With over 225 million streams, performances at festivals like Coachella and supporting the likes of Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding and most recently Taylor Swift, it is no wonder that Georgia and Caleb Nott are considered New Zealand’s biggest indie-pop exports.
What shines through beyond every achievement and milestone is the genuine love for the music they make. When asked what one question they wish they were asked in an interview, they say, “We don’t know. We’re just lucky that we get to talk about we care about- which is music- all the time.” Speaking about career highlights, Georgia says, “Every time we think we’ve had our highlight, something new happens.” But Caleb mentions their recent stint supporting Taylor Swift on the Oceania leg of her Reputation Stadium Tour as the most recent highlight of their careers. He continues, “We had never played anything of that calibre or size before, so that was pretty special for us. And we got to play at a stadium in our home country which was awesome, so that’s definitely the latest highlight.”
We go back to the past for a minute, as the duo talks about the hardships, they faced over the last two years; as they left their old label, to become independent for a while before signing onto New-York based label Neon Gold. The duo seems to have bounced back, and these highs and lows of the past became the premise of their latest singles ‘Peach’, which was accompanied by a visually striking 70’s talk show, and Top of the Pops inspired music video.
‘Peach’ released earlier this year was the first taste of their new sound and aesthetic and Caleb says is just about celebrating the moments when you feel good. Going on to explain what inspired the track, he says, “We wrote the song at a point when we were very much over LA. And then we had a really relaxing week, just chilling and writing music. We’d had a lot of ups and downs mentally and professionally, so that relaxing week was great, and the song is just about that; feeling great.” On the flipside, their most recent offering, ‘Everything Goes (Wow)’ has much deeper meaning, as Georgia explains it is about accepting the mortality of everything and finding peace in it.
On the forefront of their expectations for the future, is their upcoming third studio album, ‘Don’t Feed The Pop Monster’, slated for release on 1, February 2019. Delving a bit more into their forthcoming project and the work they put into it, Georgia says, “We’ve been working on this album a lot longer than any other body of work we’ve ever produced. So, knowing that people are finally going to hear it in a few months is pretty crazy.”
But the album isn’t all that they’ve got planned. Much before their album drops, they plan on touring more, building a new live show, and, they say, bringing a new version of ourselves to the fans. But what they’ve got coming up in the near future excites them, as they will play at their sold-out headline show at The Dome, London, on November 29th.
This is the first time in two years the duo has played in London, and speaking on the expectations they have from it, Caleb says, “The last time we played in London was with Tove Lo. So, we are pretty excited to come to London and play for our fans there.”
Keeping in theme with their future, we talk about the prospect of collaborations. BROODS have a lot of collaborations under their belt previously having worked with Lorde on ‘Heartlines’- and with upcoming collabs with Marina- on ‘‘Emotional Machine’ which they debuted at the Neon Gold 10th Anniversary Party in NYC- and MUNA but asked who’d they love to collaborate with right now, their answer is almost immediate: Robyn. Georgia exclaims that she’s been listening to Robyn’s new album and that she could never get sick of it.
So, it’s no surprise when they also name Robyn as one of their influences. But they are eclectic listeners, they explain. Their palette for music is vast, as their influences range from the Gorillaz to Robyn, and it’s with these varied inspirations and influences, they hope to make their album stand out.
It’s not just these influences that make this album, it’s the duo’s own experiences that form the crux of their production. Talking about their songwriting and production process, they explain that on the technical sides of things they are experimenting more with their sound in their new record; having included more live instrumentation. The lyrical side, however, contrasts with their previous offerings, in that there is less experimentation. Elaborating on this Georgia explains, “This album is mostly all our personal experiences. On the last record we played around with stories, but this one is pretty much all personal.”
Aside from all these matters -past, present and future – BROODS, who picked their name as a way to portray their music, which they believe they’ve successfully done, want to use their music to document their own growth as individuals. Having gone through hard times themselves, both professionally and mentally, they want their music to make a difference, to relate to someone going through a tough period. What they want most from their music is share their own feelings and allow someone listening to escape their isolating feelings of hardship. And with previous successes and their sheer passion for what they do, it’s not hard to imagine that their music resonates with people listening.
