INTERVIEW: Elder Brother on new record “I Won’t Fade On You”

I covered The Story So Far’s guitarist Kevin Geyer on his new side project Same Side earlier in the summer. It’s a splendid EP, and I’ve just now discovered that Kevin is part of three bands, adding Elder Brother to the mix. The band has entered my ears before, but I’ve never made the connection. I had the opportunity to speak to Kevin and Daniel Rose (Daybreaker) regarding their new album I Won’t Fade On You out tomorrow:

The New Fury: Elder Brother is one of three projects for you (Kevin). How do you manage to write for three different niches?

Kevin Geyer: I usually try not to decide which project a song is for until it’s mostly done. Sometimes an idea will kinda float between projects until it inevitably finds its home in whatever vibe suits it best. Other times it feels much more obvious what project the song is best for, but rarely do I start writing a song with the intention of putting in a specific context.

New Fury: When writing for Elder Brother, where are your inspirations drawn from?

(Kevin) Musically, I’ve always been really inspired by artists like Elliot Smith, Wilco, The Weakerthans, The National. I think over time we’ve naturally carved out our own sound that has drawn influence from those, and many other, great artists.

(Daniel Rose) I think at one point when we were discussing the vibe of what we were going for with the record was “John Mayer meets American Football”.  I don’t know if it necessarily came out that way, but that’s where my head was at at the time.

New Fury: What are your personal favorites off I Won’t Fade On You? I love “Projector” and “The Champion of the East Bay.”

(Kevin) My favorites are “The War Is Over” and “Washed”. I think the instrumentation turned out really cool and unique, especially the horns and strings.

(Daniel) I agree with that, those two plus “Projector” are my favorites right now.  I think “Champion of the East Bay” is going to end up being my favorite live though, whenever that’s allowed again.

New Fury: The artwork for I Won’t Fade On You is quite compelling. What can you tell me about this design?

(Kevin) Dan knew of the artist Daryl Norsen (@dnorsen_design) and we all loved his vibe. I was stoked to have a few photos incorporated that were taken on miscellaneous tours/sessions.

(Daniel) I had followed Daryl for a while on Instagram because I’m super into that sort of “Grateful Dead parking lot bootleg t-shirt” art style that is kind of his niche.  Then we went on a band trip on the first day of recording to see The National at Stanford University, and I noticed that Daryl had done the art for the poster for that night’s show.  I may have been a little drunk and messaged him online asking if he’d be interested in working with us, and the rest is history.  Who said social media was all bad?

New Fury: All of your associated projects are with the great Pure Noise Records. What are your favorite bands on this label?

(Kevin) I admittedly had to look up the current Pure Noise catalog and I was pleasantly surprised to see a handful of old hardcore bands I used to love growing up, including The Warriors and First Blood. I’m also stoked to be alongside some good friends of ours in Casa Loma, Drug Church, Speak Low, Rotting Out, Four Year Strong, the list goes on.

(Daniel) My favorite Pure Noise band of all time is The American Scene.  Long live The American Scene.

A big thank you goes out to Elder Brother members Kevin and Daniel for speaking with us and Big Picture Media for setting this up! You can listen to Elder Brother’s I Won’t Fade On You everywhere tomorrow, October 2nd!