Canadian Rockers BRKN LOVE Join Us For The Deluxe Version Release of Their Critically Acclaimed Debut Album | We Talk - Breaking Rock Stereotypes
BRKN LOVE, the brainchild of Toronto native Justin Benlolo, released their self-titled debut album earlier this year. On November 19, the band will release a deluxe edition of the record, featuring four newly recorded tracks, including a cover of Bishop Briggs' "River.
The album, produced by Joel Hamilton (Highly Suspect, Pretty Lights), was recorded live to tape, preserving a raw and real feeling in the riffing tempered by relatable and emotional lyrics.
Justin Benlolo signed with Spinefarm Records 2019. The album is showcasing a fresh perspective, ranging from loud distorted rock to pop-punk. It followed the release of a few singles in 2019, including the particularly successful “Shot Down,” which made the top 25 on Billboard in the US and top 5 in Canada. The album offers a collection of songs that are diverse and that a wide audience can connect with.
You’ve had chart success in a short time, which demonstrates the quality of the album. In your homeland of Canada you reached top 5 and top 25 US on the charts. Touring with big-name rock bands and performing at some well-known rock festivals, Congratulations!
Thank you.
How do you define success? What is success to you as a band? What are your long-term goals as a relatively new band?
Our version of success is to ultimately be able to reach enough people, and build enough of a fan base so that we can support ourselves. Anything more is just gravy if we are talking about the realities of making music for a living. On a more self-fulfilling note, if just one person has been touched by our music then we have already won.
Having said you wanted to show a different side to the band with your cover of "River" what side were you trying to show through this cover?
I wanted to show some more depth. I know a lot of people probably see us as a more riff-rock type outfit, but this is obviously a little more on the pop/alternative side. It’s the first time I’ve really been able to sing with more vocal riffing in an R&B/Soul kind of way, which I love. I also thought that it was a cool way to break the stereotype that rockers only listen to rock music, suggesting that covering a top 40 song would show our more vast musical taste.
What are your top 3 tracks on the album, which ones would connect with people the most in your opinion?
This is a tough one. It varies from day to day! I personally think Flies In ‘The Honey’, ‘In Your Hands’ and ‘Papercuts’ are my favourite.
What were you trying to say with this album?
I didn’t seek out to prove anything to anyone, or conceptually derive a thematic type of album, but instead focused on writing what I felt to be true and real to myself. At the time I was overthinking everything, I really wanted to paint this perfect picture until I realized that’s the most phoney thing I could’ve done. Being honest is the only thing that makes you, you. I guess in a nutshell, as time has passed, the record represents authenticity and not giving a damn about what others think about you. To be yourself is all that you can do.
The stereotypical depiction of a rock band is usually a group of angry, moody, man-children that like to blow their own trumpet and throw their toys out the pram.
You’ve said you don’t take yourself too seriously as a band, and to us, your band doesn’t seem to fit into this stereotype, do you think your band breaks this stereotype and what stereotypes within the genre do you think need to be changed?
I’m glad it comes across that way. That sort of depiction is a thing of the past. It’s very rare to find a young rock band that is demonstrating these old tropes, and we took notice of that to implement in our own presentation. That being said, there is nothing wrong with showing who you really are, if it fits into some of those typical rock and roll stereotypes then who cares, be you. My main issue with the genre is the idea that rock must be overly tough, overly macho, wildly flashy, and riddled with overindulgence. Those are the things that make rock “cheesy” to a lot of people. I like to take notes from the 90s because that seemed to be the decade where rock was just about being honest. That seems to be where we are today although a lot of the bigger Active Rock bands that are typically, older, still implement those clichés. Now if it works, it works, I get that, and we all have mouths to feed and people to care for but at what cost? I’d hate to see rock diminish into this parody of itself as it did with Hair Metal, but the newer generation seems to be fixing these issues, hopefully, us included.
The Photoshoot for the band was in LA how did you find the city of angels, is it what you expected?
