Interview: Andrea Estella + Bryan Ujueta of Twin Sister

I like talking to people. There’s nothing like a great conversation. I often find that I have some of my favorite conversations in some of the most unexpected situations. Take this past Tuesday, for example. Twin Sister made their way to McAllen, Texas and played Cine El Rey. It was easily one of the best show experiences I’ve had this year. After the show, I packed away my camera and pocketed my audio recorder and walked back inside the theater excited to get an interview with the band. Now, despite all preparation and research I go through for each interview I do, to this day I never feel completely prepared. There’s always one element of surprise that makes each conversation I have unique. Having said that, this interview is going to be a bit different in style than my previous ones because it begins in the middle of an ongoing conversation I was having with vocalist Andrea Estella about things and ownership of said things. This conversation began on the first floor of Cine El Rey and continued as we made our way to the second floor balcony area where the band was hanging out before their set. For some reason, it was then that I decided to press record.

The Photon God: Well it’s already recording–
Andrea Estella: What were we talking about before…oh yeah! I have a lot of stuff. I’m not really a hoarder…I don’t know, I guess maybe I am. I just have a lot of stuff and if I don’t have it, like, around me, I get depressed.
TPG: Really?
AE: Yeah. I get really, really frustrated and depressed so I like to have a lot of options. So that’s why I have such a huge bag full of like, clothes and bullshit.
TPG: Like potential choices.
AE: Yeah, I need the choices or I kind of go crazy.
TPG: Really, have you ever had an episode because of that?
AE: Yeah, I just get really depressed and I just feel bad.
TPG: Wow.
AE: So I kind of need all the shit I pack—like, I probably packed four times the amount that I actually need.
TPG: And it’s a two-week tour you’re on right now, right?
AE: Yeah.
TPG: So you’ve packed what…(doing mental math)
AE: Like, a month’s worth of clothes! (laughs)
TPG: Haha!
AE: And just like, perfume and fucking—like, bow ties and earrings and shoes and art supplies…
TPG: All of these different things.
AE: I like to paint whenever I can, so yeah I pack like, a whole Barney bag worth of stuff.
TPG: Like a Mary Poppins kind of thing.
AE: Yeah, it’s for real.
TPG: Wow. That’s actually kinda cool. I mean, you’re always prepared–
AE: I’m crazy! But like, yeah it’s cool. (laughs)
TPG: Haha!
AE: I know it! I’m like ‘oh my god, I don’t need all this stuff’, but I know that when I don’t have it around…
TPG: It bothers you.
AE: Yeah, it bothers me.
TPG: I’m like that about some things.
AE: Yeah?
TPG: Yeah, tonight I brought a backpack with me and I have my camera, my headphones, I had this (recorder); I have a checklist.
AE: Yeah.
TPG: Every time I leave my house, I check my pockets like ‘one, two, three’ and I go through that order.
AE: Just silly things that…make you happy.
TPG: Yeah, pretty much.
AE: Yeah.
TPG: Like my iPod. If I don’t have it with me, I kind of lose it.
AE: Yeah, it’s like the worst day ever.
TPG: Yeah I become kind of socially inept. It’s like ‘don’t talk to me, leave me alone. I’m just gonna go to class, don’t—no, just nothing’.
AE: Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. And the guys kind of accepted it because they have all this—they kind of get mad when I bring too much in the van. ‘Cause it’s just van, you know?
TPG: Yeah.
AE: So, they just yell at each other if they bring stupid things like ‘god, did you really have to bring that’, but for me, they’re just like ‘bring whatever makes you happy!’ (laughs) ‘Whatever!’
TPG: Haha, like they won’t contest anything.
AE: Yeah, it’s because I don’t have any big amps or gear.
TPG: Yeah.
AE: My bag is bigger than an amp. It’s like this big, and this high (motions with hands to show a large cylindrical bag)
TPG: Wow, like a whole huge gym bag.
AE: It’s a ski bag?
TPG: Oh! So it’s meant for sports equipment and stuff like that!
AE: It’s for skiing, so it’s really, really huge.
TPG: Yeah I can understand that for touring. Did you always do that? From the very beginning?
AE: No, the very beginning I didn’t. Actually, it gets…yeah, no the first tour we did wasn’t that long. And then when we started going on longer tours, especially when it was hot out, I was like ‘I DON’T WANT TO WEAR ANY OF THIS!’ (laughs)
TPG: (wide eyed) Oh man…
AE: Yeah, so that’s my thing. And then I would go shopping.
TPG: Awesome.
AE: Yeah, so.
TPG: Like, every little town, you’ll hunt down…
AE: Yeah, and I still go shopping.
TPG: Really? Where do you shop?
AE: I love thrift stores. I’m like, a super thrifter.
TPG: Oh yeah? And you find pretty good stuff?
AE: Yeah, just always thrifting.
TPG: Cool. I actually picked this (pointing at my shirt) up at a thrift shop.
AE: It’s a good shirt.
TPG: Thank you.
AE: Yeah, everything of mine except…the shoes.
TPG: I was going to ask! I just didn’t know how to approach it because they are very unique shoes.
AE: Yeah, they’re Jeffrey Campbell’s.
TPG: Jeffrey Campbell? A designer?
AE: Yeah.
TPG: From Long Island? Or–
AE: –yeah they’re like, 200 dollars. I don’t know where he’s from actually.
TPG: Holy moly, 200 dollars?
