with a critical ear, picking out the riffs and song structures while his fingers scanned the keys to find the correct notes.
His familiarity with producing music developed from years of working with different editing software, beginning all the way in third grade with the software LMMS.
When he was 12 years old, Clark graduated to FL Studio, an audio development tool used by producers such as Metro Boomin. According to Clark, his switch to the more serious software, which required a $300 subscription, shifted his mindset and made him more committed to developing music.
“I [thought], ‘You know what? I’m paying $300 for this. This is something I genuinely like to do,’” Clark said. “I used that one for two years, maybe, and I needed something better. You’re limited with that software. So I found the professional music software called Ableton, and completely self-taught, I used my skills on how to use music software from FL Studio, transformed it to Ableton, and it just opens up a whole new world with such professional tools that you can use.”
While Clark worked to finish the album, Bonenfant was dedicated to marketing the project across WA. Unfortunately, Bonenfant did his job too well, and the pair were soon overwhelmed with requests to be featured on the songs.
By this point in the process, the album was nearly complete, but the duo had already begun to plan a deluxe album, which they hoped to involve other singers in. To keep their workload manageable, Clark’s older sister Mia Clark suggested that they narrow down their guest singer options through a musical competition similar to the TV show The Voice.
“People [were] texting me, calling me, asking to be on the deluxe and […] we’re very nice guys. We want people to enjoy and be on our music, but we can’t have everybody,” Bonenfant said. “So that’s where the idea of The Voice came in […] We had some great, great singers come out to audition. They were fantastic. We’re very excited to have them on the deluxe album.”
The competition was held on a Zoom call where each participant sang a musical piece of their choosing and was judged on their performance by a panel of judges consisting of Bonenfant, Nolen Clark, and Mia Clark. Senior Leo Koutsoukos was the winner of the night, performing a stunning rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock.”
“I’ve always loved Christmas music, so it was a good opportunity that they were offering and I decided to do it,” Koutsoukos said. “[The project has] helped bring us closer together and enjoy Christmas music, and has also shown a lot of people that they can put themselves out there and do what they want.”
Although the pair had saved the student features for their deluxe album, the original Hot Cocoa and Harmony did include two other featured vocalists: Mia “on the Shelf” Clark and the Clarks’ own father Chris “Kringle” Clark. According to Nolen Clark and Bonenfant, their unique voices added a depth to the album that they would not have been able to replicate otherwise, despite their own vocal prowess.
“For some of the songs – we’re very good singers – but in the ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ there is a very hard note to hit,” Bonenfant said. “And so then [with] Mia on the Shelf […] we asked her to come down to sing that part because both of us, we could not hit that part.”
From her suggestion of The Voice-style competition to her offering her high-octave voice for the high notes of “All I Want for Christmas is You,” Mia on the Shelf was an enthusiastic participant, but the same could not always be said about Chris Kringle Clark.
“I was busy watching TV, being really lazy. And if it was just Nolen, I would have said ‘no’,” Chris Kringle said. “But Tommy came up and said, ‘Mr. Clark, you really got to come down and do this.’ So I said, ‘All right, for Tommy, I’m gonna do this.’”
The effort paid off in the three-verse song, according to Bonenfant, and the final product was a fist-pumping, funky groove.
“Chris Kringle Clark, he’s just incredible,” Bonenfant said. “And so when we were singing ‘Christmas in Hollis,’ that is a three-verse song, and we had both already done a verse [each], and we needed one more person to do a verse. So then we asked if he wanted to come down. And he loved it. He nailed it, and it was awesome.”
With the completion and release of the album on Nov. 13, the duo was immediately met with widespread praise.
According to Clark and Bonenfant, soon after the release, the word began to spread around the school, starting with the football team.
“[The reception] was what we expected,” Bonenfant said “We knew, in that day recording, that people were going to love this, that it was going to be incredible.”
Students were not the only people indulging in the Christmas spirit. According to Bonenfant, one afternoon, the lyrics and chords of Hot Cocoa and Harmony could be heard throughout the math hallway. The origin: math teacher Kristen Stamp’s classroom.
