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Fresh off the release of their latest album, Machine Machine, we caught up with electronic duo Brothel in Belize. The album explores the omnipresence of machinery, and how modern life is intertwined with the mechanics, sonically navigated through modular synths and inventive musical hardware. Eager to learn more about this unique approach, we sat down with the duo: 

OnesToWatch: I always start my interviews with: why do you do what you do? But in your case, why do you duo what you do? 

Anita: Definitely for the love. 

I love love. 


Anita: I love music. 


Were there any other interests competing for your love, or just music? 

Ethan: Just music for me.

Anita: I mean, you have a big love for hardware. 

Ethan: True, it was either audio engineer or this. So this happened. 

Sometimes you can do both. 

Anita: And you are. 

I'd be remiss to not ask about your band name, given it is probably one of the more interesting band names
I've come across in some time. What is the origin story? 

Anita: The origin story is also our origin story, in a way. We actually met in Belize on a family vacation. We were both in the hotel lobby, and just started talking about music randomly. 

Ethan: We were talking about our favorite bands and just became friends. 


Anita: Ethan started working on some stuff on his own time, and so did I. We made the name off of that. 

I'm here for alliteration. Did you guys have any context of who each other were or was it literally just meeting strangers? 

Ethan: Oh, not at all. We’re both from Canada, but totally the opposite coasts. We connected more after the trip. 

Where did you guys originally come from? 

Anita: I grew up in Toronto, Ethan in Vancouver. 


Oh, cool. And then you did what everyone does, which is moving to Montreal for cheaper rent. I’m always interested in bands and duos these days, given that there's a real deficit of them. Most people seem to be solo artists. But, what makes being in a band work for you? 

Anita: We've always loved the same things. We've always connected to the same sounds, and we just wanted to create that together, create something new, and expand on something we once loved. What makes it interesting is the impact it has on us, the impact it creates on the outside too. 


Love that. Do you have a writing process? Do you have roles and responsibilities? 


Anita: It's different every time we get on the laptop, but we usually co-produce back and forth. Sometimes Ethan's up until 4 AM and he makes 4 songs, then I listen to them and make vocals after. 


Do you both write or Anita, do you write exclusively? 

Anita: Yeah, I write exclusively. 

When you guys are working, do you have a system for deciding– if you disagree on something– what works and what doesn't work? How do you resolve that? 

Anita: It's always a feeling. 


Ethan: Lyrics-wise, I always let Anita do her thing. I don't think we've ever had a disagreement there. 


Anita: Sometimes we choose to drop a couple songs because they’re just not sitting the same way they did 2 weeks ago. 

Ethan: But we’re pretty much on the same page. 

I love the cohesion.
What is, for each one of you, your worst idea that ended up becoming your best idea for the project?

Anita: Once we finished the full album, we were showing it to a couple of our friends, and someone really liked something, but then we listened to something really old that we made at the beginning of the album process….

Ethan: And we realized we actually really liked that old song. We ended up replacing it last minute. 

In regards to self-editing, how did you know what to leave out and what to include on this recent project? Was there a theme you were adhering to? 

Anita: Usually I listen to everything we have, organizing and re-organizing, and usually it’s clear when something doesn’t fit. Or we’ll be in the process of working on something and I can tell it’s not feeling right. 

Ethan: Personally, I go through a playlist that inspired the song, and then play the song right after. I take myself out of the artist mindset and picture myself as a fan. If I were listening to music and this next song came on the playlist, would I skip it or not? We've dropped a few songs like that, I'd say. 

I love that approach, and I think it takes some courage to separate yourself from the work. 

Anita: See, I'm too connected. 


Do you guys have ambitions for a project when you put it out there? 

Anita: For this album, we wanted it to be a concept, and obviously, the name is Machine Machine, so we wanted everything to fit that machine perspective. It was all done with hardware, so you can really hear it. The concept, though, is very different from the creation, but it also connects in a way. 


Is there any sort of AI criticism in the title at all? 

Anita: Not AI, but definitely how machines surround us in everyday life. We tried to turn that into emotions and turn systems into songs. 

Do your projects anticipate each other? Does your next work on the horizon correlate at all? 

Anita: They definitely correlate in the genre, but we’re just always trying to expand on ourselves. 

Ethan: The sonics change a lot, but the feeling is still there. Maybe the story flows through a few albums, but the sonics are going to be totally different for every album. 

Love it. I'm gonna pivot to some fun questions and personality tests.
When you guys are on the road or after a long session and you just really need a meal that relaxes you, do you have a band meal? 

Anita: For the shows, we always get a veggie bowl. We love dipping veggies in sauce. What would you say after, though? 


Ethan: We don't really eat after shows. We just eat at the show. After a studio session though, we love sushi. 

How do you search for inspiration? 

Anita: I love going on walks or traveling. I recently went to Europe and it was pretty inspiring, just the whole artistic scene. I was in Berlin. I got to see one of the smaller bands that me and Ethan recently got into, it was great. 

How do you pick places to travel to?

Anita: Just based on feeling. I feel like I do everything that way. 

How do you find inspiration, Ethan? 

Ethan: I listen to music. I’ll try listening to different genres outside of the realm of what our music is. 

Individually, what is your most prized possession? 

Anita: The thing that we can get most creative with is definitely the Buchla, the modular system that we have, and something called the Cric. It has a pin matrix. There's a lot you can do with it. 

Oh, wow. 

Ethan: Yeah, I’d agree with those two synths. They inspired a lot of the album, making weird, white noise, glitchy effects. 

What do you do to relax? 

Anita: Probably sleeping.


Ethan: We both love sleep. 

If you could kind of come up with a dream lineup, who would you play with? 

Anita: We've always loved the stage designs for Nine Inch Nails. They're pretty sick. Boy Harsher, Kap Bambino. 

Ethan: Crim3s. 

Anita: Inevitably, obviously Crystal Castles. But I wonder what they would think of us.

I think they would dig, no? Or do you guys think they would have some derivative beef? 

Anita: I think they would definitely dig and they'd like the production, especially Ethan’s. I feel like the sonics are similar in some ways. 

It's a good thing. It's a great sound. I’d love a non-music recommendation, and then a music rec from each of you. 

Anita: Visually, we've been watching all of the Matrix. That's what inspired our last music video. Also our style, our live performances, our sunglasses, leather jackets. Or Fallen Angels too.

And what about musically? 

Anita: A big part of what inspired our album and the chiptune style is a band called Gidropony. 


Ethan: They’re pretty small from the mid 2000s. 

Anita:
And 64revolt as well. 

Great recs, I have to educate myself. And then lastly, let’s end on anything you guys want to share. 

Anita: I just hope that people can understand the depth of our music. I prefer when people connect on their own with the music. 

Thank you guys so much, been super inspiring.