FANMAIL!
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Mail Day #12
Hope you two did plenty of relaxing on your break... wouldn't wanna sprain anything after how much you fuckin riiiipped at the reunion show. For real though, I miss you guys, lots of love from Buenos Aires don't drink too much eggnog babes. xoxoxo
-Ember ;)
thanks, ember. we've been having a nice break - lots of staying inside and staying warm. hope you're kickin it cool in the southern hemisphere. we'll see you again soon, i'm sure.
-laura
HI EMBER!!! sorry but i cant make any promises with the eggnog cause i already went thru like 5 cartons so far. ALSO CAN YOU COME BACK TO SEATTLE SOON SO WE CAN RIDE IN YOUR CAR???
-KEN :)
Laura are you seriously calling catatoing a piece of art?? This is grounds for unfriending you off of mybook
-tripw1re
you're right. i'm sorry, shay...sorry that you don't know REAL ART.
-laura
KEN! How did you get such a hunky body?!?
-Anonymous
im an ork so ive always been kinda big but i carry a lot of heavy stuff!!! and i eat lots so i can stay healthy. also i drank lots of milk when i was a kid :-) unlike SOMEBODY AROUND HERE!!!
-KENi'm sorry to break this to you, ken, but...milk is gross. no regrets.
-laura
Mail Day #11
Hey Ken and Laura! I'm a big fan of you guys and I'm super interested in the paranormal as well! Was wondering if either of you have ever had any spooky un-explainable experiences with ghouls from beyond the grave or mysterious situations you just couldn't wrap your head around? Keep on rocking!!
-GPool
ohhh BOY!!! you mean besides typical mage stuff, right??? lemme tell ya, i have seem some CUH-RAZYYY stuff in my time, especially that time when
hey, uh, ken. let’s just say...some things should be left unknown. mystery is fun, right?
-laura
What're you guys gonna do if you start getting super famous and start getting on the cover of magazines?
-Rayjjden
i guess if that happens, ur just gonna have to deal with seeing my handsome face everywhere!!! B^) i used to care a lot more about being a big star but now im really just about making the music and getting to share it so i dont really care about the being famous part much!!!
-KENwell, we were on the cover of indie monthly last year, though i guess that isn’t a super famous publication. i’ve had more than enough super-famous-magazine-whatever limelight to last a lifetime, so if that happened, ken could get dibs on the magazine spreads. i like where we’re at now.
-laura
How do you two keep your relationship from getting stale? What are some things you do to spice things up when you feel like you've gotten too much into a routine?
-Zhansonicis this a personal question? this sounds like a personal question. i'd raise my eyebrow very high at this, but i'm feeling generous today, so i'll bestow upon you the infinite wisdom of laura sherwin.
when we're on tour, our life is pretty much routine-proof, considering how chaotic and unpredictable it can be (just the way i like it). off-tour is definitely different though. to be honest, it's kind of hard to get bored with ken around, but even incredible and cool rockstars like us are prone to falling into routines sometimes. fuck that, being a boring adult is the worst, so whenever we feel like we're getting too boring, we just try something new together, even if it's something small. it could be a crazy recipe that's surely going to taste terrible, or taking a walk down a street we've never been down before, or writing music in a genre we've never touched, or making a giant piece of weird art without any rules.
just do away with your preconceived notions of who you're "supposed" to be, and what you're "supposed" to do every day. it also helps to have a lot of friends who are into very different hobbies and interests - there's always something new to explore. all you have to do is look, and be open to the potential feeling silly or stupid at some point. that part...i still struggle with sometimes.
-laura
Mail Day #10
What were your favorite shows growing up?
-Rayjjden
i didnt watch a lot of TV when i was a kid cuz my parents didnt have one, so i only got to watch TV when i went to jitsuko’s house. my fave was DRAKENBALL Z!!!! not GT though. that one sucked.
-KENteenage mutant ninja lizards. i know it was just made to sell toys, but i still thought it was cool. also duffy the vampire slayer.
-laura
Hey Ken, you mentioned Jitsuko in mail day 9, how are they doing?
