Mustard had the pleasure of speaking with Broken Baby! Together we discussed their name, rudeness, Meat Week, managers, and so much more!
1. Mustard is grateful to have Broken Baby join them at Music Shelf. How is everyone doing?
Hey! We are great! We could probably complain about something, but we want to show our best selves on our first date.
2. Mustard has observed that humans love origin stories. How did Broken Baby form?
It formed out of frustration and hopelessness really. We were bored with where our lives were going so we joined forces to write some music and shake things up a bit. Nothing more healing than starting a band and screaming into a microphone.
3. How did you decide on the name “Broken Baby?”
I wish it were a more interesting story, but we were just trying to come up with a name that rolled off the tongue. Broken Baby kind of rolled out and we were content with it. We didn’t want to think about it anymore.
4. Who (or what) influences Broken Baby?
Society, our anger and frustration with the state of the world, also our fear of death. We want to leave something cool behind and we’re not about to have kids. Make music, not kids.
5. What is Broken Baby’s creative process?
Alex writes a lot of the music and then Amber comes in and we work on the melodies and lyrics together. There are sometimes some arguments, but mostly it’s fun!
6. 2017 saw the release of your self-titled EP. Could you share what it was like to put this EP together?
We really didn’t belabor it. After we decided to go ahead and be a band, we wrote 5 songs and randomly put them out. It was a spontaneous and joyful experience as we didn’t really know what our sound was and there were no expectations. We didn’t care if anyone even listened to it. Now we care – and that’s not as fun.
7. Why is it important that humans are not rude? What are some examples of rudeness?
Oh we are advocates of rudeness actually. Sometimes it’s necessary, sometimes it’s hilarious, sometimes it’s completely unnecessary, so whatever. If you want to be an asshole, go for it!
8. Have you received an answer as to why Broken Baby doesn’t do anything fun?
Still hoping someday we figure it out and have so much fun our heads explode.
9. With both your EP and album being self-titled, were you working on them in sync?
Ummm I think we finished the EP and just kept going. We thought an LP would be appropriate since it did kind of feel like an extension of the EP.
10. How can society solve its problems? What are some solutions that Broken Baby would put into place?
Less social media. More psilocybin. Dig in the dirt and be friends with the bugs.
11. As a food product Meat Week sounds appealing. What types of meats are featured this week?
We’re taking a meat break actually – we’re watching our cholesterol.
12. Broken Baby’s head is a television. Does your mind come with premium channels? Do you need to pay extra?
We’d like to give all of our channels away for free.
13. 2021 saw the release of your album “Late Stage Optimism.” Did the process of this album differ from your previous works?
Yes. It’s vastly different. We really took our time with that record. We reworked a bunch of songs several times. Plus, we wrote the majority of the record before the pandemic and then scrapped half of them by the time we wanted to release it DURING the pandemic. Oh boy. We took it a bit more seriously, we added a bit more pop elements to our songs, Alex started mastering his mixing and producing skills. I’d say it’s completely different from our first record and we’re really proud of that growth. And we’re still growing. We are not trying to do the same thing over and over again.
14. What is something Broken Baby is optimistic about now that they were not previously?
We’re optimistic about our new songs! We’re doing some different things and we think we’re finally reaching some new people. That’s fun.
15. A human becomes a manager. What are some perks and benefits of being a manager?
When you make manager you can make more money and that’s obviously really important to achieving a higher social status. Then who knows – sky’s the limit on who you can take advantage of, right?
16. LA Weekly described you as one of the greatest live bands in LA. What sets your live shows apart from others?
We’re loud, fierce, and believe it or not, we’re actually really GOOD. I’m big on crawling on people. Tell your friend’s friends to come out to the show and we’ll give em a smack and a hug.
17. Do you have any upcoming gigs?
YES! This Friday at The Paramount in Los Angeles. After that – who knooooows.
18. What is next for Broken Baby?
We’re releasing single after single this year. We have three more in the pipeline and then after that, who knows – world tour??
19. Where can readers listen to your music?
We’re on every streaming platform and social media site because that’s just what we have to do. We like to hang out on twitter and instagram the most – hit us up – @brokenbabybaby
Music Shelf With Mustard 