North Chicago-born band of two sister pairs blossoms in the underground music spotlightTwo pairs of sisters learned music and built their own unique foundation of sound to form the supersonic band called Neptune’s Core. They make their way across the country rocking their hearts out and showing the true bond and strength of genuine sisterhood.
Behind a random taco restaurant late one evening in Pilsen was a hidden skate park where a crowd of hardcore and punk high schoolers gathered at the bottom of a ramp. Above them stood middle schoolers and their instruments. They knew they had the raw ambition to prove themselves and put on one of their first shows as an all-girl band. The mic’s feedback shocked Sophie Richter as she poured out her heartfelt lyrics, and electric vibrations ran through Jackie Cywinski’s guitar as she strung, but despite setbacks, they knew the stage was the place they needed to be from then on.
While learning how to play and create music together since grade school, in the past five years, Neptune’s Core has made a defining name for themselves in the alternative rock underground of Chicago’s music scene with their vulnerable and vivid lyrics played alongside their raw, expressive instrumentations.
Coming together as two pairs of sisters from the North Side of Chicago, Neptune’s Core has experienced the music world by each other’s side. They function together as a creative and familial unit whose desire to play has led them to tour on the East Coast, working with other rock bands like Dehd, Wombo and Geese, and performing at music festivals like South by Southwest, Lollapalooza and Winnetka Music Festival.
Sofie Richter (guitarist/vocals) remembers her music beginning with her mother singing songs to her and her younger sister, Hannah Richter (bass).
“My mom sang to me a lot as a child, she had her baritone ukulele and there’s videos of me and Hannah performing with her,” said Sofie. “That kind of installed a love for music.”
Even when Sofie was in kindergarten, music was always on her mind, and she pursued it whenever the chance presented itself. During free time, she would take her art supplies and write song lyrics, and even created her own band with her kindergarten classmates.
Jackie Cywinski (guitar/vocals) also grew up with music of all types being played around the house for her and her older sister, Kaitlin Cywinski (drummer), and their mother would serenade them every night before bed.
“If she didn’t [sing], I would beg her to come back in and sing me another song,” said Jackie. “We would go to concerts almost every weekend, even when we were fresh babies, which was kind of fun.”
With the first decade of their lives involving a world of music and creativity, along with influences such as David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Green Day and The Violent Femmes, the girls decided to pick up their instruments and pursue music at full force.
Fourth grade was when Sophie and Kaitlin first met each other, and in sixth grade they realized they had the shared desire to start making music. Along with a couple of their classmates who also had musical desires, they started playing in one of their friends’ basements, casually jamming away. Eventually, Jackie joined, who at the time could play piano and was getting familiar with guitar.
Although they hadn’t mastered all their instruments yet, learning together is what kept them practicing every day until they made their first song.
“We wrote our first original song, and I hadn’t known how to play guitar [yet],” said Sofie. “I just would kind of sing the part to Jackie and I was like, ‘Jackie, can you find the chords to this?’ And Kaitlin was kind of moving along too with the drums, and it ended up being a really cool song.”
The sisterhood and friendship grown through music is what laid their foundation. They made mistakes and still had to figure it all out, but instead of being discouraged and discarding their dreams, the shared experience and consistent support kept their efforts going.
“It’s broadened what sisterhood can be for me. I never thought traditionally sisters could also be creative partners, but it just makes so much sense because you’re already soul tied,” said Kaitlin. “To have that built in emotional vulnerability with each other is really special.”
Being two pairs of sisters has allowed for the girls to be completely open and honest with how to understand each other’s sound and eventually develop their own unique way of writing music together.
“Being in a unit like this just makes conversation so much easier and our feelings to really get in the way,” said Hannah. “Because we’re all just sisters. Sisters are gonna say mean things to each other and then five seconds later they’re hugging and like, ‘You’re my best friend.’”
One night outside during a sleepover, the girls started brainstorming on what their name should be. While looking up at the stars in outer space they shuffled through different names like Saturn’s Ring, which was already taken. Soon after came the thought of Neptune’s Core, which Kaitlin and Jackie emphasized was the one which encapsulated who they were together.
Hannah joined the girls to complete Neptune’s Core, and the four girls were launched onto the stage. In December 2022, the band played with Dehd and Wombo at The Empty Bottle as a celebration for the approaching year. Being on stage and having the chance to connect with other bands they saw as big inspirations and realizing how fulfilling that atmosphere was kickstarted them into loving the idea of music as a career and accumulating four times the willpower.
“My favorite part of being a musician is the collaborative piece and the community that I build,” said Jackie. “It’s just such a beautiful creative community, and I love how that expands as we get more known or we have more opportunities, that’s what really drives me.”
In the summer of 2023, Neptune’s Core released their first EP, titled Called Upon. The EP has six melodically driven tracks about finding yourself as an adolescent and coping with the roller coaster of emotions that come with growing up and facing loneliness.
“I feel like our music has always come from a place of vulnerability, that is what I go towards as a song writer,” said Sofie. “I do often take my pain and transform it into art.”
Performing songs that force the band to look inward and reflect on where they’re standing now can be a challenge. However, since each of them can recognize those moments of sensitivity and honesty because they’ve grown together as sisters who stand by each other, the isolation from it dissolves.
“Knowing I always have someone to rely on is really helpful,” said Hanna. “Knowing I have Sophie or Kaitlin or Jackie there I can kind of be by their side and know that I can just talk to them … it’s just helpful to know that you have a shoulder to rest your head on and you’re not alone.”
In March 2024, the band took their sound on the road heading to cities like Champaign, NYC and Philadelphia. Traveling outside the Midwest together for the first time took the band by surprise, realizing how many people came out to support them and seeing the fans connect with their music.
“It was a lot of moving around, you know, trying to get from place to place,” said Sofie. “To time crunch and still be able to put all your energy and emotion on stage. So that whole week was really intense, but it was so fun.”
Even after hours of driving and performing shows all day, the relationship continues beyond the stage when the girls go back into sister mode and celebrate each other’s performances.
“It’s rare to see a band who’s recorded for a whole week together, and then we played a show, and then after the show we’re still gonna go out for ice cream and have a sleepover and then get breakfast in the morning,” said Jackie. “Usually, bands are sick of each other by this point and then they all go their own ways … but we just keep doing things together.”
Being an all-girl band only strengthens the girls’ motivation to show that they have more ambition than most, but they don’t want people to think that should make a difference in the music they play. Although, while being in a male-dominated music genre it’s proven difficult to avoid feeling a lack of union with other musicians.
“Even though people don’t really say that kind of stuff to your face anymore, there’s still an inherent lack of other groups that are similar to you,” said Jackie. “I feel like it sometimes does feel like we have more to prove … But it makes us stronger, I think the four of us really communicate well with each other and stick together, and we’re always a stronger team for it.”
Neptune’s Core’s soul bond has given them the opportunity to share their talent with anyone willing to listen. Hoping to release music later in the year, the band continues to establish themselves in the industry and make sure to plant their seeds everywhere they perform. The more they play together, the closer they get as sisters, making them a hard force to trouble. Their music has inspired many young girls in their community to pick up instruments and create their own sound. Having a relationship with the band that easily allows for them to trust each other is what continues to push them forward.
“I think it’s one of the best things of, like, just creating with this team,” said Hannah. “It has taught me so much about teamwork. And just that communication and honesty and love are what’s gonna drive it. I feel like being in the band has taught me to not take for granted what we have.”
Header Image by Kait Lloyd
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