[00:00:00 – 00:00:09] Nitin Bajaj

Welcome to the industry show. I’m your host Nitin Bajaj. And joining me today are Anjali and Bhavani. Welcome both of you.

[00:00:09 – 00:00:10] Anjali P

Hi.

[00:00:10 – 00:00:11] Bhavani P

Thanks for having us.

[00:00:13 – 00:00:23] Nitin Bajaj

Great to have you here. And I’m looking forward to more of this. You guys completing each other’s sentences. Let’s start with who are Anjali and Bhavani?

[00:00:23 – 00:00:49] Anjali P

I’m Anjali. I’m Bhavani.

And we’re Twin City, a pop music duo. We’re half Indian and half German and we grew up in New York. We’re identical twins. And I’m the older twin by 13 minutes. I’m the younger twin.

I took my time. My dad’s from India and our mom’s from Germany and they met in Europe and moved to New York and that’s where we were creative. Yeah.

[00:00:49 – 00:00:57] Bhavani P

We were born in New York and we grew up in the suburbs. And then we’ve been pursuing music full time ever since college.

[00:00:58 – 00:01:03] Nitin Bajaj

Very cool. And I heard you’re bilingual so you speak fluent English and German.

[00:01:03 – 00:01:04] Anjali P

Yeah.

[00:01:04 – 00:01:31] Bhavani P

So our mom raised us speaking German. We went to a fully German speaking school in Westchester, New York. Not in Germany, in New York, but everything was taught in German. So you know, math, science. So she wanted us to, you know, have the German diploma, be able to study in Europe if we wanted to. So we’re. Yeah, we’re very grateful.

We had that type of bicultural upbringing.

[00:01:32 – 00:01:35] Anjali P

And our dad speaks Telugu but he didn’t teach us. So.

[00:01:36 – 00:01:39] Bhavani P

Yeah, he was too lazy or too busy.

[00:01:39 – 00:01:44] Anjali P

Yeah. We already were growing up learning two languages so that was already a lot.

[00:01:44 – 00:01:49] Bhavani P

Yeah. But in spirit we speak Telugu. Maybe one day we will. Hopefully. I think we’re going to learn.

[00:01:50 – 00:01:52] Nitin Bajaj

I love that you speak Telugu in spirit.

[00:01:52 – 00:01:56] Bhavani P

Yes, yes, exactly. And you know, by proxy.

[00:01:57 – 00:01:58] Nitin Bajaj

By proxy. Yes.

[00:01:58 – 00:01:59] Anjali P

We understand some words. Of course.

[00:02:01 – 00:02:22] Nitin Bajaj

There’s so many awesome Telugu songs that. But I can’t say I really understand any of the words. But given the placement, given the background of what that song is, you can pick up a word or two here and there. But it’s a beautiful language and given that you’re into music, there might be some opportunities there for sure.

[00:02:23 – 00:02:23] Anjali P

Definitely.

[00:02:23 – 00:02:33] Bhavani P

We also frequently like our family mixes Telugu and English a lot which is interesting. There’s like an avenue for fusion type project.

[00:02:34 – 00:02:35] Anjali P

Maybe they can help us write something.

[00:02:36 – 00:02:53] Nitin Bajaj

Yeah. Now tell us more about Twin City and what I’m usually curious about asking people is why do this? I mean, you could have done so many different things. Why music and why do this now?

Right after college.

[00:02:54 – 00:03:26] Bhavani P

Yeah. So Twin City is basically just us two pop duo, pop music. And I mean, we’ve always been passionate singers and musicians. We grew up playing violin, piano, and singing wise, we were usually pretty shy growing up. We’d always sing at home, like all the Disney princess songs. Abba. Our parents loved abba.

We’d even sing in different languages. And then in high school, we started joining, you know, the school band.

[00:03:27 – 00:03:28] Anjali P

Like the Glee club.

[00:03:28 – 00:03:35] Bhavani P

Yeah, all the choirs and everything. But then we started taking singing lessons and, you know, performing here and there.

