Forming earlier in the year, Newtown locals Brother Brad have slowly gathered pace and a loyal following through out 2016. With big plans ahead for 2017, we sat down with multi-instrumentalist Shaun Bradley to discuss the beginnings of the group, their influences, new music and what they have in store for the rest of 2016.
Brother Brad has been kicking about for close to six months now. Tell us a little about the origins of the band.
Well, Justin (vocals and trumpet) and I have been writing songs since the beginning of the year and always knew the logical progression was to form a full band. A support slot came up at Oxford Art Factory at short notice, so with a few quick rehearsals, Brother Brad was up and running! We’ve played with Dan (Keys) for a few years, so he was straight in, we’d jammed with Greeny (bass/ horns) in the past, and Boof got the call up on the sticks after I started playing in his band when I was 17.
Yeah mad one. So how do you think the backgrounds of you guys have influenced the sound and style Brother Brad are trying to achieve?
Each band member has had exposure to a lot of different musical genres. Justin and I grew up loving Pop and R&B, and played in big bands through ou school. Dan is the Pop king; he’s written hundreds of pop tunes himself, while Greeny is a jazz guitarist, who composes music for films, and Boof is an old-school soul man. I guess together we’re trying to play the sounds we love and blend them all into something of soul, blues, ska, and reggae… or something like that. You get what I’m saying?
Yeah man, definitely. So something a little along the lines of The Cat Empire?
I wish we were that good, but yeah always been a big fans of those guys.
Having seen the band play live, I guess the thrill of performing new tracks can be a little exciting and nerve racking at the same time?
Absolutely it’s a thrill. We love playing live – that’s where all the buzz comes from. We know the audience is vibing off our energy, and when we see people bopping along and having a good time, we get a buzz from that ourselves. We’ve been getting a lot tighter with more gigs and experience, so it’s great when we get together for rehearsals. We rehearse on Tuesdays, so I’m always hanging out for that.
With studio time locked in recently, did anything come of it? Can we expect some new music from the band in the near future?
Back in October, we turned Boof’s house into a makeshift studio. We had a full day recording. It was full on, but heaps of fun fun. That was our first recording experience together, and we learnt a lot from that day. From that we’ve been working on our debut single “Get Around”. We’ve got some great vocal takes, put down some sweet horns and it’s in the final stages of mixing as we speak. We’ll be releasing it in early 2017, so keep your eyes and ears out for that. I can’t wait until everyone gets to hear it.
You’ve got your Christmas block party coming up at Enmore Park in a couple weekends time. Tell us about that.
A few of us put our heads together and were thinking, “How can we celebrate 2016 in style? Have a real sick show?”. So we came up with the idea of having a Christmas Party in Enmore Park! We’ve gained council approval, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun and a good chance to give back to the fans and community. We basically just want to finish 2016 off with a bit of hype, and spread the good vibes around. Enmore Park is the heartland of our hood. It’ll be a classic summer arvo so make sure to bring your crew down.
What can we look forward to in 2017 from Brother Brad?
Early 2017 we’ll be dropping our debut single “Get Around”. We’d love to get some airplay, and see where things go from there. We definitely want to get touring, play at different venues, play to new audiences, expand the fan base, and just share the love. We’ve got new songs pouring out of us, so I’m pumped to share our music and finally get things cracking!
Brother Brad play their Christmas Show/ Block Party on Saturday 17th December, from 4pm at Enmore Park, Marrickville.
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