Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
A Sunday afternoon chat with Lee Newell of Brother
So how are things at the moment? Anything exciting going down this coming week?
Well we’re playing Glasgow tonight as part of our headline tour, Dublin on Monday, and then we fly to the States again to do a West Coast tour and perform on David Letterman in New York. So yeah, we’re really really busy! I won’t be going home until I get one day off in like 6 weeks time I think, so that will be nice, I’ll do some washing.
You’ve described yourselves as a ‘gritpop band’. Does this imply that your style is a revival of the rawer, tougher end of the 90s brit-pop spectrum, or are you offering the music scene anything new?
I’d say if anything we came up with that as a sort of comeback to people who were calling us kind of brit-pop revivalists. Cos we’re not you know, we bonded over these bands and that’s where our first love was but this brit-pop or whatever you call it is what we’ve created and it’s a modern take on that. It’s original but it’s certainly got its influences from 90s music.
Who would you say is your favourite band around at the moment? And who can't you stand?
There’s a lot I can’t stand! There’s a band I’m listening to at the moment, I dunno if you’ve heard of them, they’re a sort of folky band called Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It’s a bit of a mouthful but they’re fucking amazing. I really like Everything Everything, their album’s amazing. That’s all I can think of at the moment, those two, that’s all you’re getting!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but a cheeky bit of research tells me that Brother evolved from two previous bands: Kill the Arcade and Wolf Am I. Is this proof that there is more depth to the history of Brother than your seemingly over-night success gives you credit for?
We came from virtually nothing to doing everything in a really short space of time, but we’ve got the songs to back it up and we believe that. We’ve created a really good album, that’s all we can do. Those bands were just a product of us growing up, but yeah we do listen to a lot of music whereas I think people think we’re a little closed-minded. We’re smart, we know what we’re doing and we’re just having fun at the end of the day. We’re not hurting anyone!
As a band you are openly ambitious and confidently so, an attitude which many would praise as refreshing and inspiring. How do you respond to critics and other artists who deem you pretentious and overly-cocky? Does it bother you at all or simply make you even more determined to achieve your goals?
Well that’s very well put! I don’t respond to it, they are what they are. We really are not fussed about what anyone says about us, positive or negative. We’re just here for ourselves, our friends and our family, making something from living in the most terrible place on earth which is called Slough! So yeah we don’t care, we’re all for it. We’re just playing the game and having fun!
With all the media hype it must be difficult to keep your feet on the ground. How important do you consider the old cliché of ‘remembering your roots’ to be?
Well yeah of course it’s important, but we’re not really getting carried away with it. We’ve had such a struggle for the last six or seven years as individuals that anything positive is a revelation and so yeah, I mean it’s important to talk to your friends but really we didn’t have many! This band are our only friends, we’re in this little bubble together so we just live in our own weird world!
Evolution is unlike typical mud and wellies festivals due to its urban quayside setting. Some would say it’s rather like playing in a big carpark. How do you plan to bring some of the more traditional festival spirit to your performance?
Our songs lend themselves to playing big festivals I think. When we wrote them we put up pictures on the wall of festivals and loads of people just so we got in that mindset. We’re a traditional band in that sense, there’s no gimmicks, we’re not trying to innovate music. We’re just simply celebrating everything that’s good about classic music. Really, we’re just gonna go and do what we do: play loud. It’s a big show, you’re gonna have to see it to believe it I guess!
Before you hit the stage do you undertake any pre-performance rituals? Any diva-style dressing room requests?
Yeah we do. . .but I think we’d prefer to keep it secret! Sorry! We do have a couple of beers though, that always helps. We have a LOT of booze in our rider, to the point where we keep accumulating more and more so we’ve just got a big pile in the bus of all this fucking booze. But that’s good, that’s all you want! Sometimes we ask for a signed picture of Holly Willoughby just for a laugh but we’ve never got it. One day maybe we’ll get it!
Do you prefer playing smaller, more intimate gigs or larger festivals? Your big choruses are surely well-suited to the latter?
It depends what mood I’m in that day really! I love both. We’ve never played a huge venue but we’ve done Brixton Academy which is about five thousand, and a lot of the other academies. But nothing over sort of five to ten thousand so this is going to be new to us. We’re really excited about doing it. I think Evolution is actually the first festival we do this summer so it’s gonna be amazing.
Your current tour is taking you all over the world. Do you enjoy the travelling element to life in Brother?
I love it when I get there, I love looking at all these new places, places I’d never ever have got the chance to see. But I hate the actual travelling itself, the long drives and all the flights and everything. I’ve started getting really scared of flying. I used to be completely fine with it but since the band’s started doing more things and flying more places I’ve sort of gained this irrational fear of flying so that’s no good!