[00:03:35 – 00:03:51] Anjali P

Like our vocal coach, but would put on, like, student showcases or do like, little videos with us and things like that. And we kind of found that passion for singing pop music and singing modern music and all kinds of music and started developing that more.

[00:03:52 – 00:04:17] Bhavani P

And then in college, we were still, you know, exploring different things. You know, we were encouraged to explore our options, like, professionally. Our mom’s very artistic, our dad’s a doctor. You can fill in the blanks there, how that goes. But then we, you know, we. We worked in a few different fields too, prior to really delving into the music project. Yeah, like journalism, pr, finance.

[00:04:17 – 00:04:19] Anjali P

Like, we tried it all and learned.

[00:04:19 – 00:04:38] Bhavani P

A lot of invaluable skills. But then after college, Covid happened and there was a hiring freeze. So we moved back home. And we’d already sort of begun, like, writing our own lyrics and getting our YouTube channel back on its feet. But that’s when we really started, you know, putting in the hours and developing.

[00:04:38 – 00:05:05] Anjali P

Like, our image and like, our brand image and our artist identity. And people started approaching us online during that time, like producers all over the world, like in Nigeria or Turkey or Bangladesh or Germany. So we started working on all kinds of different projects and getting our feet wet. And we also collaborated with a local band in our hometown, like songwriting and recording music.

[00:05:05 – 00:05:15] Bhavani P

So, yeah, we really developed a passion for songwriting too. It’s a great creative outlet for us. And we love coming up with catchy melodies and hooks and harmonies. Lyrics that.

[00:05:15 – 00:05:15] Anjali P

Yeah.

[00:05:16 – 00:05:31] Bhavani P

Lyrics that resonate. And then we recorded our first EP with some fellow classmates from nyu and we’ve been going, going ever since, like, rolling just one after the next. There’s always something we’re working on, something.

[00:05:31 – 00:05:34] Anjali P

Where new people, we’re working with new projects.

[00:05:36 – 00:05:48] Bhavani P

Yeah, it’s definitely all work in progress, but very rewarding. And I mean, it feels like we’re doing, like, what we’re meant to be doing. Like, otherwise, being a musician, if you’re.

[00:05:48 – 00:05:50] Anjali P

Not passionate about it, it’s a lot of work.

[00:05:50 – 00:05:58] Bhavani P

And often you don’t see like any results come back right away or at all. So you really have to be passionate about it and stick it out.

[00:05:59 – 00:06:01] Anjali P

And you have to know for sure this is what you want to do.

[00:06:03 – 00:06:36] Nitin Bajaj

So true. One thing I did notice in some of the songs that I got to listen to, the lyrics really resonated. They were almost like an everyday person can connect with. And then you also had some that were almost like dreamy and with the sci fi element to it, it’s almost like very young, peppy, but also very thoughtful. So I really appreciate the mix that you bring in to the music that you’re creating.

[00:06:37 – 00:06:39] Bhavani P

Thank you. That’s a very thoughtful analysis.

[00:06:39 – 00:06:41] Anjali P

Like, happy and thoughtful.

[00:06:41 – 00:06:44] Bhavani P

I would say that really sums it up very well.

[00:06:44 – 00:06:47] Anjali P

We appreciate that. That’s really cool feedback.

[00:06:47 – 00:06:48] Nitin Bajaj

I’m glad it resonated.

[00:06:49 – 00:07:01] Anjali P

Exploring different worlds and different realities, playing different characters in our videos. And we. We do love writing and vocabulary, so it makes sense that our lyrics would be thoughtful.

[00:07:02 – 00:07:28] Nitin Bajaj

It does come across telling nerds growing up. That’s really amazing. Now, as you’re going through this journey you mentioned, you know, it’s the passion that keeps you going. There are several challenges coming into this industry. It’s very saturated. There is a lot of competition. It’s a global market, truly, now more than ever.

But if you had to call out the one big challenge, what would that be?

[00:07:30 – 00:07:54] Bhavani P

I mean, you kind of hit the nail on the head. I would say the biggest challenge as an artist putting yourself out there and producing, you know, something that you feel is high quality is just getting that product seen and heard. Because, as you said, today’s media landscape is totally flooded with so many amazing entertainers and artists, singers and musicians.

