This interview was contributed by Ruth Griffin.

It’s pretty easy to resent a band that puts out an EP before ever performing live together. However, Twin Sister has proven themselves to be worthy of nothing but adoration. Buzz from their first release Vampires with Dreaming Kids, and their following EP Color Your Life has brought them to the forefront of the underground music world, stunning us with their debut LP In Heaven. Employing styles from disco to dream-pop, these guys seemingly transcend genre specification, dazing audiences with their eccentric live performances and the charmingly serene voice of lead singer/keyboardist Andrea Estella. Embarking on their ambitious North American tour, the band plans on making a stop at one of Austin’s finest music venues, Mohawk, this Sunday. In spite of their jam-packed schedule, the Austinist was able to grab a few minutes with the lovely Andrea herself. Get ready to discover the secrets behind her eclectic style and lyrics as well as her ventures into the world of sculpture and paper maché!

So I was watching your music video for “Bad Street” and it seems to depict a really fun and happy family life, so I was going to see if that comes from any experiences of your childhood.

Yeah. They are mostly Salvadorians, Puerto-Ricans, and my band. I mean mostly like Central American. Family and friends.

I was wondering what your descent was, because you have a really interesting look. Are your parents foreign?

Yeah, my mom is from El Salvador, and my dad is Puerto Rican, and he is super pale. And my mom is opposite. She is darker. I have the same bone structure as her, but my dad’s color. So my apple head comes from my mom.

Did growing up with two parents from two different countries, does that influence your music at all?

I don’t know, because they are so American. They were so into what was going on in America. A little bit…I guess food and music and movies and TV and stuff like that. There was a little bit of America mixed with Spanish stuff, you know? I guess because my mom took Salsa dancing into, like, pretty much putting on a show. Like, getting all dressed up and stuff. That was my mom.

I wish my mother was like that.

No, you don’t. No, my mom’s, like, ‘You’re going out like that?’ She’s like, ‘Put on makeup.’ I’m, like, ‘Mom, girls don’t, like, wear makeup every minute.’

Oh my gosh. That’s funny. So I guess on that note, you guys wrote your record in…

In Water Mill, in the Hamptons.

I thought that was an interesting spot to pick. I guess you’re writing music now, too, and you’ve written music, like your EP’s in the past. How does the location affect the outcome? Is it a big difference where you write your music?

I wouldn’t think it’s so much the actual, physical town. It’s more like we were able to get a house cheap enough in the middle of nowhere without being disturbed. And being able to get the five of us together, because we’re usually pretty spread out and it’s really hard to get everybody together. And at the time we were, like, not working other jobs and we all lived in this house and it was a lot easier just to get everyone upstairs and practice in the living room and stuff, and record stuff. The thing about the Hamptons was it’s so cheap in the winter.

And secluded.

And you could get a really big house. And you could also be…you have a large property so you don’t have people complaining if you’re playing loud into the night, you know.

Nicely done. You make the Hamptons sound so cheap.

It’s actually scary cheap. And we had, like…how many bedrooms was that house? Seven bedrooms, and we’re talking huge everything. It had a Jacuzzi, it had a hot tub, and it was like three grand a month and in the summer it’s, like, unaffordable.

Oh my gosh.

It’s just, like, no one’s there in the winter, so they just try to rent those houses out because it’s pretty far from everything, you know? So, that’s why it’s so cheap. It’s kind of nice. There’s, like, nothing really around. There’s just a couple, like, freaky, rich old ladies there who wear, like, really weird designer clothing, and [the] snow and the ocean. It’s good.

That sounds nice! Anyway, you have a really interesting style! Where do you shop? How do you put that together?

