New Zealand electronic-pop duo BROODS — comprised of siblings Georgia and Caleb Nott — are no strangers to A Music Blog, Yea?. Last September, we caught up with Caleb right around the release of their debut record Evergreen. Fast forward six months later, the band are now touring in support of its release and we had the pleasure of calling Georgia to discuss dream festivals, overcoming nerves, sibling bands, and their tour pals. Have a read below to get the scoop!
AMBY: Hey Georgia, it’s nice to meet you.
BROODS: Hey. How are you doing?
AMBY: I’m great, thanks. I actually spoke with your brother the last time we interviewed Broods, so I look forward to chatting with you today.
BROODS: Yea!
AMBY: So you’re currently touring in support of your debut record, Evergreen. How it that going? It looks like you’re having a blast together.
BROODS: It’s been a really good one, actually. We’ve got an amazing support band, Mikky Ekko, and then for the rest of the tour we’re with another guy named Erik Hassle who’s amazing as well. We’re pretty stoked with our supports and the crowds have been awesome. Nothing has gone wrong or anything which is good.
AMBY: I actually spoke with Erik last week and he told me how excited he is to get back on the road and tour with you.
BROODS: Awww.
AMBY: As far as that goes, hitting the road and touring North America with Erik, what do you look forward to the most?
BROODS: To be honest, I don’t really know what I look forward to the most. I kind of just go in there and think that it’s going to be as good as it can get, and usually it exceeds my expectations. Wherever we go, we get a really amazing response from people and it makes you appreciate who’s out there supporting you and stuff. To go and meet them face to face and play to them face to face is great. I think that’s what I look forward to the most.
AMBY: You’ve been on tour for a while now, so when it comes to packing for tour life, what are some essential items you need to have on you?
BROODS: I think surrounding yourself with the right people is probably the biggest one. I mean, you can’t enjoy your time to the best of your ability unless you have a good group of people around you and a good crew. That’s the priority we try and keep going. Other than that… sneakers!
AMBY and BROODS: [laughs]
AMBY: You also had your US television debut on Late Night with Seth Myers and then recently performed Four Walls on Conan. What was that experience like? Did you have to overcome any nerves?
BROODS: Oh yea [laughs]. It’s a whole different ballgame when playing on TV. It’s very built-up because it’s such a quick thing; before you know it, you’ve done the performance. It’s gone in a flash and you just have to make sure that you actually absorb what’s going on because it happens so fast. It was definitely one of the more nerve-racking times during this Broods adventure.
AMBY: Before having to perform, is there anything you do to calm yourself or try to rid those nerves?
BROODS: We don’t really have any rituals. I’m a girl, so it takes me a really long time to get ready for a show. So I usually just take my time getting ready, doing my own hair and makeup, and then kind of get into the zone of being a performer. We basically just get into the right mindset on our own, and before we go on, we think –
AMBY: “Let’s do this.”
BROODS: Yea, “let’s go do this and try to be awesome”.
AMBY: [laughs] The last time you were supposed to play Toronto was opening for Sam Smith. As you mentioned, you were just on the road with Mikky Ekko and you’ve toured with Ellie Goulding and Haim in the past. Although those are all awesome names to be touring alongside, which did you have the most fun with?
BROODS: It’s hard to say, to be honest. Each of those tours were amazing for different reasons. I think the one we did with Sam Smith was the longest tour, so we got to know him and his crew very well. They’re awesome people. We have a lot of fun with everyone though, especially when people are supporting us that we’ve been fans of for ages; we’ve been listening to Mikky Ekko and Erik Hassle’s music well before they knew who we were [laughs]. It’s pretty amazing to have people like that want to go on tour with us. It’s a special treat getting to know other bands and touring with them.
AMBY: At the moment, there are some fantastic “sibling bands” out there like Echosmith, Kings of Leon, Kongos, Tegan and Sara. If you could tour with another sibling band right now, which would you choose? And you’re not allowed to choose Haim again…
BROODS: [laughs] We’ve already done one that we wanted to do! I reckon Disclosure because they’re two brothers around the same age as us and they make some amazing music that we listen to on a regular basis. That would be an amazing tour.
AMBY: The last time A Music Blog, Yea? spoke with BROODS was right around the release of your debut record, Evergreen. Have you started to write any new material for a second record?
BROODS: Yea, we’ve been writing a bit over the summer break that we had in New Zealand. We had a bit of time to write some music and I think we’re going to try to chip away at bits and pieces in between touring. It’s good, because it means that we’re keeping in that creative mind space. If you don’t write for a long time, it kind of makes you feel weird.
AMBY: It’s like learning to ride a bike again, right?
BROODS: Yea, it’s so true. I think it’s really important to keep – even if it’s not for any purpose – going with the writing and collaborating. That’s what we’re trying to do.
AMBY: We’ve of course been discussing this exciting tour you’re both on, but fans and bands alike are now getting psyched for festival season. If you could curate your own festival, who would you want to be in that line-up?
BROODS: Man, mine and Caleb’s would be very different. For me, I think the headliner would definitely be Bat for Lashes. I think Lykke Li would be on there. Who else? I’d like to see some other bands like Until the Ribbon Breaks and Mikky Ekko. Let me think about this…
AMBY: I read that you’re a pretty big Banks fan.
BROODS: Ohh yea, ohh yea. Massive Banks fan. She came to New Zealand and I went to see her play an acoustic kind of thing and it was cool. She’s very talented.
AMBY: What a line-up. Well, that just about wraps everything up. Thanks once again for your time, Georgia. We look forward to your Toronto show.
BROODS: Aw perfect, thank you!
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Thank you BROODS, for giving us your answers!
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Interview by Alicia Atout | @AliciaAtout