AE: Yeah… (laughs)
TPG: They’re very fancy shoes.
AE: Thank you. They’re five inches!
TPG: Fi—(turn down to look at her shoes in awe)…WOW!
AE: Yeah.
TPG: I’m assuming you have a history of walking in really high heels?
AE: I dunno, I guess you just have to practice and get used to them. But like, I’ll go thrifting and I’ll have a great abundance of clothes and it’ll be pretty cheap but then I’ll spend 200 on really nice shoes or something. (laughs)
TPG: Yeah.
AE: It’s nice to mix it up.
TPG: Yeah for sure.
AE: I mean, I’m fucking broke. So when I bought these shoes it was like…a THING.
TPG: Yeah yeah, like it’s a significant point in your life.
AE: Yeah, I’m not like a spoiled brat like (nasally voice) ‘oh whatever, 200 dollar shoes.’
TPG: Yeah.
AE: Yeah it’s like, it was a thing so it’s like, ‘oh my god, I’m gonna go eat at my parent’s house ‘cause I’m gonna buy these shoes’.
TPG: Like ramen for a month.
AE: Actually yeah, I eat a lot of ramen! (laughs)
TPG: What’s your favorite flavor?
AE: Uh, I don’t do the flavor! I throw the powder out and I make my own flavor.
TPG: You’re kidding, how do you make your own flavor? With spices and stuff?
AE: Yeah, what I do is I get Sriracha sesame oil, soy sauce, and then–either I do it in a broth or I don’t do it in a broth, I just take the noodles out and then I put the sauce on, and then cut whatever vegetables I want or meat and put it on top.
TPG: That’s really fancy.
AE: In Japan it’s called Poor Man’s Ramen.
TPG: Poor Man’s Ramen.
AE: Yeah. You hard-boil an egg, put it in there…it’s pretty much whatever’s in the fridge, you put together.
TPG: That’s really cool, I need to try that. I’ve always been like, ‘packet, water, et cetera’.
AE: I actually have my noodles with me.
TPG: Oh really?
AE: Yeah, I eat my noodles on the road. We have a little plug-in kettle, and I just make noodles and I have a little cutting board.
TPG: Really, in the van?
AE: Yeah, I really have that.
TPG: Wow.
AE: It’s my favorite food.
TPG: Ramen?
AE: Ramen. I love noodle shops. Actually, that’s one of my favorite things about tour. Getting to go someplace where there’s a lot of Japanese and Chinese noodles. Like, Vancouver has some amazing ramen shops! I went there and they make really serious broths. I went to this one place that had a pork broth that they made and you can have it with like, extra fat in it–
TPG: Eww.
AE: It’s delicious! But like, it’ll give you a heart attack.
TPG: Oh shit.
AE: Yeah, you couldn’t eat it every day. It’s like, pork fat. It’s delicious. It has pork that like, melts in your mouth.
TPG: Really?
AE: Yeah, like, melts in your mouth. Delicious hand-made noodles. And they do this thing where they put a hard-boiled egg in it. It’s really, really good.
TPG: Does that affect the texture?
AE: The egg? No, it’s just hard-boiled—it’s cut in half and it’s just there. You just eat it with your noodles. It’s really, really good.
TPG: Oh! I feel like I’ve just been opened to a new world of noodles…
AE: You gotta try noodles, man.
TPG: Yeah I feel like I have, but I haven’t at the same time.
AE: You need to go to like, a noodle ‘shop’.
TPG: I’ll definitely look into those.
AE: Go to like, a Chinatown or a Japantown if you’re ever near one.
TPG: Yeah.
AE: Like, San Francisco has a really amazing Japantown.
TPG: Really? Isn’t Chinatown in San Francsisco?
AE: They have a Chinatown and a Japantown. I love both though! (laughs) I love all noodles. Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese…
TPG: I had some really good noodles in Austin once. I went up for a show and during the day I walked around town and found a place called the Thai Noodle House.
AE: Yeah! I’ve eaten there!
TPG: It’s fantastic! The noodles are flat and stuff. I’d never had anything like that.
AE: Oh man, I want to live in a Chinatown in New York. There’s a couple.
TPG: Oh yeah? Do you know Chinese?
AE: I don’t but I just want to be surrounded by them and have their delicious food. It’s like, food on every corner. I love their culture.
TPG: That’s awesome. Do you ever wish that you were Chinese?
AE: I wish I was Japanese. Or Korean, I think Korean girls are like, the prettiest. They’re all pretty.
TPG: Yeah, they’re all pretty. I’ll agree with that.
AE: Yeah, but I’m Salvadoran/Puerto Rican, so.
TPG: Really?
AE: Yeah. I kinda have a round head. (laughs)
TPG: What’s your full name?
AE: It’s (spanish accent) Andrea Estela.
TPG: Andrea Estela.
AE: Yeah. But, uh, double ‘L’ only because it was spelled wrong on my birth certificate. So it’s really one ‘L’.
TPG: Yeah, otherwise it would be ‘es-te-ya’.
AE: Yeah, but it’s really Estela. And I guess in English it looks better with a double L?
TPG: Probably. And that’s what you have on your Tumblr, right?
AE: Oh yeah.
TPG: Which is pretty cool, by the way.
AE: Thank you. I posted some stuff up here.
TPG: Oh really?
AE: Yeah, I posted some paintings I made.
TPG: Oh, nice.
AE: Yeah one is a painting and another is some art that I liked.
TPG: Very cool. Do you like Tumblr?
AE: I do! Because I’m very stupid with that sort of stuff, like HTML. I tried the Blogger thing, and I don’t have the patience to learn any of that. And I want it to look cool and it never does. (laughs) So with Tumblr, it’s really easy. You just post and I get to spy on a bunch of people and all these strangers post all of this shit, it’s good.