Um…mostly I thrift. Especially in Suffolk County there’s a ridiculous amount of thrift stores that are pretty big. They’re laughing at me right now, [talking to band members] shut up, guys! So I mostly just thrift, and now and then I will, like, see something designer, whatever, mostly shoes, that I like online and then I’ll buy that. Actually, I just collect, like, an insane amount of crap, pretty much, from thrift stores that are, like, super cheap. And sometimes I’ll just get rid of it and never wear it and other times I’ll put together a whole new outfit and it will be sitting in my closet for, like, a year. It’s great. And pants. Pants, you have to spend money on. It’s like pants and shoes, and then everything else can be, like, fun, cheap shit, you know? For now.

Or you could just not wear pants, I mean, then you’d save a lot of money.

Yeah, totally! And kind of Forever 21, too. I’m just, like, a sucker for Forever 21. So, it’s, like, cheap and disposable and cute.

Yes, Forever 21 is a great store. It is cheap! All right. I was going to ask, I know that when you recorded your EP’s, you guys hadn’t played live very much. How was it the first time you guys got together and actually played a live show?

Uh…It was terrible!

It was terrible?

I guess we just didn’t really know how to do it. I didn’t really know how to like get on the stage, with monitors or...you know we were just kinda doing it or whatever, but I’m sure it sounded pretty terrible. We didn’t really feel bad about it because we didn’t really know what we were doing. We didn’t even know that it was so bad.

Oh well. I guess everyone’s first show is like that!

But it was fun we were like, “alright we're just finally just going in and playing what we want to play for a bunch of people”.

Good times! I think I read somewhere also that you do comic books. Is that correct?

I kinda try to. I kinda suck at it. I find [it] really hard having a story that can continue on. But I do a lot of painting and actually I’ve been working with sculptures, which I never do.

Oh that’s awesome.

So that’s my new thing right now, doing like paper maché stuff. Hopefully I’ll get something done when I get home from this tour.

You think you’ll finish a sculpture of someone?

I want to like make a bunch of them and maybe have a little art show somewhere in New York because they’re so many opportunities to do that.

So I know that your lyrics are sort of dream-inspired and they can be interpreted in a bunch of different ways.

Yeah a lot of them are dreams and also just made up stories. You know? Same thing with me not being able to make comics. I just make up stories and then I have a hard time laying it out, so sometimes I’ll find it easier to make it into a song.

Have you ever read a review or had anyone interpret your songs in a super specific way like "this is what she’s trying to say." And you’re just like, “I wasn’t trying to say anything…”.

(laughs) I don’t know. That hasn’t happened yet, not that I know of. I’m sure it has happened, but those lyrics don’t really mean anything to anybody. You know what my dad kind of does that sometimes. He takes my lyrics super literally, like “All Around [And Away We Go]” (from EP, Color Your Life). The lyrics are super silly and they were supposed to be like Japanese animation with opening credits, or the song at the beginning will be in Japanese and all of the subtitles will be insane. They don’t make any sense, and they’re really cute, so that was kind of what we were trying to do for that. And my dad always takes (singing), “my many destinies will all come true”, that part of the song, and he always makes fun of that and I try to do a billion things. I try to do music and then I try to do art as well. He’s like, “oh, your destinies are going to come true”. He took it like I really meant that.

Yeah, I don’t think dads know anything. So I notice also that your voice has changed a lot. From listening to the EP’s and then listening to the In Heaven, it is so much fuller. Did you practice or did it just come from performing live?

I had some vocal lessons right before I recorded the album, which I had never done before. I learned how to breathe and do warm-ups. I feel like I’m still learning. I feel like I’m still not totally pro yet. But it helps. It helps a lot. I was totally breathing the wrong way before I made In Heaven. I just warm up, like dancers stretch, beforehand. You are suppose to stretch your vocal chords before you go out and sing, you can’t just do it. So I’ve been doing that, doing warm-ups and stuff like that, stretches.

You are getting pro!

One day! I hope. I’ll be like Mariah Carey.

Or you will get to judge American Idol or something like that.

Yeah, that would be great!

Filed in Arts & Entertainment and tagged inheaven, interviews, music, twinsister

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