“Neither of us [is] in that class. She just wanted to spread the joy,” Bonenfant said.
One faculty member in particular had a strong connection to the album, and upon listening to each song, English teacher Russell Coward immediately requested that the pair make signed CDs to hand out to their fans.
“I was talking to my teachers. I was marketing the product, and some of my teachers asked for a signed CD copy,” Bonenfant said. “[…] One of my teachers, Mr. Coward, asked for a signed copy. And when I brought that in, that was the happiest I’ve ever seen someone. He was so excited when I gave that to him.”
Clark and Bonenfant used their own CD burner to make copies of the album, initially creating six signed discs for each of them to hand out.
“I think [the recipients of the CDs] have the most connection to [a] love of music, and that love of music I can relate to, which means I can relate to these [people], which means I can give them a signed copy of Hot Cocoa and Harmony,” Clark said.
Another one of the select CD recipients, Dean Bob Ware, expressed sincere appreciation towards the two. Ware claimed that upon his first listen to the album, he was enamoured with the sound and believed that the opportunities for both were endless.
“I was very privileged and honored to receive a CD from both of these young men,” Ware said. “At first I thought I was listening to Frank Sinatra, because it was just a pleasure of music going through my entire vehicle […], nothing but joy and happiness and very, very talented young men.”
The Ghostwriter received their very own signed copy as well, pictured below.
The album soon snowballed beyond the walls of Westford Academy. According to the musical duo, who currently have over 170 monthly listeners on Spotify, they had an audience across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and other nearby states.
“It’s making our lifelong goals and aspirations come true,” Clark said. “What are those goals? Those goals are to make people happy, joyous, to make them sing, dance, spirited, and most of all, most importantly of all and last but not least, have their love for Christmas.”
But with the success of the album, the pair’s vision now extends beyond Christmas to a variety of other holidays held throughout the year. They plan to work on albums specifically for all the holidays, in addition to experimenting with different genres. Next up, according to the duo, may be a prospective Valentine’s Day album, with a reggae album on their drawing board as well.
“All holidays are awesome,” Bonenfant said. “On Easter, you get to find chocolate and stuff. And then Thanksgiving, you get to eat turkey. So why would I not want to sing about things that I love?”
According to Clark, he heartily agrees with Bonenfant’s assessment of holidays and credits their significance for his passion to create music.
“Why would I want to sing about a boring old day, like a Wednesday, when I can sing about Christmas on a Thursday?” Clark said.
Still, the two emphasize that their love for Christmas holds a place in their hearts above all other celebrations, and being able to sing about their passion has only brought their joy to a higher place.
“I want to celebrate Christmas for as long as I can. But you need to think about it, when I start listening to Christmas music in July, even if I have a 20-hour-long Christmas playlist, that’s like a lot of Christmas music that I’m repeating,” Bonenfant said. “[…] I love to listen to my own voice, and I love to listen to Nolen’s voice. So why don’t we sing these songs, and then I can listen to [them] forever, because I won’t ever get bored of it.”
Clark also attested to the power of their voices.
“To sing to yourself is a great feeling,” Clark said. “You can hear yourself twice, which usually you can’t do. So it’s not just an amazing feeling, it’s a unique feeling that I bet only 1% of the world has ever felt.”
As seniors, both musicians will be moving on to college next year, with Clark hoping to major in mechanical engineering and Bonenfant hoping to major in paramedicine while enrolled in an ROTC program. Both aspire to continue their musical journey as Clark looks forward to exploring clubs and a potential minor in music, and Bonenfant wishes to continue their partnership.
“Music is not a path that I think I can travel down as a career, but it’s something that I will continue doing as long as I’m with Nolen,” Bonenfant said.
The two also have parting words of advice to the students they leave behind.
“As much as I would like to pass on the mantle, I want people to find their own way,” Bonenfant said. “We didn’t have people to show us that this Christmas album was the way, we figured that out on our own, and that’s what we want it to be like for everybody else. We want people to not copy us because we’re amazing, but to learn from us, to do what they love.”