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Photo by Charlotte Strazis

It’s no secret that Chicago has a great music scene, and folk rock band, The Braymores, are cementing themselves as a part of that scene. Made up of Matt Tilles, vocals and guitar, Keegan Melaniphy, guitar, Russell Oren, drums, and Connor Kohanzo, bass, the band has been steadily building a fan base through their 2023 EP Talking to Trees, their 2024 debut album Who You’d Have Been, and of course, playing live. Tilles sat down to tell us all about the band’s sophomore album, When The Lights Went Out, playing live, and joining the Artists That Have A Song Titled "August" Club. 

OnesToWatch: Who are the Braymores?

Matt Tilles of The Braymores: We are an indie rock band from Chicago, founded in 2022. We make music reminiscent of, this is such a basic comparison but, The Backseat Lovers, we really like Cage the Elephant. 

Since you’re bringing up some of your influences, let’s talk about the sound on the album. We hear different sounds on the album, really bright and summery on “Thought Control” versus “Up in My Head” with the acoustic guitar, are there any specific sonic inspirations on this album?

We were trying to be a bit more edgy this time. We wanted to go for something more vibrato-y sound with our pedals, more of a muddy thing. In terms of projects that inspired it, probably something from Cage the Elephant, Melophobia or Tell Me I’m Pretty. 

When The Lights Went Out is your sophomore album. What has changed between your debut album, Who You’d Have Been, and now, besides trying to be a bit edgier?

We’ve been really honing in on our sound more. We were able to get it done quicker too, we learned about recording and put some of that to use. We didn’t have a huge leap in production but we were able to record the drums in a new place, so I think we got the drums to sound a bit better. In terms of songwriting, we’ve just matured as songwriters. We started writing stories more from a character perspective instead of only being about ourselves, which was fun to do. The people are very exaggerated. 

What is your songwriting process as a band? Does everyone come in with their own ideas? Are you doing the lyrics since you’re mainly the one on vocals?

In this new album, Keegan actually wrote almost half the album. We always write together, but what I mean is that Keegan wrote a lot of the hooks. On “Thought Control” he kind of wrote that hook. We like to sit around and play chords and mumble garbage over it. We sit around mumbling and then we always find the melody first and listen back to what we were singing and then try and fill in the words. 

There’s a song on this album called “August,” and we are approaching the month of August. But, I feel like August is a popular month for artists, flipturn, Noah Kahan, Taylor Swift, you guys. What was it about August for you guys that led to this song?

You’re right. When we were putting it out we were like “flipturn has that song ‘August’,” but ours is actually about my friend named August, it wasn’t even about the month really. They’re a friend from when I was young. I can’t really explain what it’s about, it doesn't make a ton of sense. I told him I’d write a song for him. 

Do you have a favorite August song from the other ones that are out there?

It’d have to be the flipturn one. We got to meet them. We were playing SXSW and their photographer came to our set and invited us to meet them. It was kind of magical. They were all super nice.

I want to talk about playing live. You guys opened for Kids That Fly and echo plum, did you get a chance to play unreleased songs from the upcoming album? 

We were. We didn’t play a ton of it. This album is actually kind of hard to play live so we’ve been really practicing. Sometimes when we write a song we’re not thinking about playing it live. Especially me with the vocals, I'm not making it easy for myself. We played two of the new songs, we played “Puppy Eyes” and “Moray,” and then we’ve just been really practicing the past month.

What was the audience reaction like? 

It was always pretty solid. It was our first big tour but I think everyone had a good time. I hope. 

I’m sure they did! And maybe someone from those crowds is now your new biggest fan.

We were saying that! The songs aren’t out yet so we’ll see if people rock with it. We’re actually breaking out new material that isn’t on the album which is kind of stupid. 

No, I love that. If you have the momentum. 

Yeah we’re going to play that one at Lolla.

So glad you brought up Lollapalooza. You guys are from Chicago so I’m sure it’s particularly special and exciting to be playing this festival. What was it like when you found out you’d be performing and how do you prepare for that?

I actually got the phone call. I was kind of being a bum and woke up late and answered the call from our agent and he was like “I have crazy news, you guys got Lolla!” and I jumped up from bed, ran around the house to find someone to tell and no one was home. So I had to just sit there and think about it. The other guys hadn’t gone to Lolla, I think maybe Keegan had, but I went since I was 14 so it’s really special. I have so many special memories, it made me fall in love with music. I would go every year when I was in high school. I met Cage the Elephant there one year and I was going to tell them “I’m going to make a band one day!” but I was too scared so I didn’t.

You guys also have your own headline tour in August in addition to opening for Willis. How does prep for these tours differ from festival prep? 

With the headline we have a bit more leeway to play songs that aren’t just our top ten songs. We’re going to play the new album but we can play a few more songs and also have moments to speak and connect with the crowd. With Willis we’re going to try and keep it fast and play as much as possible. 

Who are your OnesToWatch?

I’ve been preparing for this. I love this band, I found them this year. I love their music and all the guys make fun of me, they’re called Feet. It’s kind of a sleazy indie and they’re from the UK, super cool. I saw them open for the All American Rejects and then we went to see them a few more times. 

Listen to When The Lights Went Out below: