FAULT Future: Broods
It was the razor-sharp electro-pop sound of “Bridges” that set the blogosphere on fire. For New Zealand’s BROODS, it took no time at all before Capital Records and Polydor came knocking on their door, least of all landing a highly coveted offer to support the second leg of Haim’s recent UK tour. Siblings Georgia and Caleb Nott continue to ignite the embers of intrigue surrounding their young band, especially when they tell us they were working café jobs some three months ago. Quite simply, they seem to have emerged, fully formed, out of nowhere.
BROODS’ highly introspective songs are as catchy as they are delicate, employing an array of synthesizers—and the production of Joel Little, the jewel in Lorde’s crown—to make confessional moments full and sometimes shake a venue. Although Georgia and Caleb stake their claim on the inspiration of such ethereal artists as Bat for Lashes and Oh Land, their meteoric rise to the top can’t help but bring to mind a burly wide receiver charging down the field. They’re taking that pigskin all the way to the end zone.
How did music come to you?
We grew up with music all around us. Both of our parents play music and our extended family members are very musical as well. They’ve always been really supportive of anything that we did creatively. From early on, they always encouraged us to paint and play music. We have awesome parents and we’re very lucky to have that support system. But it wasn’t until we got to high school that we really took it seriously. We had a very cool music teacher who always encouraged us to write and record our own stuff.
Can you name some of the more iconic artists who have inspired you?
People like Thom Yorke and James Blake. Outside of that, Georgia’s influences are very strong, female vocalists such as Lykke Li and Natasha Kahn from Bat for Lashes. She definitely gravitates toward women vocalists who are fearless in the way that they write music and perform.
How do you divide up duties between Georgia and yourself? For instance, are you very involved in writing lyrics yourself?
With the EP, our writing process changed all the time. Sometimes we would go into the studio and write from scratch, and we would have equal input during the process. Other times, Georgia has a full written demo that she will bring into the studio that consists of vocals set to piano. She starts by recording in her bedroom and we build the track from there.
What is it like to work so closely as siblings in a creative field?
People always ask if we fight and things like that. It’s very easy when it comes to writing music together because we understand each other’s strengths, back to front and inside out. It’s very easy to communicate our ideas to each other, so it proves to be really easy when we get into the studio. We tell each other if we don’t like something and no one gets offended. It’s a lot of fun writing as siblings.
In our past conversation, you brought up the influence of Oh Land.
I’m personally a huge fan of Oh Land and everything she does. It felt so different when she first started writing music. I was so captivated by her production and melody lines. I find her so interesting. I love a lot of Scandinavian music. I’m a big fan of anything that comes out of that part of the world.
“Bridges” and “Never Gonna Change” is very much pop, but they do have this introspective, dark center to them in the lyrics especially. Where does that darkness come from?
Both of those tracks came from Georgia’s demos. She has always been more of a darker writer. I guess she feels most inspired to write songs when she feels like she needs closure about something.
How did you first meet Joel Little, a producer that you guys share with Lorde?
We first met Joel three years ago. We were doing a high school Battle of the Bands in New Zealand and Joel, along with his manager, approached us. They wanted to write a song with us and produced a song for the band that we were in at the time. I guess our relationship kept going and evolved over time from there. When that project didn’t quite work out, we decided to keep writing together. We all get along so well. It’s great to see him experiencing all this success.
The same can be said about BROODS. How are you processing everything that’s happening right now?
It’s really crazy. Georgia and I were working in cafes just three months ago. I was at university and things like that. Now we’re traveling the world and playing these shows. People want to come to these shows and we’re selling out shows. It’s crazy to think where we were just months ago and where we are now. It’s happening very fast and something new pops up every day. It’s super exciting, man.
Does anything scare you while you’re on this journey? There’s a lot riding on the choices you make at this stage of your career.
We have no idea how things will unfold. It’s happening so fast that we have to take things day by day. I think the most important thing is to stay true to who we are. As cheesy as that sounds, we have to remain humble about the whole thing. Our parents would probably slap us in the face if we didn’t.
What is your FAULT?
I get stressed out quite easily. That’s probably my biggest fault. And it’s usually due to Georgia because she’s often in her own world.
BROODS self-titled EP is out now. The duo’s debut LP is slated for release this fall.