[00:07:54 – 00:08:32] Anjali P

Yeah. Especially with social media. And I think the hard thing about it is that there’s no clear way to do it. Everyone you talk to is going to have a different opinion. So someone says you just have to perform more. Someone says you just have to write a hit. The next person says you just have to go viral.

The next person says, why don’t you do some TikTok dances? There’s so many different opinions coming at you from every side and sometimes it’s hard to know what to focus on because you only have limited hours in a day. Right. Are you going to write a skit for TikTok? Are you going to write a song? Are you going to be rehearsing? Sometimes, like, how do we get noticed?

[00:08:33 – 00:08:42] Bhavani P

Yeah. And balancing all those things. And then it’s always the big question, how do you go viral There. There is no Rhyme or reason for that, you can only hope.

[00:08:43 – 00:09:26] Nitin Bajaj

True. And I’m glad you recognize that. And especially at this early stage age, which, I mean, maturity typically doesn’t have to do anything with age. But I love that you use the words opinion and then how do you figure out going viral? Everybody does have an opinion, but nobody really has mastered it. So it is a lot of trial and error. So kudos to you for having that.

That wisdom that you just got to keep doing. And something will click at some point, but there’s no formula per se. Stay authentic, stay grounded to your passion, and then the rest will follow.

[00:09:27 – 00:09:39] Bhavani P

So, yeah, our focus for sure, just going off of that is just producing, like, the best quality music that we can and content and, you know, working on our craft, making sure the songs are good.

[00:09:40 – 00:09:40] Nitin Bajaj

Yeah.

[00:09:40 – 00:09:43] Anjali P

If you go viral and your music isn’t good, who’s going to really stick around?

[00:09:44 – 00:09:55] Nitin Bajaj

Exactly. That’s amazing. So glad to hear that coming from you. Now, on the flip side of challenges come opportunities. What’s the one you’re most excited about?

[00:09:56 – 00:10:10] Anjali P

Right now we’re in an expansion phase and we’ve been playing a lot more shows, so we’re excited. Tonight we have a show and we’re excited to see what comes of that and to keep playing bigger shows and meeting new people, reaching new audiences.

[00:10:11 – 00:10:11] Bhavani P

Yeah.

[00:10:11 – 00:10:13] Anjali P

As well as, you know, working with.

[00:10:13 – 00:10:40] Bhavani P

Different songwriters and producers that all bring different talents to the table. We learn a lot from each session. So definitely, like, refining our craft as artists and getting to say, like, so many interesting things in or. Or even, like, mundane things in interesting ways. Just every time we put something out.

[00:10:40 – 00:10:43] Anjali P

There, it feels exciting. It feels like a new, exciting opportunity.

[00:10:44 – 00:11:12] Nitin Bajaj

Nice. Now, as we look forward, with all the excitement and the opportunities that are coming along, I would love to take you back in time and ask you to share two moments. One where things did not work out as you had expected. There was failure, disappointment, lessons. And another instance where things blew beyond your expectations and became a success beyond your imagination.

[00:11:14 – 00:11:45] Bhavani P

I would say a sort of, like, setback that turned out to be a great lesson was one word, scams. We were recently scammed by an old friend of ours who claimed she worked for a big, like, Korean entertainment company, Hybe Korea. Yeah, she basically made up this fake showcase that was going to happen in New York where, you know, all these big artists would be performing like Ariana Grande, bts. And of course we were skeptical, but.

[00:11:45 – 00:11:56] Anjali P

You know, she was a friend of ours and she lived over in Korea and she claimed to be work like Working as part of a K pop group and for Hype Korea. So you’re like, okay, okay.

[00:11:56 – 00:11:59] Bhavani P

Like there’s some overlap here, you know.

[00:11:59 – 00:12:00] Anjali P

We had video calls with her.

[00:12:00 – 00:12:30] Bhavani P

We went into the set list. It seemed very real. She gave us a time and place, but then she kept it. The story didn’t add up. At a certain point she was like, oh, you need to have a band. And then the band had to buy their own tickets and, oh, you get guests. And it just added.

