Harp Twins
Interview conducted on February 15, 2021
By Dan Locke
Camille and Kennerly (Harp Twins), are identical twin harpists, singers, songwriters, and storytellers. They tour as a professional Harp Duo performing rock, metal, Celtic, and Nordic-Fantasy original music on Electric and Acoustic Harps.
You are from the Chicagoland area. What is your upbringing?
Our heritage is Norwegian, but we’re actually from the forests of Northern Illinois! We’re still there today.
How did you discover music?
Our mom always listened to a lot of classic rock, so that is what we heard from a very early age. Our mom knew that music was important, so we started taking classical piano lessons as children. We didn’t have enough money for a piano, so we used a keyboard instead.
How did you start writing music?
We’ve been writing music for many years, but only started releasing our original songs online a few years ago. We weren’t sure how our listeners would react to original music after hearing us only perform covers. However, the response was overwhelmingly positive! We were pleasantly surprised with how much our audiences around the world loved our originals! In fact, we think most of our big supporters prefer our original music to our cover arrangements. That means so much to us, because our music is something that we created from our hearts. We love storytelling, so there is a strong element of that in our original songs.
Describe your music.
Our original music would probably be best described as Celtic-Nordic Fantasy.
How did you start playing harp?
When we were in middle school a friend’s mom played the harp. She let us try her harp and we were enamored with it. We asked our mom if we could play the harp and she said, “absolutely not.” She didn’t have enough money to buy us a harp and thought it was just a whim. However, we were very motivated and started doing odd jobs to earn money for a harp. We earned the money for our first harp ourselves. Our mom realized that we were serious and helped us get another small used harp by borrowing money. She has always been our biggest supporter!
How did you form the band?
We’re not sure we would call ourselves a band as we’re more of a duo. Playing the harp together was something that we loved from the moment that we began playing harp. So, performing together as a duo was a natural outcome!
How did your band get its name?
Our group name is technically “Camille and Kennerly”, which are our names. A lot of people call us the “Harp Twins”. We guess that is pretty self-explanatory. Lol, x2
What was your first performance together like?
We started performing rather soon after starting harp. However, these weren’t concerts and touring as we do now. (laughs) We performed for anyone who would listen. We performed at senior centers, churches, teas, and for any event, we could. Even when people weren’t listening closely, it was such fun for us to play music for others. We have always enjoyed sharing our music with audiences of all sorts.
What makes a good songwriter?
We’re not sure there is just one answer to that question. However, imagination is a wonderful skill to have. For us, telling stories is the best part of songwriting.
What is the process of writing your music?
Writing every song is different. For some, we write the lyrics first and then write the music. For others, we add lyrics after the music is finished. Many times, our original songs begin with some little melody ideas and grow into a song from there. When we have lyric or music ideas, we will grab our phone and jot some notes or hum the tune so that we don’t forget our ideas. It amazes us how often we will be simultaneously working on the same piece and what we’re working on just fits seamlessly together. We have such similar souls and that seems to shine through when we write music together. We love that writing is an organic process for us and that every song or piece was written by both of us.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?
Yes, we do!
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
Our first song was actually called “Igjennom en Vindu Mørk”, which means “Through a Dark Window” in Norwegian. It was never recorded professionally, but we have scalped parts of it for other songs (both released songs and unreleased songs).
You have released over 100 singles online and 6 physical cover albums. How do you keep releasing new material?
We have now released 8 albums of our music, and we’re currently running a pre-order Kickstarter for our 9th album, HARP ATTACK 4. We release at least one new song and music video every month on YouTube, so we’re constantly creating new music. Our music is on most major streaming and download sites. We almost can’t imagine not frequently releasing new music as it is something we have done for many years.
Since you cover so many artists, who has given you the most positive feedback on your version of their music?
We’re always extremely honored when an original artist or composer sees and enjoys our covers! We’ve heard lovely and positive feedback from Megadeth, Billy Idol, Kansas, Queensryche, Within Temptation, Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead music composer), Blind Guardian, Equilibrium, and Blue Oyster Cult founding member, Albert Bouchard, who have all shared our covers of their songs on their social media sites. Billy Idol even said: “If you live long enough you get to see this (Harp Twins) version of White Wedding.”
How was it to be a part of The Walking Dead?
It was a dream come true to have cameo roles as walkers on The Walking Dead! It is one of our favorite TV shows, so when executive producer and director, Greg Nicotero asked us if we wanted to have a walker cameo, we jumped on that opportunity! We were on set for several days for fittings, prosthetic tests, etc., so we saw a few pivotal scenes being filmed. We even had our own trailer to hang out in on the day of filming. It was definitely an incredible experience.
Tell me about your new album “Harp Reflections”?
Harp Reflections is a duet harp and vocal album of ethereal Celtic, Classical, Sacred, and Original music. We chose the album name Harp Reflections because that is what we called our musical duo when we first started performing. We thought that “Harp Reflections” was the perfect name for our performing duo because harp music can be reflective and as identical twins, we are reflections of each other. However, audiences and hosts began calling us “the Harp Twins,” so that became our default stage name. Wanting to create an album inspired by our earliest years playing the harp, but lacking time due to our previously full touring schedule, this past year turned out to be the perfect time to create Harp Reflections. The album was fully fan-funded through Kickstarter in just 90 seconds. So, the album was remarkably brought to life during the most uncertain year in modern history for the music world and has brought peace, love, and light to an increasingly dark and uncertain time. With touring paused by the pandemic, Harp Reflections was written, arranged, and recorded entirely by us in our cozy home in the woods of Northern Illinois. In a world of over-produced and computer-generated music, we hope that our Harp Reflections has been a breath of fresh northern air for listeners.
