Teen angst comes in full circle this week in Singapore at Music Matters 2016 with the highly-anticipated performance from festival headliners The Veronicas.
The punk rock princesses of The Veronicas are made of identical twins Lisa and Jessica Origliasso from Brisbane, Australia.
The edgy pair performed crowd favourites to their Singapore audience for the first time, including tracks from way back like “4Ever” and “When It All Falls Apart” from their first album The Secret Life Of… (2004), “Untouched” and “Take Me On The Floor” from 2007’s Hook Me Up, and new treats like “You Ruin Me” from their self-titled album (2014).
Any uninformed concert-goer would recognise that a pair like The Veronicas is born for the stage, with impeccable chemistry and explosive energy on stage that would sweep many off their feet. Their unique mix of electric rock with commanding female vocals may have the girls misunderstood in giving off vibes of hostility, but meet them backstage and you’ll realise that they are absolute sweethearts, with best intentions and rawest honesty.
POPSPOKEN sat down with Jess and Lisa at Music Matters to pick their brains on their creative journey, as well as things closest to their hearts.
POPSPOKEN: Hey there! What has The Veronicas been up to lately?
Jess: We’ve had the most incredible trip to Singapore so far. We rocked out at Millian for Music Matters, met some incredible fans, and even had time to pray at some Hindu temples and walked past Chinatown. We were in Singapore for three hours and I already spent a bomb on special antiques.
Lisa: We love to collect antiques, to explore and find special pieces. When I’m an old lady, sitting around at home and not travelling as much anymore, I would want to look around and see all these beautiful things from different places and think: “Oh yeah, that tea pot was from that beautiful place in Singapore!”
Jess: I actually feel like I connect on a soul level with Singapore.
POPSPOKEN: How does it feel like to finally play in Singapore?
Jess: It feels right. We should’ve gotten here a lot sooner. It feels really wonderful to be here now. It’s been the best!
POPSPOKEN: What do you love most about Singapore?
Jess: Well this sounds trivial but I would say the weather. The minute we landed, it feels very humid and hot which reminds us a lot of back home at Brisbane, Australia. In our hotel room I just turned off all our air-conditioning and opened the windows because I just want the air to come in!
Lisa: When you’re in this weather it just feels like vacation. There’s nothing that can feel like work in this kind of weather!
Jess: The people, too! When we’re just walking through the market we made so many friends.
Lisa: Yeah they like to connect with you here! When we’d walk into stores they’d ask for our names and they liked that we’re twins. They think it’s intriguing!
POPSPOKEN: With regards to your music, some artists actually have mixed feelings about their breakthrough song. Is this how you feel towards “4Ever”?
Jess: I love 4Ever! We feed off the new energy off the crowds when we sing it, we’re very lucky to see the range of emotions from the different songs that we do. When we play “Untouched” people go crazy, and during “When It All Falls Apart” they all sang it back to us. “4Ever” that’s just everyone’s time to lose their minds and go nuts.
Lisa: We’re really proud of 4Ever, it’s really nice to reflect and not cringe. That song was written by Max Martin who is just brilliant at writing timeless songs, it’s always a fun one to perform.
Jess: Also we like that we know “4Ever” so well, and can be way more spontaneous about it at our performances.
POPSPOKEN: What can we expect from your upcoming fourth album to be released early next year?
Lisa: If I have some words to describe it, I think it’s honest, emotive but hypnotic.
“In Our Blood” was the first single off the new album, and it has lyrical sophistication to it that is representative of our progression from reckless teen angst to being able to express ourselves in a more complex fashion.
Jess: Having the confidence to be vulnerable now and to show that side of ourselves. As you find yourself as a woman, you find yourself in more vulnerability and having the confidence to say “I don’t feel the strongest today, actually I’m heartbroken, let’s write about that”. It’s not just angry, it’s introspective and beautifully letting things go.
Lisa: We’ve had fun marrying our honest stories with the dance-electro soundscape in this new album!
10 years strong here’s to as many more as God gives us..Growing up with the girls has been everything @TheVeronicas pic.twitter.com/5Oje8xoopO
— Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) August 25, 2016
POPSPOKEN: Ruby Rose recently posted a picture with the two of you on social media, saying that “growing up with the girls has been everything”. How would you describe The Veronicas’ relationship with Ruby?
Jess: Yes! We’ve been friends with Ruby for almost ten years now. We were at an industry event when our mother was there with us, because we were babies back then, and she walked right up to Ruby and said “You’re amazing, come meet my daughters!” Lisa: So our mom made friends with Ruby first, and we were just like, wow, she is beautiful. And she had just moved to Sydney from Melbourne, so we were her first friends that she had in Sydney. Jess: We’ve obviously kept very close to her, and she is truly the most humble, deserving woman of her success. It makes me feel emotional because she has been such a true friend to us.
POPSPOKEN: Would The Veronicas ever collaborate with Ruby Rose?
Lisa: We would love to! Jess: She just did a remix for us of “In Our Blood” which we would love to be able to put out because it’s excellent! She’s been playing it at her shows, and we want to be able to release any of her remixes of our music, she’s so talented.
POPSPOKEN: Lastly, at the end of the day, how would you like The Veronicas to be remembered?
Jess: As passionate, empowered souls. Lisa: As people that shed love. Jess: To be completely honest, if I really thought about this, I’d rather people not remember us, but instead remember how we made them feel. I don’t really care about what people think about us as much as how they’ve experienced what we can give them. Lisa: I hope they always experience feeling loved and valued, or even if our music makes them able to switch off from anything else that day, that would mean a lot to us.
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Cover Photo: Dawn Chua
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