Jocelyn & Chris Arndt ‘Old Souls, Idols, & Alter Egos’

Millennials get a bad rap these days. They’ve often been pegged as entitled youths with EDM tastes and a Snapchat attention span. But with every stereotype comes an exception to the rule, and that’s where Jocelyn & Chris Arndt come in – to prove that the next generation of rock n roll is not so doomed after all.

The brother and sister duo are no strangers to paying their dues – whether it’s cramming at the library or jamming in the studio. Both are currently enrolled at Harvard, and they just released their new LP, Edges, an album with enough smokin’ hot riffs and simmering soul to make you forget for a second that they were born in the 90’s.

Just a few days before they would embark on their very first SXSW adventure, Jocelyn & Chris checked in with us between classes to chat about old souls, idols, and alter egos.

At 19 and 20 years old, Chris and Jocelyn’s sound showcases a prowess well beyond their years. With Chris on guitar and Jocelyn on the mic, the musical chemistry is simply electric. Crank up bluesy tunes like “Jagged”, and “Hot” and you’ll agree – these two have some old souls trapped inside their young shells.

“In situations where we are playing live and someone hears us before they see us, they are like, ‘Oh my God, you guys are babies!’”, Jocelyn says with a laugh. “We take it as a compliment”, Jocelyn and Chris say, almost in unison.

Edges, which was just released March 4, features the siblings and their band rocking through twelve tracks of pure fire. They even enlisted the musical talents of Danny Louis of Gov’t Mule and G. Love, who each appear as special guests on the record.

“Both of those connections came through our manager, our producer, and our drummer, David Bourgeois”, Chris explains. “I don’t exactly know how, but he worked his magic and made it happen.”

“We love Gov’t Mule, and we love G. Love, and we walked into the studio not knowing exactly how they would be”, Jocelyn adds. “You hear horror stories about how people’s idols turn out to be complete jerks. Well it was totally not like that at all, they are both super cool people. They kept going until they felt like they really made it sound better. You are afraid that you are going to record a couple times and they would take their check and leave, but they were really into it.”

Whether they were recording with stars from the jam scene or taking in the history of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, it seems that Jocelyn & Chris felt at home while creating Edges. But when it comes to performing live, Jocelyn says she channels her alter ego – a persona inspired by a variety of strong leading ladies.

“When I was younger, I was, believe it or not, pretty shy, so music was kind of a way for me to have an alter ego where I could be confident and be this fierce woman that I wanted to be”, she shares. “Beyoncé has her Sasha Fierce, so I guess my performance persona is someone else entirely that I have sort of modeled off of these really strong women I have been hearing on the radio all my life, or from my parents’ CD collection. Everything from like Shania Twain to Aretha Franklin to Beyoncé to Pat Benatar. All those women that just own it”, she concludes, “just owning it is something that I want to do.”

Catch Jocelyn & Chris on tour now – see all dates here!

www.facebook.com/JocelynArndtMusic

TheWaster.com | Edges
03.18.2016