-William
jitsuko is doing good!!! she’s a TEACHER now!!! pretty frickin COOL!!! i am sooooooo proud of her. we’re both super busy these days but we still try to find time to catch up with each other at least once a week!!! im happy for that cuz weve known each other for so long and shes one of my bestest friends. i keep trying to get her to play ukelele with us but shes too shy!!! someday ill get you, jitsuko......someday......
-KEN
Laura, what's up with the head tattoo?
-Anon
nothing more than me being young and stupid. i got rid of it a couple years ago. not gonna talk about it.
-laura
Mail Day #9
How did Laura's driving lessons go?
-Rayjjden
it was ok i guess. it took me some getting used to but ken was actually a pretty good teacher. driving still sucks though because i can barely see above the goddamn steering wheel (they need to make these seats higher. not everyone is 6 feet tall wtf.) and also everyone else on the road is insane. so most of the time ken does the driving, since i’m prone to road rage sometimes. it’s not my fault nobody else knows how to drive! also fuck parallel parking.
i do more driving on longer trips though, since ken has to hunch like mad just to fit in the car with his horns lol. not the most comfortable for him so i try to help out.
-lauralaura was an excellent student and i give her 5 STARS!! except for parallel parking. she gets 0 stars on that. STILL PROUD OF HER THOUGH!!!
-KEN
So how'd you learn to speak english so well Ken?
-Anon
TV!!!!! i watched sooooo much american TV when i grew up (and listened to a lot of music where they speak in english) so it wasnt too hard to catch on when i came to seattle. to be honest there are still things i realize i don’t know the right word for. jitsuko says my english is unproper but whatever!!!
-KEN
Serious question Laura, do you consider Ken a himbo?
-Anon
see, i didn’t know what the fuck a himbo is, but recently, our friend kyoko, a very internet savvy (and very cool and talented) teen we know, taught ken the word. and he’s been proudly self proclaiming himself as a himbo at every chance he gets. so yes, anon. i guess he is a himbo. but he’s *my* himbo.
-laura
Mail Day #8
Hello! Your music sounds so nice! I tried to record an album once, but I was told it takes more than hopping up and down on piano keys. Do you have any food allergies? I will send a box full of sweets and cookies! I'd send hugs too, but they refuse to mail my packages if they find me inside.
-SuperBunnyBun
food allergies huh...i think im allergic to tomatoes??? every time i eat pizza my tongue gets all tingly. for years i thought that was just supposed to be part of eating pizza, and one day i was like, man laura, don’t you love that weird tingly feeling you get on your tongue when you eat pizza? and she was like, ken, i think you might be allergic to tomato sauce. and i was like laura, that sounds ridiculous. then i kept eating pizza anyway. other than that, not that i can think of!!! I LOVE SWEETS THOUGH!!!
-KENshellfish, bigtime. hives, swelling, all that stuff...i’m not big on seafood anyways, though, so it’s not a huge loss. so hey, as long as those cookies aren’t lobster-flavored for some godforsaken reason, you’re good. thanks for thinking of us.
-laura
Top 3-5 dishes you like to cook?
-Rayjjden
ok, this is super funny, but when laura and i moved in together again, we realized we still didnt really know how to cook LOL. i had picked up a few things from a couple of my friends by then, so i had somewhere to start, but basically we both kinda like, learned together. its fun!!! its hard to pick favorites though...i love making ramen cuz you can put whatever you want in it!!! also i like making spaghetti because you get to throw it at the ceiling to see if its done. thats the best part.
-KEN
i never really had the time or ability to cook during other points of my life, so i like being able to do it now, especially with ken. it’s a nice thing to share. i’m a fan of chicken katsu because it’s quick and simple (and it’s always really really good). breakfast bowls are good too, since they’re really customizable and you can use whatever you have on hand.
also...ken...it’s the wall. you're supposed to throw it at the wall to see if the pasta is done. not the ceiling. we have to stop doing that. as fun as it is, i’m gonna jump out the window if i have to hear jitsuko lecture me on kitchen hygiene again, holy shit.
