Broods Interview - from Remix issue 82
Kiwi sibling duo Caleb & Georgia Nott, Broods, talk about their pending full- length album, life on the road with Haim & being labelled as ‘the next big thing’.
Being a sibling duo, we naturally want to know if you guys are from a musical family? And when did you start performing together?
Georgia: Together, I’d say when I was about nine and when Caleb was about eleven at a school talent quest. We played ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, the Amy Grant version, because our mum was a huge fan. It was super nerve-wracking and we were kind of guilt-tripped into it by our parents, but it opened up this new love for working together.
You two won the Smokefree Rock Quest with your high school band The Peasants, is that right?
Caleb: Well I actually never won. I had left high school and the band line-up had changed by the time they won.
Oh, so you formed the band and then they won when you left high school. Surely it’s not news to you that some of the artists who have won or been finalists in the Smokefree Rock Quest have gone on to really massive things. Namely Kimbra. Did you realise what a big deal it was winning?
Caleb: Yeah we knew what a big opportunity it was and is and will be for years, it’s so good what those guys do for young kids. Having that opportunity to perform and that rush is something you don’t usually get to do.
Producer Joel Little was on the panel of judges when you won. Now he’s producing your record, right off the bat from producing Heroine with Lorde. That’s pretty crazy!
Georgia: Yeah he was! We didn’t actually know that until we were working with him and he said he remembered us from the competition. It was the biggest thing to happen to us and we couldn’t believe we got that far, let alone won.
It’s now more than six months since you released the EP ‘Bridges’, which has been hugely popular. Do you guys feel a sense of pressure to record the full-length album and make music that lives up to that level? Caleb: There is a lot of pressure but you can’t have that on your mind when you’re in the studio. It’s important to let the ideas flow and you can go wherever you want. Georgia: You can’t worry about expectations and judgment if you want your work to be original and a representation of who you are.
That’s how we made the EP.
How is the studio album going to be different/ similar to the EP?
Caleb: It’s definitely going to be different.
Georgia: You’ll know it’s us, but it explores a lot of different sides to us. There are songs that are way more upbeat than any songs on the E.P, then songs that are way slower as well. It’s definitely more eclectic.
You’ve already toured with some massive acts, namely Haim. How have you found that and what are your standout moments so far?
Georgia: Haim was a standout moment, because they were the coolest people and because the shows were huge. We were playing in venues and to crowds we usually would never get to play to. We played at this venue in Dublin that was older than New Zealand pretty much; getting to go to all these places and play in crazy venues was amazing.
Caleb: When we found out we were doing those shows we were already on tour in the US. Our manager asked if we were keen to extend the dates and do some dates in Europe with Haim. I told them to pen that in, not pencil it in, pen it in! It seems like we have massive moments every day, with the places we go and the people we meet and the things we get to do. This time last year I was studying in a classroom.
What’s your working dynamic like? How do work? Who wears the pants?
Caleb: In the studio you just follow whoever has the idea. There’s always one who is wearing the pants. Sometimes you’ll only have a little bit to contribute because you’re in your own place. Georgia: It’s not really about wearing the pants, but going off what the other person has and feeding off their inspiration.
How do you deal with everything else? The press, the photoshoots, the attention?
Georgia: It freaked us out at first, but our first shoot was with a friend, so we sort of just took the piss. Then we started doing it with stylists and professionals and photographers we hadn’t worked with. We kind of know what we’re doing now. Getting to work with cool people like Garth [Badger] makes it easier! We get so many requests for interviews from all the record companies and most of them we have to turn down, because we just don’t have the space to do them.
There is a real energy around Broods, a similar energy to what surrounded Lorde right before she exploded. A feeling that something big is going to happen. Do you feel that?
Caleb: We do get told that quite a lot, but I don’t believe it.
Georgia: It’s one of those things you just brush off. You have to stay humble. In this career everything can change in a minute and we’ve experienced that in a positive way, but it can also go the other way. You have to absorb and grasp every moment you do have, rather than focus on what you want to be doing next. Act as if you can’t do it tomorrow.
Thoughts on Lorde?
Caleb: She’s amazing, man.
Georgia: She’s a bit of a freak of nature, she’s so amazing. Not only how amazing her album is, but she’s so down-to-earth and has handled it all so well. She’s very switched on. Who else do you listen to? Who else inspires you? Georgia: We’re big ones for taking an album and absolutely murdering it by overplaying it so much.
Caleb: I really should listen to more music than I actually do. I get stuck with one album in the car and I can’t be bothered changing it, so I listen to it straight for three weeks. By the end of it my ears are going to bleed or I’m dreading getting into my car. London Grammar is in the car right now, but I still love that. Then we have Disclosure in the other car, another group that is pretty hard to get sick of.
What about the artists you listened to growing up? Older inspirations?
Caleb: Our mum and dad listened to two totally different types of music, which both inspired us. Dad listened to lots of Neil Diamond, the Eagles, stuff like that. Typical dad music. Then mum was a bit more eclectic, she listened to Manhattan Transfer and Amy Grant.
Georgia: Oh and she listened to ABBA, we know all the words. When you listen to old pop music like that, you realise that ABBA’s structures are on point and absolute bangers. They’re the perfect pop songs.
You’re about to go on tour again. What’s the best and worst part about that?
Georgia: Yeah we’re about to go on tour again across the States and Canada. The best bit is getting to go to all these places we’ve never been before, and getting to perform to different people. That’s why we do this. We do it to write and perform. Americans are really excited about our music, which is awesome. Seeing people on the other side of the world singing your song is very buzzy.
Caleb: Then we’ll come back to finish the album, do the final little touch ups.
Interview from Remix issue 82
Check out Broods on iTunes or Sportify
Broods, Bridges
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