Terra Twin is a four piece London-based band that combines Americana and Indie rock and brings a refreshing new sound to the music scene. Their most recent single, Head Leaking, was hailed on Radio 6 by Steve Lamacq as “music guaranteed to fill the floor at an indie night”. Thwaites plays bass in the band.
Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, how did you guys come together and come up with the name Terra Twin?
I joined the band a year ago and the band had already been going on for a year before that. The name Terra Twin came from when the singer Maxim was living in New Zealand, he came up with the name in his bedroom with the original guitarist who is no longer in the band.
Had you heard about the band before you joined?
Yeah, I knew who they were because I’m good friends with the drummer, Alex Wadstein, he and I had been friends for years. I was able to go to one of their gigs and they asked me if I wanted to be a part of their band because they had got rid of the old bassist.
How did you get into playing the bass, did you start with bass specifically or any other instruments?
I started playing the guitar because my dad is a guitarist, but then when I was at secondary school, I decided to start my own band, and the bass was like the last instrument anyone wanted to play. So, I decided to pick it up and ended up really enjoying it. I still play the guitar to this day, but I wouldn’t call myself a guitarist.
How would you describe the genre of music your band plays?
So, Terra Twin is pretty much what we would call Americana slash indie music which is a mix of music styles such as American soul music, blues, country and so on. That’s the kind of influence we have and the sound we try to achieve. Americana is a super broad genre but it’s just anything to do with North American influence, so kind of difficult to explain.
How do you guys go about your sound-creating process?
It normally starts with Louis, the guitarist. He will have a guitar chord and then he’ll write a simple drum beat or bassline, and then we’ll all go into rehearsal and come up with our own stuff. Maxim, the singer, is the one that does all the vocals, lyrics and stuff so he might have a vocal line or lyrics and we all kind of build it up together. Everyone has their strengths – like, I’m not a drummer – for example, I wouldn’t know the best drum beat to write but we can describe to each other what we want to hear.
What would you say is your favourite song to play?
Now, I really like playing Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder. It’s pretty hard but it’s fun to play at home and a good warm-up song to get my mind right.
Do you have a favourite bassist?
Not many people have heard of this guy, he was a bassist called James Jameson in the 60s when they were recording all the Motown stuff. He was the guy who played bass in most of the recording and he was never credited until many years later. He played for people like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green, all these massive artists and no one recognised him.
You can listen to Terra Twins, including their latest release Head Leaking, here.