“We had to make a call before the album came out,” says vocalist and trombonist Giuliano Ferla. “So we went through literally hundreds of names. I think the worst one was Orange Herald, and our drummer really liked Blob Dylan. But we couldn’t go from a stupid name to an even stupider name!”
Eventually the band settled on the name Twin Beasts, a nod to both the twin vocals of Ferla and Dan Hawkins, and David Lynch’s classic television series. With pressing titular issues resolved, Twin Beasts were free to focus on more important issues: finishing and promoting the band’s latest album, Badlove.
“This album is all about bad love,” explains Ferla. “There’s no overarching narrative on this record like we had with the last album [Outlaw]. But we had been talking about different theme lines that were going to be on the album. So we had a look at the songs we’d written and three or four of them were about love and infatuation.”
Originally the album was going to explore both sides of the romantic equation. “It was going to be good love/bad love,” Ferla says. “But then we ended up with just Badlove.” While Ferla says Wasting In Time is about “a girl that we all know – a totally one-sided relationship – we’ve all had that experience,” the rest of the songs are awash with poetic license.
“The darker stories are always the more exciting,” Ferla says, when I ask whether the band prefers a more confronting song narrative. “We’re all content and happy in our lives, so we need something darker to explore.” With the conceptual narrative of Outlaw dominated by acts of violence, Ferla says Twin Beasts wanted to lighten the mood, if only slightly.
“With Badlove there was a real effort to move away from the darkness that we’d never experienced,” Ferla says. “We’d never had the experience of the events that are described on Outlaws. So with Badlove there was a conscious effort to make it closer to our own world. But even though a lot of the songs on Badlove are bad, there is an enjoyment of the badness.”
The literary aspect of Twin Beasts’ music is brought to life on stage through Ferla and Hawkins’ theatrical performance style. “A big part of that comes from Dan and my theatrical background,” Ferla says. “We’re both actors, and we’re both wanting to tell stories.”
Ferla says Twin Beasts hope to take the band’s colourful stories to the United States and Europe in the near future. “We’re in dialogue with a publicist in the States, and I’m heading over there in March to do some preliminary scouting around,” he reveals. “We’d like to go over there and consistently go back so we can develop a market over there, and see where that takes us.”
And a trip to Europe wouldn’t go astray. “We tried to organise a tour but it fell through,” Ferla says. “We released our first EP, Curse Of The Crow In Spain, so it’d be great to head over there. I’d love to hang out in Paris, London and Berlin,” Ferla laughs.
This Friday night Twin Beasts will launch Badlove at the Corner Hotel. When the former Toot Toot Toots launched Outlaw, the band finished the evening with a cover of Electric Light Orchestra’s Livin’ Thing – much to the amusement of the crowd (or at least those of us who’d grown up on a diet of ELO). Ferla says Twin Beasts have another cheesy cover in store this time around – but he won’t reveal what it is.
“It’s a good one,” Ferla says coyly. “We’re paying tribute to another superstar – that’s all I can say!”
BY PATRICK EMERY
