Ages: All of us are 19
Functions: If you follow along with the names, it goes something like: singer, piano player, guitar player, guitar player, bass player, drummer.
Currently Residing: Yorktown, IN, Bloomington, IN, Indianapolis, IN, Louisville, KY, Muncie, IN, occasionally Woodbridge, NJ, and all points in between.
Currently Listening to: Boris and SUNN 0))) - Altar
Label: Immortal Records
Current Release: The Philosophy of Velocity
Upon
the very first listen of Brazil's new release, The Philosophy of Velocity,
one might say "Rock Opera". Listen a little closer people. You
will hear the sounds of what is most definitely a through and through
journey of that which is rockdom.
Melodic, harmonious, textural and deeply musical come to mind when I listen to this album. The piano/guitar driven parts balance out Jonathon Newby's most distinct vocals. There's some familiarity to Jonathon's vocal. There are some sparkles of Freddie Mercury, Jeremy Enigk, and even Mars Volta, but Newby stands on his own in this journey through orchestral madness.
Although the rock opera is fast becoming the trend among the indie giants, Brazil does it with passion and vigor which sends the listener soaring as they lyrically and musically outdo the rest. I am completely blown away by the musicality of this record and can honestly say it's one of the best albums I've heard this year. Take heed, Brazil may be some young lads, but they have years on the competition and have come full force in a mediocre music landscape. The rock has arrived!
This
record has been described as a "rock opera"...however I would
not describe it as such...how do you feel about this description and what
is your interpretation of it's sound?
Now that you mention it, I fully embrace the term Rock Opera, although our original intent wasn’t to write one. After we had recorded the record and sat listening back to the mixes one day, the thought occurred to me, “you know, this reminds me of something. Like an opera with rock music.” So now, when asked to describe our sound, I just tell folks, “One word: rock opera.”
There is a definite theme to the record, however a lot of artists don't wish to define this for their audience, is there a specific story being told here? What was the concept for the album?
Rather than define what is going on, just listen and take note of the following clues: 1) In the beginning, the typewriter dings 5 times… 2) There are certain words that are capitalized, and certain words that are not… 3) Six of the songs are in the key of D, two are in the key of C, three are in the key of F, and the remaining three are in the keys of F#, A, and B,
respectively… Keep your ear to the grindstone…all will be revealed!
The creative process is always a challenging one especially when more than one is involved...how does Brazil go about coming up with new songs? What are the challenges in doing the creative process for you all working together or individually?We are all spread out geographically, so a lot of our writing is via email and file sharing. Ideas are submitted, scrutinized, pinched, poked, and eyeballed by anyone who wants to submit. Then, usually, I’m the one that forms a song out of the pieces, although that’s not always the case. It’s collaborative up to a point.
Dave Fridmann...must have been exciting to work with? How was that experience?
Was there some aid in direction for the songs or some suggestions he would
make as a producer? Did he maybe make you realize
a potential for something you may have not seen before?
We weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived at Tarbox, his studio in the woods. If you’ve never met him before, and depending on your position and opinions regarding the indie cred
demagoguery, Dave seems almost a person of mythic proportions. We were expecting to be greeted by a bald professor gliding around on an anti-gravity wheelchair, or maybe a brain in a jar with electrodes attached and a voice module. But lo and behold, Fridmann is an ordinary person with an ordinary house, an ordinary car, and an ordinary camper trailer that we helped him move. He just has INCREDIBLY BRILLIANT ideas about how music should sound.
Jonathon, you lived in an Arab quarter in a Belgium town which may or may not have been the catalyst of the creation of Brazil...what was this experience like and how did it affect your songwriting?
I lived above a bodega on some sort of side street populated with a mainly Middle Eastern and Persian population. Rent was cheap, and I could buy dried fish heads from the bodega any time of day. I befriended the owner, whose name I’ll attempt to spell as “Shuhangirkhan,” who sold me cheap phone cards and taught me a bit of Farsi though I was never very good at it and chipped a tooth trying to speak a few words. I could try to be very lofty here and say the experience
was akin to Davie Bowie’s Berlin experience during the Low-period, but in all honestly there were a lot less drugs, a lot less Iggy Pop, and a lot of really bad lyrics I made a point to forget.
