Nikki and Dara's first collaboration could be said to have happened when they shared a womb 27 years ago. Though Nikki would have preferred the extra 8 minutes, she quickly forgave Dara and the two have been soul mates, best friends, and a working team ever since. Nikki and Dara hail from Alameda, California, a small suburb of San Francisco, and grew up with a love for the arts. Mom instilled a fondness for the theater while Dad finger-picked 60's folk music on the guitar. Both girls were very busy; regularly enrolled in dance lessons, gymnastics, voice lessons, and youth plays until it was time to journey off to college.
Starting with her fathers' 1963 Gibson, Dara learned a chord here and a scale there until she taught herself to play. She wrote her first song the summer of her freshman year at the University of Arizona. "How's It Going" became Dara's first of over 35 original songs.
Nikki majored in theatre at Arizona State (well, they couldn't be too far apart!) and studied acting, singing, and dance. Nikki continued her study of theatre with a Master's degree from NYU in theatre education and works as a teaching artist in New York City. Inspired by the rising talent of women on the scene, both girls began listening to Ani Difranco, Sarah McLaughlin, Tori Amos, the Indigo Girls, and the Dance Hall Crashers.
Nikki and Dara first collaborated on a song while living together in Washington, D.C. To this date, "I Forgot" is still one of their best songs. Thinking two might be better than one, they added harmony and lyrical cannons to enhance the already beautiful melody", and launched their new pieces with bold performances during open-mic nights at the neighborhood bar.
Nikki and Dara left our nation's capital and started performing live in June of 2002 at the Orange Bear in Tribeca, NYC. With the support of their friends, they developed a fan base that came to watch them play at other New York City bars such as the Baggot Inn, the Meow Mix, Arlene's Grocery, and ACME Underground.
In October of 2002 Nikki and Dara decided to produce a full length CD. They went to recording engineer Terry Vinyard at No-E Studios in Brooklyn, who had previously helped them to record a four-song demo. The concept for the record was to capture the essence and sound of Nikki and Dara playing solo on stage, hence two vocals and a guitar. After 5 months, Nikki and Dara had produced a 10 song CD including a silly 11th track of a very typical hysterical laughing session during rehearsal in their New York city apartment. On June 19th 2003, Nikki and Dara hosted their own CD Release party at Chetty Red Night Club and Lounge racking in close to 100 people for the release of their first album, "Test Drive." A new beginning also took place the night of their CD release party; Nikki & Dara joined forces with a drummer and bass player to expand their sound. Nikki & Dara quickly went from folk music to chick rock! They now play with a full band at every gig.