How did the American crowds compare to those back here last time you played over the other side of the pond?
Well they’re a lot older because I think all the shows we did were 21s and over, but it was really good, they were really receptive and found us funny and enjoyed it. They were really nice and talkative, really appreciative that we were there. I mean it’s not too different there, I’d say it’s fairly similar. They’re just a bit more... American!
At your dream festival, what bands would headline?
Well the headliners would have to be The Smiths, The Stone Roses and then The Clash maybe. Who else. . . Blur! They’re a massive influence on us, and me in particular. Then let’s just say Rolf Harris, wheel him out. He can play his weird wobble-board dubstep.
Is it true that you will be supporting Morrissey this summer? As you have previously cited him as one of your biggest musical influences, you must be pretty psyched?
Well yeah, I’ve had posters of him on my wall since I was a kid and I woke up every morning looking at him. I know everything about him; I probably know more about him than he does! So to be asked to support him and to play Hop Farm Festival with him as well was ridiculous, it blew my head off. I’ve just about collected my head!
Your forthcoming debut album, Famous First Words, is due this summer. Some of your own famous first words were that you will headline Glastonbury. Are you hoping that the title of your debut will one day strongly resonate amongst those who have doubted and criticised you?
Well yeah the name of it was exactly what you said, a commentary on how we’ve been quoted as saying these ridiculous things even before people have heard our music. In some of the interviews I’ve done they’re all like, why are you calling it that then? What were your first words? I’m like, well I dunno, 'Mama'?! What do you want me to say?! You hit it on the head. Maybe one day we’ll call it Funeral or something cos we’ll be dead.
Where do you see your band in five years time? Do you think you have the all-important longevity factor and if so, why?
I think we do and I can say that truthfully. I really do think we are the sort of band who can last a long time. I dunno how long it will take us to do the albums, whether we’ll do another one next year or whether it will take us like 5 years. We’ll do it when we’re ready and when we want to do it but we want to do this for a long time. I think we’re going to have to do it. There are no new bands around at the moment that are scaring me or rivalling us, as big-headed as that sounds! It’s just how ambitious we are I guess.
Describe Brother in three words?
Really quite extraordinary.
Link to Palatinate: http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=13182
Well we’re playing Glasgow tonight as part of our headline tour, Dublin on Monday, and then we fly to the States again to do a West Coast tour and perform on David Letterman in New York. So yeah, we’re really really busy! I won’t be going home until I get one day off in like 6 weeks time I think, so that will be nice, I’ll do some washing.
You’ve described yourselves as a ‘gritpop band’. Does this imply that your style is a revival of the rawer, tougher end of the 90s brit-pop spectrum, or are you offering the music scene anything new?
I’d say if anything we came up with that as a sort of comeback to people who were calling us kind of brit-pop revivalists. Cos we’re not you know, we bonded over these bands and that’s where our first love was but this brit-pop or whatever you call it is what we’ve created and it’s a modern take on that. It’s original but it’s certainly got its influences from 90s music.
Who would you say is your favourite band around at the moment? And who can't you stand?
There’s a lot I can’t stand! There’s a band I’m listening to at the moment, I dunno if you’ve heard of them, they’re a sort of folky band called Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It’s a bit of a mouthful but they’re fucking amazing. I really like Everything Everything, their album’s amazing. That’s all I can think of at the moment, those two, that’s all you’re getting!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but a cheeky bit of research tells me that Brother evolved from two previous bands: Kill the Arcade and Wolf Am I. Is this proof that there is more depth to the history of Brother than your seemingly over-night success gives you credit for?
We came from virtually nothing to doing everything in a really short space of time, but we’ve got the songs to back it up and we believe that. We’ve created a really good album, that’s all we can do. Those bands were just a product of us growing up, but yeah we do listen to a lot of music whereas I think people think we’re a little closed-minded. We’re smart, we know what we’re doing and we’re just having fun at the end of the day. We’re not hurting anyone!
As a band you are openly ambitious and confidently so, an attitude which many would praise as refreshing and inspiring. How do you respond to critics and other artists who deem you pretentious and overly-cocky? Does it bother you at all or simply make you even more determined to achieve your goals?
Well that’s very well put! I don’t respond to it, they are what they are. We really are not fussed about what anyone says about us, positive or negative. We’re just here for ourselves, our friends and our family, making something from living in the most terrible place on earth which is called Slough! So yeah we don’t care, we’re all for it. We’re just playing the game and having fun!
