Hanging With Bebe And Oona Outside The Loose Moose
Sierra Madison: I’m so excited to chat with you both! To start, could you tell us a little about your origin story and how the band came to be?
Oona: Well, we’re twins, so we’ve been singing and playing together basically since we could talk. We actually had a band when we were really little, but the version of the band we have now really started in grade 10. There was an Asian student art show at school, and we played with a drummer and a guitarist for it. Afterwards, the drummer sent me a song and asked if I wanted to write to it. We kept playing together, writing songs at school, and eventually, our friends [who had their own band] invited us to open for them.
Bebe: Our first show was about two years ago at a Battle of the Bands, and from there, we just kind of found our way into the scene through that.
SM: What’s your favourite part about being in a band with your sister?
Bebe: Definitely making harmonies. That’s a big part of our process—we usually start with vocals and experiment with harmonies that are fun to sing.
Oona: And watching the songs come together. Usually, we’ll start with lyrics and melody, and then we build out the structure and instruments together. It’s so fun. Once we figure that part out, we send it to the drummer and everyone adds their parts; suddenly, it’s a whole song.
SM: How would you describe your sound?
Bebe: We’re definitely inspired by ‘90s girl rock era—punk, alternative rock.
SM: You’re music merges a melodic post-punk aesthetic, which is a super unique sound, especially during today’s “TikTok pop” sound being the mainstream. Who would you say are your biggest musical inspirations?
Oona: We're inspired by a lot of sister acts, like Haim, The Breeders, and Tegan and Sara. Our songs tend to be more punk or rock-leaning, but with harmonies that bring in a pop element.
Bebe: And introducing the drums make everything feel more driving and energetic—more rock.
Oona: We also started off writing more mellow, singer-songwriter-type songs, but once we brought in drums, it shifted into something more danceable and fun.
SM: So you two have just graduated from high school, I’m curious—how has growing up in the digital age influenced you as a band?
Bebe: It’s been huge, honestly. Social media makes it so much easier to share music and connect with other bands. For example, a girl at our high school started this femme/queer collective on Instagram, and now we collaborate with other musicians we’ve found through that. At the same time, though, TikTok trends can feel distracting, which is why we haven’t gotten on TikTok. We want to keep the focus on the music, so we’ve resisted diving into that too much.
SM: What’s your favourite song to perform live?
Oona: Heartbeats. It starts really quietly, just vocals and bass, and then builds. Depending on the crowd, it either completely clicks right away or it can feel like a risk to play, which makes it fun.
Bebe: For me, it’s Nosebleed, one of the first songs we wrote together. It’s special because all our friends know the lyrics and sing along at shows. Hearing the audience sing back words you wrote is surreal.
SM: Tell us about your latest album, Keep a Secret.
Oona: It’s basically a collection of songs we wrote throughout high school. We wanted it to feel like a summation of that time, almost like a love letter to adolescence. Since so many of our friends are going off to different universities, this way they can carry the music with them even if they can’t make it to shows.
SM: Sorta like a love letter to your adolescence.
Bebe: Exactly!
SM: I love a good coming-of-age soundtrack.
SM: Okay, last question—what are three things you can’t leave the house without?
Bebe: I know for Oona it’s definitely not her phone, she always forgets it. She left it in Boston once. Even forgot it on a bus.
Oona: You always have your phone, though.
Bebe: Oh yeah, for me it’s definitely my phone, I’m always clutching it. But honestly, the one thing we can’t leave the house with is each other—we go everywhere together.
*Interview has been edited for length and clarity.