Straying away from the fuzzy, narcotic beach punk of his main project Wavves, Nathan Williams began Sweet Valley in the summer of 2012 as a "production team" with his brother Kynan Williams. The duo worked loosely with Rihanna producer John Hill, adding sunshiny guitars and murky hip-hop beats to slowed-down samples. Nathan Williams was quoted in an interview saying the project's goal was to "make a soundtrack to getting drunk this summer." Sweet Valley's first official release came in the form of a digital mixtape. The nine-song Stay Calm was released in early August 2012 on the Fool's Gold label. ~ Fred Thomas