Powerhouse indie-pop duo KTJ & CARLY debut an intense story of opposition on new single “Reckless.”  Known for unforgettable melodies, the talented songwriters and producers continue to prove themselves with each subsequent release. They’ve been praised in American Songwriter, Rolling Stone IN, and Euphoria and featured on Spotify’s popular playlist Fresh Finds: Pop. Beyond writing hooky tracks they’ve recently started composing original music for the feature film, “God Save The Queens,” directed by Jordan Danger.

“Reckless” is an in-your-face rebellious track about digging your own grave. The duo kicks it off with a powerful R&B-style vocal that bursts forth with fiery intensity as soon as the beat drops. A wildly danceable track, the beat lulls you into a sense of security while the lyrics warn of the deep-seated need to revel in bad behavior rather than overcome with vulnerability. Their quintessential harmonies belt in perfection as they warn, “If it gets heavy/I’d make it stronger/If it’s not smooth/I’ll make it rough/You wanna window/I’ll make a door/My middle names more.” 

For anyone that’s ever given over to the dark side if only to hide from the light, “Reckless” is a sing-along autobiographical track you won’t soon forget. Check out KTJ & CARLY’s “Reckless” out everywhere now!

Tell us about the genesis of your project. How did you get to where you are now?

We are identical twins, so growing up not only did we share tangible things, but we also shared our passions and hobbies with each other. Like magnets, over the years we kept going towards things involving creativity. We loved telling stories and anything music-related. We began acting around 8 and slowly went into musical theatre. From there, as we got older we split off into film acting and music individually. We wanted to be artists but we really didn’t know how. We both met our wonderful manager, Sera, right before we graduated high school. The three of us worked hard to develop our artist project that you all know as KTJ & CARLY in 2019! – Carly

What is the favorite song you wrote and why? 

My favorites are the second and third song I ever wrote. They mean a lot to me because I wrote them before I had any clue that I would be making music the way I am now, or that KTJ & CARLY would be a thing in just a few years. I was 14 or 15 years old, sitting at the piano in my family home – just making music to make it. I think about it a lot because it’s easy to get lost in this business and so it’s important to remember why you started doing something you love. You can get burnt out from anything if you do it almost every day, so it’s important to remember the why. The songs are called “Back in Time” and “Running”. Back in Time is about growing up fast and your childhood passing you by. Running is a story of a girl running from an abusive home to find that the outside world treats her worse than the abusive home did. They were both so real and honest, which is one of the reasons I write music. Honesty and truth. – Carly

Some days, the songs we write resonate more than other ones. It really depends on the day. But as of now, my favorite is “Pink Ferrari” and “Daddy’s Little Lawyer”. -KTJ

Who are your all-time musical icons?

H.E.R., Phoebe Bridgers, Dua Lipa, Mac Miller, Jimi Hendrix, Rufus Du Sol, Alicia Keys, ODESZA, Kendrick Lamar, Marina & The Diamonds, Doja Cat, I could name a million more but I won’t do that haha. – KTJ

What are some things to do to keep your inspiration alive?

In all honesty, I am kinda a hermit sometimes. I’d definitely call myself a homebody, but I force myself to get out and experience life as much as possible. It helps not only my mental health but my creativity. I say no to adventures and outings as little as possible even when I really want to say no. Because at the end of the day I usually enjoy myself. It’s like exercise in a way. You never want to exercise but right after you do you feel amazing. – Carly 

Always be trying to learn something new to curate peace love and happiness. Not to do it out of power, or accumulating the most knowledge, but about becoming the best and most flourished version of yourself, and helping others around you do the same. – KTJ

Who are you binge listening to these days?

Mac Miller, MGK, and a bunch of random indie artists. This is my go-to playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1RyRatt5lFydyNnW8bDF5m?si=S-4n51G5SSKk3f01LAF9Tg

– KTJ

I’ve been listening to RUFUS DU SOL, Greta Van Fleet, & Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros older stuff recently! (So sad they broke up) – Carly

Favorite movie or TV show?

I’ve been really into True Detective, Peaky Blinders, and Outlander. I love a good period European piece haha. Also just started Maid and I LOVE it. My favorite movie is currently Breakfast at Tiffany’s. But my favorite movie changes every day lol. – Carly

Without fail, The Vampire Diaries, Bojack Horseman, and Rick and Morty. I think I’ve seen these shows 100 times.  During Halloween, I always watch Sabrina (the new one) with my sisters, and during Christmas my mom makes us watch Hallmark movies. We hate them and give my mom sh*t for it but they make her so happy, so we love them. Occasionally we get invested, but as actors our predictive programming as far as the plot goes ruins it. They’re still funny to watch. The Flight Attendant on HBO max and The Maid on Netflix are my two current favorite shows, and I highly recommend everyone to watch them. – KTJ

Tell us about your latest release and how it came about

We originally produced this song to pitch for another artist, but we hadn’t written lyrics yet. In the session, we were gonna write on this beat but decided to go a different route. So flash forward to later that night, KT & I were just chilling, talking about how everything was going wrong in our life. (Just being overdramatic) And wrote this song in about 10 minutes. It came together really quick! – Carly

Do you have any peculiar pre or post-show rituals?

I am a big believer in manifestation, so we always make sure we’re over-prepared and tell ourselves we’re safe and just jamming out. We used to get a lot more nervous when we were younger but quickly realized if we died tomorrow, we don’t want to be singing because we are scared of what someone is going to think of our performance. We want to just play the music to have fun and spread inspiration and love. – KTJ

What’s the future looking like for you?

Right now we are working on our second body of work! We hope to release our EP in 2022. This body of work is about spiritual awakening and experiencing ego death. It’s about the things that make your ego big. Some of the song are in favor of it and some are in favor of the ego death. It’s been really fun. We have also been writing the original soundtrack for indie movie “God Save the Queens”. That’s been really exciting. Hoping to do a lot more live shows. We just moved back to LA (we moved back to TX during pandemic) so things are looking up in our artistry! We can’t predict the future, but we know it’s gonna be fantastic no matter what. Just over the past couple of years we have grown our project and selves so much, so I know only bigger things are waiting for us down the road! We have a lot of things lined up too, and I’m really excited to share with the world! 

Who inspires your style and aesthetics?

Banks, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Lykke Li – Carly

What is the achievement or moment in your career you are the proudest of and why?

I think the moment we had a true fan. The idea of fans was always so strange to me because growing up I was a fan of so many and to me, being a fan mostly felt like I was just a random face in the crowd. I would hear about the prospect of gaining fans and having a fanbase, but it sounded so weird. Like why would I have fans? We don’t have a HUGE fan base, but we do a have some and to me they aren’t random faces in the crowd, they are a part of our family, a part of our journey. It gave us purpose. The day this happened is still my career highlight; I had a complete stranger DM me on Instagram with four paragraphs of why our music was helping them get through their current situation. It changed me!! – Carly 

What do you think is the best way to make it as an artist nowadays?

Marketing to the right target audience. You could be the most talented, hard-working person ever, but if you don’t know how to market yourself no one will hear you. – KTJ

What would you change in the music and entertainment industry especially after this past year?

I would make just one social media platform to have. There’s too many lol!! (In actuality though, we are grateful to have such a vast world to share our music with though) But still… even three would be good hahaha. – Carly 

There are so many things I could say to this question, but my main takeaway is that the priority should be the artists/their teams, the songs, and the fans listening. Sometimes I feel like it’s a clout contest, instead of the real reason we’re here. To relate to one another jam tf out. 🙂 – KTJ