I moved there when I was 16-17 with stars in my eyes and rock in my heart. It was everything you’d think it would be. The stereotypes are all true. At the end of the day, it’s just a city and a great city is nothing without great people. I loved the weather, but there was definitely was a lot of LA “fakery”, it just didn’t seem right. It doesn’t live up to the hype, but nothing does when you’re deep in it, it’s cool for a month and then it’s just another place that you live.
In reference to writing music, You said you’ve been writing but it feels like forced creativity, as that’s all you can do with the lockdown. How have you dealt with the lockdown and how are you staying connected during this time to create a balance between work and other aspects of your life to maintain your mental health?
It’s been tough, much like what other people are experiencing. It was definitely a hard process trying to write for the new Deluxe version of our record, but things needed to keep on keeping on. At the end of the day, if my band wants to remain relevant, it’s not a matter of choice to not work, I have to much like any other business owner. We were very fortunate to have a great summer here in Toronto, so that was a big sigh of relief and I could relax but as the weather is getting colder, and things are starting to get worse, I’m back to being confined in my house. One thing that has always kept me going, is taking care of my physical well-being as the mind and body connection is really important to me. I am always working out and keeping myself in shape, I find it really helps my head. Even though gyms are closed, there are so many great body work-out routines you can find on YouTube that it’s been really easy for me actually. Establishing a routine has been helping me feel productive, even though there’s not much we can be doing these days. I am also always keeping up on my guitar playing and singing techniques every day because it feels good and I just have a lot of fun playing.
A lot of Rock, Metal, Punk genre fans and even artists often tend to be snobby purists of the genre.
e.g. where hardcore bands/fans mock top 40 chart success within the genre with a bitter taste in their mouths towards artists, such as Green Day, Evanescence, Good Charlotte and even Marilyn Manson.
Definitely, back in the day when this genre was gaining momentum again within the top40 charts.
Have you experienced this yourself, nowadays?
As you have said you like a large variety of music in another interview, yet when giving examples of bands that might surprise people you seemed particularly, cautious to name artists that might be “acceptable” deviations from the genre and a bit uncomfortable when mentioning artists you seemed to think might not be received as acceptable, such as ‘The Carpenters’.
You also said “Don’t judge a book by its cover” in reference to music tastes. Then in another interview, you said you feel like “people don’t know what good music is they just listen to what they are told to on the radio”.
Could you talk us through this dichotomy and what do you consider good or bad music?
Great question. I myself have never ever looked down upon a band solely based off the fact that they are successful. If anything, that legitimizes their abilities to connect with so many people and is a testament to the work ethic they must have to achieve that kind of success. I’d say that most of my favourite rock bands are generally on the popular side, but that’s also because I like pop songwriting. I enjoy some underground stuff here and there but a big, catchy chorus will always get me every time. I don’t think my band can officially be subjected to this idea because we are not a huge rock band so that leaves us out of the equation.
The reason I had been so apprehensive at the time was because we were promoting my record in the USA, where the idea of rock is much more close-minded, at least in “radio-rock” standards. It’s a lot more homogenized over there, and most of the successful bands that dominate the rock charts sound very similar. I was afraid that people would denounce our music if I admitted to liking music I thought they wouldn’t appreciate.
That’s prejudice on my part because it’s not right to assume that those people aren’t open-minded and accepting, although I was lead to believe this to be the case based off of what we know about American culture. In Canada, it’s a totally different ballpark. We appreciate it all. Our rock radio co-exists with alternative music and is much more inclusive in the types of bands we play. I don’t know why that is, but it is the truth.
I said don’t judge a book by its cover because people look at me and think I’m just a metalhead, which is partially true, but not the full truth of the matter. The reason I said “people don’t know what good or bad music is etc” obviously doesn’t apply to everybody, but it is most definitely true that when something is backed really hard by a large company, and it’s constantly being thrown into your face, people will respond.
Music is a product much like anything else and we see trends come and go all the time, whether it be fashion, food, film, etc. These things become successful in waves, and a lot of people don’t know why they just want to be validated by their peers, so they join this mass community of people to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves.
