Q&A: Evil Twin’s “California (She’s So Royal)” Is a Fuzzy, Self-Aware Left Turn
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
BROOKLYN FOUR-PIECE EVIL TWIN DOESN’T SEEM INTERESTED IN STAYING IN ONE LANE FOR VERY LONG - On their new single, “California (She’s So Royal),” the band swings hard in the opposite direction of their darker, brooding recent release “In Flames,” trading shadowy tension for a rush of fuzzy guitars, peppy backing vocals, and bright, propulsive drums. It’s the kind of song that feels instantly weightless and melodic, even as its lyrics quietly undercut the confidence of its too-cool narrator, a character performing self-assurance while fully aware of the cracks underneath.
Built around hook after hook before unraveling into a chaotic, playful instrumental stretch of spoken word, synth stabs, twin guitar solos, and crashing drums, “California (She’s So Royal)” captures what Evil Twin do best: balancing atmosphere with immediacy, polish with unpredictability. It’s a track that nods to the jangly warmth of bands like Alvvays and The Shins, the cool detachment of Interpol, and the loose, guitar-hero spirit of ’90s alt-rock — all while sounding unmistakably their own.
The single also offers a revealing glimpse into the shape of the band’s forthcoming debut album, Upside Down, We’re Flying, a project born from years of genre-crossing experimentation and a lineup that spans jazz, blues, classical, and pop-punk backgrounds. If “In Flames” hinted at Evil Twin’s darker instincts, “California (She’s So Royal)” confirms the other side of the equation: a band just as comfortable writing infectious, sunlit songs as they are sinking into the shadows, and clearly eager to explore everything in between.
LUNA: Evil Twin brings together members with backgrounds in jazz, blues, classical, and pop punk. How do those different musical languages actually show up when you’re writing together?
EVIL TWIN: Primarily through the different kinds of parts we write, and the different tones we choose to use. We each curate our own gear, so that definitely affects how the sound comes together. For most of our songs, one member will come in with a framework and the others will fill in with specific instrument parts that come from their tastes and style. For example, I (Peter) tend to go for atmospheric, washed-out guitar, whilst the other player goes for cleaner chords and classical arpeggios when she plays.
LUNA: You all met through Northwestern’s music scene and later migrated from basement shows to NYC stages. How did that shift, from college DIY spaces to Brooklyn venues, change your approach as a band?
EVIL TWIN: I think the interesting thing is that we all played in those DIY spaces, but not as part of the same band. I graduated in 2020, so COVID put a year-long pause on any music I made. By the time we put Evil Twin together, I thought back to people I remembered from that college scene who I liked playing with, and we agreed to make a new start in New York.
It was definitely an adjustment in terms of finding your audience. College can be a closely knit community, and it took a little while to build something like that in New York. But now that we’ve found it, I think what we’ve built here is much more valuable because it can last, whereas a lot of college acts have an expiration date.
Personally, I’ll always wonder what could have happened if there was no pandemic, as I knew many other bands that might have survived had it not happened — but that’s the least bad thing to have come of that disaster.
LUNA: The new single feels bright and playful sonically, but lyrically it’s quietly self-aware and critical. What drew you to writing from the perspective of a character who’s pretending to be more put-together than they are?
EVIL TWIN: I think I have a habit of being excessively self-critical, and that finds its way into the lyrics. Externalizing bits of yourself into characters is a good way to keep them interesting and realistic. But I also just love writing lyrics that are counter to the tone of the music.
LUNA: The instrumental break in “California (She’s So Royal)” goes pretty wild — spoken word, synths, twin guitar solos, big drums. How do you decide when a song should explode like that instead of staying tight and pop-forward?
EVIL TWIN: We always like doing bridges, and with that one we’d been goofing around with a few different spoken-word segments on other parts of the record, so we thought it would be fun to try.
It works for me because it sounds like a sassy phone call you’re receiving from someone, with those arpeggiated synths acting like an old-fashioned Nokia dial tone. It’s a bit of a 2000s pop-rock throwback, which is the era we all grew up in, and it’s fun to include unabashed skits into rock music. Plus, it surprises the listener.
Then you go into that long solo, which our producer said is the song’s “moment for God” — a moment where the song can exist without having to get any message across, or maybe communicate without words.
LUNA: You worked with producer Brayden Baird on your debut album Upside Down, We’re Flying, recording live sessions and then layering heavy production. What did that hybrid process unlock that you hadn’t explored before?
EVIL TWIN: A lot of energy was retained from the live recording, which keeps the songs energetic for me. But the production and arrangement bring out the sonic fullness you lose when you record live, and it expands the world of the songs from a band in a room into a cinematic space.
I like that the record goes back and forth between the two, like the songs get lost within their own world. I also learned a lot about production and arrangement working with Brayden. Even stuff that never got used taught me what will and won’t work.
Now that we’ve done a maximal record, I think it opens the door for us to do something more stripped-back in the future. Somewhere in the middle is probably the sweet spot for our sound.
LUNA: Your past releases jump between shoegaze, indie rock, and experimental electronic textures. Do you think of Evil Twin as genre-fluid on purpose, or is that just a natural result of how you write?
EVIL TWIN: That’s a good observation, and I think it’s true — we are genre-fluid. That’s partly because we all have multiple interests, but also because each song demands its own world.
A lot of modern listeners cross genre lines, and to keep their attention I think bands have to do the same, at least within reason. We wouldn’t make a trap song.
LUNA: Opening for Jack White to a 900-person crowd is a pretty surreal milestone. Can you share a little bit more about what that performance was like?
EVIL TWIN: That was an amazing experience — overwhelming but really fun, and just an epic moment for all of us. Jack was looking for local bands for his warm-up dates, and I’d met him once before, so he was keeping track of our stuff.
He liked the EP we’d just put out and offered us the spot, which was incredibly kind. We tried to play some of our heaviest music to satisfy a Jack White audience, but afterward we met a lot of people who were genuinely into what we were doing. We gained quite a few new fans that day.
After years of being a band, sometimes you just get a chance to break through to a new audience when you least expect it.
LUNA: With such a detailed, layered studio sound, how are you thinking about translating these new songs into a live setting?
EVIL TWIN: We’re working that out right now. So far we’ve been stripping them back, but in 2026 we’re expanding our live set — sometimes with backing tracks, sometimes with live keyboards. We’re also all learning to sing the harmony parts.
We might end up sounding a bit like CSNY, which would delight me.
LUNA: Looking ahead, what do you hope listeners take away from the new music?
EVIL TWIN: Mostly, I hope they feel like it recognizes something in themselves that they’re unable to articulate, but feel comforted knowing is shared by others.
It’s introspective music, but there’s also a fun playfulness to it. If anything, I hope it helps people take the serious parts of life a little less seriously.
