Tea Time with The Two Lips

our very first cup of tea is SERVED ☕✨ for our very first episode of Tea Time, we had the sweetest sit-down with The 2 Lips and we got into EVERYTHING.

we’re talking their first Coachella, dream collabs, navigating their Latina and Filipina identities in the music industry, their stan twitter eras (yes, we asked 👀) and more. 🌷

catch the QT duo at the Sonora tent at Coachella this Friday @ 6PM and stream their new single “kiss goodbye” out that same day 💋

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The Two Lips: A Tea Time Exclusive

JULES: Welcome to Tea Time with The Tulips! My name is Jules.

ANDREA: I’m Andrea.

BOTH: And we’re The Tulips!

Princess: The hair is on point! We need a bang tutorial!

JULES: I don’t wash all of my hair — I wash my bangs, blow dry it, and use the Wavy Talk on my front pieces.

ANDREA: I use it too. Yes, the Wavy Talk. Also — find a good bang stylist. It’s all in the way they cut them. Once I found the right person, they’re perfect every time.

Princess: If your friendship was a tea blend, what would it be?

ANDREA: Probably like a chai. I like chai. We like Earl Grey. Maybe some floral notes — because tulips.

ANDREA: Something cute, very floral-y.

JULES: I like rose, too.

The Breakup That Brought Them Together

Princess: A Lizzy McAlpine concert is literally what brought you two together. What was it about that moment that made you both just click?

JULES: We were both going through breakups and live-tweeting them.

ANDREA: The close friend story was involved and we were oversharing on there all the time. It really was the breakup thing that brought us together.

JULES: None of my friends were listening to Lizzy McAlpine, and I knew she did. That’s why we went to the concert together and we got along really well. It’s hard to find people you can cry and party with.

ANDREA: That was the breakup album of the time. If you’re ever going through it, stream “5 Seconds Flat”.

Princess: Were you both on stan twitter? If so, who were you stanning?

ANDREA: I had an Austin Mahone stan account back in the day. My username was “mahoney”. Then, One Direction took over my life.

JULES: I had an Ariana Grande stan account but wasn’t very active. It was called “arisponyta1l” but the “i” was a “1.” I also loved Omar Apollo! I stanned him too. Still do. And BTS, who’s your bias? I think Julia would like V!

ANDREA: I’d say Jungkook, for his cover of “Paper Hearts.”

PRINCESS: That cover hit hard.

Navigating Identity in the Music Industry

Princess: How do you each navigate your ethnic and cultural identity in the music industry and how has that shaped you as artists?

JULES: The music industry isn’t saturated with people of our ethnicities. It’s very rare to find Mexican-American, Filipino-American artists in the mainstream. When people tell us they’re Mexican, Filipino, or both, it makes me feel good because I didn’t grow up with Latina or Filipino-American artists I really loved. But I feel like they’re coming out now, like Beabadoobe.

ANDREA: Yeah, I feel like I always had to pretend someone was like me.

JULES: We’re just lucky we get to be a voice for people and make them feel seen through us. It shows that anybody can make music and end up touring - it really doesn’t matter who you are, it’s just who you are.

ANDREA: Follow your dreams, as Mac Miller said.

Princess: We have ‘still love you (todavía) and other incredible songs that incorporate Spanish. Can we expect a song with Tagalog in the future?

ANDREA: I already knew what you were going to ask - yes! that.

JULES: It’ll come!

ANDREA: It’ll come. For the two-year anniversary, I’d love to drop a Tagalog version.

JULES: Or a Tanglish version.

ANDREA: Yes, a Tanglish version! We do want to eventually make more bilingual music. So, any Filipino writers, hit us up! Because we’re looking for you.

Princess: “girl, c’mon” captures that in-between stage of girlhood and womanhood so beautifully. Have you both moved through that chapter or are still living in it?

ANDREA: Definitely still moving through it, but we’re farther than we were when we made those songs, even though that was barely six months ago.

JULES: We’re barely hitting a year signed to a label, so that EP was a transitional period. We were still figuring out our sound and how to be in a studio that wasn’t Julia’s room. When we sing those songs now we’re like, “That was really telling of that time.” The music we’re making now is definitely more mature. Not “girl, come on” - it’s “woman, come on.” (laughter)

ANDREA: We’re like hitting our late 20s!

JULES: I’m turning 27, but I can’t wait to be 30!

ANDREA: (laughter) She always says this.

JULES: I still don’t know everything about the world, and I’m happy I get to document it through music.

ANDREA: Now, it’s really nice because our fans get to watch us grow up a little bit. Not like we’re 18 growing up. It’s “womanhood”.

Princess: Coachella is just around the corner. Describe what fans can expect from your set in four words.

ANDREA: Whimsical. Tea party. Cuteness overload.

JULES: And dreamy. Everybody wants to be whimsy now, but we’re the real whimsy starters!

ANDREA: Even from our first post, we’ve always been these polka dot cutie divas.

Princess: Who do you want to collaborate with in the future?

ANDREA: There’s a lot! Definitely would love to collab with Beabadoobee, Omar Apollo, PinkPantheress, John Brion. John Brion is a producer we love to work with - he did a lot of the Fiona Apple stuff, he’s awesome! Lily Allen too.

ANDREA: Lily Allen, for sure. Fiona Apple, too!.

ANDREA: But dream, of course?

BOTH: Ariana Grande.

ANDREA: That’s a dream.

PRINCESS: Put it out into the world!

ANDREA: Everybody’s saying Ariana, but we are actual fans!

JULESL I had a stan account!

ANDREA: We’re tiny elephants. Bet a lot of you don’t even know what that is!

A Message to Young Filipinas and Latinas

Princess: What would you say to young Filipina or Latina girls who are watching & wondering if there’s space for them in the music industry?

JULES: We’re proof that if you dedicate yourself and believe in yourself, anything’s possible. We didn’t expect any of this, but we believed in each other and ourselves. Having Latina-Filipina friends is how we became friends in the first place. We resonated with each other, realized that we go through similar things, had similar upbringings, etc. Collaborating is also really good, you don’t have to do things alone! I think a lot of the reason for our success comes from it being the two of us because people can resonate with either one of us, or us together.

ANDREA: And just always be yourself, and I know everybody is always like, “Be yourself!” but it’s true.

JULES: You want to just be real. That’s why we’re here. And we still live at home with our families, y’know, we’re just ordinary people that sing!

ANDREA: Just an ordinary girl.