I really dig Brothers Young. The Portland-based band — made up of three brothers (Dustin, Dillon and Michael Young) who grew up on Ithaca Avenue in Bend, plus three of their closest friends — played one of the best sets at last year’s Bend Roots Revival, and you can read my thoughts on that show here.
Tonight, they return to Parrilla Grill (7 p.m., $5, Rural Demons open) to kick off a tour of the West in support of their fine new EP “Good People,” out next week on Emeritus Records. The title track is an excellent example of the Brothers Young sound: light, lilting, lovely indie-folk full of earworm melodies and mesmerizing unison vocals. I love unison vocals! Too few bands do that these days. Take a listen to “Good Deeds,” and download an MP3 of it if you want:
[audio:http://frequency.blogs.bendbulletin.com/files/2010/08/02-Good-Deeds-1.mp3|titles=Good Deeds]
Download Brothers Young, “Good Deeds”
Given that Brothers Young has strong ties to Bend, I thought it’d be fun to ask ‘em a few questions. Dillon Young came through with answers:
Q: How, when and where did Brothers Young come together? Why were you Young boys compelled to start a band?
A: We had never played music together until four years ago when our oldest brother (Ritchie Young of Loch Lomond) asked us if we wanted to play a gig at the Mississippi Studios in Portland as a brothers band. We all had so much fun playing that when Ritchie got too busy with his band, we continued playing music under the name Brothers Young.
Q: I interviewed Ritchie a couple months ago, and he recalled your family’s home as not being particularly musical when you all were growing up. Is that how you remember it? Or was there more music than he’s letting on?
A: We had music playing at our house at all times and we had a guitar and a piano, so we all would sneak off on our own and mess around alone. Until the day Ritchie called we had never thought about playing together!
Q: How does having three biological brothers in the band work out for you guys? Do you get along better because of the band or do you fight more because of the band? Is there more personal/musical chemistry, or more sibling rivalry? Or a healthy dose of both?
A: We are family so there are brotherly fights, but because we are brothers it adds a chemistry that makes it feel really personal to us! We all have a different sound, so when we each bring a song to the band we will work it out somehow. The band can’t ever really break up.
Q: Who are some musicians/bands that all (or most) of Brothers Young enjoy listening to? What artists do you believe influence the band’s music?
A: We grew up listening to Neil Young and The Mamas & The Papas when our mother would be making dinner so that sticks out as an influence to us. As we grew up we got into all kinds of music: Fugazi, Talking Heads, Boards of Canada. So many great bands. Far too many to name.
Q: Who are your favorite musical brothers of all time?
A: That is a hard question. A lot of the time I do not know if people are family or not! The Everly Brothers? Ha ha!
Q: Is there anything we should know about “Good People,” besides the fact that the songs are great? Is there a theme or a concept behind it? Why did you decide to do an EP instead of continuing to work (I assume) on another full-length?
A: We love recording and we had some songs that were about people and choices. We thought that it would be fun to put them together as an EP. Most of our songs are about people and the path through joy, struggles and life, but the songs on “Good People” were close to one another!
Q: I know you all played the Bend Roots Revival last year, but this is a real Brothers Young gig, and to kick off a tour, no less. Are you excited to come back and play not only the home town, but the home neighborhood?
A: Indeed! We have so many friends and family here in Bend that it just made sense. I (Dillon) used to work at Parrilla so we put it together just to have a good time and kick off our first tour with some friendly people!
Tags: Brothers Young
