The Beautiful Girls Interview

The Beautiful Girls are on fire. After releasing ‘Ziggurats’ this year to large-scale success across the planet, they’ve seen a tide of accolades come their way. Gigs sell out within days, albums are snapped up by the handful and Australia has Beautiful Girls fever.

From a band dabbling in the breezy surf roots movement spearheaded by Jack Johnson, they’ve come a long way. Their music has evolved and taken shape into what we hear today on blockbuster singles like ‘I Thought About You,’ a roots/rock/reggae fusion of sound speckled with distorted guitar, catchy bass hooks and power drumming. It’s a new band with a new sound and an altered line-up that continues to impress show by show, listen by listen. This is the new and improved Beautiful Girls, three men and their music taking on the world one gig at a time.

Now that we have the obligatory verbose, exaggerated, excitable introduction out of the way, here’s the man of our piece – Bruce Braybrooke. The down-to-earth drummer of the Beautiful Girls who jumped aboard shortly after the release of ‘We’re Already Gone.’ The new direction of TBG has seen his drumming become a centrepiece of the band, with tracks like ‘Royalty’ showcasing his talents in forcing a few thousand people to bob their heads in unison using the power of two drum sticks and a set of hollowed out cylinders.

Soulshine: G’day Bruce, how’ve you been? How’s the month?

 
Bruce Braybrooke: Yeah, good…just on holidays so I’m really enjoying that. Nice to have a rest...and play more music.

SS: You rounded off last year with a tour of Europe and the US. How did the tour go as far as audience reception goes?

BB: Overall really good. Our last US tour [in 2007] was definitely our best tour, it went really well…we got up to the East Coast where we haven’t really been for a while. It’s always nice and surprising that there are a bunch of people who know us and can sing along to the songs and all that.

SS: So you’ve been getting decent airplay over there then?

BB: Yeah, well we just picked up something like ninety radio stations in the US over the last couple of months and we’ve never really had anything on any station…so consequently we have to get back there I think, in April or something. So things are really going well over there, and in Germany too…we might have a festival coming up.

SS: 2007 marked a pretty incredible year for the Beautiful Girls, with your most successful album to date, commercial airplay and sold out gigs across the country…

BB: …yeah, it was a really good year for us, probably our best yet. It was also good for us as we took a bit of a chance, completely changing the direction of the music and sort of getting away with it so far…so it’s been doubly pleasurable for that fact.

SS: So the new sound on ‘Ziggurats’ was something that you meant to do, like it was conscious effort and not just a natural progression?

BB: Ohh…I’m not really sure what the difference is on that one (laughs.) Yeah, Matt is the main songwriter and it was just where his head was at and that’s what he was wanting to write, he’s got plenty of acoustic songs sitting around that he’s written, but he was just more interested in doing a bit of rockin. And you know, writing in that different style and just exploring that…obviously, first and foremost we’re artists and musicians and you gotta do what inspires you, so that’s what we did. I guess, that was a natural progression…just following the muse really.

SS: Is that something you’re more suited to as a drummer? The rockier stuff, or are you more into the laidback style of the band?

BB: I actually really enjoy so much on the drums…I’ve played so many types of music, from Jazz to Latin to Punk…it’s just music and so it’s really great playing with Matt, because he’s also very similar in that he doesn’t just want to play one style, he wants to explore a few. So it suits me, and it suits Paulie (on bass) as well, we all just love heaps of music and love to play lots of different music.

SS: So what were you doing before the Beautiful Girls?

BB: Heaps of things, heaps of bands around Sydney…just a million bands really. Then in recent years I’ve been getting more into guitar and doing my own thing there, so just music in general…of all sorts.

SS: So there’s more to Bruce than a man behind the drums?

BB: Oh for sure…there’s always more than meets the eye…

SS: What led to you meeting up with TBG and joining the band?

