“We Love The Brudenell”: An Interview with The Everly Pregnant Brothers

Written and Edited by Eve Moat
Interview Questions by Eve Moat
Photography by Eve Moat

Sheffield icons The Everly Pregnant Brothers have a heartfelt chat, full of laughter and jokes, just like always…

Answers by Pete McKee (ukulele, backing vocals and keys), Kieran Wardle (lead vocals) and Simon Williams (bass).

Eve: Hello, welcome back to The Gryphon’s coverage of Tramlines 2024 and I’m here with The Everly Pregnant Brothers.

Band: Woooo!

Eve: Would you like to all introduce yourselves?

Kieran: Hi. My name is Kieran.

Simon: I’m Simon.

Pete: And I’m Pete.

I’m going to ask you a few questions. I won’t take up too much of your time. Now that you have yourself as the new lead vocalist, how has this changed the band’s sound? How has the music shifted, or has it remained the same? And what has the public response been like?

Kieran: I’m gonna go backwards in the questions answers. I think the public response has been very kind to me as the new singer. Obviously, Shaun left such an imprint on the public psyche and the sound of the band. So, I aim to do something, keep true to the spirit of the band, but also leave my own stamp, ‘cos I can’t be someone else, and I’m sure he couldn’t be either. I’d say that ‘cos I am in the eye of the storm I couldn’t possibly say what the band sounds like now unless as someone else on the outside looking in. I don’t know. Pete might be able to tell you.

Pete: The muscle of the band, the energy of the band is the same in the sense. The dynamism is now coming from Kieran rather than Shaun, and like you say he’s put his own stamp on it. We’ve kept probably 80% of the set the same, and we’ve got new songs, loads of new songs we’re writing at the moment. We got Simon who’s the new bass player as well, who’s joined us one year ago pretty much today in a sense wasn’t it?

Simon: First big gig, was Tramlines this time last year yeah.

Pete: And he’s added another dynamic, as Johnny our old bass player, he was brilliant, but he came from like a rockabilly double-bass background. Whereas, Simon’s a funk bass player, so the sound’s changed in that way as well. And we’ve got so many new songs, that we may morph into something else. Obviously, still parody band, but it’s finding songs that suit Kieran’s voice as much as the songs that suited Shaun. We played songs that Shaun liked, probably find songs that Kieran likes in his register, and that’s how it’ll change, but we’re really enjoying ourselves. It’s fantastic to have Kieran lead singing with us because he’s given us a lot of energy and hope, because we didn’t know we could carry on without Shaun, but Kieran stepped in and he’s doing a fantastic job and there’s a great bright future for the brothers.

That’s really good! In relation to our outreach, many of our readers are a young adult audience, as we’re The Gryphon up in Leeds. We’re the University of Leeds paper.

All: Oh you must love us! [deep laughter from all parties]

I wanted to ask, how do you ensure your music appeals to an audience of all ages?

Pete: Do you want to answer a question here Simon?

Simon: Oh thanks [laughter all round]. We pick songs from all different eras and they’re all very well known songs, so hopefully its got that broad appeal.

Pete: The kids loving the yacht rock, they love it too. They love old music ‘cos their parents have brought them up on it. Older music, not old music, and that’s kind of our middle genre. I don’t see us doing any Taylor Swift any day soon [laughs] or anything like that or anything newer, but we’re always looking for that great hook line that would make a great parody. So where it comes from, this year or fifty years ago, it doesn’t matter to us, as long as the hook line is funny and we can see people enjoying it. You cast a vision forward don’t you and say, “will fans like this?”. What’d you think?

Kieran: I think what this band is all about is, sounds pretentious, but its entertainment. Like people get the humour regardless of what song or what era its come from. Its all about what people can relate to, ‘cos the thing about music is that its an infinite language someone can relate to and someone else can’t relate to at all in terms of the same. I just think that especially these days that if we can do a job where we can help people forget any dreary element of their lives for half an hour or an hour, then we’re winning aren’t we. That’s what’s important. Its about entertainment.

Pete: That’s it. We’re very much like a bread and circus band. The lowest common denominator for people to have a good time is to forget all the worries. We know our place in the roster of the world of music, but we’re happy with that. We’re comfortable. Its just fun. If we’re enjoying it, and everyone outside of us is enjoying it, then it’s winner winner chicken dinner.

So it’s all about relating to people through your lyrics and through the humour itself?

Pete: Indeed yeah. That’s right. You’ve got to try and pick on the zeitgeist of what people want. Like, we’re currently writing a song about air fryers, [laughter] ‘cos it’s making people go, “ah yeah, I relate to that song”.

Kind of like with ‘Dodgy Box’, with the Amazon sticks.

All: Yeah exactly.

Pete: So we’re getting into modern technology with our band.

Kieran: Where’s it stop? Are we gonna start singing about Brevilles next?

Pete: Might have to sing about robots and AI though.

Kieran: That’s the next one, innit.

Simon: Ai, AI, O. [laughter]

It was reported that you were formed on a drunken dare from yourself and Richard Bailey?

Pete: That’s right, yeah. I’d actually seen Jools Holland, and back then there was a ukulele orchestra or Great Britain, and they played Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, and I thought “that’s absolutely amazing”. I’d got a ukulele, and I’d got it as an ornament more than anything. I didn’t actually know you could use them as an instrument [rest of the band hysterically laugh]. I just thought it was this like joke thing. So, I convinced my mate Bales to buy one same as me, they were only like ten twenty quid. We played it, and I said “let’s do somet with these. Play a gig or somet.” It was just like a joke. We did it as a dare. We played this one like charity party thing and played Slade’s ‘Merry Christmas’. Then somebody caught wind that I’d doen this, and they asked me to do another gig. Long story short, we’ve ended up playing Tramlines Main Stage for the past six years. It’s amazing.

So do you regret making that dare or has it been the best thing?

Pete: No no! It has been one of the most joyous things in my life. Woody Allen, a very famous film director, he plays clarinet in a little jazz club and that’s his escape. Its his release from his day to day, and that’s what I wanted it to be for me. For me to play ukulele with me mate and just have fun with it. It just got bigger, but its still the same fun. It’s fantastic.

One final question: how does it feel to be considered one of Sheffield’s heroes?

Simon: Brilliant.

Kieran: I’ve not even considered the notion. ‘Cos I’m so fresh in. [laughter] Maybe I’m just a sidekick like Robin. [more laughter] Or an Aquaboy, if you know your DC. Come back next year and I’ll tell you how I feel about that.

I might take you up on that!

Pete: Really though, it’s overwhelming. We don’t take it for granted. Like today, we’re worried if anyone will turn up to listen to us and we were delightfully surprised that loads of people rammed it out. It’s so joyous and may it continue.

Thank you so much for speaking to me!

Pete: Thank you, its been great. And we love The Brudenell. It is one of the best live venues. We played there once and we’d love to play there again soon hopefully.

I will look out for that!

Here at The Gryphon, we can’t wait for that second Brudenell gig from the brothers!