Brandy and the Butcher
Interview conducted on June 17, 2020
By Dan Locke
Brandy and the Butcher “We are a punk, we are sleaze, we will rock you whenever we please.”
Band Members
Elizabeth Hale, Kevin Brewer, Roger Shattuck, Jay Matheson
It may be 2020, but South Carolina punks Brandy and the Butcher party like it’s 1979. A staple in Columbia’s heavy music scene, this outfit channels CBGB’s with every stage they step on. After releasing several singles and EPs to many accolades, Brandy and the Butcher is now putting out their debut LP Dick Circus on August 21st, 2020.
What is your upbringing?
Jay Matheson: I grew up in rural South Carolina. My parents were schoolteachers.
How did you discover music?
My parents had some Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass records. I think they got a year of being in a record club and just took the default choice of the month. Since Herb Albert owned the company, I think his records were the default choice if you did not order something. I played them and jumped around pretending to play trumpet.
How did you start to write music?
I started out playing in cover bands and we had tried to write a few songs. They were terrible because they sounded like bad versions of the cover songs we were playing. It was only after being immersed in the original music scene that writing started working.
Tell me about the South Caroline punk music scene?
The punk scene has been strong here for many years. The late 80s and 90s were the big Columbia SC punk heyday. There are still a few good bands but the large, punk specific crowds are not really nearly as large as back then. The kids in their teens and early 20s seem more into Indy stuff. There are a few rowdy bands that still draw what is basically a punk crowd in Columbia.
How do you channel CBGB’s?
We are all older and were influenced by the classic early bands and never listened to much modern punk. We are also not part of any specific scene so our end product seems to be based off of early rock and roll and bands like the Stooges etc…. Liz’s vocal style can lean into New Wave a bit so we are in a very grey area stylistically. I think a lot of CBGB era bands fell into that sort of category and just did their own thing. The crowd had to learn to dig what was presented.
What was your first performance at like?
Our first performance was at a local spot called the Art Bar. We played first and only had 6-7 songs. It was a decent show. Of the songs, we played then only three are still in our set.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
Our first song that we wrote with Liz was Earthquake I think. We recorded it and put it out as a single on Bandcamp. I wrote the riff as a tribute to the Stooges because Roger and I are big Stooges fans. It was Rogers’s third rehearsal with us. Kevin and I had written some songs before Liz and Roger joined but I do not think we kept any of them.
How did you start the band?
Kevin and I (Jay) had planned to start a rock and roll band after he retired from the Army. He knew Roger (also retired Army) as an Army musician and I knew Liz because she booked a local bar. She had not been in a band for many years but I knew she was a fun person.
How the band did gets its name?
Liz made it up. She just thought it sounded cool and we went with it.
Tell me about the band mascot, Ziggy #punkdogs.
Ziggy is my girlfriend Lindsay’s standard poodle. She loves to dress Ziggy up and take pictures of her. Ziggy is a spirited dog that loves to ham it up for the camera. There will be many Brandy/Ziggy outfits and photos in the future.
Tell me about your first single, “Ballerina”?
As with most of our songs, I play guitar riffs until someone says they like one and then we move forward. Liz writes the lyrics. Kevin had been waiting for a chance to have a big cowbell song. I really like the early 70s hard rock so it is definitely that sort of song. I think our sound in general is focused on an early 70s vibe.
You debut LP comes out on August 21. Tell me about it?
We had been planning to do a 12″ Lp for a while but were struggling to get enough songs together to fill it up with what we thought was a good record with no filler songs. The art was done by our Jason Kendall and we’re stoked about the cover. I (Jay) recorded it. I’ve been recording bands for a living for over 30 years.
Why is it name Dick Circus?
Liz has a long-distance stalker that has been causing her some hefty stress. He referred to the three us once as her “dick circus” so she decided to write a song about the situation.
What is your favorite track on the album?
Ballerina. I think it is our best song. Live people get very excited when we play it. It is unlike our other songs and helps make many people check us out.
