Discovering Our Backyard with Brother Spellbinder

Brother Spellbinder has quickly proven themselves as an act to know in the past few months. Their latest release comes in the form of "We Were Children Yesterday" which has us head over heels for the breaking and buzzworthy band. Hailing from San Francisco, Brother Spellbinder is about to become a household name across the country...and the world. We had the honor of sitting down with Alzara from the band to get the inside scoop of all things Brother Spellbinder.

Congratulations on your new single and album release! What can you tell us about the name of the latest single; what was the inspiration behind it and how does it represent your sound as a whole?

Alzara: Twenty Years ago came to me one day when I was out for a walk. I hummed the tune and some of the words into my voice memos and later found the chords at home on my ukulele. I confess it morphed into something a bit darker once all the words sprang to life. There's no guarantee of happiness in this life.

My musical partner and rhythm guitarist Jamie Wilson added the chords for the chorus later. They took the melody to a sweeter, more hopeful place. No matter how broken you are, someone, an animal perhaps or a ray of sunlight can offer you comfort and love. Adding sweetness to the bitter leaves you with bittersweet. This song conveys the true Americana grit that occasionally comes through in our music. I'm not sure whether it represents our sound as a whole. We're a band with many spirits. But I think there are some common threads and that's primarily the combination of earthy guitar, vocals, and strings.

Living in the greater San Fran area, what are your favorite venues to play? Do you have any shows currently coming up for the Summer or Fall?

Alzara: Personally I love to play on live radio and any costume themed events! Some of our favorite festivals to play include SF Free Folk Festival, Balanced Breakfast Festival, Decompression, and Edwardian Ball. of shows coming up! We just played August 7 at Cigar Bar in SF, really cool one of kind place with outdoor courtyard, and August 10 at Starling in Sonoma, great venue for cocktails and live music. Coming up September 7 as an all acoustic trio at Concerts in the Park, Noe Valley, October 6 at Folkish Festival in Larkspur Lansing and others!

When creating the new release, what inspirations and aspirations did you have in mind? What was the backing behind the story you wanted to portray?

Alzara: I started singing "20 years ago" out loud during the walk I mentioned above to the melody of the song that was in my head. I was thinking about the past and what I predicted my life would be like 20 years ago. I was also thinking about my work as a therapist and how so many of my clients seem to struggle with disappointment and feeling that they haven't achieved what they set out to do in life. If you feel that way, you are not alone. The melody also conjured up images of a long dusty road, a bleak wasteland and a lonesome traveler...but that's all I'll say on that.

On a personal note, what Brother Spellbinder songs past or current, would you say is your favorite, or the one that speaks the most to you?

Alzara: Hmm...that's hard to answer. I have lots of favorites. 20 Years might be one of them. People always love our song Speed of Sounds and I like to think that holds up quite well too.

On the record, who were the key players that make up Brother Spellbinder? Also what musical duties does each player hold as well?

Alzara: Our line-up has changed now and then, but at the moment we're the following: Me, Alzara Getz - ukulele, vocals, harmonica - Jamie Wilson, guitar and vocals - Steve Bollhoeffer - Violin, vocals, dancing - Steve La Porta - drums and percussion - Sean Griffin - lead guitar - Gabriel Beistline - cello - Helena Tietze - vocals and cello. Helena just moved to New Orleans, but we hope to keep playing with her through touring. You will hear some of her beautiful vocals on the new EP.

Did you self-produce or use an outside studio? Can you walk us through the process of either?

Alzara: Yes, the EP is primarily self-produced. However, towards the end we brought in Grammy winning engineer/producer Oz Fritz for the final mixes. Oz has worked with Tom Waits, Bill Laswell, Blur, Ramones...and many others. I found him accidentally while looking for a California based producers and checking out other bands I like from the bay area. He responded promptly to my inquiry, liked our music and seemed super approachable so we hired him! He added some finishing touches and then we began mixing and basically co-produced all the final tracks. Oz is great in that he preserves the raw essence of the music while still putting all the professional levels together.

With the release of the new record, what does Brother Spellbinder have in store for the remainder of 2019?

Alzara: Hoping to complete other material we've already recorded, but still needs to be mixed. A new EP out hopefully by the end of the year! And someone please send 20 Years Ago to T-Bone Burnett!

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