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Photo courtesy of Brave Baby
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Photo courtesy of Brave Baby
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Photo courtesy of Brave Baby
Storage units: perfect for old photo albums, unused furniture and…recording studios? The talented musicians of Brave Baby, who recorded their debut album, Forty Bells, and most of their upcoming sophomore album, Electric Friends, in a converted storage unit, think so.
“It’s become our home,” lead singer Keon Masters explains. “We’ve been using that space for awhile – it looks better than it sounds, I promise,” he says, laughing.
As far as the sound of the band, it’s indie pop-rock with a dash of southern comfort. The group currently resides in Charleston, SC and includes natives of Charlotte, NC and Beaufort, SC. Even so, the music isn’t exactly twangy.
“We’re innately southern, so I don’t think we feel the need to allude to that directly in our music," Masters says. "A lot of times, people expect country or Americana music when musicians in a band are all from the South, but generally, we’re just this indie rock band that also happens to be from the South. Although, at the same time, we don’t run away from it. So, if there’s a song that we feel could use a dash of country, we’re down to throw that in there.”
Along with Masters on vocals, Brave Baby comprises Wolfgang Zimmerman, Christian Chidester, Jordan Hicks and Steven Walker. Zimmerman, the band’s drummer, was also the producer for Forty Bells, released on Charleston indie label Hearts and Plugs.
Masters says, “I think that first record was a lot of time spent trying to figure out what we wanted to sound like and basically experimenting with things like ‘is this cool or not’ and a lot of panicking, too. The second record [coming out August 14] felt much more like an exploration of ourselves because we’d become more comfortable by then with who we were as a band.”
The group cites strong classic rock inspirations like Fleetwood Mac and Michael Jackson, but Masters is wary to compare Brave Baby’s sound directly to any other band – mostly because they’re trying to bring something new to the table.
For each new song, the creative process is different. Masters says, “A lot of times, it starts in my bedroom, where I’ll write down some lyrics. I’ll bring a demo to the group and we’ll all simmer on that for a while. Other times, Wolfgang will produce something and bring that to the group and we’ll jam with that – or maybe someone will even come out with something in the moment at a practice.”
The name “Brave Baby” was actually the title of a song the group had just written when they were required to change their name due to legal reasons.
Masters says, "Band names are the worst thing ever because everything sounds lame when it’s never been a band name, and eventually you just have to pick something and let it ride and disassociate whatever the meanings of those words are until the name just means the group.”
Brave Baby goes on tour throughout the South, from the end of July through August. Although the group has played several music festivals in the past, Loufest will be their largest one yet.
“We’re really psyched to be playing at a festival with a roster like Loufest," Masters says. "The Killers were a lot of our favorite band growing up and the Avett Brothers are really a Carolina staple. I hope people are excited to dance a little bit when they see us because I think we have a pretty fun set.”
The group will be playing a combination of songs from both the old and new albums. On the title of the new album, "Electric Friends," Masters says it has to do with his relationship with Wolfgang, as he was going through some radical life changes. Although Masters also says it can be taken to represent how all of the band members feel about each other.
On what’s next for Brave Baby, Masters says, “We’re always writing. I really don’t think you should release an album and then just stop the creative energy because it’s never good to let that side of you dry up as an artist.”
Brave Baby performs on Saturday, September 12 at 5 p.m. For more information, visit loufest.com.
