by The Brothers Of Depression

Hello friends. We are from the prairies of southern Alberta where it is sparse and dry, kind of like us. We don’t know what we’re doing or what we want, but we think we will continue. Join us as we try not to suck, but also don’t worry too much about being great. We’re just trying to be ok.

Listen to the album while reading the text.

Bob and I (Frederick) started making music back when I was in high school, and he was in his first year of university (he’d later switch streams entirely saying “fuck that noise”).

The songs were garbage. Complete trash, really. They were the type of thing that the pretentious wrote to feel fancy. At least that was what I was doing. A total goomba; sad, confused, and young.

Bob had written a bunch of slick punk-ish songs alongside our cousin who played drums over the tracks. I remember the day I bought my bass Bob invited me over to play as soon as he’d figured out. I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

But it was a blast! After we jammed, I think I had one of my first beers ever if I recall correctly. Didn’t like it then, love it now.

Two Thirds Out, One Third In

We jammed whenever the three of us could find the time. Drinking beers in old shops chit chatting in some lovely post-jam sessions. Life made a little more sense after a good jam (and six beers).

About a year later (summer 2013, I believe) we recorded an album called “Two Thirds Out, One Third In” under the name of The Flannel Pajamas. Bob named it this since he and I played outside while our cousin played drums inside an old watershed. I don’t know where the old band name came from or who came up with it, but I think it fits the feel of our old stuff very well. The songs were recorded live and turned out great, in my opinion! Some tasty garage rock nonsense. Slick licks, lots of noise and yelling.

We took a bit of a hiatus of sorts after making this album. Bob was recording some odd beats in his basement skipping classes. They were interesting and a lot stranger than other things I’d been listening to at the time, which got me thinking again about writing music. We had been too busy drinking with new found friends and chasing women unsuccessfully. We were shitty arteests, I know. But if the mood’s not there, why force it?

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times…

An Asshole’s Guide To Self-Loathing

Something new and interesting finally compelled us to get back into writing after a couple of drunk nights hanging out with our buddy Emmet who was big into Country. We tried to make some comical songs in this fashion. Later, either he or Bob, suggested jokingly that we should record an album. Emmet laughed and said we should call ourselves “The Brothers Of Depression.” I thought it was funny, but I don’t think most people got the joke.

It’s a lot less funny now.

Anyways, that summer, we set up shop in a tiny watershed on my Dad’s property. We jammed out songs until we finally figured out some basic structures. Emmet’s songs acted as the center of our album “An Asshole’s Guide To Self-Loathing.” It took us about six months to fully finish everything up. I believe that this again was another case of us enjoying the material and not realizing that it had about zero appeal to the masses. The hardcore artist type may think me an asshole for wanting to make music that’s slightly marketable. But if a person is to make a living off this, can you think of a better way to tackle it?

Anti-Social

Personally, I don’t think we suck. I think that we need an honest audience (Sorry friends, you are too kind to us). There is a horrible worm embedded in our brains that holds on desperately digging deep. It insidiously pours nonsense in, getting nonsense out.

During my last year of school, I got quite bored. Classes were a breeze, and no one wanted to drink with me. Therefore, I decided to challenge myself to write and record an album in three weeks. To my surprise, I actually did it! Bob and I had recently purchased a synth and sampler to expand what we could do. The album I made was called “Anti-Social Fuckhead” (I recently renamed it to “Anti-Social” as it felt less up-my-own-butt).

It ended up being very odd and messy. Kinda sloppy but was maybe, to a very particular crowd, appealing. I remember on the last day before my three-week deadline I stayed up until 4:00 am drinking scotch and wine, doing final mixing and editing. ‘Twas a gong show start to finish. Exams slowed my focus as I had not planned to be busy with school as well.

Deep Dark Sea

After that, I was again excited to create music. Bob was definitely on the same page. He had a few songs written with a particularly dark feel. Bob, Emmet, and I had talked previously about spending a large amount of time on a project to make songs that sounded “like something you could actually see yourself buying in a store.” We handled the new material in a slower and more professional manner. Emmet, unfortunately, moved to find new work which leads Bob and me to shift in a different direction abandoning our lo-fi country vibe.

So “Deep Dark Sea” was born out of that. It started as a bit of a concept idea. It was set to represent the lowest low you could feel. Bottom of the ocean! So black that all direction is lost. Hope is gone. Sad, sad, sad. Wah, wah, wah. Again we may have been taking ourselves a little seriously, but it was made to represent our depression and hopelessness. I believe we succeeded in our mission.

Unfortunately, I am not real proficient at recording yet but I enjoy the general atmosphere of what we completed. It was a ton of hard work! I bet I put a few hundred hours into it. Maybe one day someone will listen to it? Oh well!

Future Plans

These days Bob and I are trying to write good simple songs that tug at your emotions a wee bit. We’re hoping to buy a van and go on a tour within the next couple years. I’ve been researching better home recording methods and plan to put them to use on our next project hopefully coming out before the end of the year.

We’d really love it if you checked out some of the material we have posted on Bandcamp! Hope you get some enjoyment out of it

The Brothers Of Depression The Brothers Of Depression, Category: Artist, Albums: Deep Dark Sea, Top Tracks: Deep Dark Sea, As He Slowly Breaks, I Love You, But, The Goner, I’m Not Alone But I’m Still Lonely, Monthly Listeners: 1, Where People Listen: Brooks

A link to songs if you find yourself curious

Brothersofdepression@gmail.com

Artist’s Note

Alberta, Canada, Lethbridge, Calgary

Country, Lo-fi, Punk, Alternative, Alternative Folk, Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Experimental



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