Twen’s Jane Fitzsimmons and Ian Jones In Rapid Fire

Interview by Jane Fitzsimmons and Ian Jones

Pals Jane Fitzsimmons and Ian Jones first met while studying in Boston. Now based in Nashville, the duo released their debut album, Awestruck this past September. Two years prior to their release though, they toured constantly, humorously poking fun at themselves for trying to survive as a band without a record along the way. Now with that milestone past them, they’ll be heading out on tour this November with The Joy Formidable and Bryde. Keeping up with their sly sense of humor, they shot the shit and specifically embarrassed each other as all best friends do, in their conversation below.

Ian Jones: Hi there.

Jane Fitzsimmons: How ya doin’?

Ian: Remember that time when we were in college and we went to Neutral Milk Hotel at The Orpheum in Boston and once the show ended, we were stuck in the packed stairwell exiting the balcony after the show? Can you tell the people what happened? 

Jane: Rude. Soo I was having digestion problems for probably a year by this point, doing elimination diets to find out if I was gluten intolerant, raw vegan which was a MISTAKE, and totally internalizing stress into my BOWELS- so I farted the most heinous of all farts—like the worst thing I’VE EVER smelled and let’s be real most of us don’t mind our own fart smell but this was disgusting. Some dudes were even shouting down the stairwell—”WHO RIPPED ASS?” and I kept my cool, not being too disgusted (whoever smelt it delt it) but acting uncomfortable and I passed it off until I told Ian when we were walking away from the theater because I felt like a criminal mastermind.

Ian: Hehe… so what’s your favorite smell? 

Jane: Anytime the seasons change.

Photo courtesy of Twen

Ian: We move to Berlin and start an electronica duo. What do we call it? 

Jane: Tootsie Pussy.

Ian: We start a death metal band called…?  

Jane: Ouchie.

Ian: What toothpaste could you recommend to the people?

Jane:  I used to make my own before we became nomad people. Coconut oil, baking soda, calcium powder, peppermint essential oil and stevia to sweeten it. OKAY so I can't confirm but I swear I healed a near cavity with this blend—but now I get charcoal shit at Target. FLOSS IF YOU DON’T HAVE DENTAL INSURANCE.

Tell me your “Andrew Yang 2020” pitch in four sentences. 

Ian: It’s not left, it’s not right, it’s forward. It’s twenty first century solutions for twenty first century problems. Humanity first; Human centered capitalism where income doesn’t start at zero. MATH; Make America Think Harder. Your earliest memory? 

Jane: Welp, not the most upbeat—I was three and playing with my friend Gretchen at my house while my family was at my dad’s funeral. What is the most beautiful plant you’ve encountered?

Ian: Maybe… the Spider Lilly? If you were locked in an escape room with one celebrity, who would you choose?

Jane: Okay I’m going to cheat and say two: Bjork & John Mayer— and we get dim sum after. I really don’t know how they would react to each other, which would make it super fun, but we definitely wouldn’t escape in time. What’s your favorite “The Office” episode?

Ian: LOL. Maybe… “Scott’s Tots”.

Jane: What is your go-to self care?

Ian: Watching “The Office”. What gives you the right? 

Jane: I thought I was conducting this interview!

Ian: What’s one thing about yourself that you want to work on? 

Jane: Ugh avoiding confrontation, the people pleasing bullshit girls are fed from infancy. So much hurt to others and myself could have been avoided if I just would have said NOOO.

Ian: Do you believe in ghosts? 

Jane: I have never had a personal ghost encounter but I’m WAITING. We’re just talking about energy really, energetic imprints of (most often) horrible shit.

What has New England done to you as a person?

Ian: It’s made me fear the cold.

Jane: What are your thoughts on shoplifting?

Ian: Depends on what you’re stealing and who from I suppose. Robin Hood shoplifted, didn’t he?

Jane: What do you want to tell your fourteen year old self?

Ian: Go buy a bag of shrooms and eat them now. 

Jane: Is there a quote or phrase that has stuck with you for most of your life?

Ian: “Run Forrest, Run.” 

Jane: What’s the scariest dream you’ve ever had?

Ian: It’s a recurring one, where it’s the end of semester and I haven't yet started my end of term math project.

Jane: What’s the first song you learned on guitar?

Ian: One called “Maggy May” because it was just three chords, A, D and E. I played it in second grade for my class, and everyone thought I was playing it cause I was in love with my classmate Maggie; which wasn’t the case, but try telling that to twenty other eight year olds. 

Jane: Sing me a song your grandmother sang.

Ian: “Kan du glemme gamla Norge” which translates to… “Can you forget Old Norway?” My ol’ Gramcracker was born in New York in 1919, but she traveled back to Norway for a few years in her early childhood. She learned Norwegian, but when she came back to the States as a kid, she said “no one would play with me because I had forgotten all of my English.” Which says it all, because that’s how I feel everyday.

This was fun.

Jane: Yep.

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