Nestled under a canopy of mature trees in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake district is the backdrop for the day’s photo shoot. There sits a run-down bungalow, a treasure trove of hula hoops, stacks of old records, checkerboards and other vintage surprises.

Awaiting the arrival of this month’s cover girls — indie pop-rock duo Meg and Dia Frampton — KoreAm staffers are a tad nervous. While the eccentric locale is a photographic heaven, its quirks may be a little off-putting. (One editor made an emergency run for toilet paper and other missing necessities.)

But all anxieties are zapped moments after the sisters appear on the dirt walkway. Casually scoping the scene, Meg turns to a man holding a dusting brush. 

“Is this your house?” she asks. When he answers affirmatively, she gushes, “It’s awesome!”

Dressed in jeans and T-shirts, Meg, 22, and Dia, 20, possess none of the rockstar snootiness you might expect from two frontgirls whose current album, “Something Real,” was praised by Rolling Stone and whose band, Meg & Dia, holds the No. 1 rock video spot on MTV Asia’s listener-voted show “Amplified” this week.

Getting primped and primed, the girls hear New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” buzzing from the speakers and start singing along as if they’re lounging in their own living room. For the first shots of the day, they curl up together on the bohemian-style bed, glancing at each other and giggling as the camera clicks away. Dia’s laughter suddenly amplifies into a strident cackle. 

“Come on, be serious,” Meg commands with playful, big sister authority.

Dia takes a deep breath and puts on a businesslike face. “Serious,” she repeats. 

You can’t blame them for taking some time to be silly. Their band, which consists of Meg (guitar, vocals), Dia (lead vocals), Nick Price (drums), Carlo Gimenez (guitar) and Jonathan Snyder (bass), just wrapped up a marathon touring year, which included a coveted spot on the world-famous Vans Warped Tour. They’ve finally reached a rest stop before hitting the road at the end of this month for one of their biggest opportunities to date: a 29-city tour with San Diego’s Angels & Airwaves, fronted by former Blink-182 vocalist-guitarist Tom DeLonge.

For now, they rock out to the photographer’s CD collection, feed each other sour apple candies and describe what they’ve been doing during their time off in Florida, where their family now lives. “I’m cooking all this crazy stuff,” says Dia. “My mom taught me how to make sundubu, tofu beef soup and cucumber kimchi.”

Their eyes light up when they speak about their younger sisters, Jade, 15, who’s a tennis phenom, 11-year-old twins Rena and Nikki, who are obsessed with Japanese manga, and Misty, who’s 9.

“I try to think of what their childhood will be defined by,” says Dia of her four “biggest fans.” “When we were kids, Meg and I loved ‘Peter Pan.’ We tried to create a flying machine to go to Neverland.”