In conversation with: Broods

Our favourite Nelson born siblings are back with a new album titled Space Island and it’s more transcending than ever. We sat down with Georgia and Caleb Nott, better known by the public as the musical duo Broods to discuss their newest album, their sibling rivalries what Kiwi treats they have to take with them when travelling. 

Your latest single Piece Of My Mind is such a tune! It’s one of your darker, moodier tracks with quite complex lyrics. Can you tell us what inspired this and is there more of this on the horizon?

Georgia: I mean, that song just kinda flew in through the window one day. We were in a session, writing for another artist and they were cutting vocals or something. I was just in the live room just playing, feeling pretty at peace and probably a little bit stoned. I started playing those chords and then just started singing the song, I don't know where it came from! It came out of me and I thought ‘ooh I think that’s a good one, that’s pretty good’. I recorded it on my phone and showed Caleb and he was like ‘yeah!’

Caleb: I was like, ‘right can we end this session that we’re working on now and just like start working on our own song?’

Georgia: it's the only one that really lives in that piano-esque ballad. The song itself is just about growing into being the woman that  I feel I really wanted to be and reflecting on the times when I didn't feel like I could be that. It just felt like I needed to write about that. 

The video for this single is also incredible! How did you come up with the narrative for this vid and how was it to shoot it? It was all shot on film right?

Georgia: Yeah, which was so fun and so scary. We got so much footage. The first chapter was filmed in the south island and we just drove around for two weeks with Sam Kristofski who directed it, just us three in a car. It was so wholesome and fun and we just kind of wandered around.

Caleb: It was like my favourite holiday!

Georgia: It was the kind of thing where we finished it and thought ‘fuck, even if this song never came out, it was still the best experience.’ Obviously, we are so happy that it came out but it was so fun and we got to see so much of the south island that we had never seen before. 

Caleb: We’d never been to the glaciers down there or that far down the west coast. It's just so beautiful down there. It's insane. 

Georgia: It felt like we were being cheeky or something and just getting a holiday. 

Caleb: There were no tourists either so Fox Glacier was empty which it never is. The guide was like ‘there is no way you would've gotten that shot if it was normal’. There would usually be about 200 people!

While you were in that box! I was watching it and I was like, ‘can she breathe?’ What was it like? All I can imagine is the condensation.

Caleb: I was very close off-screen just ready to whip the lid off!

Georgia: It’s scratched to shit now because we moved it around so much. It’s been on so many rocks and floating in the water. The shot with the water was pretty okay actually. I’m quite a claustrophobic person - sweet with heights, terrified of small spaces. Knowing that Caleb was there made it so much easier. He'd be like ‘are you all good?’ and I'd say ‘yeah’ and he’d be like ‘are you all good’ and I'd be like ‘nah, come and get me’  and he’d come and pick me up out of it. 

That's part 1, correct?

Georgia: Yes, that's chapter 1. Chapter 2 was moving into the animated world which this kiwi Dr Foot Head did. He's so awesome and he kind of listened to the song and built up that treatment of this world where you’re getting fucked up by your demons and you run away from them, but then you end up coming back to them in the end. It’s such a beautiful thing to use animation because you really have no limits. 

Caleb: Your budget can be used however you want so long as the person is capable of creating that world. But he is capable of creating any world, his mind is an amazing place. 

Georgia: It was really fun getting him involved. And then the third chapter was shot back in the States. In Death Valley in Nevada which is a very very very hot place! It was crazy! A lot of it has been used in Star Wars movies and shit like that. It was fun, it was another small crew. Caleb and Sam couldn't be there for that one but I had two really good friends there with me in a small crew of people. We were staying in one of those funny as casino motels in the middle of nowhere. It's such a bizarre place. The scenery is amazing and then all the like … 

Caleb: Get into the desert and the people start getting really weird. 

Georgia: Some of it was terrifying, but you know if you go along with the sense of humor, you can deal with it. You just gotta laugh. My friend who was taking all the BTS shots was walking around in a cowboy hat, wildin’ it. Everything that is weird or slightly uncomfortable or strange, she's just in there. 

You guys are obviously very close, being brother and sister, but what’s the last sibling fight you had? I know I have two older brothers and there’s always one using my expensive face wash or signing their name and taking credit for mums birthday present. 

Caleb: I don't know, I can't even remember!

Georgia: We don’t really fight, we just get stressed and have to calm each other down. 

Caleb: Yeah, we don't really fight. When we’re upset with each other, we just break it down and communicate. When you work with your brother, you hang out everyday. 

Georgia: We’re at a place where we’re able to communicate really difficult emotions so that we can carry on doing our job. It's really demanding, especially touring and sharing really personal things through art, it brings up a lot of difficult emotions to feel. You do need to talk about it a lot.

Caleb: You need the other person to understand otherwise you're not going to create the right thing together.

Georgia: I think making this record has helped us understand each other a lot more. We’ve both had more freedom to explore stuff on our own and bring it back. Musically and personally, I like to think we’ve had to put a lot of emphasis on becoming individuals so that we feel really convicted and that helps us work together a lot more

You’ve worked with some pretty insane artists, is there one in particular that really sparked a chord with you? 

