MEMBERS: siblings Caleb and Georgia Nott
FOUNDED: informally since their primary school years; formally since 2013 after their previous band disbanded
FROM: Auckland, New Zealand
YOU MIGHT KNOW THEM FROM: their catchy single “Bridges,” which dominated the realm of indie music blogs last year, thanks in part to Lorde producer Joel Little
NOW: their debut LP Evergreen, released October 7 via Capitol Records
Georgia Nott is quick to recover after admitting to her midday nap as she speaks on the phone from her Denver hotel to discuss Broods’ journey thus far. The nineteen-year-old justifies the brief moment of deserved relaxation with the fact she and bandmate/older brother Caleb traveled through the night from Los Angeles to Colorado for a couple of acoustic shows, shortly before they will launch into the Australian leg of their tour. She need not vindicate her rest break though, as Broods have been touring essentially nonstop since getting tapped to tour with HAIM this past March.
Despite being fairly new to the scene, vocalist Georgia and multi-instrumentalist Caleb are no strangers to the art. Their parents played gigs around their hometown in New Zealand, spanning from performances at church to teaching choir and guitar classes at the siblings’ school.
“As it’s gone on, we’ve learned that the only way to get out an honest song is to just put everything out there.”
“We grew up thinking that everybody and anybody can play music because our whole family did,” says Georgia. “We had a music teacher [in high school] who was into writing and performing heaps. He was a huge part of bringing us out of our shells and giving us confidence as performers. That was a big part of why we grasped the idea of being musicians long-term. There’s a difference between loving it and making sure that you actually feed that need to play music. There’s a bit of a hole when you don’t have the opportunity to do what you love.”
Although they’d developed a confidence in performing—Georgia has a habit of uninhibitedly dancing across every inch of the stage—making the transition from their buzzy EP to recording their debut Evergreen required a different kind of nerve. Broods’ music centers around synthesized pop and a pulsing beat brightened by catchy hooks, but it’s their impassioned lyricism that separates their sound from seeming overly-stylized. To keep the process interesting, Broods haven’t developed a signature formula when writing music, but have determined that tossing all jitters and fear of vulnerability out the window is the surest way to create what Georgia describes as “100% Broods.”
“As it’s gone on, we’ve learned that the only way to get out an honest song is to just put everything out there. I’m a very emotional writer. That’s the kind of music that people really get in touch with and it’s the music that people remember—the stuff that’s really, really honest and a personal piece of the artist.”
Broods haven’t minded sharing pieces of themselves with their listeners, just as they haven’t hesitated to take bits of wisdom from their tour mates. Supporting chart-topping acts like Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith has not only introduced the duo to a lifestyle of playing sold-out and massive venues around the world, but has ingrained in the siblings a thirst to grow and develop as musicians.
It’s likely that Evergreen is merely the tip of the iceberg that will be their career, and the Notts are taking everything—the tours, the fans, the recognition—as it comes. While the duo adjusts to this new lifestyle, it’s undoubtable that Broods will continue to create, write, and perform, all in pursuit of feeding their hunger—something, for the sake of good music, one hopes is never satiated. FL
