Brazos, meaning ‘arms’ in Spanish, is a band that wants to touch you. Inspired by visual art and literature as much as blues-based rock, country and classic alternative, Martin Crane, the creator of Brazos, is spinning short stories.
Sophomore album, ‘Saltwater,’ marks Crane’s move from Austin to Brooklyn, new collaborators and a shift from simpler songwriter fare to more layered, propulsivejangle-pop. He not only writes his lyrics, he also writes liner notes and directs videos. Meaning is as important as the listening experience. Even with all that careful construction, Brazos sounds breezy and light.
Your first full-length, ‘Phosphorescent Blues, ‘ cited lots of influences–Adrienne Rich poems,different genres, even visual art. But Saltwater is a more personal, stylistically of-the-moment album. What brought you here?
It’s just what I was feeling. I moved, so that kind of uproots everything.
It ‘s unusual to see liner notes these days, like what ‘s on your site–especially written by the artist. Do you feel your audience needs to understand your lyrics from your perspective?
Haha, yeah! I think that people are entitled to their own thoughts, but I also think that even if I was to explain everything that I’m trying to say in prose kind of terms that there would be room for your own thoughts. If you ask the right question, you can’t answer it. If you explain a person with a wide lens, you can’t really say who the person is.
Do you view your music as a form of poetry?
No, songs and poems are different. They are both sensual, but so much is said in a melody. I like the idea that songs can be read as a poem, but I wouldn’t call it poetry. I think structurally, songs that are more like poems get at something different–like when you think about how a thought works, it’s more like a poem than a song. It unfolds, rarely repeats.
You moved to Brooklyn pretty recently, which I read was to break a rut and make change. Has the new location made a significant impact on your music?
I can’t be loud in my apartment, so everything I write is on a computer now. All the ambient music in the neighborhood I live in is Hot 97. That’s definitely different than Austin.
Reviews I ‘ve seen cite popular indie bands you could be referencing. Who would you say your musical influences were?
I was listening to a bunch of long, drawn-out jammy stuff from the ’70s like Can and Fela and some of the Pharaoh Sanders. But who is to say what an influence is. Reviews hear what they want.
You signed to a pretty well-known indie label–how did that affect producing ‘Saltwater ‘?
Phil and company are very hands off when it comes to making records. We pretty much recorded this record in the same way as the first one – spending a few days in a studio and then home recording the rest of it.
You ‘ve toured with some well-known indie bands–Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend, The National–and now you ‘ll be touring with Cayucas. Does who you tour with impact your live show or your music?
I guess I don’t know. I haven’t thought about that. Live playing is so much more fun than recording.
