Broods, touring with their most recent release Don’t Feed The Pop Monster, a reunion album of sorts set to make music that’s “true” to the band “..without hiding behind any kind of façade. We worked really hard and went through a thousand different emotions in the process,” says Georgia Nott, “The fact that we can feel so many different emotions and still make something that’s so true to us — to me that’s the most important part of this whole experience and we’re so excited to finally share this album with the world.”

This mood was visible on stage. Georgia’s broody and raspy voice, cuts through the crowd. The band truly commits to their stage precedes, from the matching outfits to the overall performance. The crowd seemed hypnotized by the experience, barely moving with an acceptation of a couple more upbeat tracks. Every time a song ended it was met with applause. Closer to the end of the show Georgia sang a couple popular covers like “Streetlights” and Gotye’s “Hearts a mess” which were a big hit with this calm crowd.

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Being the very first musician at a major festival is a proposition akin to being the first astronaut to try out the new spaceship design. It’s an honor, but also a test of fortitude. Luckily Gabriel Garzon-Montano has the right stuff, and the small but lively crowd at his stage is as-of-yet ignorant to the trials Lollapalooza can wreak on the human body and spirit at then end of a long day. Although Lollapalooza, like any festival, is a celebration of art, culture, and music, it’s predicated on cramming a zillion people into a small, loud space, with bugs, during the hottest month of the year. Normally this is a recipe for public insurrection, but the root of the festival, any festival, is the triumph of good vibes over nature, and Lollapalooza is no exception.

During Glass Animals, for instance, the crowd appears more like organs in some massive super being than individuals. Something about the heat and melodic tunes cause a herd mentality that keeps everybody sedately swaying, always keeping a respectable distance from one another. The rules of the pit are enforced like a code of honor: nobody likes touching the slimy skin of a sweaty neighbor, so no sweaty neighbors thrust themselves on to anybody. Another interesting thing is that although Glass Animal’s audience is composed of teens and early-twenties types, there are almost no cell phones held above people’s heads. It’s as if a hive-mind consensus was psychically reached, wherein all parties would watch the show and wiggle around pleasantly without digital interference. There is one free radical in the group, a shirtless teenager charging through the ranks yelling nonsense. He stops at a stranger, grabs him by the shoulders, and raises his voice so as to disturb everybody nearby. He is not part of the hive. He has to be eliminated. The crowd works as one to push him off to the periphery and he’s never heard from again.

Broods is from a very hot country – New Zealand – so they accept the daily highs of a Chicago heat wave in rock-star form: belting every lyric, punctuating each drum beat with a stomp, moving around the stage like cooks in a kitchen – deftly and with utilitarian grace. When a performer is on-point with the precision of a well-lubed spindle in a jet turbine, it’s easy to lose oneself in the ambiance. Even for those who have no idea who or what they’re watching, the experience of being around others who are so enthralled and moving with passion forces onlookers to become participants. Like an image from some mythical druid legend, the audience dances like worshippers to the chants of a high priestess. Each person feeding and growing off the energy of the others, and Broods at the head, consuming it all. In a less pregnancy and STD aware culture, the Broods show could have dissolved into the most debaucherous bacchanal of all time. Instead, when the show ends, everybody looks around flushed and slightly embarrassed. The trance is broken and the audience scurries away like so many mice fleeing from the light of an opened door.

Whatever god watches over Lollapalooza, her symbol is the dragonfly. They feed on the insects that feed on humans, mosquitoes and flies, and as the human mass of the festival grows denser, the insect mass overhead follows in kind. While Alt-J gently erupts on stage, the audience moves zombie-like, closer, closing in until every last possible inch of space is taken up by pressing flesh, gyrating back and forth with the music. Then, as the final song dwindles off into the air, the crowd surges, rushing the stage. Cooler heads do their best to resist the stampede, but to do so is like swimming against the Colorado River. Nonetheless a few characters manage to escape, only to be consumed again by the giant amoeba of Paul McCartney fans stretching from the main stage back through half the city.

While Beatles songs coo away on one end of Grant Park, a sinister force takes over the other. Enshrouded in darkness, wearing a skull mask with glowing eyes, and standing inside a transparent cube, Flying Lotus announces to the audience, “You’re Dead” with the nonchalance of somebody saying, “Hello.” His set went on to transcend reality, time, and consciousness. The crowd could have been forty people strong; it could have been four thousand. Nothing exists during the Flying Lotus show except what he chooses to project onto his cube. Through that geometric screen the audience is treated to scenes from the peaks of Heaven to the trenches of Hell. There are no dragonflies overhead; we are beyond their domain.

And as the clock strikes ten, and the performers end their shows in time with the noise ordinances set in place by the City of Chicago, the International Space Station makes a scheduled low pass. Lit by the full moon, it’s the brightest moving object in the sky. On this Friday night two of humanity’s greatest collaborative accomplishments wink at each other.

