Interview with: Georgia Nott of BROODS

We chat to Georgia Nott, one half of New Zealand Indie-Pop duo Broods, about their latest album & upcoming tour.

Congrats on the release of your third album, ‘Don’t Feed the Pop Monster’. For those that haven’t heard it yet - how would you describe it?

A sonically eclectic guide through the retrograde/growing pains/life transitions.

Who or what exactly is the ‘Pop Monster’?

The “Pop Monster” is basically a new age version of “The Man”. Have you ever seen School of Rock? You gotta stick it to “The Man”! Haha. Its more or less the side of the music industry that wants you to be digestible and pleasant. Music, and all art for that matter, is supposed to be confrontational. Its supposed to make you ask questions. Its supposed to articulate things that aren’t easy to process. It is for the rebel and the misfits.

Unlike your previous two albums, you weren’t signed to a label when you wrote ‘Dont Feed The Pop Monster’. Did that have an effect on how you approached the creative process this time around?

I think the entire album was born out of the muddiness of that time. We were so displaced for a while there and it forced us to look inward. We wouldn’t have made this album if we didn’t go through trials in our careers and ourselves. I remember thinking “I know I’m supposed to be doing this, but it feels like everything is working against me”. I went walking around echo park lake and it was bursting with lotus flowers. I took it as a sign that if they could grow up and out of the mud, why couldn’t we do the same. I took it as a sign that we were still on the right track.

As a whole, this album feels very personal and authentic. Lyrically, that really shines through on the track, “Too Proud”. Is it important to Caleb and yourself that topics such as mental health are spoken or sung about more often?

Writing has always been an essential part of processing the world. We both feel very deeply. When you live life taking a lot in, you have to get a lot out. Its like you’re breathing with the universe. Our experience of life is the inhale and music is the exhale.

‘Too Proud’ was also Caleb’s first time singing lead vocals on a Broods song. Is that something we’ll see more of in the future?

You’ll have to stick around and see, I guess. Haha.

Whilst writing this album, you both also released music under your respective solo projects The Venus Project (Georgia) and Fizzy Milk (Caleb) - What is it like working on separate projects and then coming back together?

It was important to have a new outlet for both of us. It definitely helped us grow as individual artist and made us appreciate our own dynamic. We’ve been making music together so long, we have our way of doing it so dialed in. We needed to shake it around and challenge ourselves. And it was fun to write a different kind of music too.

You guys are touring the album around the US starting next month and then heading over here to Australia in May - what are you looking forward to the most about coming back to Aus?

Aussie crowds are always so fun. We also feel a huge sense of support from Australia, coming from NZ. There’s something really special about playing in Australia. It feels like a homecoming in a way. We have a lot of love and appreciation for our fans and friends there.

What do you think would you be doing if you weren’t making music?

I would have self destructed.

Favourite band or artist right now?

This incredible band from the UK, Bad Sounds, is on tour with us right now and they are definitely the kinda vibe you want if you like a bit of boundary pushing pop.

Finally, do you have any advice for emerging musicians trying to break into the industry?

If you don’t want it with every fibre of your being, try something else. If you do, you’ll find a way to do it.

To find our more about Broods head to broodsmusic.com or @broodsmusic