Summer’s Brother Shares Debut Single, “Misinformation”
Summer’s Brother is the clown-faced alter-ego of drummer/singer Connor Brooks. Connor has spent the better part of the past decade playing drums in the Vancouver music scene for 40 artists including Chase The Bear, Haley Blais, and Hotel Mira, touring back and forth throughout Canada, and doing session work for various other artists and producers. His newest project Summer’s Brother highlights his songwriting, which showcases unapologeticlyrical vulnerability and roaring vocals inspired by the raw energy of Queens of The Stone Age, the melodic groove of Anderson .Paak, and the unfiltered emotion of Nirvana.
“Misinformation” is the debut single from Summer’s Brother, a lament on the way we all use technology, and how it uses us. Written during a psychedelic afterglow in the summer of 2020, Connor sings to the spacey R&B groove,
“Do you ever feel like you’re someone else?”
He comments on how we are all putting on a mask to show the best version of ourselves on social media, or “spreading misinformation”, but also a tongue-in-cheek reference to how Connor himself literally puts on a mask with his clown makeup when he transforms into Summer’s Brother. ‘Misinformation’ was produced by 2x WCMA-nominated audio engineer Andy Schichter (Rare Americans, Sleepy Gonzales, Anna Katarina) and mastered by multiple Grammy Award-winner Ted Jensen (Green Day, Rolling Stones).
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Summer’s Brother. Summer is my older sister and everyone always called me that growing up. I said one day that would be the name of my solo project, so here we are! She loves the name. I wear clown makeup, play drums, and sing about my feelings.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
I wrote this song, “Misinformation” in the summer of 2020 after taking LSD and crying about my previous relationship that just ended. When I came home in the morning, my roommate was playing the chord progression and it reminded me of a lot of the jazzy, chill music I had been listening to that summer like Mac Miller, Steve Lacy, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and Childish Gambino’s “Awaken My Love”. I immediately thought of the melody and lyrics you hear in the song, aside from the second verse and it came together in an hour or so. The band, our producer, my wife, and I went on Instagram live and rewrote the second verse in the studio with whoever was online at the time. We then got it mastered by Ted Jensen, who did “Hotel California”, “American Idiot”, “The Black Parade”, and a ton of other legendary albums!
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
We’ve got a show at the Wise Hall on January 26th! We’re playing with Tiger Really and SOSOROMEO. It’s not announced yet though, so don’t let anyone know I told you.
If given the chance, which Canadian artist would you love to work with in the future?
Ryan Gosling, but only if he wins the Grammy for “I’m Just Ken”. That clout could take this band to the next level. That or Shad. I want to do an alternate version of Misinformation with a rap verse, and he would be a perfect fit, he also just seems like a really down-to-earth guy.
What’s your goal for 2024?
For early 2024, I’m planning on releasing 2 more singles, including a trippy cover of a Queens of the Stone Age song, then doing our first EP shortly after that. I’m thinking of shaving my head and dying it purple around then. Once the EP is out, I really want to go down the west coast of the States, playing to artsy kids in cities and write a song in L.A. so I can say “I was doing some writing in L.A.” I’ve also never been to Montreal and want to check it out and tour around that area. So basically, world domination, yeah.