Boricua Sandy and Gilead7, aka The VirgoTwins, have released a compilation of spiritually and intellectually based musical messages for world healing and individual growth. ArtSpace is essentially a discourse on the realm of possibility. Life circumstances, personal tragedy, and their shared Chicago connection brought the two together to produce an insightful exploration of love and loss. The duo recently released their debut project ArtSpace and are currently touring around the country. Rolling out spoke with the VirgoTwins about their inspiration, the creative process, and their distinctive sound.
How did you two meet?
Sandy: I became really known in the hip-hop world just being a supporter and also a vegan activist. We connected at one of the hip-hop shows. We were connecting on the vegan vibe. Years go by and he finds out I make beats, and we reconnected. It happened really fast.
How long did it take to create and record ArtSpace?
Gilead7: It was recorded in the space of three weeks. I never worked that fast, [but] because of the beats that she was hitting me with, the concepts [kept] coming.
Talk about the process that birthed ArtSpace.
Sandy: I like to make beats by a place called Sunset Cliffs in San Diego. It’s by the ocean. We decided to link up so he could go through them. The first time we connected, he wrote them down and then lost them. The second time we connected I said a little prayer. I said, “Please let me show him all the right beats,” because I have hundreds of beats. Pretty much every beat I showed him he chose. It just happened really fast.
It’s really spiritual. I went through a tough time in 2015. I was in a car accident. I was hit by two trucks while I was at a red light. I also lost a child that year and I just needed a release, a way to release. I downloaded Garage Band and taught myself how to make beats in several ways. So whenever I’m going through something — whether it be happy or sad — I’m making beats.
How would you describe the sound that you and Sandy have created together?
Gilead7: For me, it’s like the wind and rain combined. Those motions of steady progress where nothing really gets etched out in a way that’s concrete, but everything is always in motion. That’s why we call it … ArtSpace, because in the art space [it] is not the finished project. The art space is where things happen. It’s a place to experience progress.
What is the imprint you want VirgoTwins to leave on the culture?
Gilead7: I want it to come from a place of constant progression, constant intensity. I want the output to be progressive positivity in terms of experimentation. How can we push the art further in terms of our cons, in terms of what we do? I want us to leave that.
