You might know ALTÉGO from the ridiculously infectious hit “Toxic Pony”, their viral mash-ups (with a new one going viral every other day), or the kind of tracks that make staying still feel like a non-option.
But behind the DJ decks are twin brothers Michael and Lukas Fernandes-Pense, born in the UK to an Angolan-Portuguese mother and an Austrian-Indian father, the dynamic duo are two people with different musical tastes who have turned their brotherhood and spontaneity into their infectious musical superpower.
1. Twinergy: they’ve been making music together forever
There was never really a dramatic moment where Michael and Lukas sat down and announced: Right. We shall now become a musical duo.
They’re twins, they grew up playing music together, went to university together, studied music together and, naturally, lived together too. However, in one way they diverge: they’re pretty different musically, with one who loves his dance and electronic music, whilst the other loves his pop and indie rock.
It’s where the ALTÉGO magic comes from: taking two completely different songs and finding a way to make them work together. You could say that it’s written into their DNA.
2. Going viral doesn’t mean they’ll chase every trend
Since ALTÉGO make going viral look easy, you might assume there’s a giant whiteboard somewhere covered in trending sounds, TikTok statistics and increasingly complicated calculations. Not in the slightest.
The twins are pretty strict about only making a mash-up when they genuinely like what they’re putting together. If a song is exploding online but they don’t connect with it? They’d rather leave it alone.
Case in point: when they combined Britney Spears’ “Toxic” with Ginuwine’s “Pony” in 2022, there was nothing particularly obvious about two songs from the 2000s becoming their breakout moment. Yet here we are all those years later, with “Toxic Pony” still living in our heads rent free.
3. They’re starting to put more of themselves into the music
ALTÉGO might have built their name on addictive mash-ups, but their next chapter could get a little more personal.
On the brand new single “Lies,” the twins stepped in front of the mic and sang on the track themselves, something they’re keen to do more of going forward.
This is all part of a wider shift for the duo. Whilst they assure use they have no intention of abandoning the ALTÉGO we love, they’re interested in giving their music a little more of them, not simply the peak music curators and mixers we’ve all fallen in love with.
So maybe ALTÉGO are spreading their wings a little, but they’re not leaving the party anytime soon.
4. At their core, their deep love of music fuels them
Ask ALTÉGO to pick a favourite musical era and things get complicated very quickly. There’s love for the ’80s. There’s Talking Heads. There’s 2000s indie. There’s The Cribs and Arctic Monkeys. But there’s also a surprisingly enthusiastic vote for right now.
As they point out to us, pop has never been more open than ever. Billie Eilish and Katy Perry can both be called pop despite sounding completely different. Korean artists, rock bands, electronic acts and singer-songwriters alike can all find themselves sitting comfortably within the genre.
For two people whose entire musical identity revolves around smashing seemingly unrelated sounds together, we can see why they revel in how eclectic the genre has truly become.
5. For all their experience, they still get surprised by what hits it big
Sometimes the fans decide what a song means before the artists do. ALTÉGO admitted they weren’t expecting their banger “Couldn’t Care Less” to become quite as big as it did, and things got even more surprising when people started turning up to their shows in cowboy hats and full Western-inspired outfits.
Suddenly, a whole aesthetic was springing up around the track without the twins ever foreseeing it, something the duo revelled in. The joy of the unpredictable has continued to steer them forward, reminding them that the possibilities around ALTÉGO are always even bigger than they might think.
Moral of the story? Release a song, make sure you have fun while you do it, and your audience may spontaneously make it a whole themed party of their own. When can we get an invite?
ALTÉGO are currently on tour. Tickets and further dates are available here. You can follow them on Instagram at @altegomusic.