-laura
You ever think about switching roles with eachother wrt instrument/singing?
Nirvaas
we do that all the time actually!!! we both love playing guitar and we both love singing so we usually switch out on whos doing lead and whos doing rhthythm..rythythm...idk how to spell it but you get it. me and laura do a pretty equal amount of vocals, most songs have both of us singing, some are solo me or solo laura, but it comes out to an even amount cuz we like to share it!! i cant play piano or do synth stuff like laura does though. SHES SO TALENTED!!!!!
-KENsounds like i need to give you more keyboard lessons, kenny. you were getting the hang of it last time we gave it a try.
-laura
Mail Day #7
Do you guys work out and try to keep fit?
-Anonymous
who needs to work out when youve already got guns like THESE??? buuut for real though, yeah we go to the gym sometimes!!! and i love the outdoors and always take louie on walks so i exercise plenty!!! if youre not in good shape, touring will TOTALLY kill you. i think we’re both an ok amount of fit, but sometimes i still gotta drag laura out of bed to do some cardio when she’s SLACKIN. and she should still eat more, if you ask me!!!
-KENyeahhh, we do our best to keep fit nowadays. both of us used to be not-so-good at that (me especially). but ken practically had to drag me to the gym after that burnout a few years ago when things were real bad. i was in a pretty dangerous place health-wise, so i’m grateful he did...still sucked though! going to the gym sucks!! exercising sucks!! i begrudgingly admit that it’s important, though. i still get winded pretty fast because of previous health issues, but i try my best. i refuse to jog though. jogging is the worst.
-laura
Hey Ken! If I can make a bit of a weird confession, I've always thought you were really handsome?!? I mean... I have a bit of a thing for big, sweet, strong, scruffy, chubby guys, and you pretty much fit that description to a T!
But going off of that for a bit, I've always been kind of a chubby guy myself, and because of that, I've struggled with my own body image for a while. And from my perspective, you seem to be pretty confident about your looks, even if you've got a big belly (which, admittedly, looks really damn good on you 😜).
I'm hoping to learn that kind of confidence, to appreciate what I have, so I wondered if you ever felt shy or insecure about your own body? What would you say it takes in order to get over that kind of insecurity?
Much Love!!!
-Anonymous
thats not weird at all!!! you speak from the heart and i respect that!!! im very flattered mr anon! i gotta say, i dont really know much about this stuff...it seems real complicated when other people talk about it. some people would look at me weird because of the way i look or call me tubby or whatever, and sometimes it made me feel bad, but then i decided well, i dont really care because i know im a good looking guy! so maybe ive got a big tooth that sticks out and big eyebrows and a big belly, but those things make me me, you know? laura says my big tooth makes my smile look charming, and my eyebrows make it easy to show everyone my feelings, and my bigness makes me great at hugging!!! so i dont have anything to be ashamed of. and you shouldnt either!!! your good soul shines through every bit of you, so all the things that you could see as bad things are only gonna look like good things to the people who love you, because those things make you you. if you love big sweet guys, you should love yourself too!!! why should you be any different, you know? i know its not easy, but remember that! i believe in you!!!
-KEN
How often do you piggyback on top of Ken and use his horns as steering wheels? -Rayjjden
very often. it's the most ideal form of transportation.
-laura
Mail Day #6
Louie is a good boy. Give him belly rubs for me.
-Anonymous
HE IS SUCH A GOOD BOY!!! ILL GIVE HIM LOTS OF BELLY RUBS FOR YOU!!!!! HE WILL LOVE THAT
-KEN
First of all, my siblings and I loved your last album, you rock! That being said, here are my questions: how do the two of you write your songs? What do you think is the message behind your songs? Thanks for reading this.
-Sirius
thank you so much for liking our stuff!!!!! you also rock!! laura can take the first part, ill take the second part: we want our songs to make people feel less alone, so we just write honestly. twovolt is really just us expressing ourselves thru music cuz its what we love to do, but if we can help other people on the way, then thats awesome. i want our music to help people have a good time and feel good things about their self and feel less alone knowing we go thru the same things they do, and realize that the power they need is IN THEIR HEART!!! thanx for the Q, sirius!!!
