DS Interview: My dinner with Boybrain
I was recently able to sit down with Chicago-based punk band Boybrain, who happen to be tied for the number one spot on my favorite local bands list. The band has a new single, “Ratmouth,” coming out this October; watch for it on your favorite streaming services. You can see them perform at Hands Off Our Fest (H.O.O.F.) October 19th in Blue Island. Find me and say hi, I’ll be at there without a doubt.
I discovered Boybrain early during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, when live music was nowhere to be found and live streams had to fill the void. I caught a broadcast from Liar’s Club that included previously recorded performances. There was a lot of great stuff in the stream, but the one that left the biggest impression on me was “Owl” by Boybrain. Flash-forward to venues opening up and shows happening again. On July 17th 2021 I was able to see live music for the first time in over a year, and boy howdy, I was on my way to Blood People, Aweful, and mother fuckin’ Boybrain at Liar’s Club! The show was nothing short of amazing. If I wasn’t already hooked on Boybrain when I got there, I sure as hell was by the time I left.
Over the next 3 years I saw just about every local performance Boybrain played. Multiple times at both Liar’s and the Bottle, once at Cobra Lounge and even once at Green Mill. I don’t know how I got so lucky, but on my birthday in 2022 Boybrian shared a bill with my good friends Aweful and my other favorite local band, Djunah! It was the best birthday present I could have asked for.
Boybrain consists of Patti on guitar and vocals. Hailing from Florida, she moved here for film school and thankfully decided to stay here and make music. Jon, who recently joined the band on bass duty, comes to Chicago from Detroit by way of Memphis. Inga, ripper of lead guitar, and Colin, smasher of drums, are both Chicago natives.
As we were about to begin the interview they joked about how fun it must be for me to interview a bunch of awkward introverts. On the contrary, their demeanor put my own awkward introverted anxiety to rest and the interview was a ton of fun. We sat down to food-up at Feed while we conducted the interview before walking over to their rehearsal space to take photos. Boybrain has been eating at Feed for a while now, religiously going there on Mondays when they practice. Taking a deep inhale of the atmosphere in Feed, Colin remarked,
“I like a layer of fry oil in the air.”
The band rehearses in the annex of Superior Street Studios where they are part of an excellent community. They currently share their room with Stick Fight. They used to share with Wizzo as well, who have since moved into a room next door. Their friends Something is Waiting practice in the room across from theirs. While the other tenants in the annex are great, the vending situation leaves much to be desired.
“The vending machines in the big space are awesome, but ours is a pop machine that doesn’t even work. They don’t care about us. Second class”
Even though I’ve never seen them put on a bad show, Boybrain is not immune to pre-show jitters. As a ritual Patti, who is usually not a drinker, always downs one shot of whiskey to calm her nerves. I’d wager it’s more a placebo than anything else, but since learning this I have had the privilege to take the pre-show shot with her multiple times now.
Shortly after this interview was conducted, Boybrain debuted a new song titled Nailbox at their home away from home, Liar’s Club. When asked, Inga described the song as “Another Opus” to which Patti added,
“It’s Another Exquisite corpse that is just parts smushed together.”
The song was written about a former member of Mr. Bungle, who had recently been arrested on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend. This was unsettling news for Patti, Mr. Bungle being her favorite band. The story went off the rails into a conversation about Nu Metal. How it was influenced by Bungle and Faith No More, and the role the soundtrack for Judgment Night played in its inception. Jon had this to say on the subject,
“I love Pantera, I just hate when other people try to sound like them.”
We discussed the pros and cons of the band’s recent show at Empty Bottle. One con was they had to headline the show, which they don’t like to do ever. Inga explained they like to open shows and leave the stage. Colin added, “Without vomiting.” Yup, there’s a story to go with that!
It was Colin’s first show at the Empty Bottle. He didn’t get much sleep the night before and he neglected to eat before the show. After loading in and doing a sound check, he was able to stop back at home, so he took an hour nap and ate a lot of spaghetti. Like three bowls of spaghetti. When it was time to play, the corner of the stage where the drums are was blistering hot as always. By the end of their set, Colin knew he was definitely going to throw up, but he thought he could make it to the end of the song. He did in fact, make it to the end of the song, and was just barely able to make it out to the alley to vomit. And get locked out. And vomit more, and more, while the rest of the band searched for him inside the venue. Inga recalled finally going out to the alley and wondering who had spilled all this spaghetti, to which Colin responded,
“You couldn’t tell it was used?”
We went on to discuss other music-related mishaps. Patti recalled almost passing out from the heat at a show in Arkansas. She briefly lost consciousness but somehow her body continued to play while a lesser mortal would have collapsed to the floor. Inga wasn’t as lucky, recalling a time she fell face-first on the stage after a drunk asshole in the audience grabbed her foot in the middle of their set.
We spent some time talking about previous bands everyone had been in, which led to the realization of how glad they are that none of them drink at band practice. Drinking at practice is a great way to waste 6 hours accomplishing nothing. Listening back to recordings the next day you thought would be awesome only to find out it’s terrible and you played like shit.
“In your 20s it’s what you do, because you’re just fitting music into your drugs and alcohol schedule and hanging out. Now we actually just care about the music.”
Having met the band so many times at this point, I felt embarrassed I hadn’t asked where their name came from before now. I guess I didn’t need to feel that bad though, because Colin chimed in that he had never asked either. Patti explained there are two reasons for the name. The first is that Patti calls Inga a boybrain, because Inga has a boybrain. The second being an article Patti read, possibly by Stephen King, (we don’t fully remember who wrote it). The author discussed the adrenaline and psychology of what happens when you watch horror movies, and explained that it is more of a male brain thing. Being both female and a tremendous horror fan herself (the whole band loves horror), she thought:
“That was like, so fucking stupid.”
Having always gotten a degree of a horror vibe from Boybrain’s music, I asked Patti if that was indeed an influence on her song’s subjects and lyrics. Inga pointed out they’ve come mostly from true crime. Patti explains she’s not really motivated by things like love and heartbreak, she’s more interested in writing about anger and things that are fucked up, like killing. She pulls a lot from movies and documentaries and such, which are usually about men behaving badly. However none of Patti’s lyrics are completely literal, she writes them through her own lens turning them somewhat autobiographical. Florida is another subject that frequently pops up in her songs. Collin adds, “Plenty of true crime happens in Florida.” Patti continues, “It is a scary place. Yeah, born and raised there, so it’s terrifying. It’s horrible there so there’s a lot to pull from.
Dying Scene will be covering Boybrain and other artists at Hands Off Our Festival (HOOF) this October. Here are some questions we asked the band about the fest.
What are you looking forward to the most at HOOF this year?
“We’re looking forward to dressing up for Halloween, baby! Playing a show dressed up in crazy as fuck costumes is so fun. We’re horror nerds so we take dress-up time very seriously [clown emoji, tongue-out winking emoji]. We’re also looking forward to playing with a bunch of bands that we’ve never played with before… like Sweetie and Carnivore Mommy! “
What does HOOF mean to you?
“HOOF is a rad festival that centers around women and queers….. without the typical sausage fest vibes that surround a lot of venues, bands and festivals (we see you Riot Fest). It also reminds us of riot grrrl era shit…and we’re here for that.”
Why should people go?
“People should go to support women who play the fuck outta some music.”
There you have it. Once again, remember to listen to their new single, Ratmouth, which will be on streaming services this October! Don’t miss them at Hands Off Our Fest (HOOF) October 19th!!!