Born to an American mother and a Mexican father, the brother and sister duo of Jesse & Joy Huerta grew up listening to the likes of James Taylor, Carole King, The Carpenters, Los Panchos, and Pedro Infante. “There was always music at home,” says big brother Jesse. “When we were kids I used to put a bunch of buckets together as a makeshift drum set while Joy would play the guitar on a tennis racquet.” Eventually he taught himself to play the piano, bass and guitar, which he also taught his sister. “We actually never had any music lessons…we should’ve, though,” jokes Joy.

Jesse soon put the buckets aside and started playing with real drums and the siblings, who have never had a problem sharing the spotlight, have spent the last six years writing music and working on the songs for their debut album, Esta Es Mi Vida.  

The inside booklet is really cool and creative. Who came up with the concept?

Joy: A friend of ours. We didn’t want the booklet to look all produced and pretentious. We wanted an organic and natural feel that would represent us properly.

If tomorrow was your last day on Earth, what would you do today?

Jesse: You know who Jennifer Connelly is… [laughs] I would play for her in a private concert. [laughs]

Joy: I would probably spend time with my family and friends, maybe playing some music.

What instruments do you wish you could play?

Joy: I would love to play the piano.

Jesse: I wish I could play the bagpipes.

What’s the oddest CD in you collection?

Jesse: Probably Muse.

Joy: I have a Britney Spears album… I’m kidding [laughs]. There’s this artist from Mexico called Chak that mixes rock with reggae and Mexican folk music. It’s a little odd, but it sounds really cool.

What’s the one thing your brother/sister does that really annoys you?

Joy: I’m the only girl in the band so I’m always traveling with all the boys. I just hate it when I have to use the bathroom and he forgets to put the toilet seat down. It drives me crazy.

Jesse: She takes way too long to get ready. I’m always rushing her.

What would you be doing if you were not creating music?

Jesse: I don’t know, I would probably be a bum. [laughs]

Joy: I would perhaps be doing something with languages.

Where do you hope your music will take you?

Jesse: Outer space.

Joy: You just stole my answer! [laughs]

Rapid fire word association:

Jesse:

Instrument — Guitar

Planet — Mars

Place — A train

Song — “Clocks” by Coldplay

Person — This girl I just met last night… ahem… this morning.

Memory — When we were young we used to perform for my family on Christmas.

Day or night — Night

Joy:

Instrument — Guitar

Planet — Venus

Place — My home

Song — “Brighter than Sunshine” by Aqualung

Person — My daddy

Memory — As a little girl I used to sing all the time, and I hated to sing in front of people.

Day or night — Night