Kaleidoscope Circus

A Beatles Fans Interview with The Mona Lisa Twins

Its been a while since we have had an interview here but i am glad

to bring this interview to you all with the fabulous Mona Lisa Twins.

How did you first get into playing music?

We grew up in a small village in Austria just outside of Vienna 

where our Dad was running a professional recording 

studios, and we were always surrounded by musicians, 

instruments, sound and music. The radio was always on, 

our Dad was singing and making music with us ever since 

we can remember, so growing up it was a very natural 

thing for us to pick up instruments ourselves at one point. 

When I was 11 I started taking bass and shortly after 

that guitar lessons and Mona started off on the drums. Soon 

we were both visiting each other’s classes too and started 

jamming together. Or at least we tried. It sounded exactly 

like you imagine two 11 years old little kids “jamming” 

would sound like. But the wobbly musical mess soon turned

 into a lifelong obsession.

At what age did you first get into beatles music?

M: Our personal Beatlemania probably really kicked 

off at the age of 13. We happened to come across the 

remastered album collection on Dad’s computer and 

that’s when it really hit us for the first time. Like REALLY

 hit us when we clicked from song to song, from album 

to album in complete utter disbelief on how it was

 possible to consistently write such fantastic, diverse, 

mesmerizing songs. In comparison to THAT even the

 best of music aimed at our generation sounded like a

 sad attempt to come close to what the Beatles created. 

We wanted to find out how they did that, what made those 

songs so special, so meaningful and so uplifting to so many people.

What has been your favorite song to cover?

L: In the studio I have great memories of doing “This Boy” 

because of those gorgeous 3-part harmonies. 

We love these sort of tricky songs where you really 

pick the original to pieces to find out how it’s done.

M: There are loads of songs we love covering 

for our live performances. Especially at the Cavern Club, 

where we play every Saturday night. Closing our sets with 

“Revolution” (The Beatles) and “My Generation” (The Who) 

is always a thrill, or giving our everything at songs like 

“Paint It Black” (The Rolling Stones) or “People Are 

Strange” (The Doors).

Where was the best gig you ever played?

That’s a hard one. We’ve played some absolutely cracking 

shows at the Cavern with an insane audience and a 

real buzz in the air. Some of the shows we did on tour 

with “Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel” last year were 

unforgettable and the one at the Symphony Hall in 

Birmingham will always stand out for me. We were

 part of his touring band while also performing our

 own songs within Steve Harley’s set. Together we

 played a couple of really moving, emotional shows in 

some of UK’s most stunning venues.

Were you surprised by your popularity when 

you first started?

L: We never had any overnight success. Even 

when we started out on YouTube it was a very 

steady and natural build-up and we grew with it 

very organically. So no actually, I wouldn’t say 

we were surprised in a sense that we didn’t expect it 

but it was simply great to see that the more work, 

effort and love we poured into our music the more 

it resonated with people listening. We were however 

very positively surprised by the way people welcomed 

us in Liverpool when we first moved here two 

years ago. It felt like coming home.

If you could pick from The Beatles, who would you 

say you were most like in personality?

L: If you compare yourself to god you set yourself 

up for failure, right? 

Is there anywhere you would like to play, 

where you haven't yet?

M: We’d like to play some more shows in the States. 

We absolutely loved our time in California but there 

are so many more cities and states we’d be thrilled 

to perform in. And playing in South America sounds like

 an absolute blast too. We’ve got many fans there but 

we’ve never had a chance to go over. We promise, 

we will make it there one day!

Who is your favorite Beatle? 

L: George and the other 3

What is your favorite Beatle era? was it the moptop 

era or the psychedelic or what?

M: Musically I preferred the “in-between era” so my

 favorite albums are “Rubber Soul” or “Revolver” but

 what made the Beatles the Beatles is their entire development, 

their ever changing style while never losing the essential magic

 that binds all their music and albums together.