BY MICHELLE HERBISON
ALICIA Egan had been singing intuitive harmonies with identical twin sister Alanna for so long that she provoked surprise when she started singing with community choirs.
“When I started harmonising with other people, they’d say, ‘What are you doing crossing over into my line? That’s my part,’ and I realised we have a different approach to it which makes it a bit special,” the Melbourne-based songstress mused.
“Our harmonies are pretty unorthodox because we’ve been doing it for so long. We’ll swap parts without talking about it.
“We’ve just got that sibling tonal blend that you don’t really get singing with anyone else.”
Alanna and Alicia will perform their folk and jazz-infused original songs at Connewarre’s The Minya Winery on 1 February.
“We’ve been singing together pretty much all our lives. We used to sing for our toys,” Egan laughed.
The twins didn’t learn to read music until they studied music degrees at age 22, she revealed.
“We had a bit of catching up to do but it was kind of good because we already had our own creativity and style before we got there and that just polished it up.”
Both now teach music part-time between touring around the country playing gigs and festivals.
Egan said having an identical twin to bounce ideas off was helpful in the creative process, each beginning their songwriting alone then sharing with the other.
Their new album, Twin Lines, was jazzier than their two previous folky records, she said.
Egan cited influences as “old jazz ladies” including Billy Holiday and Nina Simone and “amazing lyricists” such as Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.
“We like our lyrics and storytelling. We write about lots of different topics – things we’re finding are amusing us, troubling us, puzzling us…”
Double Trouble served as “a satire for twins everywhere”, Songlines, inspired by a Bruce Chatwin novel, explored indigenous tradition, and Blue Birthday was an alternative to sing when a birthday was not so happy, Egan said.
Tickets for Alanna and Alicia’s performance, supported by soul singer Jo Jo Smith, are available at gpac.org.au or by phoning 5225 1200.
