Twin-Flame duo AstraLogik on cultivating connections and trusting their purpose

Charito and Chen of AstraLogik are partners in music and life, bringing messages of unity and social change to listeners across the West Coast, Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines.

“When we first got together, Chen introduced this term, ‘twin-flame.’ She explains it as someone you’ve known even lifetimes before, and I do feel that with her. Meeting her was the moment that expanded my reality,” Charito said.

Music has played an integral part in their lives since childhood. Charito’s musical odyssey began with a karaoke machine. A gift from her mother when she was three years old, the giant box of melodies ignited Charito’s love for music, which only deepened as she grew older.

“My first tape was by Lea Salonga when she was ten years old. I memorized the entire thing and recorded everything on that karaoke machine,” Charito said.

Chen remembers the moment their father bought them a classical guitar, and the days they spent together listening to songs by legendary artists like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and The Beatles, formative experiences that shaped their musical ear.

“It’s a trip to realize how much of a privilege it is to be immersed in it, being able to feed our souls in that way,” Chen said.

Chen and Charito’s shared passion for musical exploration and knowledge led to collaborative songwriting sessions.

“When we’re writing together, we’re vibing together,” Chen said. “We make sure that we have space for ourselves to input our own thoughts, feelings, expressions, and traumas. It becomes very timeless when we do that. It’s like transcending time. It’s crazy how we’re in the flow state together.”

The neo-soul duo found opportunities to challenge themselves and grow with their music due to the safe and welcoming spaces in the community that support artists as they explore new sounds and styles. They recently incorporated sound baths into their live performances, which immerse listeners in resonant tones and sound waves to create a relaxing and meditative state.

“With sound baths, the sound is so stripped down. When we use these frequencies in a sound bath, it’s more of what comes up for you in your body and being okay with it even if it’s dark,” Charito said. “Music highly influences emotional states. Frequency, at its core, is doing that too. It’s constantly moving. If you can understand your relationship with sound, it could be an amazing release. All this clarity floods through.”

Understanding the impact of music on one’s body and emotions is core to their musical healing work.

With a background in Human Development, Charito sees music as a beautiful tool to get through life and synthesize anger, sadness, or fear. Chen is studying to become a chiropractor. Their education has taught them how music affects dopamine levels in the body, influencing the ways people feel satisfaction, pleasure, and motivation.

“Thoughts, traumas, and toxins are the three things that human beings go through. Being aware of that and integrating all of that in our music and being able to share and create that sense is powerful,” Chen said.

AstraLogik’s first EP, Dream Awake, debuted in 2015. Their track “Love Yourself” speaks to their mission of healing in a capitalist-patriarchal society and is a call to activate and empower the community:

“Every day searching round and round for some substance/Spiritual reluctance/ Compensating through overproductions/ But in simplicity/ We have more than we think/ Power to stand up and speak/ The only thing your heart really seeks.”

Chen and Charito have plenty in store for listeners, with plans to release a new single and a documentary feature directed by Jayna Benito about their journey on May 11. The duo will also perform come September at the Sum of Us Festival, a four-day wellness festival for LGBTQ+ women, trans identities, and gender-expansive folks in Pinecrest, California.

Their upcoming single, “Right Places,” expresses the challenges and rewards of a long-distance relationship and is set to release at the end of May.

“It’s an awareness of the beauty of simplicity and slowness, even through challenging times and situations. This is something we have needed to access on our music paths, especially in a world of constant grind and unnecessary internal needs to constantly produce results,” Charito said.

AstraLogik and its body of music continue to evolve, motivated by cultivating connections and building and healing communities.

“We want to utilize music to remind ourselves of our natural connection to each other, to remember how to make beautiful things and experiences together without having to try so hard,” Charito said. “We just have to put our walls down a bit. Our music tends to do that. People feel vulnerable with us when we’re open to being that way on stage.”