Q&A: LA’s Indie Duo The Tulips Turn Friendship into Dreamy Pop Hits
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY JOY VILLANUEVA ☆
FORMED IN THE FALL OF 2023, The Tulips are a dynamic indie dream pop duo based in Los Angeles. Best friends Jewlz and Andrea, who come from Latina and Filipina backgrounds, have quickly made a name for themselves in the indie scene.
Created with an intimate, DIY approach, their songs capture the raw, emotional highs and lows of womanhood, offering an authentic glimpse into their world. Their breakout track, “still love you (todavía)”, gained viral traction on TikTok, bringing them a wave of new listeners and industry attention.
Read our interview with The Tulips below to learn more about their formation, inspirations and more.
LUNA: Your music has a dreamy, intimate feel, similar to The Marías and Clairo. Are there any artists that inspire your sound, and what elements do you bring to make The Tulips uniquely your own?
JEWLZ: We just love a good vocal arrangement—adding harmonies, layers, and all that. Ariana Grande is someone we look up to because she does that a lot in her songs. Troye Sivan does the same thing in his music, and a lot of the pop girls in general.
Obviously, The Marías have a huge influence on us. That’s why when people compare us to them, it’s like, “Oh my God, thank you!”
ANDREA: As for our songwriting, we try to be as clear as possible—what we’re saying is exactly what we mean. We don’t want to make it too complicated or something people have to decipher. We like relatable music.
LUNA: The contrast between your bright and dark aesthetics is striking, yet it blends perfectly. How do your individual styles influence your music and creative direction as a duo?
JEWLZ: I find a lot of enjoyment in styling and the creative process, like building a world around a song. I know now that I’m usually the dark, and she’s the light. Sometimes we switch it up, where she wears the dark and I wear the light, but overall, I just love creating outfits together.
It’s especially fun to style Andrea because she’s my best friend, and she’s so beautiful—it makes the process even better. There are moments where I suggest something, and she’s like, “Oh no,” and vice versa. But in the end, we make it work because we both like the same things.
ANDREA: We’re basically the same thing, just in different fonts. We bring out the same things in each other. We’re so different, but somehow it works—and surprisingly well.
LUNA: Your songs explore the complexities of love, womanhood, heartbreak, and everything in between. What inspires you to write about these themes, and what do you hope listeners take away from your music?
JEWLZ: It’s literally just whatever we’re going through at the time—that’s always what inspires a song. We always say it starts with a feeling, and it’s true.
ANDREA: Usually, we have to feel something really strongly before we’re like, “Okay, let’s make a song,” because we don’t really have the motivation unless we’re in a certain headspace.
JEWLZ: It also makes the process easier. If we sit down and try to force something, it’s harder to navigate. But when we’re actually going through something, it just flows—we can write a song in 10 or 20 minutes.
ANDREA: Right now, love is at the forefront, so it’s the easiest thing to write about. But we’re trying to branch out beyond just love. We want to write more about life, about being a girl, or about this weird in-between stage—figuring out who we are as artists.
LUNA: “still love you” is all over TikTok and continues to grow day by day. Did you anticipate it blowing up like this, and what’s been the most surprising reaction to the song so far?
JEWLZ: When we started posting snippets, people really responded to it, and it kind of went viral. When we finally put it out, we expected it to do pretty well because it was the first song people were really interacting with. Even just the 30-second clips we were posting were already gaining traction, so that was really cool to see.
I think the craziest part of all this has been the attention we’ve been getting—from labels and everything—which has been really fun. The opportunities that have come from it have been amazing.
ANDREA: It’s also been really nice to build an audience beyond just our friends. Now, there are real people choosing to listen to us, which is so cool. The support and love we’ve received have been incredible. We never thought people from all over the world would be listening to our music, so that’s been the most surprising part of it all.
LUNA: You played your first all-ages show at Wholly Smokes BBQ — what was it like performing for that crowd, and do you have any funny or unexpected memories from the night?
JEWLZ: We had a really good time because it was a Korean restaurant, and hello—they had soju, of course.
ANDREA: The whole experience was so nerve-wracking, though. It’s not like a regular concert where the artist comes out from the darkness, and boom, they’re on stage. Instead, we had to mingle with everyone beforehand, talking to all the people who came. So, we kept drinking more because we were so nervous. It was crazy—but we were having a good time.
JEWLZ: Before, all of our shows had been 21+, but this time, we got to see a lot of our younger fans, which was really cute. That was the moment where we were like, oh, okay, this is getting real. People were traveling to see us, which was so cool.
LUNA: I love the Omnichord videos you’ve been recording online. What drew you two to that instrument, and how has it influenced your sound?
JEWLZ: I’ve always watched Adventure Time and Steven Universe, and Rebecca Sugar, the producer of Steven Universe, was someone I always followed. That’s actually how I first learned about the Omnichord—because of her and those shows. It was something I had always wanted, but it’s so expensive and rare to find nowadays.
My boyfriend actually bought it for me last Christmas, which was such a sweet surprise. He was joking the other day, saying he had to “fulfill the prophecy” by getting us the Omnichord because it fits our sound so well. It really adds to the cuteness, I think. And the best part is, we can both play it! Before, I would just play guitar, and Andrea would play ukulele, but now people can see us both playing together, which is really cute.
LUNA: Your fanbase is growing—what’s been the most surreal or heartwarming interaction you’ve had with a listener so far?
ANDREA: I think our fan pages are honestly the sweetest thing. They dig so deep, even looking at our first posts and making something out of that. Just the time and effort they put into it is so heartwarming. Building a community of people who like what we do has been one of the coolest things, and I’m so grateful for it.
LUNA: Is there anything else you’d like to share with Luna?
ANDREA: Our show on April 26th is coming up, so if you guys want to come, we’d love to see you there! We’re also working on new music, and hopefully, we’ll have a new single coming out in the next few months.
JEWLZ: Right now, we’re just focused on playing these shows and getting out there more. We’re hoping to eventually do a mini tour, but for now, it’s about building our audience. This is definitely the year where we’re solidifying everything and figuring out where we want to go.
ANDREA: I also want people to know that we’re just normal people. We’re not signed to anyone, and we don’t have management—we’re doing everything ourselves. So to others who want to pursue music, I want them to know it’s totally doable. You just have to have the drive, passion, and support. We support each other, and that’s what makes it work. Anyone can do this if they love it and are passionate about it.
