Fulcrum Conversation: Secret Twins, September 2010

The singer of Secret Twins, Dina Bankole, who has been playing music off the grid for years, made her debut to the listening public in a way befitting her remarkable talents: in Scotland, laying down vocal tracks for Stuart Murdoch’s (singer/songwriter of Belle & Sebastian) musical-film project God Help the Girl. She returned to Michigan and purchased a used 8-track, which was essentially the impetus for writing, recording, and playing her own songs live. However, for Secret Twins, the big bang did not happen until Bankole met the belligerent whirlwind of chaos and merriment that is Tim Thomas. It was 2009, and the snow was finally beginning to melt.
Thomas had made a name for himself as a bat-out-of-hell rock bulldozer, opening unforgettable cans of whup-ass on drums in the latter half of the 00’s, most notably with Ypsilanti-based bands Boywife and Invader. He connected with Bankole after sounds of her singing reached him on the street while she was practicing for a show happening later that night, her first under the name Secret Twins. Thomas happened to be outside chatting with friends when Bankole’s voice penetrated his muffed ears and triggered a veritable musical coup-de-foudre. He knew he would be asking her that night after the gig if she needed a drummer: unsolved mystery solved, twin discovers twin.
After nearly one year and dozens of remorseless and spellbinding shows from Ypsilanti to Louisville, Secret Twins signed with Ann Arbor label Quack Media in February of 2010. The label support has helped them branch out to Chicago, New York, Boston, and places in between. A glimpse of life on the road with Secret Twins: the exiting and seductive celebration that is an ST live show, logging miles to the gritty comfort of Leonard Cohen, and certainly at some point, you may find Bankole, Thomas, and friends in a diner, dead tired from the road, laughing until they cry, spurred on by the spectacle of Thomas’ mouth chocked full of mashed taters and gravy (Was it the disgusted looks on their vegetarian/vegan faces that got him going?).
In late June/early July of this year, Secret Twins recorded their anticipated debut album entitled Ill Fit. The release show is slated to take place on September 11th at the Blind Pig; the hometown crowd is all atwitter. Bankole invited longtime friend and Hospital Garden front man Lucas Hollow as well as the talented Fred Thomas to join her and Tim Thomas in Benton Harbor, Michigan to record the album. Jessica Ruffins and Bill “Willy” Skibbe controlled the boards during the production of Ill Fit, which was recorded at the Keystone Recording Co. Bankole describes the weeks of recording as a pleasant mélange of “vegan food, tales of old, dogs, bike rides, freak outs, and risky experiments.” Secret Twins emerged from the studio in Benton Harbor triumphant, satisfied, and proud with what they had made; fireworks were exploding in the sky.

Tim Thomas and Dina Bankole, Secret Twins, join us for a Fulcrum Conversation.

D = Dina
T = Tim

Who are two artists, musicians or non-musicians, you respect?

D - Leonard Cohen, JD Salinger, & Georgia O'Keefe

T - The Baha Men, John Kricfalusi

What makes you feel nostalgic?

D - There's no such thing as the “good ol’ days.”

T - skateboarding in muskegon, dogs, rap

Of all your traveling, what is a place/time that stands out in your mind?

D - how every beach in every country calms. ocean, sea, or lake.

T - While bored waiting for a bus in Ecuador with my sister, I defaced a KFC place mat and made it look like- instead of eating chicken, the colonel had just given a super messy blow job.

What’s your favorite thing about Ypsilanti?

D - Beezy's vegan split pea soup. Jerusalem Garden's vegetarian grape leaves.

T - I just love walking in Ypsilanti. It has some of my favorite outdoor boozing spots in the world.

What’s the last thing that made you laugh really hard?

D - Finding a baby picture of myself looking rather cross eyed and confused and realizing that nothing much has changed. That and a well timed poop joke.

T - It was absolutely nothing...just dead tired exhausted on tour with Dina and T-Bone in a diner. I just started laughing out of nowhere with a mouth full of mashed potatoes and gravy till we were all crying. It may have been the tired, disgusted looks on their vegan/ vegetarian faces that got me going, then us going. It wore me out.

Is there anything that you would call ‘an inspirer of songs?’

D - morning sunlight & the air all around. the suffocating dark. messy houses. anchor weights and a means of escape.

T - butts, rap, the floor tom, driving, dancing, tapping

Anyway you’d part with the flying V?

D - Sweet Louise & I are bound and bonded by blood. We both go down together.

T - As soon as she turns her back that thing is pawned...sike!

What is the ultimate stage?

D - MONSTER JAM

T- Yep

Will Secret Twins tour in 2010?

We're planning a two week east coast/southern tour for late OCT / early NOV!