Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Carly and Martina

Carly and Martina are a dynamic duo who are taking the music industry by storm, and they’re doing it on their own terms. The Chicago natives are quickly racking up the streams and views, receiving notable placements in shows like High Fidelity, The Bold Type, and L.A.’s Finest. This August, they released their debut album, Are You Listening?, which they produced, mixed, wrote, and arranged! And to answer their question, we are! Pop Culturalist caught up with Carly and Martina for an in-depth conversation about Are You Listening? and their careers.

PC: How did you both discover your passion for music?
Carly and Martina: We’ve been playing piano since we were four. We’re classically and jazz trained. We later picked up the bass, guitar, and drums. Songwriting and singing together just came naturally, since we’ve been playing music for forever, and we just fell in love with it.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your careers?
Carly and Martina: Our dad has had a huge influence on our careers because when we were younger, he used to share all of his favorite music with us, which helped us develop our tastes. Furthermore, he was always really encouraging of us owning all of our music and learning how to do everything ourselves. It was really important for us to have such an encouraging voice in our ear.

PC: What’s one fun fact that fans would be surprised to learn your sister?
Carly and Martina: One fun fact about us is that even when we don’t try, we always end up perfectly coordinating our outfits! We won’t talk about it or see each other at all while getting ready, but somehow we always coordinate.

PC: Your debut album, Are You Listening?, is out now! Tell us about the inspiration behind the collection.
Carly and Martina: Honestly, we didn’t go into it with the plan to make an album. We just wanted to make a few good songs! As we were creating the music, inspiration struck and we kept getting drawn to make more and got this vision for this story of a girl who goes through love and loss and has to rebuild herself from there.

PC: If you had to pick one song off of Are You Listening? that best encompasses who you are as artists, what would it be and why?
Carly and Martina: That’s really hard because we feel like each song represents a part of us, but probably “Honeymoon.” It’s all about the beat, the lyrics are really dreamy and fun, and our vocals on that song inspired the rest of our vocals on the album. It really speaks to things we love as artists!

PC: You wrote, produced, arranged, and mixed the entire album. What was it like wearing so many different hats? What did you learn about yourself during that process? Was one easier than the other?
Carly and Martina: Wearing so many different hats was hard because we had to let ourselves have crazy ideas while knowing how to limit ourselves from going too far. We also had to learn a bunch of skills we had no experience with. What we learned about ourselves is that we are capable of more than we’ve ever given ourselves credit for. Writing the album was the easiest part, and mixing the album was the hardest part, since we had the least experience with that.

PC: Now that the album is out, what does the rest of the year hold for you?
Carly and Martina: A big portion of this year will be promoting this album and creating the next one! After that, we’re not sure. We’ll let you know as soon as we figure it out!

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Carly and Martina: Cage The Elephant

PC: First album you bought?
Carly and Martina: Rubber Soul—the Beatles.

PC: First concert you attended?
Carly and Martina: Justin Bieber’s acoustic tour for his album Purpose.

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Carly and Martina: Taylor Swift’s 1989 album changed our lives as producers and writers because of how sonically cohesive it is. We were really inspired to make music that stood alone but was heightened in a collection.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Carly and Martina: Madison Square Garden!

PC: A must-have on the road?
Carly and Martina: McDonalds or Dunkin. [laughs]

To keep up with Carly and Martina, follow them on Twitter, Instagram, and Spotify. Pick up or stream Are You Listening? today.