Recently, the Belfast indie fourpiece Brother Vice have been gaining mass attraction in their city, as well as press coverage and radio play across the UK and Ireland. Last May, the band called into Post-Burnout after a recording session at Manor Park Studio, Moneyglass, where they were working with their longtime producer Neal Calderwood, whom singer James Feely refers to as, “Probably the best in Northern Ireland, honestly.”

The band formed after calls were put out on a website that they frequented to start a band. On what brought them and what keeps them together, drummer Aidan Watters says, “We all kind of like the same sort of indie rock. Like, we’re all kind of of the same generation, through the nineties and noughties, so you’re talking anything from back in The Killers days to Biffy [Clyro]. There’s a lot between us that we have a commonality with.” “Yeah, and then work ethic, too,” adds guitarist Neil Mone. “Like having people that are actually going to put the effort in, and want to practice, and have the same common goals.”

Despite forming half a decade ago at this point, the band has only really begun gigging relatively recently, due to the pandemic. “I think it started in 2018, but I don’t think we ever got a proper gig until 2021,” says James. “It was a lot of prepping!” jokes bassist Shane McEntergart. “We had all our songs titled.”

During this time, the band committed to practicing in whatever capacity they could during the lockdown measures, and also began recording. “We were recording songs…I think we recorded our first song, ‘Ultraviolet,’ back in 2020,” says James, “and nothing happened for ages after that. Obviously, COVID and that slowed everything down, and we only really got started back up this year, or last year, was it?” The other members confirm that it was last year, and James continues, “Last year is when we were consecutively releasing songs, and writing music, and releasing them, and gigging, and that there.

After enjoying positive reception and healthy listenership and attendance numbers for their singles and gigs for quite some time now, Brother Vice release their first EP, Another Day on Earth, tomorrow. “It’s deadly!” says Aidan, when asked to describe it. James expands on this: “[It’s] four tracks and an interlude. Pretty fast-paced indie rock music. Very catchy. I think it was kind of put together very quickly.”

For Aidan, it seems that the band are still honing their craft while recording. He says, “The more stuff we do and the more we’re recording – like the likes of the interlude – we tend to throw around stuff, we mess with a few more ideas, and it’s becoming…we’re getting good, interesting vibes out of it, so I feel like this EP is kind of like that; we kind of found our sound a little bit.” “Aye,” adds James, “we experimented with it and found our own niche sound.” He continues, “Nearly the goal for the EP would be to show everybody who we are and what kind of sound we are and what we’re about, and it will just be a base for who we are and how we sound, really.”

The band celebrate the release of the EP with a launch show at The Empire Music Hall, Belfast tomorrow, and they then have further plans to perform across the UK and Ireland afterward. For a band who were secluded in the practice and recording studios for most of their career thus far, we asked them how they felt performing live differs from their familiar setting.

They all agree that it’s different, and Shane says, “See, playing live, you get more of a vibe of…it’s instant feedback, really. It’s a good buzz. Like, whereas, you record, and you wait, and you hear the recordings back, and then you release them, and you play them on Spotify, and it’s good in that way, to keep it going in the background. Whereas, if you’re playing live, like, it’s obviously great craic, and a good buzz, and a night out, and you can meet people and that, so they’re two sort of different things, but, personally, I like playing live shows.”

“Yeah, I feel when you’re in a studio, it gives you that opportunity to take a step back and be a bit more creative with what you’re doing, as opposed to just, ‘Let’s get this done. We need to play these right’ kind of thing,” says Aidan. “So, I know for me, I like the studio side of things, just for that pacing.” “No, I like playing live too, just for that instant gratification!” jokes Neil.

Brother Vice’s debut EP Another Day on Earth is out tomorrow and the band will also perform at Belfast’s Empire Music Hall tomorrow to launch the EP. You can see details for the show here. You can also keep up with the band here.

Aaron Kavanagh

Aaron Kavanagh is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Post-Burnout. His writing can also be found in the Irish Daily Star, Buzz.ie, Totally Dublin, The GOO, Headstuff, New Noise Magazine, XS Noize, DSCVRD and more.