With all the media hype it must be difficult to keep your feet on the ground. How important do you consider the old cliché of ‘remembering your roots’ to be?
Well yeah of course it’s important, but we’re not really getting carried away with it. We’ve had such a struggle for the last six or seven years as individuals that anything positive is a revelation and so yeah, I mean it’s important to talk to your friends but really we didn’t have many! This band are our only friends, we’re in this little bubble together so we just live in our own weird world!
Evolution is unlike typical mud and wellies festivals due to its urban quayside setting. Some would say it’s rather like playing in a big carpark. How do you plan to bring some of the more traditional festival spirit to your performance?
Our songs lend themselves to playing big festivals I think. When we wrote them we put up pictures on the wall of festivals and loads of people just so we got in that mindset. We’re a traditional band in that sense, there’s no gimmicks, we’re not trying to innovate music. We’re just simply celebrating everything that’s good about classic music. Really, we’re just gonna go and do what we do: play loud. It’s a big show, you’re gonna have to see it to believe it I guess!
Before you hit the stage do you undertake any pre-performance rituals? Any diva-style dressing room requests?
Yeah we do. . .but I think we’d prefer to keep it secret! Sorry! We do have a couple of beers though, that always helps. We have a LOT of booze in our rider, to the point where we keep accumulating more and more so we’ve just got a big pile in the bus of all this fucking booze. But that’s good, that’s all you want! Sometimes we ask for a signed picture of Holly Willoughby just for a laugh but we’ve never got it. One day maybe we’ll get it!
Do you prefer playing smaller, more intimate gigs or larger festivals? Your big choruses are surely well-suited to the latter?
It depends what mood I’m in that day really! I love both. We’ve never played a huge venue but we’ve done Brixton Academy which is about five thousand, and a lot of the other academies. But nothing over sort of five to ten thousand so this is going to be new to us. We’re really excited about doing it. I think Evolution is actually the first festival we do this summer so it’s gonna be amazing.
Your current tour is taking you all over the world. Do you enjoy the travelling element to life in Brother?
I love it when I get there, I love looking at all these new places, places I’d never ever have got the chance to see. But I hate the actual travelling itself, the long drives and all the flights and everything. I’ve started getting really scared of flying. I used to be completely fine with it but since the band’s started doing more things and flying more places I’ve sort of gained this irrational fear of flying so that’s no good!
How did the American crowds compare to those back here last time you played over the other side of the pond?
Well they’re a lot older because I think all the shows we did were 21s and over, but it was really good, they were really receptive and found us funny and enjoyed it. They were really nice and talkative, really appreciative that we were there. I mean it’s not too different there, I’d say it’s fairly similar. They’re just a bit more... American!
At your dream festival, what bands would headline?
Well the headliners would have to be The Smiths, The Stone Roses and then The Clash maybe. Who else. . . Blur! They’re a massive influence on us, and me in particular. Then let’s just say Rolf Harris, wheel him out. He can play his weird wobble-board dubstep.
Is it true that you will be supporting Morrissey this summer? As you have previously cited him as one of your biggest musical influences, you must be pretty psyched?
Well yeah, I’ve had posters of him on my wall since I was a kid and I woke up every morning looking at him. I know everything about him; I probably know more about him than he does! So to be asked to support him and to play Hop Farm Festival with him as well was ridiculous, it blew my head off. I’ve just about collected my head!
Your forthcoming debut album, Famous First Words, is due this summer. Some of your own famous first words were that you will headline Glastonbury. Are you hoping that the title of your debut will one day strongly resonate amongst those who have doubted and criticised you?
Well yeah the name of it was exactly what you said, a commentary on how we’ve been quoted as saying these ridiculous things even before people have heard our music. In some of the interviews I’ve done they’re all like, why are you calling it that then? What were your first words? I’m like, well I dunno, 'Mama'?! What do you want me to say?! You hit it on the head. Maybe one day we’ll call it Funeral or something cos we’ll be dead.
Where do you see your band in five years time? Do you think you have the all-important longevity factor and if so, why?
I think we do and I can say that truthfully. I really do think we are the sort of band who can last a long time. I dunno how long it will take us to do the albums, whether we’ll do another one next year or whether it will take us like 5 years. We’ll do it when we’re ready and when we want to do it but we want to do this for a long time. I think we’re going to have to do it. There are no new bands around at the moment that are scaring me or rivalling us, as big-headed as that sounds! It’s just how ambitious we are I guess.
Describe Brother in three words?
Really quite extraordinary.
Link to Palatinate: http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=13182
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