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Brother Twang tap into the ether for After School Special

Whistler rockers recount the inspiration behind their latest EP
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Brother Twang’s new EP, After School Special, is available now on all streaming platforms.

Brother Twang found themselves doing things a little differently for their new EP.

Even after they wrapped up their 2021 album, The World Went Crazy Yesterday, the Whistler music veterans found themselves still in the midst of creativity.

“We pumped out an album, but it wasn’t over,” says George Skoupas, guitarist and vocalist with the group. “We still had time and the pandemic was still going. We were still writing songs in one form or another.”

Only, the way they were writing this new set of songs was a little different—in a couple of ways. For one, Jay Romany, the band’s other vocalist/guitarist, starting doing something he hadn’t done in nearly 15 years: writing on piano.

“These songs on the new EP are born from piano that came from Jay,” Skoupas says. “He sent the files and because we had time, we were spitballing—three, four, five completely different songs.”

Those songs, cinematic in nature, prompted the pair to dream up music videos before they were even committed to recordings.

“We pictured the videos and backstories before we recorded them. Everything was ass-backwards,” Skoupas adds.

While the rest of the band weren’t available for studio time, the pair decided to record on their own and their new three-song EP, After School Special, was born. (They’ve been performing as a duo since the pandemic, but still appreciate their less-frequent, full-band shows.)

“The first song written for it is called ‘Use Me,’” Skoupas says. “The premise is sometimes you have writer’s block, but in an instant, an entire song will come to you and you put it down and record it. I got to thinking, ‘Are we a conduit?’ There are ideas floating around in the ether and they get delivered to you.”

Already, they’ve released a video for the track featuring a lone dancer in a dark, lush forest, in the studio, on a desolate road, then finally joined with a group of others.

That track is followed by “Off Broadway,” a standout that offers the feel of an epic, classic-rock ballad.

“Jay sent me a song that was a creepy piano song, but very anthemic,” Skoupas says. “I could hear Stevie Nicks on it. Once I added my part to it, it sounded like a cinematic piece out of a movie.”

Finally, rounding out the release, is the title track.

“Jay sent a piano bit and I spit out lyrics that were pretty creepy,” he says. “He said, ‘Where did that come from?’”

The premise is a Howard Stern-like show that does prank calls, only, in this instance, they prank someone “having the worst life or worst day.”

“You never know what’s going on in someone else’s life when you’re having a laugh,” Skoupas adds. “Ideas can come from anywhere. We use the term ‘the ether’ a lot. We get ideas delivered to us. It’s an enjoyable thing to follow it through and see where it goes.”

You can check out the EP for yourself on all streaming platforms.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for Brother Twang this summer, in particular in regular rotation on Saturdays at Whistler Blackcomb’s Mountain Top Summer Feast, starting June 23.

For more, visit brothertwang.net.