What is your favorite track on the album?
We think our favorite song on the album would have to be our new original song and title track “Harp Reflections.” The creation of that song was actually a Kickstarter “Stretch Goal” reward for backers, and we’re so glad that it was reached because otherwise, we would have not written this song. We feel that we really reached our goal of making the song “Harp Reflections” shimmer with light and beauty.
How do you stay healthy while performing?
We’ve always enjoyed staying active, working out, and spending time in nature. Even while touring, we try to stay as healthy as possible. We’re also vegetarian and we don’t drink any alcohol, which we feel works best for our health and lifestyle.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
Streaming music is wonderful for many people around the world. Streaming is something that is part of the musical landscape whether people like it or not. However, many of our listeners still prefer also being able to own a physical album. To us, there is something fun and special about having a physical album. If one just streams music, then they never own it. However, we love that there are now many different avenues for people to find and listen to music.
How can people forget about the origin hashtag # Sharp in a musical score? Because of social media #sonyrecords vs. F#
Haha! We guess that some symbols will just have to be shared.
Digital vs. vinyl?
We don’t personally have a record player, but we would love to own one someday!
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music?
No, we don’t think that live music will ever die. However, the landscape of our live music world has certainly been altered – at least for now – and in ways that have yet to be determined.
Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Yes, we are sure that the pandemic will have affected the music world permanently. How vast those changes are is yet to be seen? However, we haven’t stopped. We will keep creating music and art and we will continue to share that music and art with anyone who wants to listen!
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
2020 was far different than the year of touring and shows we had planned, but we instead turned it into an opportunity to create more music and art than any previous year! Here are some of our 2020 highlights:
We released TWO full-length albums. The first was our all-original album, ICEBORN – self-recorded and self-produced! ICEBORN is all Nordic-fantasy original musical stories by us.
Our 2nd full-length album of the year was our Celtic, Classical, Sacred, and Original album – HARP REFLECTIONS. We ran a Kickstarter campaign, which was fully funded in 90 seconds. Every spare second this year was filled with arranging, writing, and recording this album, and we spent 2 months personally packaging and shipping over 900 pre-order bundles.
We started our own self-made and self-produced home concert series, our “Harp Twins Home Concert Series” on Patreon. We have now released 15 concert episodes full of music, comedy skits, costume changes, Q&As, and tons of fun.
In 2020 alone, we released 13 self-made music videos on YouTube – 10 cover arrangements and 3 new original songs.
Harptopia’s garden was MASSIVE in 2020. We grew (and ate!) organic tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, beets, melons, peppers, onions, squash, beans, pumpkins, radishes, kohlrabi, cabbage, and more.
Our cat, King Grayling, loved having his 2 adoring mommas/servants home all year long. He has taken full advantage of the situation by demanding more cuddles, lap-time, and more of his favorite treat food than ever before.
We filmed a TV pilot and short film in Iowa called PREY right before lockdown.
2020 leisure activities included camping, target shooting, biking, and lots of hiking. We are always so inspired by nature and we love being outdoors in every season.
Harptopia renovations included a new Nordic shed and a new and improved stock-room for Harp Twins’ merchandise.
Since we couldn’t see our fans at concert meet & greets where they could pick up all of our new merch, we personally signed, packaged, and shipped thousands of CDs, comic books, apparel, and other items that were purchased from our online store!
Have you discovered or discovered any new hobbies?
We guess gardening was the biggest surprise for us! We have always been touring too much to have a vegetable garden. So, that was a lot of fun for us!
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
The music and performing landscape have definitely changed this past year, but we have been busier than ever due to some creative thinking. We have found other ways to reach and connect with our audience all around the world. We’re blessed to have a wonderful community who has been encouraging and supportive of us during this time.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
We’re not sure how many artists have the budget for Holographic concerts of any kind (we certainly don’t), but we have been producing unique and intimate concerts from our Harp Room during this time!
In the past if a musician stops doing music, they found a new career. For example, David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants. If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
We think we would likely be working with children or young adults with disabilities. We have volunteered most of our lives with organizations that help those who have special needs, and that work has a special place in our hearts.
What is your happy place?
Other than being with our harps, we love being out in nature – especially during the cold winter months. Many of our music videos feature beautiful outdoor locations because that is something that inspires us.
Tell me about your home Harptopia and how it got its name?
We actually don’t remember when we started calling our home “Harptopia”! We have been using the word “Harptopia” for years. We just made up the word one day and it seems to have stuck!
Spotify just deleted 750,00 songs, mostly from independent artists. Was your saved?
Yes, our music is still on Spotify! It is under the artist name “Camille and Kennerly.”
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Thanks for the fun interview! Readers can connect with us on our social media sites, which can be found through our official website: https://www.harptwins.com
Our Fan Club and online concert series can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/HarpTwins
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