BB: I’ve known Matt for a long time and been in probably four or five bands with him over the years…right before the Beautiful Girls I was in a band with Clay [former TBG bass player, now with Angus & Julia Stone] and I was even working on older Beautiful Girls songs. I played percussion on some of their first gigs…there was an idea of going out as a four-piece with a percussionist…so we’re just old friends really.

SS: You guys are kicking off a tour with the Cat Empire, Blue King Brown and Ash Grunwald through February, how did all that come about and how do you feel about playing with some of Australia’s favourite festival bands?

BB: Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it, all those bands are real good friends of ours and I really like all of their music, so it’ll just be a big party really. It all came about where I think Cat Empire just talked to us…it was just people talking. And then managers sorted things out and now it’s happening…it’s just gonna be Summer festivals continued really.

SS: So what’s in store for the band in 2008? Are you looking at touring, or working on new material?

BB: There’s a lot of touring already on the cards…the hard thing is, we really just need to take a break in some spot because we go around to Europe and America, and Japan to a lesser extent, so every time we go somewhere, they want you to come back as soon as possible. We’re just going to have to say no at some point because we really want to start something new. Hopefully…I’d say almost definitely in the next six months, but um, we’ve got about two to three solid months [of touring] to do at the moment before that.

SS: As far as the music’s concerned, have you found comfort with the style on ‘Ziggurats’ or are we likely to see another evolution of the Beautiful Girls?

BB: Well, you can never say for sure, but I think it’ll be more on the ‘Ziggurats’ style, but it’ll evolve a bit I’m sure…I think Matt’s pretty keen to explore that [the sound of Ziggurats], he doesn’t really feel like he’s nailed it yet. We’re all really happy with the last album, but you can always have another go…so I think it’s definitely on the cards. But don’t be surprised if something completely different happens.

SS: With the commercial success that has come with ‘Ziggurats,’ have you felt a bit of a change in the people who are coming to gigs or a change in the feel of the shows?

BB: Yeah, I’d say so. It’s hard to say that there’s overall one thing. Obviously there’s a bunch of people who only know the singles from commercial radio, so you really notice stuff like ‘I Thought About You’ or something like that, that gets a really massive response…it’s such a varied crowd at the moment because there’s the old ‘Learn Yourself’ fans and then there’s the new people from commercial radio and others again. I think that maybe the audience is getting a little bit older, and there are more guys in the audience now that we’ve got a rockier album.

SS: So there are less doe-eyed girls coming along to check out Matt…

BB: Ohh, there’s less of that…but still some of that too. I’d say that that really made up a massive percentage of the audience before, but you know, on the new album there’s not as many sing-a-long kind of songs…less happy sing-a-longs.

SS: Well thanks a lot for that Bruce.

BB: Yeah, thanks Max…

SS: Have a great 2008 and best of luck with the rest of the year.

BB: Cheers, same to you.

The Beautiful Girls take their mini-festival with the Cat Empire, Blue King Brown and Ash Grunwald across the country throughout February. With these four acts making up the heart of the Australian Summer festival circuit, it’ll be one hell of a day out. See the dates below and check out the Soulshine gig guide for more information on the tour.

Thurs Jan 31 – NEWCASTLE (NSW), Camp Shortland, The Foreshore
Fri Feb 1 – CANBERRA (ACT), Stage 88, Commonwealth Park
Sat Feb 2 – SYDNEY (NSW), Kippax Lake, Moore Park
Sun Feb 3 – MELBOURNE (VIC), Myer Music Bowl
Thurs Feb 7 – GEELONG (VIC), Arena
Sat Feb 9 – PERTH (WA), Belvoir
Sun Feb 10 – BUSSELTON (WA), Old Broadwater Farm
Wed Feb 13 – TOWNSVILLE (QLD), Entertainment and Convention Centre
Fri Feb 15 – SUNSHINE COAST, KAWANA WATERS (QLD), Quad Park
Sat Feb 16 – BRISBANE (QLD), Riverstage
Sun Feb 17 – HOBART (TAS), Moorilla Winery
Tues Feb 19 – LAUNCESTON (TAS), Albert Hall