What’s been happening recently?
So much! We’ve been working on the release of our fourth single “Teenage Dream”, including a music video which will be out soon! We’ve also written, produced and filmed our very own YouTube series called “Almost Like Angels”. The first few episodes are already out, and we have so many more on the way!
Your latest single ‘Teenage Dream’ will be released on the 13th of August, what influenced the sound and songwriting?
“Teenage Dream” is an anthem to encourage people to keep working hard and not to let the negativity or doubts of others stop you from pursuing your dreams. People can be very dismissive and often treat your dreams or aspirations as childlike or something you’ll eventually “grow out of”. We’ve experienced this a lot personally and know so many others have too, so we decided to write a song about it!
When creating the track, we wanted it to have a very triumphant and encouraging sound, so the production is built around a marching band beat, creating that imagery of a group of people (all the dreamers out there!) marching towards turning their dreams into a reality. We wanted the song to sound very vibrant and fun, reflecting that “carefree teenage spirit”, but also to create something that people of all ages could listen to and enjoy because no matter what age you are, it’s never too late to dream or pursue your passions!
How did Teenage Dream come about and what does this single mean to you?
“Teenage Dream” was inspired by personal experience. Whilst we are blessed to have some really amazing supportive people in our lives, during our Like Angels journey, we have also experienced people expressing unsolicited negativity and doubt over our decision to pursue music. This song was really important to us because it was a response to all of the doubters, haters and discouragers in one song! We were able to write honest lyrics without a filter and say what we needed to say – it was quite therapeutic to be honest! More than that, it was also super important to us that “Teenage Dream” was relatable to other people. We want all of our fellow dreamers out there to feel encouraged on their own personal journey, to feel empowered and to know that they are not alone!
Where and when did you record/produce/master and who with?
We recorded this song back in 2019 with Philippe-Marc Anquetil. Phil has produced, mixed and mastered all of our songs so far. He’s incredibly talented and such a genuine human being. We’re so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him and learn so much in the process too!
How did you approach the recording process?
We showed Phil a voice memo recording on our phone, which had vocals and some simple piano chords. When it was time to actually start the recording process at the studio, we started by building the track around the original piano chords from that voice memo. Once we added the piano, we built up a marching band beat, including drums and brass band elements. We added vocals, harmonies and then some intentional sound samples that contributed to the storyline of the lyrics. For example we added the sound of a school bell ringing in Verse 1 when we mention the word “school” and in the Chorus, we added the sound of a gun being loaded and fired while we’re singing “If you don’t think I can make it, load your gun cause I can take it”. We were very open during the recording process – open to experimenting & to where the song could go. It could’ve had so many different sounds or styles, but whatever choices we made had to complement and emphasise the meaning of the lyrics.
What programs/instruments did you use?
One of our favourite parts of the recording process is being as hands on and creative as possible! Phil recorded the song using logic Pro and we played piano for the track. We used and combined a lot of different sound samples to construct and build the track, including some that we made ourselves in the studio, for example the “heys” you can hear in the background. You can also hear a massive crowd shouting the lyrics. Phil recorded multiple takes of us shouting lyrics into the microphone and then layered them to make it sound like a huge crowd had gathered and was singing along with us.
Please tell us about your new YouTube series ‘Almost Like Angels’:
“Almost Like Angels” is a self-taped docuseries that follows our journey as sisters trying to build a successful music career and reach international fame, in a mockumentary style (think “Flight of the Conchords” or “The Office”). Whilst it’s mainly built on satire and comedy, the series also explores some of the very real experiences we’ve had as independent artists. It will make you laugh, cringe and maybe even cry! We’ve written, produced, filmed and edited the entire series, so it’s been a pretty cool experience and we hope you like it!
Who are you listening to at the moment?
It changes daily, but at the moment we’ve been loving Blackbear’s new EP “misery lake” and two artists we always come back to are Taylor Swift and NF! We’ve also been listening to a lot of Aussie made music at the moment too – we’re living in such crazy and uncertain times and streaming Australian music is one simple and easy way to help support our peers at the moment! A couple of our fave 100% Aussie playlists are “New Australian Music” by The Underground Stage and “auspOp now!” by AuspOp now (both on Spotify). We’ve also made quite a few playlists of our own on our Spotify artist profile which we update regularly, to share our current and ever changing favourite tracks.
What’s planned for the remainder of 2021?
We’re currently collaborating with a Melbourne artist on our music video for “Teenage Dream” – we can’t wait to share it with everyone! We’ve also got more episodes of “Almost Like Angels” coming out weekly and of course, more new music on the way too!
