Brother Oliver: The Oral History of an Accidental Psych-Folk Duo
In a crowded musical soundscape where the alternative and the mainstream have blurred, South Carolina’s Brother Oliver have carved out their own path. Led by brothers Andrew and Stephen Oliver, the self-labelled “psychedelic folk-rock” band is a living testament to the creativity that can come out of a restrictive circumstance. An anomaly in our media-drenched world, the brothers grew up isolated from the currents of pop culture to now rigorously touring and channeling the raw expanse of the indie rock sound with a DIY edge.
‘We got into this in a weird way, kind of through the backdoor.’ The brothers were homeschooled growing up, and as Andrew recalls, “our parents were real strict, so we weren’t allowed to listen to music.” He pauses for a moment. “Well, we could listen to music but not stuff that was rock-driven or drum-driven, so we didn’t listen to much music.” In high school, they started listening to whatever they could get their hands on. “We have a love for music because it was something we couldn’t have...”
Brother Oliver, 2019 // Photo by Justin Dye. Edits by Achilles Lawless
Driving their desire for music was always the need to create. In high school, Andrew started out by making electronic music, writing beats in a DAW because he didn’t have any instrumental skills. Eventually, the brothers wanted to form a real band. “We thought, let’s bust out some stringed instruments. I got a guitar, Stephen got a ukulele.” From the very beginning, the brothers learned their instruments together, while learning how to play in a band at the same time. In true DIY style, they learned everything at once, writing songs in order to learn and learning in order to write songs. Andrew recalled his thought process while learning: “I only know two chords, I better learn a third one because I need another for this song. We’ve been very original content-driven from the start. For whatever reason, we’ve always had the idea to be making original music.”
When it came to finding their style, the brothers had to piece it together with what they could. “As far as influences, we were coming out of nothing. We didn’t have a base… we just picked up whatever we could find.” On the one hand, they listened to indie bands such as Death Cab for Cutie. Andrew cites Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard as a major inspiration. “I got an impression of him down pretty good, so I thought maybe I could learn to sing. He inspired me to sing and be confident.” On the other hand, they were listening to the most aggressive rap they could find. They also cite the grimy psych-metal of early Black Sabbath as a big influence, as well as jazz, which informs Andrew’s trumpet playing. “Maybe our tastes are just the extremes.. it’s a crazy buffet line of music that we came out of.”
Watch Brother Oliver perform their song, “Maybe”
Their self-made approach is also apparent in Stephen’s use of an electric mandolin played through effects pedals. Like with much of the band, it resulted almost accidentally through experimentation. According to Stephen, it was never intentional. They went to Guitar Center one Black Friday determined to buy an instrument, and ended up with an acoustic mandolin, which neither knew how to play. It ended up being difficult to mic at live shows, requiring Stephen to limit his movement. But for the high-energy duo, this wasn’t going to work, so they bought an electric mandolin instead. They realized they had a new option. Andrew recalls, “I thought, you’re rocking a quarter-inch, throw some pedals on that bitch!” Throwing on stainless steel strings and narrowing it down to 4 strings, Stephen takes an experimental approach to the instrument. It adds a visual element as well. “People often thinks it’s a little guitar, or an electric ukulele.”
The experimental electric use of an unusual element brings to mind psychedelic godfathers The 13th Floor Elevators, whose Tommy Hall famously pioneered the electric jug. Lyrically, they share a resonance as well. Andrew says, “My lyrics are psychospiritual, usually with some spiritual overtones, not with over religious messages. I want the message to be relevant, not so bizarre that it means nothing. But I always try to put in easter eggs, so if you have a grasp of spiritual or religious things, those are always in there.”
“Maybe our tastes are just the extremes.. it’s a crazy buffet line of music that we came out of.”
As rock siblings, the brothers are in good companies, joining a long line of bands from The Allman Brothers, The Kinks, The Beach Boys to AC/DC, Oasis, and Kings of Leon. So, the big question is: do they have the infamous fights that often characterize brothers-in-bands? The duo chuckles. “Yeah, we have the fights. We’re so comfortable and transparent it’s problematic sometimes. It’s the best thing and the worse thing. We avoid a lot of fights because we’re so transparent, but sometimes we’re so transparent it’s like, what the hell man?” But they insist they get along pretty well. “The band’s not about to break up,” Andrew laughs.
Which is a good thing, because 2018 has seen Brother Oliver really taking off. This past year, the band made the big leap to going full-time with the project. After releasing their well-received, self-titled record in August 2017, the band organically blossomed, receiving more and more offers for shows. “It got to the point where we couldn’t play anymore without quitting our jobs. In a way it was a kind of a cinderella story.” After grinding for the past six years, the past year has seen the band take on a new, professional form.
Brother Oliver prepare to perform their song, “Maybe” at Third Coast Studios in New Orleans, LA // Photo by Justin Dye
Right now, the brothers are finishing up a new album set to be released in 2019. They also have a number of big festival dates lined up. “It’s gonna be a really fun year,” Andrew says. Where will the brothers go from here? “We want to take Brother Oliver as far as we can. When we hit that point where we can’t anymore, we’ll know. Maybe we never will.” They want to take the band to the next level, while staying true to their art. Andrew ponders, “How far can you commercialize without changing what you want to do?” From the beginning, the brothers have always done it their own way, so it’s no surprise when they say if they ever have to choose between their style or becoming more successful, they’re choosing the former. “We’re gonna keep writing the songs how we like. If we can keep taking that higher and higher, that’s great.”
Remembering the rebellious urge that drove them in the beginning, Andrew says, “You want what you can’t have.” With a promising year ahead, Andrew’s voice finishes the thought bristling with a well-earned confidence: “But we got it now.”