-KENken and i collaborate on the songwriting so it’s very much equal parts him and me. i’m usually the one to pen down the final lyrics...ken is better at feelings than he is at words, so when he wants to communicate an idea, he gives it to me best he can, and i refine it. i know his language pretty well by now. when it comes to music, he’s really good at improvising and i’m better at the planning parts (sometimes i can overthink things)...that’s why his solos are the best. neither of us had classical training so we pretty much just fuck around until we find stuff that sounds good. out of the two of us though, i’m more familiar with actual music terminology and theory while ken finds his way by instinct, so we make a good team. thanks for the question, sirius.
-laura
What're your favorite songs you've made? (together and before Two-Volt?) P.S. lov u both v much!!
-Gentlemintohhh thats a good question!!! thats so hard though...i love all of our music. one of my favorite oldies from my K.KOE days though was SIX-STRING SLAYER!!!! that one was awesome. my favorite 2volt song though is tender age. that one makes me cry every time we play it. but like a good cry. its pretty easy to make me cry, to be fair!!! thanx for the question mr gentlemint!! we love you too!!!!!!
-KENi’ll agree with kenny on Tender Age. that one is really personal to us, so it’s one of my favorites...i really like Toxic Youth from our new album though, it’s a banger. i’m proud of all of our music. as for older stuff, i try not to look back too often since i was in a really bad place when i wrote most of my stuff for Liquid Steel, so it’s a little bit painful to think back on. when ken and i had first met though, we messed around a lot and made a lot of silly songs..i still like those. one of them actually ended up turning into Weekend at Benny’s from our EP.
also, we love you very much too.
-laura
Mail Day #5
Hey guys love your stuff, been playing selections from your latest record at the cafe I work at and the regulars are diggin' it too. Got any weird or crazy tour stories? I tour with a band myself and we've had some pretty wild encounters.
-Don
oh man, so, during this one leg of a tour up north, our van died on us last minute, and we needed a replacement, stat. we were pretty desperate, but our friend was like hey man i got a van you could totally borrow, it’s kinda old though. and we were like yeah whatever it's fine i'm sure, totally, thanks so much dude. we’re more DOers, you know? less think, more do. and we did. so...this thing. this thing was like...some kind of old delivery truck from like a million years ago. it had no A/C, no heating, and these weird slidey doors, and also no seatbelts. and also it was the middle of winter. it was like a huge square tin can freezer. pretty sure it wasn't legal but whatever!! we had gigs to get to!!! one of the days we woke up and saw that and all four of the wheels had frozen to the ground. also i got my tongue stuck to the side of the truck because i thought it'd be funny.
-KEN
DIY venue about a year ago. on principle, not the most put-together place. stomped a little too hard in one spot of the stage. proceeded to fall through the stage. only thing that was hurt? my pride. (also my elbow.) not from two-volt, but ken wanted me to tell this one, too, so surely i must oblige: when i just started out touring with liquid steel, we somehow got booked for this basement show in milwaukee and we were pretty sure that it was some kind of drug den or something. we were positive that we were about to get murdered. so we played a ten minute version of the single we had released that summer and then got the fuck out of there. my manager wasn’t happy about it, but i was not about to get shanked in a basement in milwaukee.
-laura
favorite place in the ucas to play at?
-anonymouswoof, thats tough...i love everywhere we go because its all so different!!! i dont care where we play as long as we play. i love playing in basements and tiny places though, then i get to be super close to everyone in the audience. and it gets super sweaty. YEAH!!!!
-KENit’s tough to choose...i’ve come to love the pacific northwest. it’s not where i actually came from, but i consider seattle my home now, so i always love playing here. we did recently get to play the Brickhouse all the way in Detroit though, which was really cool. that place has a lot of crazy history and it’s still standing. it’s great getting to play venues with an interesting history to them.
-laura
for laura: physically speaking, what's your favorite thing about ken?