“Whoa, is that a bunch of badass weed or what?”

Promoter Patrick Garcia walks by carrying some things and notices two unfinished blunts sitting on a nearby table.

TPG: Leftover?
AE: Ah, some blunts.
Patrick Garcia: You can’t tell me these are just badass blunts left here. That’s awesome. (laughs) I’m all about that.

He walks away. Twin Sister drummer Bryan Ujueta walks up with the bottle of tequila I purchased for the band prior to the show along with some gummy bears that were in compliance with their rider. He sits down with us and passes the bottle to Andrea who takes a sip and passes it back.

AE: (to me) You picked this up, right?
TPG: Yeah.
AE: (to Bryan) He picked this up.

Bryan passes me the bottle and I thank him and take a swig. It burns all the way into my stomach.

Bryan Ujueta: (in an accent) Tequilaa!
AE: Smooth, sweet.
TPG: That reminds me of Wayne’s World where they do the whole ad thing.
AE: Yeah yeah! (in Wayne’s voice) ‘Little, yellow, different.’
TPG: Yeah!
AE: I kind of look like Garth tonight. (laughs)
BU: ‘I’ll have the cream of some young guy!’
AE: (in Garth’s voice) ‘I’m having a really great time…I guess.’ Haha!
TPG: Haha!
AE: We actually used to watch Wayne’s World all the time.
TPG: Like, over and over again?
AE: Yeah, we used to live together years ago.
BU: Yeah, it was fun. We were young.
TPG: Yeah, how old are you?
BU: I’m 24, and she’s…like 16.
AE: I’m like, 49.
TPG: (to Brian) You’re 24. (to Andrea) And you’re…16?
AE: No…
BU: She’s 17.
TPG: 17?
AE: 17, 19…I don’t like to talk about my age…
TPG: Oh! I apologize.
BU: That’s personal! She’s an old…hag!
AE: Actually, my birthday just passed.
TPG: Well, happy belated.
AE: Thank you very much. That’s what I was looking for.
TPG: So you guys have a new record coming out soon?
AE: Yes we do.
BU: September 27th, maybe?
TPG: Oh, okay cool.
AE: No, we don’t have a date yet.
TPG: Oh, but it’s with Domino.
AE: Yes.
TPG: How long have you been signed to Domino?
AE: Since the Winter, (to Brian) right? Like late Winter?
BU: Well, we put out our stuff in England with them but it was unofficial. But now we have a contract for at least, four full-length records with them.
TPG: Cool.
AE: So we’ve been working with them for a while. They’re good people.
TPG: Awesome.
AE: Yeah. We have a great time when we go down to the UK.
BU: Yeah, they party hard.
TPG: Really? Like party hard and then in the morning they work.
BU: Yeah and they’re like, at work early.
AE: Yeah.
BU: Yeah, they’re work hard, play hard types.
TPG: Oh man, that’s good. It’s a good combo. Does the record have a name yet?
AE: We can’t say yet. It’s gonna be released in a couple of days.
TPG: Well could you tell me off the record? I promise I won’t tell.
AE: Mm, okay.

