Hadreas met Wyffels in 2009 at a nightclub. As they describe it, Hadreas was leaning drunkenly against a wall when a mutual friend suggested to Wyffels (who’d been sober for around six months) that the musician known as Perfume Genius could use some help. The pair started hanging out and collaborating artistically. At the time, Hadreas was working on what would become his 2010 album, “Learning,” consisting of songs he’d recorded alone at his mother’s house and had never performed for an audience. Wyffels, a classically trained pianist, arranged the music for the two of them to play live. Hadreas says he fell for Wyffels instantly. But since it’s often suggested that people trying to get sober should abstain from dating in early recovery, their mutual affection was left unspoken for quite some time. According to Hadreas, “We were both kind of in love, but were trying to be good for ourselves and each other.”