SXSW: 2:54

Having previously won praise for the dark brooding rock captured on the ‘Scarlet’ E.P, sisters Hannah and Collette Thurlow aka London duo 2:54 arrived in Austin as one of England’s better kept secrets. At the tail end of last year, they began 2012 marked by many as ‘one’s To watch’. After playing several shows that wowed the critics at SXSW and with the release of their debut album being little under two months away, there is every sign they may not remain a well kept secret for much longer.

Dazed Digital: 2:54 began life just over two years ago, how has the journey from the beginning to here been?
Collette Thurlow: It’s been all quite fast. We've been doing so much since we first started, playing gigs and doing our first recordings. It’s been a massive learning curve for us.

DD: How are American audiences taking to you so far?
Collette Thurlow: We did two shows in New York before we came to Austin and we were really surprised by how warm the crowds had been. Last night the turn out we got was both surprising and amazing, it’s been great so far.

DD: Your debut album is being released at the end of May, are you looking forward to see how people react to it?

Collette Thurlow: We've had time to let it breathe and get used to the world, it’s an exciting time.

DD: People have a tendency to pigeonhole bands under one genre, the festivals program has you neatly pegged as being a rock act... is one word enough?
Collette Thurlow: We would find it difficult to describe our sound if we had a vast amount of words actually.

DD: Finally what are your plans for the future? Does touring feature heavily?
Hannah Thurlow: We are doing a couple of shows after Texas out in California then we are starting our own headline tour of the UK in April.

Text by Nathan Westley
Photography by Chris Leung