I put my hand over the microphone of the recorder and Andrea and whispers the name of the new record, In Heaven, into my ear. It’s public information now thanks to the release of their new track, “Bad Street”, a couple of days ago.

AE: But you can’t tell anyone!
TPG: Okay cool I won’t tell anybody.
BU: The record’s called Shark Sandwich.
TPG: Shark Sandwich?
AE: Geez…
BU: Yeah, the record’s called Shark Sandwich…and it’s a 15-track EP.
TPG: Okay…
BU: Yeah, out now on Fat Records.
TPG: Fat Records–P-H Phat Records!
AE: Phat Bottom!
BU: Yeah, Phat Bottom Records based in L.A.
AE: Ha!
BU: The record’s called Head P.E.
AE: Oh my god! (laughs)
TPG: Head P.E.?
AE: I want a head.com. (laughs)
BU: The record’s called System of a Down, I want a head.com, slash hummus.
TPG: (laughing) Slash hummus?
BU: Backlash hummus.
TPG: Isn’t it forward slash?

Brian just looks at me. I realize that it’s perfectly okay for him to use a back slash in his joke and before the joke is lost…

TPG: (laughing) Backslash hummus!
BU: Yeah, backslash hummus! (laughs)
AE: Ahh, I don’t want this to ever end! This interview.
BU: It’s a good one!
AE: I’m finding myself.
TPG: Haha!
BU: Let’s find ourselves. (to me) You’re a philosophy major, no?
TPG: No, I’m actually a film major.
AE: Oooh…
BU: What are your favorite movies?
AE: (in a nasally voice) Oh my god…I’ve…always wanted to be in a movie’.
TPG: I love Akira Kurosawa’s movies.
BU: Do you like Ran?
TPG: Dude, Ran is fantastic.
BU: Ran is epic.
TPG: I love his work.
AE: Who is this Ran?
BU: RAN!
TPG: Ran is a film.
BU: It’s epic!
AE: Oh…I knew that…
TPG: Yeah, it’s by this director named Akira Kurosawa. He’s one of my favorites.
AE: Ohh okay.
BU: His last movie was Ran and all the weather in it was natural. So, he would have a thousand people sitting on a lawn in Japan in the countryside waiting for a tsunami. And then a tsunami would come and he’d be like, ‘ACT!’
TPG: Yeah.
BU: Yeah so like, all the weather was natural.
AE: Noo, that’s so scary. What if you die?
TPG: That’s the risk of the time.
BU: Yeah, he’s a very special man.
AE: Yeah, that’s special. I’ve only seen, what’s the ‘dream’ one?
BU: Oh yeah, the ‘Dreams of Akira Kurosawa’. That’s where the foxes are in the woods and they do a dance…
TPG: I’ve never seen it.
BU: It’s cool, there’s a Van Gogh scene, a lot of inspiration stuff. It’s like a collage of stories.
AE: It’s a lot of mythical stories.
TPG: Like, his interpretation of stories?
BU: Yeah there’s like, a Van Gogh scene that’s like, swirling Van Gogh…
AE: It’s awesome. I like the peach blossom part with the dolls.
BU: Yeah…
TPG: That’s very cool.
AE: Yeah, it’s really cool. They all kinda go out like dolls, dance in a field, and like, pause. It’s kinda creepy.
TPG: Nice. Okay let’s talk about inspiration for the new record.
AE: Okay. (to Brian) Inspiration…go! Pinwheels! (laughs)
BU: I was really inspired by Kraftwerk and really simple music. Music that’s really easy to listen to, and there’s only a couple little components, and it all comes together very fluidly, simply. It seems natural, you know? Not a lot of playing. Just sort of like clicks and pulses.
TPG: Yeah, like almost leaning into kraut-rock kind of?
BU: Well, I feel like it’s more like kraut-pop. It’s like, really simple structures, obvious pop songs, but they just kind of like, they chug…and there’s not much difference, it’s just sort of like…
TPG: Just vibing…
AE: Viiiibing.
BU: Yeah it’s easy to listen to. But we also veered away from a ton of like, effects, delays and loops.
AE: My voice is pretty dry.
BU: Yeah, it sounds pretty dry. It’s very contained and almost tiny and simple and dry. The parts are there; you can hear what everyone’s doing.
TPG: Very cool. So how long has Twin Sister been a band?
AE: We’ve been an actual band for about two years, but we’ve been playing since high school. Eric and I used to play, he was about 14, and I was 16.

