This post was updated Jan. 23 at 7:27 p.m. 

There’s nobody the Suchecki twins would rather be Royal Fools with than each other.

The Fools’ musical journey began in their freshman year of high school when they decided to start writing music together, August Suchecki said. He added that because they initially struggled to find other people to fill out the band, Greyson Suchecki learned how to mix, produce and compose using digital workstations.

“The reason that we never did fill out the rest of it – even though we made friends who were as passionate, and we had people who really cared about music and that loved it – was because the story of Royal Fools has always been a story of us,” Greyson said.

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Greyson said making music in a small town on the East Coast while they were in high school taught them about singing with candor. Their lyrics are also driven by writing with dissonance, August added. The name “Royal Fools” comes from the challenge some musicians face between acting silly to have fun and being put up on a pedestal, August said. 

Getting into UCLA was also an important moment, Greyson said, because it boosted their confidence in their early music portfolio. August said moving to the West Coast was also important in developing the band’s identity, as much of their music has been shaped by their time playing house shows, where audience interaction is key.

“We have a strange identity because we lean a lot into rock pop when we’re playing live around all of our house shows and stuff.  We love playing covers a lot,” August said. “Interestingly, though, we also really lean toward, in our listening habits, singer-songwriter types. We love lyricism.” 

One part of the band’s identity that is important to him is going beyond traditional elements of rock songs to create meaningful lyrics, Greyson said. Along with having their audiences enjoy their musicality, Greyson said he and his brother also aim to write lyrics that will make people think more metaphorically about their story.

Another milestone for the Fools was the release of their debut single, “Pretender,” in April. August said the song’s release, which was delayed by nearly four months, was a relief and a chance to celebrate their work. Greyson said he was also excited about playing at the Moroccan Lounge because it was a venue he had heard a lot about and seen other artists he admires play at. He added that when they saw a show at the Moroccan last year, they promised themselves that one day they would make it.

August said the show was also important for them since it was going to be the first show where it’s just the two of them, allowing them to both take center stage. Having only the duo onstage also allows them to use backing tracks, highlighting the complexity of their productions, he said.

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The use of their backing track during the show is also important, August said, because of all the classical instruments they use, something which would be otherwise difficult to capture in a live performance. The show was also one of their first where they will play mostly original songs rather than covers, he said.

“He (Greyson) has a lot of classical inspiration in his compositions,” August said. “He’ll use a lot of violin, cello, strings (and) brass, and he’ll be implementing these elements of these major orchestral compositions that are powering the back end.”

Jad Maluf, a second-year music industry student who is helping mix the Fools’ second song, “Bats in the Attic,” said one thing that has struck him about working with the twins is their attention to detail. “Bats in the Attic” contains over 80 different tracks, he added, showing the musical complexity of their work.

“They’ll (The Fools will) be like, ‘I want you to do this, and I want you to do it right, and I’m not going to stop bugging you until you get it right,'” Maluf said. “Everything about it is very, very intentional.”

Maluf also said one thing that has struck him about the Fools is the confidence they have in their musical trajectory, adding that they have a strong idea of where they want to be 20 years in the future. Greyson said the band’s long-term goal is to headline at TD Garden, a large arena in Boston.

“In our suburbia, we were told, ‘You guys are like these big fish in a small pond,’” Greyson said. “We were always these huge personalities and these people with these massive dreams.”