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Having gone into CMW with the sole purpose of seeing as many bands as possible, we spent a lot of time jumping from venue to venue, looking for that awesome new thing with a fairly clear idea of where to find it. Wednesday night proved to be one of the easiest and steadiest nights of the week. But then again, it’s only Wednesday.

MTT, Netherlands, at The Painted Lady

The early days of Canadian Music Week were off to a good start with MTT, a synth-pop band from the Netherlands, at The Painted Lady.

The band has a distinct ’80s vibe, similar to the moodier side of Depeche Mode, but there’s also a more contemporary side to their music, vaguely reminiscent of Deep Cuts-era The Knife. The performance itself was brooding and energetic, hitting a balance between electronic soundscapes and pop immediacy.

LIINKS, Victoria, BC, at the Gladstone Hotel

LIINKS is a collaboration between Georgia Murray and producer/DJ DWhiz. Murray’s passion for music was quite obvious as she tried to inspire the nearly empty ballroom into a little dance. Murray’s vocals are gentle, overlaid with clean solid beats from DWhiz. Having played a few of their own tracks and a Lana Del Rey cover, LIINKS seem to have a little something for everyone in the room.

From the cover song to some slower, indie vibe tracks to the most recent, “The Break”, each song seems to dabble in a different genre lacking overall band focus. All things considered, however, LIINKS’ most recent collaboration with Datsik on Let It Burn and the very possible future hit “The Break” seem to be an indicator of their new solid direction. We’ll stick around and follow these two through because if they keep going on the new found ways of clean synth pop/trip-hop with a touch of dub they will make waves.

CON VOS, New York, at the Drake Underground

CON VOS is a New York based project of the New Jersey hip-hop duo Fortunate Ones and Irish folk singer Sorcha Richardson. The music they make is a kind of mellow hybrid between pop and hip-hop, with retro-leaning ’80s production courtesy of Genetics.

CON VOS took to the  early evening stage for a small, attentive crowd and kicked off the evening with their laid back, melodic sound. With Richardson musically and physically front and center for most of the songs, it’s fair to say that she (along with onstage producer, Genetics) is the dominant presence in CON VOS. The two MCs, flanking the singer on both sides, stood completely motionless with their balaclava-clad heads down for the majority of the set, each one coming to life only for their individual verses. The effect was striking, especially at first, as Richardson’s voice draws the audience in until the rappers become suddenly animated, interrupting the smooth, beat-driven lull.

While the individual musical elements worked fine, something about the overall performance seemed a little disjointed, which in all fairness could have been due in part to the low energy crowd. It could also be that CON VOS just haven’t quite found that magic recipe for their musical fusion yet.

Yeo, Melbourne, at the Gladstone Hotel

After sidestepping some technical difficulties with good humor, multi-instrumentalist and producer Yeo took to the stage, accompanied by a drummer on an acoustic/electronic hybrid kit.

All the way from Melbourne, Australia, Yeo makes music that is difficult to classify, using a mixture of electronic instruments, sequenced sounds and live accompaniment to create a shifting pop tapestry. From deep synth tones to funky basslines and soaring keytar solos, Yeo’s live set infused a palpable, human energy into his brand of emotive electronic pop. Songs like his recent single “Kobe” came off surprisingly well on stage, but given Yeo’s obvious instrumental chops, it’d be nice to see his detailed production skills deconstructed even more in future live sets, perhaps with a full band.

BROODS, New Zealand, at the Drake Underground

Down the street at the Drake, Auckland’s BROODS took the stage for their highly anticipated set. This brother-sister duo is in perfect sync in a perfect band relationship. While their music might seem somewhat sad on record, when they play live the darkness of their lyrics comes alive in an incredibly cheerful way, mostly due to Georgia’s bright and cheerful personality.

The overwhelming energy bursting from the stage evolved the originally dark “Coattails” into an anthem song, the kind of track you make big decisions to, while marching into…well, wherever it is these new decisions take you. The room, filled from corner to corner, danced, cheered, clapped, and whistled, there was no shortage of fluttery to go around. If anything is an indication of talent, it’s live show success. These two are undoubtedly a band to watch.

Slaughter Beach, Denmark, at The Dakota Tavern

Slaughter Beach are a band from Denmark that play hazy, melodic guitar rock with vaguely psychedelic undertones. Mining sounds as diverse as ’60s pop and ’90s indie experimentalism, their music is a dreamy, nostalgic collage, borrowing from the past, but rooted firmly in the present.

Leisurely taking the stage, the band opened with their debut single, “Made-Up True Love”, a brilliantly lo-fi song built on a bed of melodic, interlocking guitars and a great, sampled beat that sounds like it’s been excavated from a dusty box in your attic. Distant organs and old keyboard sounds abound, creating a warm sonic foundation that the band’s pained, sweetly androgynous vocals and sunny melodies push off from.

