Twin sister musicians Tara and Trisha, 17, from Bangalore, India, are quickly establishing themselves in the entertainment world. Trisha recently joined the cast of Disney’s Electric Bloom and the duo have composed and written ten original songs, fusing pop, dance, EDM, and ballads with themes inspired by their lives and Indian culture. Known for their powerful stage presence and close harmony, the twins have performed at numerous live shows and their work has been featured in a variety of Indian media outlets. The teen artists see themselves as influencers ready to connect with a new generation through music, television, and film.
With recently releasing their single ‘Outside The Lines,’ Tara and Trisha were spotlighted on TuneCore’s ‘Next,’ a flagship artist spotlight property by the global music distribution and artist development platform, TuneCore. Built for India, ‘Next’ spotlights independent artists from across the region who are at an inflection point in culture. In conversation with us, they talk to us about their journey so far.
1) Tell us a bit about your project. How did you begin your journey? What made you two want to make music together?
We grew up in a musical household, so we both loved singing and performing from a really young age and learned to pick up harmonies by singing together and acting out Disney songs and musicals like Grease and The Greatest Showman at home. We found every opportunity to take stage from school assemblies and plays or singing in the church. During COVID we also moved to digital platforms. Our network slowly expanded to working with other artists and musicians and before we knew it, we were releasing our own songs!
2) Which bands/artists were your first love? Who is your biggest influence?
Some of our biggest musical influences growing up came from our parents. Our dad introduced us to bands like Journey and Queen, and our mom showed us ABBA and The Carpenters. So a well rounded group for sure!
Now we both LOVE Bruno Mars. His music is so fun and we cannot sit still when his songs come on. For me (Trisha) its Adele because of her feel and the belty tones in her songs. For Tara recently it has been Sammy Rae and the friends. I ( Tara) have been loving their jazzy and funky songs and styles of music.
3) Tell us a bit about your latest single ‘Peace by Piece.’
Our song Peace by Piece is a song we wrote with Dan Serafini, for the Spark Peace Project by Students Rebuild, which encourages students to use their creativity to make change.
Its a song about coming together with one common goal which is making a more peaceful world. We spelt it this way to say that we can achieve “peace” by contributing our “piece”. We are so grateful to have been a part of the project that has now raised over a million dollars!
4)Tell us a bit about your single ‘Outside The Lines.’
‘Outside the lines’ is a fun and upbeat song that we wrote with Jared “BLUJAY” Freedman about being fearless and unapologetically you. In our generation, it’s hard being authentic to who you are so this song is almost like an anthem to say you’re proud to be different and colour “Outside The Lines.”
5) What is your music-making and recording process like?
After we get the concept we want for the song, we sit together and brainstorm all our creative ideas for the lyrics, the melody and the sound and that’s super fun and collaborative. Also, while we start recording, both of us get very specific while vocal producing the other, which gets really really funny sometimes!
6) Why do you make music? What drives you as musicians and what are your songs about?
Making our original songs has been such a special way to capture how we have felt pursuing this journey and expressing that through a song. What drives us is knowing that we are doing something we love and making the music we love to listen too. Getting to be that for someone else as well is beyond special! Our favourite part is experimenting with different sounds and styles so all our songs have their own vibe to them whether its a fusion song with tablas to an edgy confidence boosting song.
7) Which Indian bands or artists do you admire? And why?
There are so many inspiring Indian artists, but one I (Tara) really look up to is Shreya Ghoshal. Her tone and control are just incredible, and there’s always so much to learn from her. I (Tara) also love artists like Prateek Kuhad, who blend Indian and Western influences so effortlessly, and their songs are just so vibey! That mix of cultures in his music is something we really admire and try to do as well.
8) What’s your take on the independent music scene in India?
For us, being independent artists has been amazing because every part of our project whether its the song or the cover art or the music video, is our idea and our vision coming to life and that makes it way more special and we have learned so so much through that process.
Its so amazing to see other independent Indian artists breaking the mould and sharing their stories and vision and we hope that it only grows!