It’s hard to define what good and bad music is because music is totally subjective, that’s the beauty of it and if you like it, then it is good to you, but we have to remember that not everyone listens to music in-depth. Some people are just casual listeners and that is totally cool, they are more passive with the things they enjoy whereas people more passionate about music will have a much stronger opinion, like myself. To me, we’re comparing apples and oranges here.
You agreed with an interviewer –“ to an extent” that said it was “sad that tattoos were so mainstream nowadays”, which is why you only have one. Considering everyone from Polynesians, sailors and prisoners were tattooing before any of these genres existed. If lots of people want one, why do you take issue with this? To us, it seems that it has helped that tattoos are normalised, especially in the workplace. Do you think tattoos can’t just be decorative, if so why? Could you share your views on tattoos and clarify what you meant by this?
I never said that it was “sad” tattoos were getting so mainstream, that was the interviewer’s words. If I had said that, I wouldn’t have got one, but two tattoos actually. I have no issue with tattoos at all, I think they are badass. If you want to tattoo yourself I’m all for it, it doesn’t matter at all what I think because it is your body and you can do whatever you like. What I said was that I am not subscribing to the “tatted rocker” look for the sake of just looking the part, I’d rather journey through life and mark myself when things are significant to me. That is all. Keep getting tatted. Keep doing you. I have a conch piercing as well, so I am all for body art.
As a direct quote “ I mean I would definitely agree with that to an extent, that’s why I only have one. it’s sort of identifiable to me it’s like my mark[…]
Although we did feel that interviewer led you with the question and thought you may have just agreed on the spot due to politeness or to be agreeable, so thank you for clarifying your actual beliefs regarding tattoos.
You said in another interview it’s unlikely that people are going to pick up on new songs during the pandemic unless you’re an artist like Drake with an established following, yet many unknown artists’ songs have gone viral on Tik Tok during the pandemic with breakout hits on the charts e.g. Curtis Waters and there was an article on Billboard in June talking about a large amount of hit breakout singles by unknown artists released during the pandemic, do you think it is possible for a rock song to achieve viral success on the platform?
I never said that. “Interviewer- “In a roundabout way, it’s not in direct quotes.” What I said was that it is much harder for a smaller band, with a smaller following to succeed in a time like this. I used Drake as an example because he doesn’t rely on many others for his success, he’s made it, whereas smaller bands need a lot more work to be done by a larger team of people. Drake can drop a song on Twitter and that’s it, whereas a lot of others don’t have that kind of opportunity. To be clear, I am not knocking Drake in the slightest, it was just to set an example. I know that you can get a TikTok hit for sure, but it’s not organic at all. It’s as simple as paying an influencer to dance to your song and boom, you got a hit. That’s what everyone is doing these days. Don’t believe in things like “overnight success” anymore, it doesn’t exist. Everything is much more planned and contrived than you know.
From listening and reading your interviews you repeatedly suggested you don’t like the marketing side of things especially with regard to social media and building a following, is it too addictive? Have you considered employing a social media manager to take the pressure off a bit?
I don’t like what it’s doing to our brains. Much like everyone else. We all know this is a poison, slowly stripping our lives away but we continue to use these mediums because it’s impossible not to for many work-related reasons, and we are just simply addicted to the dopamine rush it gives us. Of course, I understand that digital marketing is the modern way of doing these things, and I do my best to engage with as many people as I possibly can. In many ways, it’s an amazing, beautiful thing that we can all reach each other at the touch of a button but it’s also sucking away our social lives and making us miserable. I am addicted to Instagram. I check it subconsciously, like every 5 minutes. It sucks but it’s a necessary evil. I do social media stuff myself because I want people to get a feel for my personality.
What’s next for the band, any live stream performances or socially distanced gigs on the horizon?
We have a Deluxe version of our album coming out November 19th. Check it out! There’s a bunch of new songs that I think you will enjoy.