Touring can be seen as a relentless cycle of boredom, excitement, physical exhaustion, and challenges along it's progression, what is the touring experience like for you all? What do you do in the downtime?
Some of us read. Some watch DVD’s. Some sleep for 23 hours out of the day. Myself, I spend hours obsessively organizing and quantifying my endless collection of lists. For instance, my Movies-To-See list is 35 pages long. My Books-To-Read list is 17 pages long (keeping in mind each book I read compulsively gets a brief personal synopsis of the plot, main characters, and my own personal take on its worth). My Albums-To-Own list is 17 pages long. And my Breads of the World Baking Checklist clocks in at 3 pages.
You've
toured with some significant bands, who was your favorite and why? Who
would you most want to tour with?
Lola Ray comes to mind as a favorite band to tour with. It seems that bands from the coasts have different ways of doing things than bands from the plains, and usually it ends up being some sort of barrier between us and a lot of the bands we tour with. Not so with Lola Ray. There are a lot of bands I’d like to tour with and it would be hard to pinpoint one, because, despite popular opinion, there are still a lot of bands that have something to offer, even if it’s just friendship while on the road. Zombi, Regina Spektor, or The Fall, maybe. Off the top of my head.
Have you always been able to sing in such a large range or was this developed through time?
Being constantly criticized, praised, or condemned for having a high voice, I’ve never really thought of myself as having a large range. I’d like to be able to sing low, sweet chariot, and occasionally, when I get the right combination of hot beverages, relaxation, and sinus infection, I’ll get the lower notes I’ve been striving for but I’m still working on being able to
get them at will.
Who are you currently listening to that you feel is making significant marks in music and why?
I have been listening quite a bit to the late great Amon Duul II, who have apparently become reincarnated as Comets On Fire, and are currently making a splash in my world. Os Mutantes is another one, though they’re also pretty old. If that farty fuzzy bass tone isn’t going to take over the world any time soon, then what’s the use of livin’?
What's this I hear about your Nic having to do "court ordered therapy" because of a run in with the law? He had to leave the tour right?
Yes, Nic had to leave the tour last month. His probation officer would not allow him to continue until he had completed certain legal obligations ruled by the State of Indiana. That’s all I’m at liberty to discuss.
You're a bartender of the afterlife...you can have five people sitting at your bar who are they?
Nikola Tesla for great bar tricks. The Sultan of Brunei for tips. God, so she could settle a few bets. A composite character made up of the ladies of Coyote Ugly, to keep the Sultan happy. And Cliff Clavin. Because no bar is complete without a Cliff Clavin.
To find out more about Brazil...feel free to check out their website and say hello and have a listen on their MySpace.
Upcoming Shows
Nov 15 2006 - 7:00P - Headliner's Toledo, Ohio
Nov 16 2006 - 5:30P- The Intersection Grand Rapids, Michigan
Nov 17 2006 - 7:00P - The Machine Shop (18+) Flint, Michigan
Nov 18 2006 - 6:30P - Scene Metropolis East Lansing, Massachusetts
Nov 19 2006 - 6:30P - Bogart's Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 21 2006 - 8:00P - Newport Music Hall Columbus, Ohio
Nov 24 2006 - 7:00P - The Ritz (18+) Warren, Michigan
Nov 25 2006 - 7:00P - The Blue Cat (18+) Bellefontaine, North Dakota
Nov 27 2006 - 7:00P - Monkey Bar Huntington, West Virginia
Nov 28 2006 - 6:00P - White House 2 (18+) Niles, Michigan
Nov 29 2006 - 8:00P - The Pearl Room Mokena, Illinois
Nov 30 2006 - 8:00P - Elixur Night Club (21+) Rockford, Illinois
Dec 01 2006 - 7:00P - Level 8 Evansville, Wisconsin
Dec 02 2006 - 7:30P - 3rd Street Live Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Dec 03 2006 - 7:30P - The Rock Maplewood, Minnesota
Dec 05 2006 - 7:00P - Pop's Sauget, Illinois
