I also love going to antique malls and thrift stores, looking for sundresses and boots, and collecting weird knick knacks. I love going to the Comet, a bar in my favorite neighborhood, Northside, and eating burritos and taking drunk pictures with my friends in their photo booth to hang on my fridge (I have like a billion!). What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re in your hometown of Cincinnati? The Teardrops for sure! “I’m Gonna Steal Your Boyfriend” is the most underrated girl group song of all time! Most underappreciated doo-wop girl group?
I heard the Shangri-Las’ “Dum Dum Ditty” and instantly fell in love. All of those bands led back to the 50’s and 60’s girl groups. I was so excited by how openly “trashy” they were, singing about taking boys home and Nikki Corvette. I became obsessed with 90’s girl gangy groups like the Donnas, Bobbyteens, etc. Coming off of learning all I could about riot grrrl a few years before, I needed more. I was definitely in this whirlwind of girl power when I was 18/19. When did you first start listening to ‘50s and ‘60s girl groups? Not many trends going on here, but the internet has changed things a bit I guess. I think coming from a smaller midwestern city helps keep bands different and weird. Cincinnati’s cool because it’s super cheap and you kind of have to make everything happen yourself or it just won’t happen, like shows or DIY spaces. I fell in love with it not only because its super catchy, but it’s also kinda raunchy for 1965, coated in attitude. “I’m Gonna Steal Your Boyfriend” is incredible though. The Teardrops aren’t an extremely influential group to us specifically. How do you feel your hometown of Cincinnati has shaped Tweens’ sound? I know you covered Cincinnati group the Teardrops’ “I’m Gonna Steal Your Boyfriend.” Are they an influential group for you guys? You never hear “Oh! The Breeders! That female-fronted punk band!” They all seem so casual and then go on stage and sound perfect! Lots of Ohio pride on that tour. One of the biggest things I’ve always loved about Kim Deal was that she’s always just been tagged as herself, by her name, as a great musician. So many amazing women in that band, Kim, Kelley, Josephine, and Carrie (love to Jim too though!). We were also just stoked to play with one of our favorite bands, especially being on a tour where they were supporting a record that’s been so influential to me since high school. We were going to new cities playing these incredible venues or revisiting cities where we had been playing basements a few months before. The Breeders tour was amazing and kinda crazy. How was your tour with the Breeders? What was it like to open for such a legendary band and an icon like Kim Deal?