Chet Hanks and Drew Arthur, the duo behind Something Out West, sat down with PEOPLE to discuss their new EP, Leaving Hollywood, and how their sobriety journey has impacted their music.

Hanks, 34, and Arthur have been open about their struggles with addiction and how their friendship has helped them stay on the path to sobriety. "I'm not going to do some stuff, because he's not going to. But even if I didn't have him, I still wouldn't," Hanks says. "You don't want to let yourself down. You don't want to let your buddy down. I got a lot of other friends too, we both do, that are sober. It's a lot of people. Bigger than us."

Arthur adds that they've received messages from fans who have been inspired by their sobriety journey. "It's always about, 'I see what you're doing.' " He recalls one message from a fan who said that seeing Hanks' journey has inspired them to seek help. "Nothing I'm doing right now would be possible without sobriety. That's for certain people," Hanks responded.

The duo met through a mutual friend and started making music together. They were both newly sober at the time and bonded over their shared experience. "My friend Connor was friends with his friend. He was friends with Connor, too. Then he just kept saying to me, 'You haven't met Chet yet?' We were both really newly sober. Then I met Chet," Arthur says.

Before working together, Hanks was acting and rapping, while Arthur was part of a different group with a "new school Eagles vibe." However, when Hanks stepped in to sing harmonies for one of Arthur's shows, they discovered their musical chemistry. "He was like, 'Dude, I could sing the harmonies.' I was like, 'Really?' He started singing, and I was like, 'Oh s---.' His voice was really good. Then it kind of went from there," Arthur recalls.

Their EP, Leaving Hollywood, is available to stream now. The duo's music video for "You Better Run" pays homage to the 1994 movie Forrest Gump, with Hanks channeling the iconic character in a suit, plaid shirt, and Nike Cortez sneakers. Tom Hanks even makes a cameo in the video.

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