Do twins have ESP? Though not scientifically proven, rock bands featuring a set of twins playing instruments or singing together seem to produce perfectly harmonious music that could very well stem from twin-telepathy. Baffling, yet time and time again, ever so true.

Notable acts such as The Watson Twins, Blonde Redhead, Tegan and Sara, The Breeders and School of Seven Bells all have monozygotic (identical) twins in their posses. The latter group is currently on a worldwide tour in support of their first full-length album, Alpinisms, out on art-infused label, Ghostly International.

School of Seven Bells -- comprised of twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza and guitarist Benjamin Curtis (formerly of Secret Machines), are known for producing a cosmic-psychedelic zeal of electronic-laden rhythms. Prior to forming the band, the girls played in On! Air! Library!, where they perfected their melodic synch. The twins’ siren-like voices blend as if only one sister is actually singing. Time and again, many are fooled.

During a brief stop in their hometown of New York City, Alejandra and Claudia sat down with psychoPEDIA to share a slice of what makes being musical-twins so profound. In their own words:

You’re both multi-instrumentalists, playing guitar, keyboards and more… when do you first remember playing instruments and singing together?
A: I think I remember the first little organ we had, we must have been three?
C: Yeah, that sounds about right.
A: The first thing I figured out was the vocal line for The Sound of Music! I played that over and over again and tried to come up with this really dramatic and killer melody. It was so funny. I’m sure I annoyed everyone who heard me!

When did you first realize you had a special bond through music as sister-twins?
A: We’ve been singing together since we’ve been really little, so it was one of those things that was never forced – it was completely natural. There was always an air of spontaneity and creativity. We didn’t judge each other. We always played together and at one point we were our only playmates for a while. My dad was an opera singer so there were always tons of classical music records in the house as well. Claudia and I also had flute and French horn lessons for years. It wasn’t ever forced on us. It was always natural.

I’m sure there are moments when you’re performing or in rehearsal where you just have that “look” and something in the music changes?
A: With On! Air! Library! there was definitively a quick, natural and unspoken communication. Then we weren’t in a band in awhile. We were doing our own thing. When we started School of Seven Bells, I had to relearn the dynamism. It comes quickly, but I really feel as though it’s a muscle. It’s something that comes back and you have to focus on it.

When did School of Seven Bells really begin to come together?
A: We didn’t start writing, the three of us together that is, until 2007. That’s when Claudia came up from Florida. That was the real beginning of it. Benjamin and I were working things out on our own, but we really wanted Claudia to be involved and didn’t think it’d be right without her.

How do you write your music? Together? By yourselves?
A: We write things and approach things very differently. I might give Claudia a vocal melody and she’ll put a harmony on it that I could never think of doing – my brain doesn’t even go ‘there’, where and what she’s doing with it. We write so differently, but everything mixes well. The same way, our voices are so very different – we have sound people say all the time when we sing together: ‘Whoa, are both of you singing?’
C: They think it’s only one voice!
A: They’re always so tripped out about it, they freak and say, whoaaa, what’s going on?

School of Seven Bells is good friends with another twin-band, Blonde Redhead, and have toured with them often. How’d that relationship develop?
A: They were really good friends with Benjamin when he was in Secret Machines. When we started School of Seven Bells, we gave them a CD and they liked what we were about. They took us under their wing, bringing us into their practice space.
C: They played on our album when we did the official recording.
A: It’s a mutual respect with them. We really love what they do and they’re really supportive of us and continue to be a part of our lives.

~Jessica McMenamin


First photo by Tim Saccenti
Second photo by KCRFM via Flickr
Third photo courtesy of School of Seven Bells
Fourth photo by staticsilence via Flickr
Fifth photo by Amanda Merten