Frederick Bloy of Atwood Magazine, who is part of the independent art rock duo Idiotwin based in London, offers a thoughtful reflection on the lessons and insights gained while preparing to independently release their album in 2025. This covers everything from the creative process to the marketing efforts and more.
**Stream: Idiotwin LP – Idiotwin**
A significant concern in the art-making process isn't just the creative journey, the challenges of fame, or the harsh realities associated with those aspirations. I've heard it mentioned a few times—though I can't recall who said it—that the perfect scenario is for an audience to spend more time engaging with your art than you did creating it. This can be quite a challenge. Some films undergo multiple delays, and large paintings can take years to finalize. But what about a song? Songwriting is hard to pin down to a specific timeframe. Many songs evolve through numerous demos and drafts. Then there’s the mixing and mastering phase, not to mention the conceptual stage where lyrics and themes develop before the song's form is even defined.
For my band Idiotwin, the journey to complete our debut LP has spanned nearly two years since we publicly formed and released our EP. If we consider the conceptual phases beforehand, it stretches back even further, all the way to when I penned what is now the album’s opening track at sixteen years old.
I wanted to share my experiences as an independent musician who has contributed to and is now releasing a debut LP. I hope that without the influence of record labels, agents, European tours, or social media likes, this perspective might feel refreshing. Whether this article leads to a longer listening duration for the LP than the time taken to create it is debatable, but that isn't my main concern. What matters is sharing how it all came together, how I felt then, and how I feel now as we approach its release on March 21st.
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Idiotwin consists of Frederick Bloy (left) and Chris London (right).
Idiotwin © 2025
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### The Writing Process
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Music reviewer @duncan.reviews, known for their sharp insights, described Idiotwin’s EP as "a high-budget puppet show with a mastermind pulling the strings." This notion of our release being seen as ‘high-budget’ intrigued me, as all of Idiotwin's music has been recorded and produced between two homes in London using a Focusrite Scarlett interface and primarily a USB Marantz microphone from Amazon. The largest expense might be the travel costs incurred by bandmates commuting for weekly rehearsals or the oboe owned by one member.
Any perception of extravagance likely stems from the sound we aimed to create. As a duo, we draw from a wide range of influences, leading us to traverse various genres. If I had to choose overarching genres, I'd select art rock and chamber pop—styles that promote instrumentation, exploration, and a rich palette of sounds. Independent artists often default to a roughness or low fidelity in their shorter tracks. There are plenty of examples, such as cloud rap singles and lo-fi EPs. These genres are valid and far from lazy; it’s just that Idiotwin aspired to achieve a sound that felt expansive and diverse.
I've realized that we emphasize layers in our music. There’s seldom just one guitar; I intentionally crafted riffs on my electric that momentarily burst forth to enhance the noisy shoegaze segments, or delicate fingerstyle arpeggios on an acoustic (with a notably high action) that serve as airy counter-melodies. Notably, both members of Idiotwin are confident singers, and we take great pride in our rich vocal harmonies, which have become essential to our sound.
Essentially, I want to illustrate that ‘big-budget’ music can emerge from modest means. We never rented a studio, for example. One of the best pieces of advice I received is how vital it is to "create something you’d enjoy listening to." If you maintain the ability to critique your music against that standard, any quality of sound is achievable. It may mean taking a couple of years for our next release instead of a few months, but it will be worth it.
There are two additional points I’d like to make regarding the creation of independent music. First, the time investment needed to craft a song must never be underestimated, especially when collaborating with others. Communication and trust are crucial. Both members of Idiotwin have known each other for years; I know Chris is happy to wait for me to finalize a song skeleton I’ve spent a month developing—he trusts me enough to allow for that. With no pressure from a record label, we are free to create without constraints. Songs can take form and grow in an organic manner. For instance, "And Then There Was The Time it Came Down in Droves" required significant time to develop, while "Happiest in
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Frederick Bloy from Atwood Magazine, who is also part of the London-based independent art rock duo Idiotwin, offers a concise and reflective insight on the lessons acquired and viewpoints developed while preparing for the independent release of an album in 2025.