In today’s A-Z challenge, we asked Smooth Brain 26 questions about themselves to find out all about them!
A song that made you want to make music?
“The Boys Are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy. Izzy heard this at like 2 years old, her dad was in a band and they used to play that song all the time
Best rider you’ve had?
I hardly…
(Real answer: We don’t get these a lot but Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham, MA had a fridge full of beers/sodas/etc that we didn’t ask for. That venue doesn’t exist anymore but it was awesome)
(Real answer: We don’t get these a lot but Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham, MA had a fridge full of beers/sodas/etc that we didn’t ask for. That venue doesn’t exist anymore but it was awesome)
Craziest moment you’ve had in the band?
We played SXSW this year and that definitely counts as crazy. We hung out with Cassadee Pope which was a full circle moment for us as longtime fans of hers.
Deepest lyric one of your songs features?
On one of our new songs “Molting Szn” (which isn’t out yet as of writing this) Izzy says “Peel myself bare to get to you / Rip off my skin to get to you” which tbh hits pretty hard.
Easiest song you wrote?
“On My Shoulder.” Ben wrote the instrumental in like 20 minutes, and Izzy wrote the lyrics in under a day.
Favourite song in your set?
Derealization bc it’s fast as fuck boi, and people like to dance to it
Guest you’d most like to feature on your record?
Billie Joe Armstrong or Chip Skylark
Hardest thing about being in a band?
Rehearsing when your members are in 3 different states
Interesting fact about one of your members?
Ben works at the UN
Jokes you have in the band?
-This music shit easy (it’s not)
–Gender of the day
–Gender of the day
– When Izzy is screaming at the end of the set while playing “Brain Freeze” and then she goes “✨Thank you we’ve been Smooth Brain✨” in a super high pitched voice. It always gets us
Key to writing a song?
Cmaj
Longest distance you’ve travelled to play a show?
Flying to Austin for SXSW
Most inspiring musician you’ve experienced?
Another One Down!. When we toured with them, they had already done it, so they kind of showed us how to do it, and it made us want to keep doing it. Plus they’re Good
New band you’d recommend?
glimmers and 5ever
Opening for this band would be ideal?
Green Day, Paramore, Fall Out Boy
Place you’d most like to tour?
Japan, Australia, New Zealand
Quote you’d like to pass on to our readers?
This music shit easy (it’s not) (pt.2)
Reason for the title of your recent/forthcoming release?
I Wonder What I’ve Missed got its name because of the lead single “Derealization” which is about dissociating as life passes you by. While you’re in that deep depression, you wonder what you’re missing as life happens around you.
See us live at?
Our weekender this coming October – we’re playing 2 shows with lolitslea and davvn in Asbury Park, NJ and Baltimore, MD, and then on October 12 we’re playing our album release show at Pianos in NYC. That one will be very special so would love to see people there.
The old days of music were better than the current, do you agree?
Absolutely not. It’s not better or worse, just different. There’s still a lot of interesting shit happening in alternative music, and there’s a really good pop-punk scene brewing. Plus making music is a lot more accessible now, so a lot more marginalized voices are able to hold space.
Unusual merchandise?
We bought a bunch of squishy pink brains online to decorate our merch table, and people kept buying them, so I think that counts.
Variations you’d like to do on any of your songs?
There was a demo version of “Leaning In” that had marching band horns in the bridge. It still exists in the vault somewhere, if anyone ever wants to hear it, DM us
What do your fans mean to you?
The base is small but mighty. The ones that like us really go to bat for us and that doesn’t go unnoticed. When people come to multiple shows or wear our merch to other bands’ shows or engage on social media, all that stuff means the world to us and it’s why we do what we do.
X-rays or any treatments needed for band related injuries?
Hera and Ben did PT in their shoulders/back/neck from touring. Lifting stuff every night, stage moves, and being in a car for 6+ hours a day for several days at a time, all that stuff adds up, even for a band who hasn’t done more than 2 weeks of touring at a time!
You’re late for a show, whose fault is it?
Izzy or traffic (or both)
Zoo animal that next describes the personality of your band?
Kangaroos bc we’re cute but we kick J