Kept adding up, like the expensive tickets. So then we double checked with the venue and they said, no, there’s no such event happening. So we confronted her and she kept it going. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m going to ask at the office here. Contact my coworker.

[00:12:30 – 00:13:13] Anjali P

And we had already sent her some money and then she gave us like a fake WhatsApp number that didn’t get back to us of her co worker who was supposed to be in touch with us about logistics. And we had already paid her some money for our own tickets to perform and she hasn’t sent it back. She said she would refund us once we told her that we didn’t believe her, but she never did. And then she kind of just fell off the face of the earth and deleted her social media accounts and slowly ghost. We haven’t heard from her since. So the lesson on that was that, first of all, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is, even if it’s from a friend. And beware of scams in this industry.

You don’t know who’s going to want to take advantage of you as like.

[00:13:13 – 00:13:16] Bhavani P

A young, hungry artist. Like, people like to prey on that.

[00:13:16 – 00:13:20] Anjali P

They like to prey on your dreams. Like, she knew that Ariana Grande was our favorite artist.

[00:13:23 – 00:13:40] Bhavani P

Yeah, people like to come. Not just her, but people like to come to you with a lot of big promises, like, oh, I can break you, I can help you, just. And then they ask for so much in return and can’t really follow through. So just like, beware, like, who you work with and what opportunities come your way.

[00:13:41 – 00:14:08] Anjali P

Always double and triple check everything. But a great opportunity we had in our career was we actually got the chance to audition for American Idol. And even though we weren’t aired, we learned a lot from that. We flew out to LA and we performed our original track for Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. And we were so nervous we didn’t get passed on to the next round, but we did it anyway and we were really proud of ourselves.

For doing that.

[00:14:11 – 00:14:44] Nitin Bajaj

Super congratulations. But also sucks that person who you trusted to be a friend ended up scamming you. Lesson well learned. And onto bigger and better things. Now, with that in mind, I mean, you already have a lot of fun doing what you do, but if you were to step away from this because it sometimes I would think it also gets a little stressful. So many things to get done.

What’s your go to? To de stress, relax and just enjoy.

[00:14:45 – 00:15:06] Anjali P

Yeah, my go to hobby is yoga. I love doing yoga.

It de stresses me, relaxes me. It’s good for the body and the mind.

And it’s always a new challenge. Every yoga session you step into, it’s gonna challenge you in some ways. Your body is different on all days and there’s so many new poses to learn and work on. So that’s something I love.

[00:15:06 – 00:15:08] Bhavani P

And my answer would be the same, but different.

[00:15:09 – 00:15:10] Anjali P

1. I’m usually.

[00:15:10 – 00:15:32] Bhavani P

I will usually go to the Pilates class while she goes to yoga. So. Yeah, same reasons. It’s. It’s a good challenge. It has nothing to do with the music project or our career as much as our mind likes to be that, like 24 7. Just like, you know, going to a different space and like having that opportunity to de stress as well as going on long walks, just like talking to.

[00:15:32 – 00:15:33] Anjali P

A friend or like our mom or.

[00:15:33 – 00:15:35] Bhavani P

With each other, just like.

[00:15:35 – 00:16:07] Anjali P

Yeah. Wandering through, like the neighborhood, hikes, hanging out with our dog.

And our family. Our family’s pretty close by, so we spend a lot of time with them. And we’re also vegan, so we’re into like cooking, vegan food and all of that. And we love thrift shopping as well because we’re into secondhand clothing and sustainability and the environment to conserving the environment. Fashion is also a really fun way to express yourself. Yeah. And you go thrifting, you can dress cool for cheap, so that’s great.

[00:16:08 – 00:16:10] Bhavani P

And like reading.

[00:16:12 – 00:16:19] Nitin Bajaj

Okay. You must have more than 24 hours in a day. I don’t know how you get all of that done and still have a thriving music career.

[00:16:19 – 00:16:22] Bhavani P

Sometimes we’re still like making edits at midnight.

