(Photo by Nate Watters)

2014 should prove to be one helluva year for San Francisco’s Future Twin – the band is currently circulating their full-length debut Wavelength Sovereignty to labels, and it will be released later in the year. Now, in the run-up to that album, they’re self-releasing a cassingle entitled Chillality, which officially drops next Tuesday, April 29, and we’re premiering today exclusively on The Bay Bridged.

The cassingle was recorded alongside the full-length last summer at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, with Reto Peter acting as producer and engineer. “He made forts to house our amps in the big room at Fantasy,” Future Twin frontwoman Jean Jeanie recently told me over email. “We crawled inside of course, to get another perspective. We did some additional backing vocals at his home, in the hills of Oakland. It’s a Bay Area record.”

With a title like Chillality, it could only be a Bay Area record. “Chillality is a word to describe an emerging ethos, to challenge the modern concept of productivism,” Jean explained. “One of the hallmarks of a good life is leaving space for unstructured free time, when people can reflect! I realize this is quite a challenge for most of the people living in San Francisco today…but basically chillality is when yes, we are cognizant of reality, but we still try to be relaxed and easy going, in the face of so much adversity.”

Remain conscious of your own reality while you chill out listening to Chillality below, exclusively here on The Bay Bridged. The cassingle features two singles from Wavelength Sovereignty, “Descending” and “We’re Here”, as well a remastered version of one of my favorite tracks from 2012, “Getting Theoretical (Instead of Talking About Your Feelings)”, and it’s clear the band continues to mold their self-described “punkadelic farmageddon moongayz” sound.

Future Twin is currently working on a music video for “We’re Here”, which will feature an interactive element, showing a “more nuanced side to each of the characters featured,” according to Jean. They hope to debut that later this year as well, and Jean explained that it will focus on “archetypes of San Francisco trying to break out from their modern roles and get a little fun and color back in their lives” – a little jolt to the system that many think this city desperately needs.

(Photo by Nate Watters)

Not only will 2014 be eventful for Future Twin in terms of their upcoming releases, but it will also be their first full year incorporating the one-and-only Tyson Vogel into the mix. While the drummer (whose day job is manning the kit for none other than Two Gallants) does not play on Chillality, he was involved in the mastering and artwork phase. The band’s former drummer, Antonio Roman-Alcalá, went on hiatus, and then Vogel stepped up to round out the trio with Jean and bassist Dan Kennedy.

“We met Tyson through Antonio,” Jean recalled. “They are both born and raised San Franciscans and childhood friends who’ve played together a lot through the years. We toured with Two Gallants in the winter of 2013, and that’s when we really bonded, between being held up at customs in Canada and wandering the coasts between shows.”

By the time Roman-Alcalá decided to depart, Jean and Vogel had become better friends, and she and Kennedy asked Vogel if he could fill in for a couple shows, only to have him offer to be Future Twin’s “perma drummer.” “Needless to say, we were stoked,” Jean told me. “Now sometimes you can find Tyson and I on a nearby stoop drinking 40s into the wee hours, commiserating about our fair city and what is to be done about how to move forward and still make this a viable place for artists and civic-engagers to live and thrive.”

“We are honored to be playing with such a talented force, both musically and dare I say, spiritually,” Jean continued. “He’s a bit of a guru!” Since Vogel joined in the fall, the trio has been composing new songs, including the likes of “RARRAR” (which stands for Rock and Roll Rock and Roll, “a new, pure genre” according to Jean) and a brand new tune, “Halcyon”, which they hope to debut at the Chillality release show next Wednesday, April 30 at El Rio.

Not the folks to rest on their laurels, the threesome just got back from a tour of the Northwest, where they played the Tree Fort festival, and they continue to develop their musical relationship, as well as their friendship. “We basically trained up on various instruments, have a little switching on stage between instruments..and are getting to know the tunes in a different way.” said Jean. “It’s exciting to see how things change and progress, and to be able to play with really good friends.”

Get full details on the Chillality release show below, and pick up a copy of the new cassingle over on Future Twin’s Bandcamp page.

The Spyrals, Future Twin, What Fun Life Was
El Rio
April 30, 2014
8pm, $7 (21+)