Q&A: Brother Elsey Explores Growth, Mental Health, and Manhood on Self-Titled Debut
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY JESSICA BATTISTI ☆
Photo By Luke Rogers
WHEN COUNTRY AND FOLK ROCK INSPIRED QUARTET BROTHER ELSEY—first moved to Nashville from Michigan in 2021, the band had a few goals in mind: to make friends, get comfortable and challenge themselves in the “Music City.”
Named after their great-grandfather and inspired by their country band frontman grandfather and music-loving father, the Detroit-based grassroots band of brothers first formed as preteens. Twins Brady (vocals and guitar) and Beau (bass) and eldest brother Jack Stablein (lead guitar), alongside honorary brother Dalton Thomas (drums) who joined the band in college, decided to embark on the journey to Tennessee’s capital after the success of their 2021 EP You Don’t Know Anything.
“I think [moving] really opened our eyes to how a lot more of the industry works, and that has reinforced a drive in all of us in a way,” said Jack.
With over three years in Nashville under their belt and their 2024 film debut in Nicole Riegel’s “Dandelion,” the band has geared up for the release of their first studio album—a self-titled 13-track amalgamation of Brady’s rugged yet tender vocals, the band’s signature Americana sound and its raw portrayals of growth and encroaching adulthood.
Recorded in Nashville’s iconic Ivy Hall Studio, Brother Elsey is an honest exploration of the human condition executed in a perfect balance of both masculinity and softness. From its playful critique of nihilism in the single “Silver Tongue” to craving the patient, comforting love Brady sings about in “Seeking,” there is something on Brother Elsey for everyone.
“These songs are yours now and it gives us a lot of happiness to know that,” said Brady. “We hope they reach whoever needs to hear them in whatever moments they're looking for them. There's an abyss of noise, bigger than we can even understand. If our music finds you through it all, we know it's there for a reason.”
Photo By Luke Rogers
LUNA: Growth is a central theme throughout Brother Elsey, as well as loneliness, mental health, aging, relationships and more. When you started working on the album, did you know you wanted to create such an intimate portrayal of your lives or did it fall into place naturally? What was that process like?
BRADY: Being an artist comes with opening your life to people in a vulnerable way I guess, and we’ve never really wanted to hold back in that way. When we first started making this record the songs that jumped and were the most compelling were the ones that fit into that vulnerability. I guess that just comes with the territory of growing out of your early twenties. It wasn't really intentional like, “We’re gonna make a record just like this,” it more so fell into place from what spoke to us through all of the songs we had written around that time.
LUNA: The album was recorded at Nashville’s Ivy Hall. How was this experience for you guys? How has it compared to past recording sessions?
BEAU: It was the most comfortable we’ve ever felt in a studio and the most creative we’ve ever gotten to be. Ivy Hall makes you feel like Oasis. It’s English, it’s stone, it’s old, it’s wooden, it ebbs and flows with the music that's made there. We’ve worked out of some amazing studios in the past and it's by far and away the best studio we’ve had the chance to work out of.
LUNA: Madi Diaz co-wrote “Red Tape” and SUSTO’s Justin Osbourne co-wrote “Silver Tongue.” How was collaborating with these artists on this album?
BEAU: It's one of those instances in our career where we think to ourselves, “If only we could tell ourselves five years ago this is what we’re doing.” It's wild to get a chance to work with artists that we look up to so much and really get to know them on a personal level. We’re very fortunate to have them play a part in our album.
LUNA: Music is something that has been passed down to you through your patriarchs. With the influence of your great-grandfather and your father in mind, how does musical expression and masculinity intersect for you all?
JACK: We grew up around music, and with that there's a certain type of emotional understanding that we’re fortunate to have been exposed to by the men in our lives. We saw that becoming an adult or growing up doesn't have to include a cold and disconnected version of empathy and emotion; we see it as a well-rounded, imperfect style of masculinity and we’re grateful for it.
LUNA: In relation to masculinity, in “Dreamer” you discuss this desire to be a better man. What does it mean to you to be a better man? How does this album reflect that?
BRADY: I think being a better man involves accepting your wrongdoings, accepting what you can't understand in certain moments of your life, not always trying to be nice and do right by everyone but leaning into truth and honesty. The truth is greater than being perceived as a nice person, for yourself and others. It's a process in life, and just like everything, it's continuous and constant and I think that reflects greatly in our record.
LUNA: A common theme throughout this album is the inability to overcome mental roadblocks. Has vocalizing these struggles through music helped you confront them or has this been more of a cathartic release? Do you feel like this sense of struggling to come to terms with your emotions is tied to a traditional sense of masculinity?
BRADY: Putting this much time and thought into these songs inevitably kinda walks you to the mirror and forces you to look at the patterns, so of course they’re there to be dealt with. I think the main sense of struggle comes from a human point: we all try so hard to get it all right despite our flaws and our trauma and our pasts, and we’re fools to think we’re ever gonna be perfect. That's been a lesson, cathartic yes to talk about, but there's so much nuance to being alive and all we can do is talk about it all in hopes someone will relate.
LUNA: What has it been like growing with and being so close to your brothers and honorary brother? Has being vulnerable and honest enough to make music together strengthened your relationship? Dalton, I would love your feedback on this as someone who isn’t a sibling!
DALTON: As much time as we’ve spent together, there's no way around being close and vulnerable with each other. Without the strain of figuring it out together and the friction that comes with it, this whole thing wouldn't work the way it has this far along. It's an integral part to our story as a band. We know each other through and through and that’s helped us grow, change, repeat, together.
LUNA: You described “Silver Tongue” as a “middle finger to nihilism.” Have you embraced a sense of absurdism as you’ve gotten older? What is your current life philosophy?
BRADY: Of course, life is absurd. Nobody really truly knows the right way to go about it. But you have a choice to make every day, you can add to the noise, “Nothing matters, the world is burning, we’re all dying,” or you can add to the light, “Nothing matters except what you decide matters! We’re all here to witness and love and find joy.” It's easy to fall into the trap of nihilistic tendencies, life is hard as f*ck. Death is easy, life is hard. There's a reason they say good doesn't come easy, you have to fight for it every day. The more you fight for it the easier it spreads to those around you.
LUNA: What is something you wish you could tell a 20 year-old you? How do these lessons translate into the messages in the album?
BRADY: You’ll get everything you're looking for right now, but life doesn't get easier. You have to work for the light. Lean into the people around you, stay the course, be present, you're gonna make mistakes and hurt people and hurt yourself but you're not unique for it and if you want an exciting life you have to go and grab it. I think each song plays into these lessons all in their own respects. The cliches of life are that way for a reason, you’ll never fully understand until you're face to face with them.
LUNA: What do you want listeners to keep in mind as they dive into this album?
JACK: These songs are what you want them to be. They mean whatever you decide they mean to you. Take them and run with them. We’ve put the culmination of the entirety of five people's experiences and efforts in their lives up to this point. We hope you can find some sort of lesson or connection or joy in this music ‘cause that's what it’s all for.
Brother Elsey is out now.