-anonymousyou guys are pretty interested in why i like ken so much, huh? what’s your angle, anonymous?! nah, i’m just kiddin...if you just want me to join your “let’s talk about how cute ken is” fanclub discussion, then i will pitch in my two cents as its supreme leader and RULER WITH AN IRON FIST. my answer: everything. but okay okay, if you have to make me choose, then his smile. it’s just so genuine, god damnit. i’ll never know how he does it...
-laura
Mail Day #4
Hey guys, greetings from Caracas. So my little sister has been getting into music lately, bought herself a guitar and all. I don't know the first thing about playing guitar but I want to help her when it comes to learning songs, do you have any advice on that?
-Lan
greetings, lan!!! thanx for writing in!!! thats so awesome that your little sis is learning guitar!!! i taught myself just by playing around on it a LOT and copying what i saw in videos, so im not a super pro at the technical stuff, but the biggest thing you can do for her is ENCOURAGEMENT!!!! i bet she’ll be super excited to show you when she learns new stuff, and if you can see she’s been practicing, you should go out of your way to ask her if shes learned anything new lately. once shes learned the beginner stuff, tell her to learn the songs she likes best, thats how i got super pumped to keep learning cuz i wanted to play songs that i liked!!! the best part about guitar is that once you learn a few basic chords (G, C, A minor, E minor, E, D…for most peeps those are the first chords you learn) you can play a BUNCH of different songs. like basically an infinite number of songs. it’s so crazy how many songs use just those easy chords, or less. it also helps to look up songs for beginners. its super cool when you realize you can play them!! its also how i learned new chords, just looking up songs i liked and trying to play them. if you want, tell her to learn some songs you both like, too, so you can sing them together!!! it’s super fun!!! GOOD LUCK!!! im rooting for her!!!
-KENhey there Lan. thanks for the Q. not sure how much your sis has learned so far so ill just assume shes an absolute beginner. ken is pretty spot-on, so i’ll tell you the less fun stuff: it might be boring and frustrating in the beginning when all you’re doing is trying to figure out how to strum or finger a simple chord, so it’s easy to give up. but you gotta make sure your sis keeps at it - even if it’s just for a little bit every single day. it’s better to practice 15 minutes a day every day for a week than to practice for a couple hours and go a week without playing. that’s how you build muscle memory.
it’s gonna feel kind of impossible at first - it’s like, what the hell, how do people even do this?! but it’s amazing how your muscle memory just takes over for you when you’ve practiced enough. asking her to show you any new chords or techniques she’s learned is a good way to encourage her too, like ken said. when i first started, it blew my fuckin mind when i was able to play my first barre chord and i felt like i had to show somebody immediately, lol.
also, it’s normal for your fingers to hurt, she’ll have to power through it...if you practice every day, after about a week or two, you get callouses and it stops hurting. secret pro tip: don’t play right after showering or washing your hands, or else your fingers will be soft and you’ll shred up those hard-earned callouses!
so basically, the best thing you can do is make sure she practices every day, if she can, and be impressed when she shows you something new (when you think about it, it is pretty crazy how humans can learn to make cool sounds out of these pieces of wood with strings on em). wishing you & your sister all the best, rock on.
-laura
How much do you two bench?
-George P
um, A LOT!!!!! im always carrying around big huge amps and equipment and stuff. also people. i love carrying people!!! i am so strong.
-KEN...no comment.
-laura
so who's the biggest dork, j/k that's LAURAAAA YA NEEEEEEEEERDDDD
-tripw1re
HEY!!! YOU’RE THE ONE WITH THE FUCKIN NERDY-ASS USERNAME. don’t you dare pretend you are not a MEGA NERD, SHAY. you and your computers n shit. fuck u
-lauralisten guys...dont argue...youre both nerds who are good at math and stuff hahahahahaha nerds
-KEN
Mail Day #3
Two Volt!! I love you guys and have been following you since the beginning of your solo careers. I was wondering what other band/artist names you considered before settling on Two Volt and also what the best part of being famous musicians is? Thanks so much, love you guys!!