[00:16:25 – 00:16:32] Nitin Bajaj

Yeah, I can imagine. Is there a book or a podcast that you like and would like to recommend?

[00:16:34 – 00:16:52] Bhavani P

This isn’t necessarily career related, but a book that I really like that I keep going back to is Valley of the Dolls. It talks about, you know, the entertainment industry and like the post war period in New York beauty standards. Yeah, it’s really well written. Very entertaining every time.

[00:16:52 – 00:17:25] Anjali P

Yeah. A book that I always go Back to is you can heal your life by Louise Hay. She talks about how mental and mental problems and emotional problems can manifest physically in the body where you can hold tension. For example, if you hold on to your ego too much, you can get a stiff knee and things like that. And she has some really good affirmations in there as well, like grounding affirmations.

I trust myself, I’m kind to myself. Those kinds of phrases really go a long way. Yeah.

[00:17:26 – 00:17:26] Nitin Bajaj

Amazing.

[00:17:27 – 00:17:28] Anjali P

Yeah.

[00:17:28 – 00:17:39] Nitin Bajaj

So much wisdom there. I am just fascinated. I’m going to make sure my daughters listen to this and I’m looking forward to them connecting with you here pretty soon.

[00:17:39 – 00:17:41] Anjali P

Hello to your daughters.

[00:17:41 – 00:17:43] Bhavani P

Yeah. Yeah, we love that.

[00:17:44 – 00:17:52] Nitin Bajaj

Now onto my favorite part of the show. We call this the online life lessons. I would love for both of you to share your life lessons with us.

[00:17:53 – 00:18:02] Anjali P

Yes, my favorites were. A successful business is proof of a courageous decision because you have to take a risk. Yeah.

[00:18:02 – 00:18:19] Bhavani P

Do something different to like, not just follow in someone else’s path, to like kind of make your own. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. You really have to just put yourself out there. And yes, you’ll get rejected many times, but at least you’ll have tried.

[00:18:19 – 00:18:26] Anjali P

Health is wealth. Back to what we were talking about earlier, it’s kind of self explanatory. Why that? Why we like that.

[00:18:26 – 00:18:55] Bhavani P

And then into mindset. The way we see the problem is the problem. I think it’s very true because things are just neutral, but you don’t think they are because you assign meaning to them. If you see, you know, a wilted fly flower, you could be like, oh, that’s so, like beautiful and like artistic. Or you could be like, ooh, it’s like a wilted flower. We have to throw it out. Like, there’s so many different ways to see something and if something is a problem, you don’t have to see it like a problem.

[00:18:55 – 00:18:57] Anjali P

It’s like, usually it’s like the problem.

[00:18:57 – 00:18:59] Bhavani P

Is this big and you thinking about.

[00:18:59 – 00:19:11] Anjali P

The problem is this big. So that’s a good one. And also I’ll prioritize connections and relationships because that’s everything in business, the relationships you build with others.

[00:19:13 – 00:19:32] Nitin Bajaj

So true. Fascinating. I’m just amazed at the wisdom. I don’t know if it’s the industry, the hustle, the pressures, the people you meet, but I’m just blown by the wisdom and the maturity both of you have. Or maybe it’s just the combination of that. You know, it’s literally two of you.

[00:19:32 – 00:19:39] Anjali P

So you we pick each other up as them. I’m not that smart. She fills it in.

[00:19:39 – 00:19:43] Bhavani P

Oh, no, no. I feel like my sentences sometimes. Wait, what was I talking about?

[00:19:45 – 00:20:19] Nitin Bajaj

Love that energy, the synergy that the both of you have. And clearly bring that to not just the music, but the entire project. Because you’re also looking at the visuals, the setup, the creative, the. And what you’ve done so far is amazing. But I know you’re just getting started. So kudos and congratulations to all that you’ve been able to accomplish so far, and many best wishes for the continued success. Anjali Bhavani Such a pleasure to have you here and to share your journey and story with our audience.

Really appreciate it.

[00:20:19 – 00:20:21] Bhavani P

Thank you. Thank you so much for having us.

[00:20:21 – 00:20:23] Anjali P

Yeah, it was a great conversation.