Interview with Two Neighbors

Hello everyone, last Friday LA based duo Two Neighbors released their debut EP which I was lucky enough to be able to listen to in advance of the release and have been excited to let you know about it. Two Neighbors were also kind enough to answer some questions for After Midnight about their debut. Be sure to go and listen to the EP as it is well worth your time, I will leave all the links below as usual.

Hi guys! How would you describe your musical sound to the readers?

Hi :) We’re an alt-pop band that takes influence from, alt-rock, pop and EDM.

Who would you consider to be your biggest musical inspirations?

We really look up to artists that exist in the "pop" space but make intentional decisions to push the intensity a little bit and make everything just a bit harder hitting than your everyday pop music. Some examples include Bishop Briggs, Blackbear, Royal and the Serpent, Machine Gun Kelly, and Upsahl.

How has working on music in lockdown been for you? Has it presented any challenges or changed the way you work?

Putting limitations on creativity can often spark a rebellious need to break out of whatever is limiting you. We’ve been tested to make simple music videos, to write more, and to think very deeply as to why we are doing this all in the first place. I think every artist is going through a transformation and we will see it unravel with art for years to come.

For example, we recently did a development exercise where we wrote 50 songs in the 3 weeks, in an effort to fully establish the sound of our future music. We figured that writing a bunch of music and then curating the favorites would ultimately lead to a stronger body of work. It also forced us write in new, strategic ways to keep up with our goal of 3-4 songs a day. Quarantine allowed us to dedicate the time we needed towards that exercise. With that said, we realyyyy would like to play a show soon…

Congratulations on your debut EP release with Two Neighbors! I absolutely love the EP and think you guys have done a great job. There are so many intriguing parts to the EP that I want to talk about, but first, how did you find the process of making the EP?

Thanks so much!! We appreciate that. This EP was the culmination of about one year's worth of writing; however it wasn’t developed in a particularly structured way. Rather than writing specifically for the EP, we curated a selection of songs that were written for the most part independently of one another. We felt that these 5 songs provided a well-rounded view into the first chapter of this project. That’s part of the reason we chose to self-title the EP. The motive behind it is to present us as a group. The choice of the order actually came primarily from our live setlist, in which we naturally started to learn which songs flowed well into which.

I really love how you use a blend of real instruments and electronic instruments in your music, was this a conscious decision for you?

This was definitely a conscious decision, and something that we intentionally use to define this project’s sound. We take strong influence from rock, pop, and trap, and therefor like to juxtapose the traditional instrumentation within those genres upon themselves.

You sing about some personal topics on the EP such as sexuality, do you think it’s important to sing about these things in your songs?

I think sexuality becomes a part of every girl's life before we’re even ready for it. As a woman trying to be in the male-dominated music industry, an ex-stripper, and a model, sexuality has inevitably played a big role in my personal development. I don’t think it’s necessarily important for female artists to sing about sexuality but I’m just singing about my life, and sexuality is a part of my life.

In general, we think it's important to discuss topics that we genuinely have something to say about and inherently those are going to stem directly from personal experience.

Your music has been described as cinematic, which is something I completely agree with, lyrically you create stories that paint a scene of tragic love, nostalgia, and party culture. Where does the inspiration for your lyrics come from?

Well, I’d say it literally comes from tragic love, nostalgia and party culture. I usually write about my life because I write best from an authentic place. This EP is very much like a diary for me during a very strange part of my life. Each song in one way or another describes a real, literal experience I had.

In production Andre tries to match the energy of the topic being discussed lyrically. In this case, this has led to some more cinematic and heavy, hard hitting moments intended to really move the listener.

And lastly, what’s next for you guys?

As we mentioned, we’re deep in the development process right now. We’ve curated our next body of work from the 50 songs we wrote and are now in the studio putting the final touches on the ones we plan to release. We’ll also be releasing some videos and visuals for the EP songs over the next couple months! Stay tuned :)

I will definitely be looking forward to that, thanks again to Two Neighbors for answering some questions for us, it is really appreciated. Go and give the EP a listen and the band a follow on social media so you know when their next releases are.

Thanks, and until next time…

Listen to Two Neighbours EP here.

Follow Two Neighbors on Spotify here.

Follow Two Neighbors on Instagram here.

Follow me on Spotify here.

Follow After Midnight on Instagram here.

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