BROODS IS FEEDING THE POP MONSTER

Photos /  Angelo Kritikos

Story / Emily Helwig

Following the release of their third album, Don’t Feed the Pop Monster, Broods is back on tour and playing live shows for the first time in a while. We sat down with the duo before their LA show to chat about the tour’s inspiration, and what’s on the horizon for Broods.

Don’t Feed the Pop Monster, which was released in February 2019, has been a few years in the making. It was written over a period of time when Georgia and Caleb Nott, the sibling duo that is Broods, we are going through a lot of changes in their lives.

Perhaps the most impactful change? Moving to the other side of the world, from their small hometown of Nelson, New Zealand to Los Angeles, California.

Coincidentally, it’s California that serves as the inspiration behind a lot of the album’s sounds, as well as the visuals on this tour. “Our shows have been a lot darker in the past,” Caleb says, “And now I think it’s just more vibey.”

“I think for the most part, it’s a very different vibe to what we’ve usually done,” Georgia adds. “I think it’s what you would expect if you were thinking that you were going to hear this album live.”

Visually, the show has its Cali moments throughout — Georgia strumming a guitar and singing to “Dust,” for one. But Broods also allows each song to stand out visually from the others; something that was important to the pair when conceptualizing the show.

“It’s not all about like [crazy lighting effects],” says Georgia. It’s more about just having something that does take you to a different world. Because the way that we’ve tried to construct this show is that it has more of a trip to it, rather than just playing songs back to back. We wanted each song to be kind of in its own world that was created for it.”  

“Color-wise, I just wanted nice tones, and didn’t want too much going on,” says Caleb. “I just wanted the color to be warm.”

Perhaps the most Cali-inspired moment of the show is when Georgia perches ethereally above her bandmates in the glow of a golden sunset — perfectly matching the “sad-eyed sunset” vibe that Broods attributes to their album.

“We know what makes us feel good when we’re watching a show,” says Georgia. “I think colors, especially warm colors, have such a huge huge effect. Like my room at the moment is just strictly warm colors because I just need the good vibes all the time. But that makes such a huge difference to how an audience feels.”

And they’re not wrong. Listening to the album through your car speakers or AirPods is one thing. Seeing the live show, and entering each song’s universe through the lights and sounds so carefully constructed by Broods, is a completely different experience. Their beats were made to be heard live, and the lighting design only enhances the experience — think the colors you’d see if you closed your eyes while listening to each track.

Also on display is Georgia’s confident stage presence, with perfectly timed movements as though each hip sway and step were being directly controlled by the beat. She has a few stints on the piano and guitar this time around, too, which she executes flawlessly.

This tour also marks Caleb’s first time singing live lead vocals for Broods. He’s featured on the deeply personal “Too Proud,” which is about a man who is quietly struggling with depression. “It’s terrifying every night,” he says about performing live.

“Now you know how I feel,” says Georgia, who, despite little physical interaction between brother and sister throughout the live show, gave Caleb a supportive hand squeeze after “Too Proud” at their March 27th show in Los Angeles.  

Although the show has major West Coast vibes, Caleb says that If this tour was a cocktail, it would be a Long Island iced tea. “You get everything in one cocktail,” he says. “Yeah, it’s just like everything,” adds Georgia. “Does this go together? I don’t know, but I love it!”

While this record release and tour have been a long time coming for BROODS, they aren’t planning on slowing down any time soon.

“I’m already looking forward to writing our next album,” says Caleb. “We got a new studio to move into. I’m pretty excited about that — making that like our harbor, and making it like an awesome writing space.”

Broods is bringing their headlining tour around North America through the end of April, with shows scheduled in Seattle, Chicago, Boston, New York City and more. Check out the rest of their tour dates and purchase tickets here.  

CONNECT WITH BROODS:

INSTA // FACEBOOK // ITUNES