Macedo is an American indie pop musical duo consisting of identical-twin sisters Michelle Alicia and Melissa Ann Macedo.

Early life

Twin sisters Michelle and Melissa were born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. Growing up in a musical family, the sisters began playing piano at age three, and Michelle began playing classical guitar at age 11. Michelle began writing at an early age and became the duo's primary songwriter, while Melissa is responsible for the vocal harmonies and instrumentation. The twins' musical influences included

Zero 7 Zero 7 is an English musical duo consisting of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. Both of them began as studio engineers and in 1997 formed the group Zero 7. Their debut album, '' Simple Things'', was released in 2001; their song "Destiny" stayed in ...

, Feist,

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

and

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

. They attended an all-girl Catholic high school in Pasadena, where Michelle wrote most of the songs for her solo album ''La Luna''.

Musical career

2007-2010: ''La Luna'' (Michelle}

During her first year of college Michelle recorded and produced her debut solo album, ''La Luna'', for OutTake Records in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. She recorded the album in ten hours, performing all the instruments. The sisters separated for the first time when they attended different colleges. Melissa attended Columbia University (Barnard College) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she received dual BA degrees in Gender Studies and Theatre. Michelle attended

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

, receiving a BFA in

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

2010-2011: ''Flags & Boxes''

In 2010 Michelle and Melissa founded MoonGold Records, and has been releasing their music on that label. While they were apart, Michelle wrote their first album, ''Flags & Boxes'', recorded primarily in Boston with producer Kush Mody alongside engineers Nils Montan and Andrew Oedel at Emerson College radio station

WERS WERS (88.9 FM) is one of Emerson College's two radio stations (the other being campus station WECB), located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Programming features over 20 different styles of music and news, including live performances ...

. The album was mixed by Justin Gerrish (

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chr ...

, RaRa Riot). Its songs were inspired by the girls' college experiences and their travels in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Each sister sings and plays several instruments: in live performances Michelle plays piano and guitar, while Melissa plays violin and performa vocal parts. After the release of their first album,

Maria Menounos Maria Menounos ( ; ; born June 8, 1978) is an American and Greek television host. She has hosted ''Extra'' and ''E! News''; she was a TV correspondent for '' Today'', ''Access Hollywood'', and co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athen ...

of ''

Extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

'' told ''

944 Magazine ''944 Magazine'' was a regional fashion, entertainment and lifestyle publication that operated in the United States from 2001 to 2011. History The original 944 Media company was founded in Phoenix in 2001 by Marc Lotenberg. Later it became part ...

'' that Macedo was her favorite musical group. Their music is noted for its vocal harmonies and instrumental range of instruments, including

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

and

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

. and the album was reviewed in ''Vogue India''.

2014: ''Paper Doll''

Michelle and Melissa Macedo released their EP ''"Paper Doll"'' on February 4, 2014. A single from the EP, "Your Skin", was premiered by

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

's ''

Soundcheck A soundcheck is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance to adjust the sound on the venue's sound reinforcement or public address system. The performer and the audio engineers run through a small po ...

''. ''Soundcheck'' praised the single, saying Your Skin' proves to be an equally catchy and emotional break-up kiss-off anthem". "Paper Doll" was co-produced by Khris Kellow (

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

) Another single from the EP, "Like Me Most", was premiered by '' LadyGunn Magazine''. ''LadyGunn'', describing their music said: "While they look great on screen, it's their music that shines through the most. They have been compared to

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She released five albums from 1996 to 2020, all of which reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart. As of 2021, she has sold over ...

meets

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian Americans, Russian-born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in New York City's Indie music scene, in ...

and at times have R+B influences and hooks that make you sing them out loud, full volume like you are saying all the things you never could to an ex." The third single, "17", was premiered by ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...

''. ''Paste'' says the twins are known to be completely opposite in personalities; "The sisters may look alike, but that’s where the similarities end: each brought her own personality to their work, the result is a lesson in duality and teamwork (and a damn nice sounding one, at that)."

2017: Ghost Town

Michelle and Melissa Macedo released their single "Ghost Town" in April 2017, hinting that the upcoming album would be "haunting and raw". The following single "Supernatural" was released with a music video via PulseSpikes.

Acting career

In 2015, Michelle and Melissa co-founded a theater company called, World Kin Ensemble, which has been producing shows aimed to combat sexual assault on college campuses. Around that time they toured act in the touring show, ''Dirty Talk''. In 2016, the sisters starred in a movie "Blood Heist" with

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), ''Milk (2008 American film), Milk'' (200 ...

. Michelle and Melissa played the lead singer and guitarist of Shane's band, respectively, on the Netflix show Girlboss released in April 2017. The both starred in 2019 ''Netflix'' film ''

Every Time I Die Every Time I Die was an American metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. For most of the band's career, the line-up was centred on brothers Keith (vocals) and Jordan Buckley (guitar), as well as rhythm guitarist Andy Williams, ...

'', opposite Marc Menchaca. In 2024 it was announced they are starring in the feature film ''Thinestra''.

Early life

Musical career

2007-2010: ''La Luna'' (Michelle}

2010-2011: ''Flags & Boxes''

2014: ''Paper Doll''

2017: Ghost Town

Acting career

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links