Erin and Holly Keller: Kent State’s twins to watch -or, listen to

Holly Keller pulls up “Party Monster” by The Weeknd to play as the last track on their May 2, 2018 show.

Moments later, Holly (left) and Erin Keller (right) dance around the studio to “Party Monster” by The Weeknd.

Before closing out the show, Erin reads out a promo for Black Squirrel Radio’s website, blacksquirrelradio.com.

Twins throughout their years

Twenty-two-year-olds Erin and Holly Keller say they aren’t only twins, but best friends too. They currently live together, go to Kent State together and work on their radio show “Wombmates” together. This closeness is common for twins in their younger years. Erin and Holly are still relatively young, but what happens when twins transition into adult life, and are no longer always together?

Kent State professor Suzanne Holt can offer some insight to this, as she is also an identical twin. Suzanne and her twin, Sheryl Holt, are 62-years-old.

Suzanne specializes in women’s studies, but says being a twin herself has lead her to dabble in research on twins.

“I am really fascinated by the idea the impact of your genes. They have done a lot of twin studies that are remarkable, and we [Suzanne and Sheryl] have had a lot of experiences that make me wonder how deep it goes. It’s a compelling thing,” she says.

Suzanne says these studies make her reflect on her own experience as a twin, and the unexplored intimacy that comes with it.

“It’s emotional and personal, there’s this presence that fundamentally transforms your sense of being in the world from ‘I’ to ‘we,’” she says. She further explains that a significant part of her identity is being a twin. “I think of myself as a part of a pair,” she says.

Erin and Holly most certainly think of themselves as a pair, too. “We’re always on the same page, thinking the same thing… she finishes my sentences,” explains Erin.

In the Holts’ experience the closeness of the relationship doesn’t change, even with age and across distance. Suzanne lives here in Kent, while Sheryl lives in Columbus, OH, about two hours away. Because of the distance they don’t often see eachother.

To keep up their relationship, Suzanne says “it’s a kind of commitment you have to make,” but one that she says is worth it.

“We no longer do everything together, but we’re no less close, and we are still in so many ways the same person. She’s a mirror of myself, in a way,” says Suzanne.

While it’s possible for twins to grow apart, at least physically, as they grow up and grow old, the bond seems to stay just as strong.

Suzanne says she can’t image life as anything but a twin, “I’m a whole person, but one whole person of two. And I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.”

7 Things You Need to Know About the Keller Twins

Identical twins Erin and Holly Keller produce and host a fan favorite show on Black Squirrel Radio each week. Aside from being twins, coproducers and cohosts, they’re also best friends. Here’s the fast facts you need to get to know the Kellers.

Holly (left) and Erin Keller (right) dance on their way out of Franklin Hall, where the studio is located, after their April 25 show. They’re wearing their Womb-Mates merchandize that they refer to as the “Womb-Mates uniform”

1. Erin is older. She won’t let anyone forget it. “I’m the oldest by one minute,” she says.
2. Getting ready. Holly jokes that Erin takes eight years to get ready. They both agree Erin takes longer, mostly because she loves her makeup. “I’m always the one who’s running late, so Holly’s the one who keeps me moving,” Erin says.
3. Matching isn’t for them. Although they generally don’t try to match, they do have matching sweatshirts to promote their show on Black Squirrel Radio, Womb-mates. “We also have matching DNA,” Holly points out.
4. They’re identical. At the moment though, they don’t look much alike. Holly keeps her hair long and brown while Erin prefers to keep her’s short and experiment with color, currently her’s is blue.
5. Aside from their looks. They have very different personalities. “The biggest difference is how high strung I am and how chill Erin is,” says Holly.
6. Hidden talents. Holly is the master of celebrity impressions. “(She) can do really good celebrity impressions like Ariana Grande and Nick Jonas,” Erin says.
7. Fighting champ. Wonder who would win in a fight? “The age old question that we still don’t know the answer to,” Erin says, although they agree neither of them are really fighters. “I feel like we’d start crying and apologizing if we got into a physical fight,” says Holly.