Focus: Twayn

Who are you and where are you from?
Hi! We’re Twayn, Hannah and Grace, from Newcastle upon Tyne.

What is it you do?
We write and release original music (check us out on all streaming platforms, *wink wink*) with focus on strong vocal harmonies.

How long have you been doing it?
Grace has been writing songs since she could string sentences together, and both of us have been playing instruments from a young age. Hannah started producing Grace’s songs in our lil’ home setup over lockdown, and we formalised the band at the end of 2021, releasing our first single, ‘What Dreams Are Made Of’ in January 2022. 

What inspires you?
In terms of songwriting, Grace is inspired by female artists such as Taylor Swift, Ashe and Maisie Peters. We both love the artistry of musicians such as Jacob Collier, Carole King and Joss Stone. Hannah is a bit of a musical theatre nerd too! Life inspiration definitely comes from our parents, who are so hard-working and determined. 

Tell us about your music.
We are both 18 (twin sisters) so try to speak to a Gen Z audience through our songs. Most of our work to date has been about friendships and the challenges facing our generation, but we’ve lots of music in the pipeline that goes into other themes as our writing progresses and matures. Last year, we entered our song Sweet 16 into the SAYS22 young songwriters competition and we came top 10 out of over 850 entries and got to play in London.  On the strength of that, we then entered the Liverpool International Songwriting Competition (Road to Nashville 2022).  We didn’t think we’d get anywhere at all as there were over 20,000 entries from all around the world, many of them already established musicians.  To our surprise, we got a call telling us we were in the top 10 and we were invited to fly to Nashville to perform at the iconic Exit/In stage (where the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Etta James. Johnny Cash, Eillie Nelson and R.E.M. have played).  It was such a memorable occasion and to top the whole trip off, we came 2nd!

What have you got coming up in the future?
Our new single, Don’t Do Drugs, is coming out on the 10th of March! Initially, it’s about finding negatives in people you used to be friends with, but, by the end of the song, it transpires that the bitterness all stems from insecurity (‘wish you weren’t so pretty, cus then the boys would maybe see me’). The lyricism follows a sort of stream-of-consciousness/rant style that builds towards a live sounding ending! It’s very different from our previous singles which are ballad-style; we’re really proud of this single as we think it’s very different and a real banger.

Where can people find out more about you?
You can check out our Instagram/Tiktok – @twayntwins – our website – www.twayn.co.uk – and our music, of course, on all streaming platforms!