Pause.

AE: Don’t do the math because then you’ll find out how old I am. (laughs)
TPG: I was going to, thanks for telling me.
AE: Yeah, so we used to play in high school and stuff. Sometimes we’d play with Brian, the three of us, then it would have been Brian and I, and Dev was in another band, (to Brian) and you’d play with Gabe in another band…we’ve just been playing since high school. We all wanted to play together and there’s even a couple of friends that are left out of this, but we wanted to call it the Dream Cream Supreme Band…
TPG: (laughing)
BU: It was like, all the local musicians that were our ultimate—
AE: All our favorites.
BU: Yeah and the tracks they sent us, the shows they played were really awesome. So in our minds there was this huge band that had to happen.
AE: It never happened, though.
BU: Well, it did but it didn’t. I feel like we missed a couple people but the five of us were the only ones that were like…
TPG: Dedicated…
BU: Yeah we all looked at each other like ‘you’re awesome, you bring something else to the table, you have a different point of view’ so.
AE: Thank God we didn’t name it that…cause it’d be really douchey…like ‘oh hey we’re the Dream Cream Supreme’…
TPG: I can see that on an LP.
BU: In like, bubbly font. Shiny.
TPG: Haha, I’m sure people would still buy the record.
AE: Haha, maybe.
TPG: I understand that though. I’m in a band that recently stopped playing shows, and it took a really long time—‘cause we’re just a two-piece, I play guitar and my friend Zeb plays drums, and it took forever to find that guy. I just didn’t feel comfortable playing with anyone. And you all have that connection, right?
BU: Yeah, it’s easy to take for granted. But I think it’s getting better. I think for a while it was harder to collaborate, communicate and get together cause everyone had separate ideas. But I think we see the sound more now and we see where everyone can open up and express themselves. Like, everyone knows their territory. And we had to make a record to figure it out but now I’m excited about new material.
AE: Everyone’s gonna graffiti all over it.
BU: Yeah I think the future’s gonna be more of everyone getting a little wilder.
TPG: That’s cool though.
BU: Yeah I think so. Cause the new record is very contained. It’s very, like, thoughtful and tight. And I think in the future we’re all gonna get to play a bit more and everyone’s personality’s gonna come out.
TPG: Cool. That’s exciting.
BU: Yeah.
AE: Excited.
TPG: Excited.
BU: (in a Garth voice) Spew in this.
AE: (in a Garth voice) If you need to spew, spew into this.
TPG: Haha!
BU: (in a Garth voice) You need some coffee and coolers, STAT! (laughs)
AE: Wayne’s World. It’s good.
TPG: Wayne’s World. That’s all this interview’s about.
BU + AE: Ex-cel-lent, party time, woo woo woo woo woooooo!
AE: Yeah. Everyone needs to watch that movie again.
BU: Claudia Schiffer, schwing!
AE: Schwing!
TPG: Did you see them on SNL recently?
AE: What?!
BU: Oh yeah they did Wayne’s World again, right?
TPG: Yeah, they introduced the show.
AE: And they’re there…
TPG: Yeah, in costume and everything.
AE: I need to see that.
TPG: It’s on Youtube. Okay! Final thoughts!

The rest of the interview trailed off into drunken ramblings on all sides, but the show was fantastic and I enjoyed speaking with Andrea and Bryan very much!

Keep a look out for In Heaven, out September 27th on Domino.