QUESTION: What does it take to make great music?
The pursuit of quality songwriting has become bogged down by the cutthroat politics of the music industry and the ever-developing information age. No longer can an artist gain recognition for just writing great music; they must first compete in internet popularity contests and shroud themselves in aesthetic gimmickry before the casual listener even takes a second glance.
Brunswick was once one of these bands.
With the help of local indie label Red Blue Records, Brunswick first created a positive buzz in 2006 with the release of
My Name Is Disaster, a concise but powerful EP consisting of smart pop-punk that wasn't afraid to do things differently. But to amplify this potential buzz into a deafening roar, they had to A) enlist the help of acclaimed producer John Naclerio, B) tour the Northeast relentlessly including a stint with I Surrender artists The High Court, C) fight to open for big-name bands (Boys Like Girls, Moneen, Meg & Dia) and D) shell out plenty of their own money on internet promotion.
After numerous complications and no small amount of revamping, even including the lineup itself, the members of Brunswick wanted to try things a little differently. With the rare opportunity of a fresh start at hand, they set their sights on removing as many unnecessary elements as possible and focusing exclusively on just writing great music - free of pretense, free of obligation. They meticulously crafted new songs, converted their practice space into a makeshift studio to record them and spent the remainder of their time personally hand-making the CD art and packaging. The result, they decided, could only be entitled
D.I.Y.The aptly-named new sampler allows Brunswick to stand out from their contemporaries in an age when bands are ever-reliant on big names and good looks to get noticed. The self-released demo, despite its brevity (clocking in at just under 15 minutes), is a natural backlash against the flashy aesthetics and business-like nature of the music industry, as well as a return to the punk rock roots that first inspired the band members to initially pick up instruments and make noise together. "It's kind of liberating," says guitarist Mike Moschetto, who stepped up to produce, engineer and mix the whole project. "After dealing with the protocol of record labels, experiencing all the delays and miscommunication, it's nice to be able to take matters into our own hands and say, 'We're gonna write, record and release a new record ourselves.'" He laughs. "'And we're gonna do it within, like, a month.'" Perhaps the most telling aspect is the packaging - constructed by the band themselves, no two copies are exactly alike. They're hand-designed and individually numbered - a testament to the band's effort and determination to create something unique.
Copies of the handmade, individually-numbered
D.I.Y. demo will be available at shows and through the Brunswick online store, but only for a limited time.
PRESS: "My Name Is Disaster
has Brunswick flying with the higher echelon...in a way that doesn't follow too closely to the flavor of the week, but in a strut that seems almost too fresh of a step with consistently good songs brimming with unadulterated exuberance...There's a plethora of energy pent up in this one five-song EP for fans of The Audition and Valencia alike to discover. Get on it." - Scott Irvine, AbsolutePunk.net (read the rest here )
"...The best band from Boston there is." - John Naclerio , producer/engineer (The Ataris, Senses Fail, My Chemical Romance); CEO, Broken English Records
"...there is no reason why this band shouldn’t rule the underground all ages scene and then take over the world..." - Dexter Reed (read the rest here )
"I'm too cute to be singing in this band." - Ian Brunswick
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