-Audrey
oh man, we had so many names on the list before deciding on this one…we wanted something short and punchy and meaningful. i found the old list actually!
clearly the one we chose was best! TWO-VOLT FOREVER!!! thank you for sticking around audrey YOU ROCK!!!
-KENi don’t know, ken...i’m still fond of cyber-ouroboros, heh. as for your question, TWO-VOLT! isn’t super famous right now, but we have an ok amount of visibility in the indie scene. i’ll say it right here though: being as famous as i was as LS? it sucked. the best part was getting to reach a lot of fans and make a difference in their life though. that’s what we want to do with TWO-VOLT. thanks so much for your support, audrey.
-laura
How strong is Ken? How boop-able is his nose?
-Anonymousvery strong, and very boop-able.
-laura
How's living on the road in america been Ken? Ever thought about going back to japan for a visit?
-Anonymous
i love it!!!! i get to go to so many different places. i thought seattle was crazy, but the rest of the country?? just as crazy. most people complain about sleeping in a van, which we have to do sometimes, but i think its fun!! i mean, a few years ago somehow i was sleeping in a hammock for like a year, so i can sleep pretty much anywhere.
its been a while since ive been back to japan, but i try to go like once a yearish to visit my parents. otherwise they would get super mad since i went like 5 years without calling them when i first got here LOL. to be fair, i was uh...really busy with a lot of crazy stuff.
-KEN
Mail Day #2
Love your stuff! Do the two of you have guilty pleasures you'd like to share (whether it's movies, books, etc)?
-Alex
guilty pleasures?? what??! why would you feel guilty about liking stuff?? you should just like the things you like! if its not hurting anyone and youre having fun then theres nothing to be guilty about!!!
-KENken is right, but not all of us can be quite as unabashed as he is...when i got big i spent a lot of time not talking about the nerdy things i liked because i thought it would be “uncool”. when i was young i was really into sonic games...i still have a soft spot for him. i also love sudoku. thanks for the question, alex.
-laura
Fav comfort meals?
-anonohhhhhh that is a hard question!! i love all kinds of food. i would have to say though, when im feeling down i love getting a good giant burger. i love udon too though. wait...what if...noodle burger…?? somebody write this down!! wait, im already writing this down right now!!! woah
-KENcan’t beat a killer grilled cheese.
-laura
Dear Ken, what's your secret to your cuteness?
-Anonymousthe secret is LOVE!!!! i always say that if you are good and nice, then that niceness and goodness will shine thru your face. so be good and nice - which i’m sure you already are!!!!
-KEN
Mail Day #1
Hey 2-volt, I saw y'all got a dog, whata beautiful fluff!! Question, any opinions on cats, like/dislike? Before you got your dog, did you ever think about getting a cat? Just curious! Have a fantastic day!
-Devo
THANK YOU HES BEAUTIFUL!!!! i love him. i love cats too!! they dont really love me though. i try so hard!!! my friend jitsuko has a lot of cats and she says i can be a little “too much” for most cats. i cant help it!! im a hugger!!!
-KENi like cats. but i don’t know if a cat could match ken’s energy, you know? that’s a pretty important factor in the decision. you gotta match lifestyles with your pet and ken & i are pretty active most of the time. anyone who says that cats love their owners less than dogs though is a fuckin dumbass idiot clown. cats just show their love in different ways.
-laura
Laura, what is your favorite thing about Ken?
-Anonymousthat’s a hard one...there’s too many things to name, and i’m not really good at talking about sappy stuff...sometimes it’s tough for me to talk about those kinds of feelings with actual words. aside from, you know, songwriting and stuff. maybe that’s my favorite thing about ken, though: he’s good at speaking from the heart, and understanding the ways that i show i care about him.
also, his piggyback rides, and his cute face.
-laura
Ken is super cute! I do wonder, does he have to do anything special to take care of his horns?
-JerichoAW THANKS!! i file down my horns every now and then cuz i dont like them to be sharp...it makes me look scary! thats why the tippy tops of mine are round instead of pointy like other onis. whenever they get dinged up i have laura help me buff them too. i like them nice and shiny!! thanks for the question jericho!!!!
-KEN