Georgia: I think we have this thing where we can’t work with people that we’re too excited about because we don't know how to act. We don't wanna break the illusion. On the last record we did a bunch of writing days with a producer called Dan the Automator who did a bunch of the Gorillaz stuff and we were both just so like ‘WOW!’ 

Caleb: He was playing Gorillaz demos that have never been heard before from fifteen-twenty years ago. Gorillaz is like my favourite band. To work with him… The funniest part was I flew to work with him and on the same day I missed out on seeing the Gorillaz live for the first time. This is the only reason why I would miss seeing the Gorillaz live is to go with the guy that helped create Gorillaz.

Georgia: And what we learnt from him was to make friends with chefs. 

Caleb: He’s friends with every chef in San Fran…

Georgia: Best meals ever!!!

Caleb: He’s like ‘I’m not really friends with musicians, I'm just friends with cooks.’

Georgia: He’s just making music and going out for lavish as meals and we’re like this is the life.

Caleb: We'd just have dinner with him every night and he’d walk into the restaurant and the whole staff would be like ‘Dan!’

Georgia: Gonna try manifest that for my life.

Caleb: We learnt a lot from working with him. Nothing came out of it, like nothing was released or anything. But I learnt a lot as a producer even though he wasn't like giving me much or teaching me. I was watching and soaking it up. 

You guys travel A LOT and hopefully travelling isn’t too far away for kiwis. In your expert jet setting opinion, what are your 5 must-have travel items?

Georgia and Caleb: Good headphones!

Georgia: a good neck pillow

Caleb: I don't really travel with one because I just can't seem to get it to work. I just need to travel with a full-on big pillow with me haha

Caleb and Georgia: The right people!

Georgia: I think when you travel with your friends versus travel with people you don't really feel like you can be yourself around, any kind of hard day or any kind of demanding schedule feels doable. Especially with one of our best friends who we've been touring with, he’d just always have xannies on hand. We’d have a little quarter and hope our flight didn't get delayed too much. 

Caleb: You'd get on the bus and there'd be a little bottle of water and a chocolate on your pillow. He just had given everyone little treats. Aunty Aaron! (Referring to Aaron Short) He used to be in Naked and Famous and now he comes around with us.

Georgia: The people… the neck pillow… good headphones.. I think when you're travelling a lot, you just kind of get sick of the movies so a good book is always nice for me. I like to have a good book. 

Caleb: We just need someone who is really organised, a really organised person, which most people usually don't get when they go travelling. They have to figure it all out themselves, but we’re thinking about other stuff all the time. We need someone to take care of the logistics. 

Do you take any kiwi things with you if you’re going away for a while?

Georgia: Usually we take a bunch of treats home to LA like some pineapple lumps.Whittakers! Definitely Whittakers! The chocolate, nothing compares. There's always kiwis back home that are like, ‘here's my list of things that I wrote for you to bring back for me!’ 

Caleb: It's nice to put some pineapple lumps in the freezer and show your American friends. One of our friends was like ‘it tastes like soap!’ 

Where are you most excited to travel this year?

Georgia: We are touring the States and Australia and we just had to announce today that we’ve had to cancel the New Zealand run which sucks

Caleb: But after we've done all that stuff, we’ll come back and do New Zealand. We’re just going to go and rehearse it everywhere else and get really good and then bring it back to New Zealand

Georgia: At it’s best! We’ve decided that we want you to get the best version, New Zealand, so we better practice. We’ll probably come back to New Zealand and then i don't know, write another record, maybe do some travelling that doesn't involve shows.

Do you ever travel leisurely?

Georgia: We tried to once but then the pandemic hit

Caleb: I really want to go to Costa Rica. It's really far up on my list

Georgia: We’ve got friends that are from Costa Rica and we've brought them to New Zealand so… it’s our turn next. 

You’re from Nelson, Where’s your favourite place to visit?

Caleb: We always go to our river spots first. 

Georgia: There are so many good rivers in that area. 

Caleb: And beaches. We’re so lucky because it's the only place in New Zealand that is surrounded by four national parks

Georgia: There’s the Abel Tasman, which is fucked up beautiful, then there’s Kahurangi, Marlborough Sounds. Forests and mountains and rivers and beaches -  we’ve got it all. You can go skiing and go to the beach on the same day. You can see the alps from the beach! It would be quite cold but you could still do it. When we go back, we just hang out with mum and dad, drink a lot of wine, hang out with the pigs in the paddock next door, pick 100 zucchinis a day because they grow so fast. Wholesome!

What are 3 things you can always find in your fridge?

Georgia: Food is on par with music for us. I care about food so much and going out for dinner so much.

Caleb: At the moment, the key ingredients in our fridge are gochujang, kewpie mayo and a wedge of red cabbage. Stuff for a fresh coleslaw!

Space Island is out now on all streaming platforms.