I first heard of Twen in 2021 when I interviewed Naked Giants. At that time, the band was just months away from making their independent debut with “One Stop Shop,” an album that would come to represent the distinct sound of Twen as we know it. Some three years later, the duo is preparing to release their next album, having cut no corners and staying true to who they are: a fully independent band making good music for music’s sake, in any way they can.

Now, they’re pointing their van southeast for a quick run of shows, which starts tonight in Orlando. And just a few days ago, half of Twen — Ian Jones — was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about their latest.

YY: The “Infinite Sky” EP offered a good bit of variety — each song offering something a little different but still unequivocally Twen when examined altogether. As I understand it, each single wasn’t so much a change or a departure from “One Stop Shop” as it was a product of what you were listening to at the time. How often do you find yourselves guided creatively by whatever music you’re fixated on at the moment?

IJ: These impulses foist themselves upon us and sometimes an urge comes to do something that you know might be in bad taste, but it’s your own bad taste, and that rocks cause everyone has both good and bad tastes, especially artists. Sometimes you have to indulge one part of your insides so that another part of you can come out next season, year, whatever. It’s obviously unfair and well documented to expect artists to always put out the same shit release after release.

So we’d been living at the beach listening to Sugar Ray and Smash Mouth and other early 00’s pop hits, and we wanted to pull it up into the year 2025 a la Twen, whatever that means. We didn’t make that EP for anyone other than ourselves; the next record won't be anything like it. But we love the EP - it’s a real part of us, but not the only part, obv.

Can we expect more experimentation on LP 3? What, if anything, would you say has changed about your creative process from your most recent releases to this one?

It’ll rock harder than our other records but still an eclectic group of songs that are probably more diverse than what you hear from most bands in our ilk; similar to OneStopShop in that respect. Not experimentation per se, just more great songs.

Are there ever times when one of you comes in with an almost fully formed idea, or is it always a full collaboration?

Almost always a full collab. I’ve read about Jagger/Richards’ how it was rare for them to ever finish a song on their own — we are similar; either one of us starts with an idea and we flesh it out together, always.

In a lot of ways, being headquartered in a van must have a really strong influence on who you are as a band — it sounds like your prime setup. This is more of a straightforward question, but it’s a genuine curiosity of mine — when it comes time to record, do you just book studio time at a place of your choosing?

Up until today (literally), Twen’s never booked a studio, always home-DIY on my laptop style. But today I was tracking guitars at DoubleLand studio in St Augustine, FL, because I wanted an engineer who knew how to record amps inside and out. Something I wanted to learn from someone with a lot of experience with mics, Amps n speakers.

Touring for weeks or months at a time, while incredibly gratifying, is not without its challenges, and wrapping up a tour can sometimes be just as exciting as starting one. As a band that’s more or less always on the road, how do you handle the distinction between “time on” and “time off?”

We live for this; Jane and I have been hard pressed to find others who can really hit the pavement as hard as we do. It’s lifeblood, and we understand deep down that we were built for it, so more often than not — we are energized from it, rather than fatigued. We’ve also built our life around it, so on tour, at night, when we’re hanging out in our converted van, it feels just like any other night. It’s home.

In an interview I read from last year, you guys talked about problem solving on a budget, and how it can be fun sometimes to get resourceful with fewer tools at your disposal. I feel like constraint can foster creativity a lot of times — do you find that to be true for Twen, or do you do better without any “rules?”

For sure; I think the best art is made “on a budget.” What’s so impressive about making an album or music video with a million dollar budget? In that scenario, you literally have everything at your fingertips; that’s not real life. We’re real people and we don’t do superstar shit. Well, we do it superstar quality but not with a superstar budget. And that’s the difference, and that’s why we rule. It’s about quality.

As a country we’ve lost sight of what that word even means. Whether it’s food, architecture, music, or government, quality is such a rare thing in modern times, but that’s what you’re pointing to when you mention art with constraints. It forces you to dig deeper and pull out something of quality.

Are there any spots on this upcoming tour that you’re particularly excited for?

It’s gotta be Savannah on this run; playing at Dog Days Fest, so that’ll be nice.

Looking beyond that run of shows, you’re planning to drop your third album soon, which is a pretty big deal considering your second really felt like your first in a way. What’s something people should keep in mind going into this release?

Every single note in our music means something, and we pour an insane amount of revision, editing and inspiration into it. We never phone it in, and we don’t pay attention to our peers. It’s why there’s been three years between these two albums. We are continuously underwhelmed by what other bands put out. If you don’t get our music on the first listen, stick with it. There’s plenty in there for you.