Brookfield Line are a 4-piece rock & roll outfit from St. John’s, Newfoundland that create piano-driven, harmony-heavy music that pays homage to all the great acts from the ’60s and ’70s. However, Brookfield Line are not new kids on the block, they’ve had an extensive career playing together in a Beatles cover band, which allowed them to refine their musicianship and develop their craft. With no live work in the pandemic, they decided to start writing their own material – their latest single ‘Pick Me Up,’ was written at this time. We caught up with the band to discuss their latest release…
How did you find writing during the pandemic?
This is actually how we started as an original group. Prior to the pandemic, we were a Beatles cover band for 7 years. Unable to perform, and all of us being songwriters in other bands (by divine right, secret broadcast, green and gold) we decided to finally work together on a creative level. Curtis and Len ended up exchanging over 60 songs online and it turned into a little friendly writing competition during the pandemic.
You’re known for your amazing live set, what are your favorite aspects of performing live?
Personally it’s a bit of an active meditation for us. It’s easy to forget about everything else going on in your life when you’re on stage performing. The audience really helps you have fun without the fans it’s pretty boring up there!
Who are your biggest influences as artists?
This is a loaded question, as we all have such a wide range of influences. Curtis (lead vocals/piano) it’s mainly Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson. Inspiring a lot of pop driven piano songs with melodic harmonies written behind for support. Len is really into everything. His main influence would be folk rock for sure. Or that’s what shows in his songwriting at least. Geordie is a rock boy but there’s definitely a bit of country in there at heart. Ryan is a jazz trained guitar player that’s obsessed with Ozzy Osbourne!
What advice would you give to an up-and-coming musician or artist today?
Don’t take it too seriously, and always separate the having fun part of performing and writing and the business side of things. They are two different jobs all together and if you are doing both you need to make sure they don’t get intertwined!
What is your favorite song right now – that is not your own?
We as a band are going to go with “Fixing a Hole” by The Beat