Brooklyn

The band name may be Brooklyn, but only one member has ever set foot in the famous borough. "We were actually just looking for a cool name" says Ben Ellis, the slight lead singer with flawless english and a striking resemblance to a younger Julian Casablancas. "I saw this ad for a book called Last Exit to Brooklyn [Hubert Selby Jr.'s brilliant but grueling 1964 novel], and we though we'd just shorten it to Brooklyn because we liked the way it sounded". It's a fitting moniker for a band -made up of Ellis, softly pensive bassist Jane Lane (the lone female), doe-eyed and laky-limbed drummer Leo Colson, and guitariste DB, whose quiestly confident demeanor hints at the fact that he is older and more experienced than his bandmates-whose guitar-driver sound and earnest vocals would be right at home there. "We're not like the English or Americans where the mainstream is the pop and rock music, we don't have that at all", explains Ellis. "I mean we've always had rock but it's been political, and now it's a bit different because you have groups like us who only sing pop songs about life and love with no political message. And i think that's something France never ever saw before, and that's why Parisians now enjoy it so much because suddenly there is something different". Rest assured Parisians enjoy Brooklyn - an impromptu saturday night acoustic set at their local dive bar of choice, the Shebeen, was met with resounding approval. And while captivating songs like "Clandestine" and "Stay Around" that intermingle pop and rock to remarkable effect are certainly not about politics, they are nonetheless making a statement of their own. As DB astutely points out, "the fact is, to sing in English in France is already a political act in itself." FV - NYLON MAGAZINE (USA)

The band name may be Brooklyn, but only one member has ever set foot in the famous borough. "We were actually just looking for a cool name" says Ben Ellis, the slight lead singer with flawless english and a striking resemblance to a younger Julian Casablancas. "I saw this ad for a book called Last Exit to Brooklyn [Hubert Selby Jr.'s brilliant but grueling 1964 novel], and we though we'd just shorten it to Brooklyn because we liked the way it sounded". It's a fitting moniker for a band -made up of Ellis, softly pensive bassist Jane Lane (the lone female), doe-eyed and laky-limbed drummer Leo Colson, and guitariste DB, whose quiestly confident demeanor hints at the fact that he is older and more experienced than his bandmates-whose guitar-driver sound and earnest vocals would be right at home there. "We're not like the English or Americans where the mainstream is the pop and rock music, we don't have that at all", explains Ellis. "I mean we've always had rock but it's been political, and now it's a bit different because you have groups like us who only sing pop songs about life and love with no political message. And i think that's something France never ever saw before, and that's why Parisians now enjoy it so much because suddenly there is something different". Rest assured Parisians enjoy Brooklyn - an impromptu saturday night acoustic set at their local dive bar of choice, the Shebeen, was met with resounding approval. And while captivating songs like "Clandestine" and "Stay Around" that intermingle pop and rock to remarkable effect are certainly not about politics, they are nonetheless making a statement of their own. As DB astutely points out, "the fact is, to sing in English in France is already a political act in itself." FV - NYLON MAGAZINE (USA)