Mustard had the pleasure of speaking with Brody of Brody and The Grodies. Together we discussed their financial situation, beer, Fox News, their YouTube channel, and so much more!
1. Mustard is grateful to have Brody and The Grodies join them at Music Shelf. How is everyone doing?
Thanks Mustard! Doin’ well, doin’ well. Can I just say I’m so stoked that Brody And The Grodies’ first interview is with a condiment? That just fits somehow! Plus mustard goes great with beer!
2. You consider yourself the world’s worst budget rock band. Mustard wonders if you have exceeded your budget. Or do you consider yourself under-budget? Could you elaborate more on the financials?
Oh the “financials” are terrible lol. We’re way in the hole and all we have to show for it are some shitty songs and empty beer cans ha ha. But it’s fun so we’re gonna keep going.
So one of the reasons for the “worlds worst budget rock band” title is we’re trying to make an homage to Supercharger. They were really good friends with The Mummies, and The Mummies came up with the title, “Kings of Budget Rock” so Supercharger would say something like “World’s second greatest budget rock band.” So we decided, let’s totally riff on that and one-up it and we’ll be the “world’s worst budget rock band.”
3. Humans love origin stories. Could you share how Brody and The Grodies formed? When did you originally meet?
Well let’s see. The way Brody And The Grodies generally works is on the “Gino and the Goons” model. Basically it’s always Gino but “the Goons” part is always a rotating cast. So that’s kind of what’s going on with us too. Brody And The Grodies is always Brody Grody, but the Grodies are a parade of whoever isn’t too drunk to play and decides that they’re ok with the infamy. Who knows, maybe that will change one day and we’ll solidify a lineup, but this is how it works now. For this interview, it’s just me, Brody. Sorry!
4. What is Brody and The Grodie’s creative process?
Uh…that’s hard to say! Each song is totally different. It might start with just a guitar riff, just a title, or just a few lines. The only thing in common is that I just record everything no matter how stupid it is. Songs can start out as just a title, like I just put one down called “Stoner with a Boner” and that’s all I have so far – or a song can start as like a chant that got stuck in my head while I was walking around or whatever. Like there’s one song called “Spray Paint Paint Job” and another one called “Johnny is a mutant now” and neither of those songs has anything but a bad phone recording with me kinda sing-songing some lines.
Later I sit down with those ideas and try to not think too hard about them and just start messing around with a guitar. And I record anything that sounds kind of good. There’s a really live and immediate thing happening where I turn my brain off and just let the subconscious flow.
Sometimes the actual subconscious flow is exactly what you hear. Like on “Fox News Ate My Mother’s Brain” what you hear is actually the first take, and you can tell since all the lines are disjointed. Nothing rhymes, the lines are all different lengths, but it captured a real moment of me trying to process what the hell is going on with my mom. It’s funny and painful because it’s true. My mom still sends me texts with BitChute videos claiming that COVID-19 is a hoax and doesn’t exist.
At any rate, if the lyrics and music don’t seem “dumb” enough at the end of all this, then I may go back with a few edits. Brody and the Grodies’ songs are always going for the lowest common denominator.
5. Who (or what) influences Brody and The Grodie’s?
Too many to list, but I try to support all the influences by reposting their Bandcamp or YouTube links on Instagram and Twitter, so by following us you can get a pretty good idea. It’s basically everyone from The Mummies to The Statics to Gino and the Goons to the MC5 to The Drags, The Ramones, any “Thee ____” band and beyond. Really it’s any band that doesn’t take things seriously and sounds pretty close to live even on their studio recordings.
Also can I just give a shout out to The Minor Inconveniences who we put out our split tape with? Zach is a great dude and his songs just slap! It’s a mix of hardcore punk influences from the obvious ones like Minor Threat to even the more obscure like Poison Idea. His cover of “It’s an Action” on our split is just great. I keep going back to it.
6. What does Brody and The Grodies consider good beer? What beer should all humans avoid?
Haha. Well, Mustard, I can’t say I avoided any beer yet. But it’s always a good idea to buy from a local brewery IMHO. Can’t really condone corporate beer.
7. Have you received financial compensation after Fox News ate your Mother’s brain? What do you think attracts humans to Fox News?
Nah, I think I’m more likely to be sued lol but that’s the unjust world we live in. But I’m not sure what attracts people to it. I’d like to figure it out so I had some way of getting my parents out of it. But they seem to be getting in deeper all the time.
8. Propaganda has been a tool used throughout human society for years. This propaganda can often lead to echo chambers being formed. What are some ways that humans affected by propaganda can become deprogrammed?
I guess I can only hope that we can use music and art and substances to get through to the person inside and start peeling back the layers of programming? Maybe that plus getting off the internet and talking to people in real life. But I really wish I knew for certain because it feels like the echo chambers are alway getting stronger.
9. Is Elon Musk still dumb?
Ha ha! Oh geez! I was actually emailing with Scott Gardner (DJ of KOOP “Stronger than Dirt”) about that song recently because he was probably the first one to play it on the radio. And he was saying how it just seems to become more true all the time. When I originally wrote that song, it was literally just a song about being irritated that my Twitter feed was being taken over by Elon Musk tweets or tweets about Elon Musk. But it took on a life of its own. It seems like he’s his own worst nightmare. These days I want even less to do with Elon Musk.
10. Beerzilla gets the chance to fight any kaiju of your choice. Who does Beerzilla go up against and why?
Great question! I think the baby godzilla is the only kaiju that could win, because it’s wrong to give beer to babies, so that would take away Beerzilla’s super power. Beerzilla would easily beat everyone else by just sharing a couple pints and having a fun time. It wouldn’t matter if it was Destoroya or Mothra or even the great Godzilla. Probably all they want anyway is a couple beers!
11. Before this interview Mustard subscribed to your YouTube channel. Could you tell us more about your YouTube channel?
Well besides being the world’s worst budget rock band we’re probably the worst marketers as well. So our YouTube channel is something we’re tryin’ to figure out what to do with. In the immediate future, we’re gonna start posting up demos more often and try and use it as a way to gauge what songs, if any, are actually hitting with people. It’s also got some fun music videos where I cut together old public domain film clips for shits and giggles. Check it out https://youtube.com/@brodyandthegrodies
12. How would you describe your live performances?
They’re like our recorded stuff but even more of a mess. There’s a reason why the lyrics to “Grodies’ Theme” include the line “…plug your ears and run away..”
13. What is next for Brody and The Grodies?
Anything can happen! But the goal now is to put something out with more than three songs. I’d like to release something on Halloween and have it be a full album. We’ll see, though. I don’t know if I can get it together enough to make that happen. Crossing my fingers…. So demos on YouTube for awhile, and later if I’m sober a full length!
14. Where can readers listen to your music?
You can start at begrody.com and find everything. It’s mostly on Bandcamp. Some of it made its way onto YouTube or a streaming platform somehow. We’re not the best at this stuff so it’s all over the place. Really you’re safest bet is begrody.com! See you there!
And thanks Mustard! It was really great chattin’ with you!
Music Shelf With Mustard 