Throughout their set, I was reminded of bands like Deerhunter, Tame Impala and The Bends-era Radiohead, guitar bands that manage to somehow convey something new and vital the old-fashioned way, through emotional songcraft and inventive arrangements, while relying mostly on that tired old six-stringed tool so often pronounced dead on the scene. This is music that feels like it was borne from genuine chemistry, from the unique dynamic that comes from five different people actually playing together in a room.

The band seemed perfectly at ease and nonchalant about the whole thing, running through their set at their own relaxed pace. It was a breath of fresh air in an evening dominated by colder, more synthetic sounds, electronic solo fliers and enough backing tracks to make you wonder exactly what it means to play live music in 2014. Here’s to hoping that they stick around.

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I recently caught up with Caleb Nott, half of the brother-sister duo BROODS. The Auckland, New Zealand, pop group is making waves with their single, “Bridges“, and a US tour this spring. Nott shared his thoughts on the BROODS EP, touring with HAIM, sharing a producer with Lorde and more.

Ashley Kolpak: You come from a musical family, is that what kick-started your relationship with music?

Caleb Nott: Of course it did! We were always playing instruments, we always had access to guitars and pianos and when all that stuff is around and your parents listen to music all the time, it’s natural.

AK: With the EP released at the beginning of February and the full release due in August, how are you feeling during these in-between months?

CN: Feeling really good! We just finished the album, we’ve been writing for the past four or five weeks. It’s been a long process getting it down, it’s exciting to see where it goes. To be able to write a full album has been a fun experience. We haven’t been able to do that yet.

AK: You’re signed to both Polydor in the UK and Capitol in the US – how does that work? 

CN: We were approached first by Polydor. Both labels have really cool people and that’s why we ended up going up with both. Having two specialized teams in two completely different markets is really good and really helpful. The UK industry works completely different than the US industry. London is a lot quicker. Singles go through radio and charts, you wouldn’t see your song at the top of the charts for more than two or three weeks, unlike ten weeks at the top in the US. In London, people rotate music a lot quicker. Also, it’s harder work to build music in the US.

AK: You briefly toured with another family band, the HAIM sisters. Your styles are markedly different, how did the show come together? 

CN: Touring with them is awesome! They’re such cool girls. It’s so funny, I have the same relationship with Georgia and it’s cool seeing someone else doing music like that. Their life is so fucking cool – they go so hard. Their show is so much rockier in person, it’s so good to watch. I guess you pick up tips always when you play alongside another band. While our music has similar production values, the two live shows are so different. It was interesting to see the crowd react. We’re happy with how it went and grateful for the opportunity.

AK: Your cover of Empire of the Sun’s “Walking on a Dream” is haunting and really beautiful. What made you choose that song to cover? 

CN: Empire of the Sun are a huge favorite of mine personally. I love their production. I listened to their first album [Walking on a Dream] on repeat for a very long time. I love their attitude, I love their presentation. They present themselves like they’re a giant product or something. Their live show, it’s like watching aliens come to Earth. It’s amazing, it’s these extravagant outfits, these ripping guitar solids, it’s just…wow. I don’t know how they manage to come up with that stuff. They’re just geniuses and I really appreciate their work.

AK: Being from Auckland, what bands from NZ and Australia are you listening to right now?

CN: I lived in Melbourne for a while and I listened to a lot of Crowd Control and The Rubens; I was in a big indie rock phase then. Right now, I’m really into Sheep, Dog & Wolf. Another artist I’m into is HIGH HØØPS, a good friend of mine who recently did a remix for us. He does some really cool pop music.

AK: You’re label mates and share a producer with fellow New Zealander, Lorde. You’ve often been spoken of in the same breath, BUT your unique sound sets the band apart, at this point in the game, who do you feel influenced by? 

CN: It’s hard to not sound like an artist you share a producer with, but that doesn’t bother us at all. We’re such big fans, personally, of hers. You become more influenced by new artists when you start working in the industry. You pay more attention to new music than you did before. We’re discovering more music and we have a wider appreciation and range of influences.

AK: What’s the best and worst thing (be kind) about being in a band with your sister? Go.

CN: The best – you get to take someone from your family around the world. Having your sister, your best friend, travel around the world with you, that’s pretty sweet. The worst? I can’t think of anything! It’s really, really great.

AK: You’re setting out on your first US tour. Thoughts, feelings, any new cities you are looking forward to visiting? 

CN: We’re looking forward to places like Chicago, Detroit, Portland, Seattle, places with such strong music cultures. We’re looking forward to being in the places where so many bands got started. Every place we’re going to I’m excited about! Every place you go in America has its own style and feel.

 AK: Where do you see BROODS going?

When we started this project, we had no idea what to expect! We’re excited to see where it’s going to end up, but honestly, for now it’s about releasing the album, touring for a while, seeing what the reaction is and building from there.

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