the insider: karmin

We sat down with Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan--better known as the swag-pop band Karmin--who have quickly risen to fame since the release of their cover of "Look at Me Now" on Youtube. Two years later the duo is engaged, they've just released a new single called "Acapella," and as new endorsers for Tone Body Wash's 'Turn it Up!' series they're giving away tons of free stuff. Plus, Heidemann (who happens to be a huge NYLON fan--she had our latest issue in her purse) traded in her signature suicide roll hairdo for a blonde new look, so we got you the full scoop on that. GWENDOLYN A. ROSEN

How did you join forces with the new Tone Body Wash campaign? Amy: We were excited because I have actually been using Tone for a long time. It's one of those things where you go down the aisle in the department store and smell each one before deciding which flavor to get. Nick: Which she's not making up--it's true. She actually does that. Amy: It's kind of embarrassing. So when they called I was like, 'Oh wow this is perfect.' And they want to help us promote the new music. We're actually headed on tour this summer with the Jonas Brothers. Nick: So there's the whole campaign. You go to their Facebook page and you can sign up for the contest. And if you win you come hang out with us backstage, we throw you on the tour bus and we haze you. No, I'm just kidding. Amy: There are some cool prizes. We can't give away all of them, but there's a bunch of cool stuff.

So we should definitely check out the Facebook page. What's your favorite Tone Body Wash, since you've been using it for so long? Amy: Gosh, what is the one, the purple one...it used to be my favorite! It's got jasmine in it, smells amazing. And then they were like, 'Oh we have a new one, Ocean Therapy.' I got it and it's amazing. And the good thing is it's not as floral, so Nick uses it too. It's more of like a spa smell. So you guys share your bath prodcuts? N: Well it's not like a sharing thing. A: I didn't give him permission. [laughs]

Do you have any other beauty tips for us this summer? A: I recently cut my hair and dyed it blonde. It's been really fun. One thing that I recently discovered and am obsessed with is dry shampoo. There's a lot of different ones out there so nothing specific. It saves my life on the tour bus because sometimes you can't always shower before a show, which is sad.

I love the blonde hair, but are the suicide rolls gone forever? A: I sort of wanted to put the suicide roll to rest for a little bit. I did it so much, and thank god my hair didn't fall out, because there's a lot of backcombing. But I saw a picture of Lady Gaga with the suicide roll. And Pink I know did it, and Demi Lovato did a variation on it. It was starting to become a thing and I was like, 'This is amazing. So now it's time for something else!'

What was the inspiration behind the single "Acapella?" N: It was kind of a process. We wanted to make a beat that was unorthodox. The producer of the song is Martin Johnson, the lead singer of Boys Like Girls. We were in with him and we're like, 'Ok are we really gonna make something unorthodox?' We were looking at all these YouTube clips and we came across "The Cup Song." And Anna Kendrick playing the beat like this. [pats the beat out on lap.] A: With the solo cup from Pitch Perfect. That was really cool. N: So we were like, hey that would be funny if we did something like that. And it's about acapella groups, so we were like let's start doing a whole song of drums everything. A: Completely acapella. Kind of like Justin Timberlake did, when he breaks down. N: Yeah, with all of the Timbaland tracks and everything. And it turned out really well, and that's where you get the whole concept of rockapella. A: I haven't heard any songs called "Acapella" so we spun it to mean, I can do it by myself, I can do it acapella.

Should we be expecting a full album following up to the single? N: Absolutely not. A: Yes please. (Both laugh) A: The album should be out late summer. Nick! The label is like, 'The only thing you need to do is tell them about the album.' And Nick's like, 'Nope, no album.' N: Nope.

How has your style evolved over the past few years? N: Well, we're completely monochrome. [She said gesturing to their all-blue outfits.] A: We have this new obsession of just wearing one color. N: We just wanted to break everything down. There were so many looks last year that we felt like it was just too much, especially since everyone's getting to know us. So we were like, 'What do we like? How can we make everything as simple as possible?' So we thought it would be really fresh if we wore head-to-toe in the same hue--same color. A: Like the Power Rangers. No, I'm kidding.

It shows that you guys are a team! What else are your other summer plans, besides going on tour? Will you get to relax at all? N: Well, we just bought a house. A: Oh gosh. That is not relaxing. I do not recommend that for relaxation. N: That's super relaxing! That's gonna be a lot of fun. A: The house is great. I recently got really into furniture shopping and decor stuff, like DIY decor. I never thought I would be putting on gloves and painting a house, but we did a little of that. N: We don't wear gloves though. A: But mostly these last few months have been recording the album. A little bit of house stuff, and then touring all summer.

Is there anything else we should know about Tone? N: Just make sure you go to the Facebook page so you can enter to win the competition. A: And it's not just tickets to shows--we're doing like twenty something cities. But it's also cool stuff that we can't tell you specifically. Stuff we like, we're giving away.