Born in the Ukraine, 20-year-old identical twins, Sonia and Anna Kuprienko grew up in a small town outside of Kiev. They were both classically trained, becoming accomplished musicians and singers at an early age. They decided to leave the political turmoil at home behind and move to London where they are able to pursue their unique musical vision. The sound that has emerged is an intoxicating mix, shaped by their unusual background and perspective, it crosses over several genres of music. They Fuse stylish electronica with haunting melodies, delivered in their distinctive vocal style, embellishing the sound with flute, harmonica and piano creating what they call a “dark pop”
Now, they’ve come a long way in 2018 to be debuting their latest “Talk to Me”.
This song was written when Bloom Twins lost their friend to anorexia nervosa/depression. The video is shot by Serge Vane, who has also worked closely with the David Lynch Foundation, and shows an effort in mobilizing an open and non-judgmental safe-space around mental health illness.
Teaming up with mental health charities SANE, Samaritans, and Crisis Text Line, the new video marks the start of the Bloom Twins’ own self-made social media campaign: encouraging those that have struggled / still suffer with mental illness to use the hashtag #TalkToMe in solidarity and encourage them to speak and start sharing what they are feeling and going through.
Hear “Talk To Me” below:
For the last four years, classically-trained 21-year-old sisters Sofia and Anna have released a string of self-penned songs. After uploading their debut track ‘Fahrenheit’ to YouTube, the girls have gone on to make their mark in Europe and the Far East, supporting the likes of Eels, Duran Duran & LP all the whilst playing their own shows and festival dates. Nile Rodgers & Seal are both huge fans, falling in love with the girls and tweeting about them. Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes was also so impressed by the twins that he has recorded and produced a number of their tracks, as well as shooting them for UNTITLED Magazine.
Following the release of a politically-charged cover version of the classic Bob Marley track ‘Get Up, Stand Up’, the girls were featured on BBC’s Newsnight and graced the pages of the UK’s national broadsheet newspapers. They also starred in UNICEF’s ‘Imagine’ campaigns alongside Katy Perry and will.i.am and many more.
Away from music, they are signed to Models 1 – resulting in a double impact on both music and fashion – opening the doors to profile pieces in publications such as Vogue, i-D, The Guardian, Daily Mail and The Sunday Times.
Read our Q&A with the Bloom Twins, in full, below:
What was the moment of inspiration behind this record?
“This song is about a friend we lost few years back. When people are going through hard emotional times they have tendency to close down as nowdays letting your feelings out is taken for a weakness. Talking to each other helps a lot. If we change how we perceive mental health – it will be easier for people who are going through mental crisis to open up.
What was the moment you knew you wanted to pursue music?
“We fell in love with music since we were born. We started to sing before we could talk.
There’s no way we could imagine our lives without music: every day starts with a coffee and a favorite song in headphones. That’s the best start of the day.”
You’ve obviously found huge songwriting success. Love love love your sound. What’s the key to good songwriting?
“Wow, that’s a tricky question 🙂 and thank you so much.
We guess the key to a good songwriting is to write more and more and more and other thousands more of songs.
No one is perfect from the beginning, we are far away from perfect, but we are closer than we ever were.
No one likes copycats, but you gotta try to replicate something that was written before so than you can develop YOUR OWN sound. Listening and appreciating what other songwriters do. It opens up your horizons.”
What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
“Anna has a bit of blond pigmented hair. Not many people know about it as it’s hidden under her brown hair.”
What’s your one piece of advice you’d give to any young artist just getting started out there?
“First and main advice is to know how much you want it, because if you are madly driven you will spend a lot of hours doing it every day, hence being hard working will come as a side effect. Be ready to hear a lot of “no”s. There is no short cut to success.
Second never lie to a listener, be honest, be who you are. And the last, but not least is to love people giving you advices be it a positive or a negative one.”
Do you think being a woman in the music industry has affected your career? If so, how?
“We like to think that music doesn’t have a sex and that we are all equal here. No difference between being male or female. We like to think that. We truly hope that the events of last year and the #MeToo movement will straighten a lot of things up across all industries and work place.”
Anything else you want to add?
“Stay true to yourself. Speak out. Don’t hold back. Remember that building something takes time, just as a seed needs time to grow into a tall and strong tree. Nothing happens overnight.”
Bloom Twins Girl Gang Music Picks
“We are in love wit LP, Rihanna, Dua Lipa, SZA, Sigrid.”
LP
Sigrid