Brooke x Starce are independent artists coming for the Aotearoa dance music scene, full throttle. These South Auckland twins form an unstoppable creative duo. From dancing, to lyricism, to beat production, to mixing, to planning, networking, and outreach – Brooke and Starce do it all. Appropriately enough their latest single is called Takin’ Off. Naomi Bishop talked with the entrepreneurial pair.

Previously known as The O’Neill Twins, Brooke and Starcia O’Neill felt a rebrand was needed to suit their ever-growing skillset. “We first released music as Brooke x Starce in 2023. We’d had a long break from music because we’d moved to Sydney. Did a lot of dance mahi there, running dance projects. So after two years, it’s good to be back in the music space and doing it independently,” Brooke starts. 

2025 has seen a flurry of groove-rich single releases in a run that started with La La Love in December. January brought It’s Alright, with Rush following in February, Bounce in March, and the energised RnB number, Takin’ Off, in April. 

“This song was about, ‘Let’s like, just go for it. Don’t let anything get in the way,’” Starce explains her enthusiasm evident. “Taking off and being focused and aligned with what you’re supposed to be doing. And don’t let anything distract you. Don’t let anything pull you away from that.” 

The taking off metaphor, they explain, is about unlatching from all the things holding you down – and leaving them on the ground. Elevating yourself through hard work, and then flying through your successes. “Our number one priority, especially now, is to make music dancers can dance to!” says Brooke.

“It’s one thing to know how to choreograph dance music, it’s a whole other thing making dance music,” her sister takes over. “It’s difficult. Actually getting our music past that line for dancers to vibe to has been hard, because we’d had to learn everything ourselves. 

“What type of music do we want to make? Just because we are dancers, and we can dance to everything, doesn’t mean that we should make everything,” Starce jokes. “So that’s been a journey too. But like Brooke said, if we can dance to it, and our dance friends can jam and vibe it, that’s the first tick. Can everyone vibe to it? Can Nana vibe to it? Does my mum like it? We’ve always been about making music that everyone can enjoy!”

The pair say their Covid years were spent “in the cave”, learning as much as they could about being independent artists and becoming successful along the way. As twins they delegate tasks between them based on their individual skills. Brooke takes charge of beats and production, while Starce has her focus on lyrics and admin. Their consistency and success within the music scene this year is proof hard work and doubling the input, doubles the output. 

A favourite whakataukī of the twins is, ‘If you know your why, then kei te pai.’ 

“If you want to go out there and learn something, just start, you know? We all start at the bottom. We don’t know what we’re doing, but just go and do it. Just start learning. If you’re not afraid to be a beginner, and you stick it out, then you’ll be fine,” Starce urges. “It very much is like staying in your lane, and if this is what you are called to do, if this is what you know you should be doing, like, go hard!” 

“That’s pretty much what it is,” Brooke takes over. “Noise is a given, people saying, ‘Oh you should do this, oh you should do that.’ I think it’s really important not to let noise get in the way of your vision and what you want to do, don’t compromise your values.”

Starce has been producing their music for four years, and the result is a consistently smooth amalgam of RnB, soul and equally danceable hip hop. Undemandingly body rocking.

“A lot of my friends have been producing a long time, and I’m always trying to better myself, making sure the quality is at its best. We’ve grown up listening to the best music in the world, so my ears are trained to hear great music, and now that I’m making it, I’m like, ‘Yo, if this isn’t like, hitting that level, I don’t think I can settle…’” 

“We know the standard,” Brooke picks up. “And it’s not going to happen straight away when we’re making music ourselves, but we know where to aim.”

While there seems nothing that’s going to stop these pioneers from taking flight, there is always the financial aspect to consider. “Making music is quite expensive,” Brooke sighs. 

“You’re constantly paying producers for songs, and if you want to be consistent, like a different type of consistency, making music and releasing it every month, that stuff is really expensive,” continues Starce. “If I learn how to do it myself, there’ll be no barrier. I can make music whenever I want. I don’t have to think about how I’m going to pay for that. So we decided, let’s just do it ourselves, get a group together so we can have that freedom to make music whenever we want, while we’re balancing work,” 

One person can’t do everything, even two can’t do everything, however, the team that Brooke x Starce have put together just about nails it. 

“I think it’s important to find your team, find people that are passionate about what they do, and bring them in and make magic,” Starce says, nodding. “Definitely a big shout out to NZ On Air for funding Takin’ Off, just getting a music video at that high-quality level is insane. Marley Sola (Mellow Studios), is a huge, huge one because he also helped us so much with our vocals. DRM is our distribution label, and they do so much mahi in the back. Chris Chetland at Kog Studio has been mastering all of our stuff, and he’s amazing. And of course all of our dancers for their hard mahi.”

“Having these people around is really important to what we do. You can’t do it on your own,” Brooke adds.

As Brooke x Starce continue to upskill, more of their ideas continue to take off, allowing these power house twins to show just how talented and committed they are. Hints are dropped about potential live on-stage mixing by Starce for future performances, before Brooke winds things up. 

“I want people to want to be the best versions of themselves. Just be ready to go for their dreams. Just go all out for what you want to do, take on the world. We want them to feel encouraged and uplifted… ‘Yeah that thing that I’ve been wanting to do for so long, I’m gonna go and do it.’”