Philthy has caught up with a bevy of San Francisco artists recently, from Dirty Ghosts to Emily Jane White and Permanent Vacation. However, Future Twin have the most interesting story of any of them. Future Twin was spawned from SF’s first ever all-girl moped gang, The Lockits. The four-piece is currently comprised of Jean Jeanie (guitar/vox), Antonio Roman-Alcala (drums), Jo Bleak (rhythm & bass), and Dan DK (drums & bass). July saw the release of their “Resist” 7” along with Future Twin Deluxe Edition (a limited edition CD release that includes both the 7” and a 5-song EP/cassette, “Situation.” Not surprisingly (considering the whole moped gang thing), Future Twin’s sound embodies quite a bit of a hip, yet popular, mod aesthetic (Think: a Ye-ye girl’s evil twin.) However, when they’re not busy being the coolest kids in town, they are also able to project a hyper-soulful brand of psychedelica and, also, something along the lines of post-riot grrrl blues. While they don’t strike me as the kind of band that appreciates comparisons, I can’t help but say they seem to have picked up right where Sleater-Kinney left off…
Future Twin are a lot more than a musical project. They have also been known to push local artists toward public displays, such as murals and seemingly spontaneous outdoor musical performances. Their name was actually inspired by local SF artist (and Lockits co-founder and supporter/member of non-profit mural organization Precita Eyes) Yukakako Ezoe, who used the phrase to describe the concept of envisioning the identity that you would be most proud to embody and dedicating your life experience to achieving that identity.
I recently got a chance to chat with Jean Jeanie and Antonio Roman-Alcala and she tells me, “For me, personally, I’ve been interested in creating an authentic experience,” and getting to create an, “Authentic neighborhood community,” via a very DIY approach. Jean says that her approach to art (whether musical or otherwise) was inspired by, “A lot of this first-world narcissism,” while Antonio cites his biggest inspirations as, “climate and diet.” Antonio also goes on to explain that they’re trying to help break down genre barriers among the community and help artists understand that they have more in common than they immediately consider, based on some arbitrary label slapped on them by any critics or scenesters: “I like all sorts of bands. We like all sorts of music.” He tells me about their local friends in Apogee Sound Club who have attempted to transcend the notion of “Rock’N’Roll” and embrace the concept of Underground Sonic Energy, which is far less limiting or reductive than most contemporary notions of arts scenes: “You don’t have to have a type of genre.”
But in terms of the specifics that Future Twin are working on, Jean tells me, “The latest thing we’re working on is this summer single series.” She says that they’re currently, “Putting out one single per month, for the Indian Summer,” where, in San Francisco, things tend to get a bit cooler and darker: “It’s like Paris, all gloomy and you always need to wear a jacket.” The first single was released today on MTV Hive for streaming: “The first single is called ‘Summer Song’ and is largely inspired by the ‘idealist’ summer of everyone’s youth, where the days never seem to end and there are rooftops to see the world from. Antonio is illustrating a single comic panel to coincide with each single song. Once we have released each single in the series (late October) there will be a full comic detailing life in the mission and the inspiration behind the words, that we will most likely include with our LP out next year.”
But they do have bigger plans for the single, even before the next LP. Jean tells me, “We also plan to release it later in physical format, via an art collaboration with painter and filmmaker Miguel Arzabe (http://www.miguelarzabe.net), on a limited edition flexi disc that includes one of his psychedelic circle paintings, inspired largely by listening to music while at a residency in the Marin Headlands National Seashore area (just on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge), where they also have artist residencies.” She also tells me that the details for the rest of the singles are already worked out:
“We plan to release the second single, called ‘Sara,’ in September, and the third single, ‘Getting Theoretical (Instead of Talking About Your Feelings),’ at the end of San Francisco’s Indian Summer, the end of October. ‘Sara’ is slated for inclusion on a compilation from Gnar Tapes and Sh*t, an artist label founded and run by our friends, White Fang, in Portland, OR. The comp will come out as soon as all the invited bands submit their songs. So…maybe say due out this fall or winter.”
But Future Twin isn’t the only thing that Jean and Antonio are currently working on and they could totally use your help to help spread the word and get some support. Jean explains:
“Antonio and I are helping to organize Clarion Alley Music Festival in San Francisco’s Mission District. We are drumming up public support (Our artist/musician/youth/scrappy friends totally support it. It’s the “establishment” peoples, from the condo dwellers to the cops, that are more antagonistic.) The festival is slated for Oct. 20, is totally free and all ages, will be held in historic Clarion Alley, and is a fund-raiser and community block party to help support continued volunteer maintenance of the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP). You can learn more about CAMP here.”