Image credit: Luke Nugent
Now, the chances are that you may have heard of the Bloom Twins, the iconic sister duo from Ukraine and currently based in London. The two are quickly establishing themselves as a force to be reconned with in the industry as they’ve been working with well-known heavyweights such as Diplo, Zhu, Purple Disco Machine, Elderbrook, Ben Bohmer and even Katy Perry, to name a few. The duo’s latest creation was with the deep house legend Jan Blomqvist, only further building their captivating portfolio. ‘High On Beat’ was almost immediately picked up by SOFI TUKKER, who created their own progressive house remix of the track.
Stream/ download: ‘High On Beat’ (SOFI TUKKER remix)
Outside of the world of music, Bloom Twins have appeared in a special performance on TED Talks as well as joining the jewellery giant Pandora for their global online campaign, in which both the twins and their music also starred in. Curious about what’s going on in the minds of this dynamic duo? We definitely are. Find it all in the exclusive interview below
Set the tone for us. Why the arts?
We’ve always been drawn to the creative world. We started to sing before we could talk, spend the better half of our childhood in classical music school. We didn’t even understand how people could function without music. Music is the most important thing in our lives, and it was a no brainer to choose it as our career.
Which comes first when you’re producing – the sound or the idea?
My sister and I are so different. Sonya comes up with melodies and lyrics, and I produce music. She can start humming a melody, and I will create a track around it, or the other way around. We don’t like having rules when it comes to writing songs otherwise, it just turns into a job rather than a passion.
Does your material feature any collaborations?
Yes! We’ve recently released features with Benny Benassi and Jan Blomqvist. Was such a pleasure to work with such iconic underground artists! Our most recent release was a remix on our track with Jan Blomqvist ‘High on Beat’ by incredible Sofi Tukker! Still cannot believe it. We have more features coming out but I won’t mention them, as I’d like all of you to wait in suspense!
What’s on your current playlist?
Such a mix of different genres lol. We’re so in love with 90s hip hop (like Nas, A tribe called. quest, 2pac), Disco/Funk (Marlena Shaw, Donna Summer, Bee Gees), rock (Chris Cornell, Radiohead, The Strokes), Trip hop (Portishead, Massive Attack, Tricky), Pop (Celeste, Sofi Tukker, Duckwrth) and so on.
Tell us about the chemistry you have with your fans on stage.
We love sharing the energy between us and our audience. It’s such an incredible natural high. I thought it was a little selfish getting all of their attention on us (that how you’re getting the high). But then we realised that they take as much ‘high’ out of it as us out of them. It’s a total state of elevation. It’s like you’ve known them all of your life, even though it’s obviously impossible. We wouldn’t know all of 2000 people in the audience, but it felt like we did. Friends-forever-kinda-thing.
What techniques do you experiment with to get your original sound?
We try not to think of techniques. I reckon to be total creative in anything you do you gotta know and learn technics, but kinda forget it all when you create something. That way you will create something new. I started to experiment with different sounds, first it was just electronic sounds (electronic techno drums, repetitive melodies, side-chained sounds), later on, it went into a bit of a hip hop/ trip-hop direction (hip hop drums, vinyl scratching sounds, strings, funky bass), cinematic/classical (Hans Zimmer kinda vibe, strings, piano, cinematic sounds) and a little bit of the 80s (very much like tracks from ‘Drive’ movie. I’m so obsessed about this movie). Now we kinda glue it together when we write, whatever we wanna write.
Take us through a day in the recording studio.
We love working with different artists, musicians, so most of the time we will invite someone new into our studio. I (Anna) will create some production ideas, beats, while Sonya will zone into melodies, lyrics and whoever is invited will create whatever they’re feeling. We’re not kinda people that feel too precious about stuff we write, we love collaboration. That way it will be always challenging, which is very exciting as you will never stop developing.
Was there a specific moment in your life where you thought, “this is what I want to do”?
100 percent! As soon as I started producing on a very basic way – to this day I remember not being able to fall asleep, as I couldn’t wait to go again and create something. What a way of expressing yourself. Sonya on the other hand knew way before me that music was her path. When we were classically trained, she had solo lessons in singing, while I had only once a week or something, as well as singing in duet with Sonya most of the time. She was supposed to go to a Classical university pursuing her singing, while I was applying to a Mathematics university. I never thought I will pursue a music career, to be honest. But then everything changed: when our managers met us in Ukraine through a common friend. We sang to them and they suggested we travel to London for our summer break. And now, 9 years later we’re still here pursuing our music career! Best decision ever.
What do you keep close by while you’re playing a set?
A bottle of water, and never a glass to let myself lose and not get myself electrocuted. The same goes for cables, we have a lot of equipment on stage so cables are like a web at times, so useful to keep them as hidden as possible because as much as we love falling in love with the audience, we don’t mean it literally falling.
Any emerging artists on your radar?
Jelani Blackmam: absolute are definitely the ones to watch. They are already making quite a stir in the industry. Jelani just released a collaboration with Gorillaz called ‘Meanwhile’ and you must have seen a green-haired absolute perfection on the cover of Mix Mag.
What gets your creative juices flowing?
Everything starts with the coffee, which may or may not have been a direct inspiration behind ‘High on Beat’ title. We grasp our creativity and get inspired by anything. A line from a movie, a gig, sitting on the train observing people. Public transport is like a museum of people. Also wearing a fashion outfit at times kickstarts a writing process.
Take us through your collection of gear, tech or software that accompanies your creative expression.
We use Moog Electric Blue Voyager, Nord Stage 2, Voice Live Touch TC Helicon 2, Flute, Harmonica. For production, we use Logic Pro.
Any side projects you’re working on?
We are fully committed to Bloom Twins and it also covers quite a lot of fields like Fashion, Music, Acting. I wish there was 25h a day to be able to do everything our brand needs.
How have you refined your craft since you entered the industry?
This is an interesting question. I think our main update and an alteration of our creating process was to just create from a heart. In the industry, that’s so hard to crack. It’s very easy to fall into a trap of writing what people expect you to write, or to just do something to succeed. But nothing felt more freeing than just being ourselves. We are extremely lucky to have a team of heroes that not only believe in us but reminds us of who we are when we need to hear it the most.
Breakdown the news for us: what can we expect from you this year?
You can expect a lot of collaborations with our absolute idols, names of which we can not reveal yet. Super excited for our blooming journey.
Famous last words?
It requires a lot of willpower to follow your dreams, but don’t let it stop you from it. Do not let people’s opinions shape you. Be true to your roots, and you shall bloom.
Follow Bloom Twins:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Soundcloud – Youtube – Instagram – Spotify
Follow SOFI TUKKER:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Soundcloud – Youtube – Instagram – Spotify
Follow Jan Blomqvist:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Soundcloud – Youtube – Instagram – Spotify