Elizabeth what is it like to work in a lumberyard?
Dirty, but the food truck that pulled up at 7 am with tasty egg sandwiches made it somehow worth it. We also had a colony of feral cats that I fed, even took one home, and named him Kugel after one of my favorite foods. I did not eat the cat FYI.
Since you are a Jill of all trades can, you do house repairs.
Really? I can paint and replace the door hardware. IKEA furniture assembly in a pinch. These days I am more about growing tomatoes and preparing for the Apocalypse.
How do you stay healthy while touring?
Copious amounts of bourbon.
Elizabeth- You say you are into Suzi Quatro. Are you going to see her movie at the end of the month?
Suzi Q? Fuck yes. She is an inspiration and an icon. I even still listen to Stumblin’ In…- A woman that can reinvent herself as she did is a template well worth looking at. Look at me, I am 47 and in a punk rock band. Think I would think that was possible without her?
Click here to see review of Suzi Quatro Movie.
Has the Me Too Movement help female performers?
Helped? In what way? As much as things have changed so many things, they still stay the same. We still have work to do.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
Jay Matheson: It’s working alright for us but it would be nice to be able to sell more Cds and Lps at shows and stores. Streaming definitely made that more difficult.
Digital vs. vinyl?
I guess we do both. We only made 500 copies of our LP and people can only listen to them at home so I’d think that most of the time people will listen digitally away from their home stereo. We love the way the record sounds on vinyl. The overall vibe if much thicker and has a better vibe in general. The LP sound definitely suits out retro sound and is sonically better than the digital versions.
What are your feelings about the social uprising going on in the United States?
I personally feel that these uprisings are going to occur when a segment of the population cannot be heard otherwise. Protests are a part of people being heard and often lead to important changes that the leadership in place should have done already.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? In addition, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Looking for a Kiss by the Dolls maybe. It is a classic double meaning song with drug references. I do not use drugs very often anymore but it reminds me of the decadent rock and roll lifestyle as it was presented to me when I was younger. Although my lifestyle has gotten mellower as I’ve gotten older, rock shows still make us want to be bad and do things that we probably shouldn’t. We drink and often have impure thoughts.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
The revenue from the lack of live shows is going to harm many venues and the whole idea of whipping a crowd into a frenzy seems to be missing entirely right now. I think once there is a vaccine or some sort of resolution of that nature things will return to normal somewhat but a lot of people in the business will be out of work for good after this.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I have not been nearly as productive as I would have liked. It seems like I have been in a bit of a funk. My income will be diminished for quite a while due to it. I have actually quit watching TV. We have been able to work more on prepping for the recording reel which should help it gain a wider audience hopefully.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I’ve done some video projects and learned to teach some classes via Zoom.
Give me a good BBQ recipe?
A good sauce recipe contains mustard molasses and vinegar. I used to cook chicken quarters on a charcoal grill and then mop that all over it.
Kevin has been smoking a lot of ribs lately.
Many people are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. What are you planning to do?
We have already done a handful of those as Facebook live events and are going to put a few songs from those up on our YouTube channel soon.
Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
I could not imagine earning a living by streaming concerts. Maybe someone out there can do it.
First, it was an article in the New York Times, then Rolling Stones talked about it and finally, Live Nation CEO said that concerts might not start again until the fall of 2021. Do you think this could happen?
It seems like a long time to wait. I think many venues will be doing shows by September. There is much politics at work though so maybe it will be that long. I think we will be seeing shows within three months. I am not so sure about Metallica sized ones though.
With Social Distance being the norm. Do you feel that it may be the end of music fest for the next couple of years?
I think tests will be back in March. That will be exactly one year off.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
I guess they had better get all of that ready quickly if they want to sell em this Christmas! The mosh pit is not quite the same in your living room!
Should Iggy Pop be telling Bedtime Stories?
Definitely!
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
I hope that Brandy and the Butcher will have our third album out by then and get on a few really good tours!
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Thanks for your interest in us and we are excited to get back to playing live whenever it is appropriate!
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