Indie rockers Twin Brother mix familiar, unknown
Their recently released debut, "Best Frenzy," lives up to its title as one of the best Vegas releases of late. How did kaleidoscopic indie rockers Twin Brother do it? Read on and find out.
What does Twin Brother sound like?
"You could say we sound like a menagerie of ideas and experiences coalescing, and through this creating a whole in the form of songs. When we set out to play music together our collective intent was not necessarily defined, but our instincts guided each of us to create something unique, something that represented our individual personalities as an entire unit. And most importantly, something that we all loved and wanted to hear. We all come from different backgrounds and lifestyles, so we tried to imbue as much of that as we could into what we do. To us, there is no need to write a song in a genre, we simply let our feelings come out in whatever way they may, a mixture of the familiar with the unknown. We’re strange guys, so it probably comes through in the music we make, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s who we are."
Your excellent debut, "Best Frenzy," was the product of some marathon recording sessions at times. How much of a challenge was it to harness the energy of your live shows in the studio?
"Capturing our live sound was a long process of trial and error. We wanted the album to feel like a band was actually playing to the listener through the speakers, imperfections and all. Even though we were recording in the digital medium, we did as best we could to limit the amount of takes we would record to retain a sense of spontaneity. There is an atmosphere of honesty and reality in recording this way, almost like we were tracking to tape. Some of the album’s parts were written during the recording process, which gave it the sense of urgency that we sought after. After countless hours and months of strenuous effort, we walked away with an album that very much sounds like Twin Brother in the flesh, and we’re very happy with it."
You guys are part of National SouthWestern Electronic Recordings with fellow standout Vegas acts A Crowd of Small Adventures, Hungry Cloud and Mother McKenzie. You all have different sounds, but is there a shared vision among you all?
"If there is a shared vision between all of our bands, it’s not spoken, instead it shines through in all of our respective music and attitudes. All of the acts on National SouthWestern write music because we can’t help it — it’s what we do and who we are. The things that truly bind us are our mutual love for writing songs, and the support of one another in whatever musical endeavors we may venture. We’re really lucky to belong to such a great group of people."
Does Vegas manifest itself in your music?
"Las Vegas manifests itself in our music totally and fully. We’ve had countless people tell us that they can’t believe we’re from Las Vegas, but to us it only makes perfect sense. Our music is incredibly bipolar and frenetic, one part wildly bouncing to the next, and the same descriptions are easily applied to our city. All of the songs on ‘Best Frenzy’ could be described as snapshots of our memories and mental states throughout our lives growing up here. Even the cover of the album, with all of its colors and shapes congealing into one homogeneous whole, could be adapted very literally to all of the transient lives that have passed through and seen the neon lights of the strip. ‘Best Frenzy’ is this crazy little idea that we had, literally our most fruitful state of mental dissonance, and it couldn’t have come from anywhere else than here."
Check out Twin Brother at myspace. com/twinbrotherlv.
Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.
