Appearing out of our inbox are Hey Brooklyn, and offhand the only thing we can tell you about them is that they’re not from Brooklyn. It looks like we’re as in as much need of a Q&A session with the band as you are. Fortunately, they’ve answered our BotD questions…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from a town called Cannock, in Staffordshire, UK.
How did you meet?
Jack and Connor both went to the same primary school and secondary school, both having musical interests but didn’t start playing in bands together until 2012. After a few failed bands they decided to do an acoustic act together in 2015 called Hey Brooklyn, although the line up felt like it was missing something. After looking around they discovered Chad, a friend who’d posted drum covers online and knew he was the missing piece.
How long have you been playing as a band?
As an acoustic duo we started in 2015. But as the full line-up we started playing together in July 2016, So not that long really.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Most people think we get our name from All Time Low’s “Hello Brooklyn”. Surprisingly we didn’t though, just a happy coincidence. It actually came about when Jack was sat at home and thought, “Hey Brooklyn sounds cool”, Connor agreed and that’s how simple it was.
What are your influences?
As a band we have many different influences from many different styles, the obvious ones are A Day To Remember, All Time Low, Paramore, Good Charlotte etc.
We also take influences when writing from bands such as Busted, The Vamps and 5SOS.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
The hard hitting drums alongside the guitar driven tracks, crossed with the catchy lyrics helps us create a blend of our personal styles.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Lyrically the majority is written by Jack with occasional lines from Chad and Connor. Generally with his writing he likes to set ideas or lines to get into songs, for example “Party Girls” initially was a challenge to include the lines “Dragon Ball” and “I think cowboys are cooler than ninjas” within a track. Personally we think we aced that!
Also another thing that is within our writing is innuendos, in most of our tracks you’ll find some line that has a double meaning.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Our live shows are fast paced, loud and energetic. We make jokes, have a laugh and interact with the crowd.
And how many shows have we played, we’re not sure. We’ve played live shows individually and together since we were all 16, so a few over all.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Connor’s personal favourite for wildest thing he saw live is Jeremy from ADTR crowd surfing in a giant zorb, which is pretty awesome.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Jack uses a Fender Telecaster ’72 deluxe, with an Orange Tiny Terror and 1×12 Orange cab. Connor uses an Epiphone Thunderbird, a Behringer BX1200, Mooer tuning pedal and an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff. Finally Chad uses zildjian cymbals with a drum craft kit.
What are your plans for 2018?
Well you’ll have to follow us and see what our plans are!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We’d love to support quite a big band truthfully, maybe ADTR, Good Charlotte or even Connor’s personal favourite Parkway Drive. A local band that would be cool to have open for us would be Maxwell Avenue, similar in style to us.
Hey Brooklyn: facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube | bandcamp
