Family harmony key to the success of Brad Pitt Light Orchestra

Remember the first time you heard of the Brad Pitt Light Orchestra because pretty soon, if there’s any justice, everyone will be talking about them. Hot on the heels of their debut album, the band come to Galway to play Kelly’s Bar, Bridge Street, this Friday.

There can be as many as nine musicians onstage when Brad Pitt Light Orchestra (or BPLO) play a show. Their unique sound is underpinned by the vocal harmonies of siblings Anne, James and David Blake. The band, in its current form, has been together since 2005 but BPLO originally began back in the early nineties. Its founding members were David and James Blake, violinist Stephen Childs and keyboardist Tom Howley.

“We got together playing covers and Rag Week in UL,” recalls Tom. “So I’d say that was the official ‘start’ of the band.”“I wasn’t born yet!” jokes Anne.

With their degrees finished, the BPLO were on hiatus until Anne and David sent a song to the Ray D’Arcy show that ended up on the hugely popular Even Better Than The Real Thing compilation series. The interest generated by Anne and David’s cover of Sugababes’ Hole In The Head spurred the BPLO towards a reunion.

“David had written a lot of material at the time and figured it would really suit the band we had at college” says Tom. “So we made a call to our former members and within no time we were back, playing gigs.”

Lowering The Tone, BPLO’s first long player, has been a while in the making but it proves the adage that good things take time. David Blake writes insanely clever lyrics and BPLO augment them with equally impressive music. Although the band has released singles before, this record is a step-up in quality.

“Basically, this is the big one, this is our debut album,” Anne says. “Proper distribution, proper production, proper everything.”The making of the album had to be worked around members’ academic, working and musical lives. But, as they say, slow and steady wins the race.

“Most of it was recorded by David – he has his own set-up in his house,” continues Anne. “And a couple of studios in Dublin and in Galway. The level we went up was in the mixing – it was done by a crowd in Dublin called the Production Suite. It was mastered by a guy in Limerick called Richard Dowling.”

So how does it feel for BPLO to finally have Lowering The Tone in their hands?

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” Anne enthuses. “How do you feel Tom, I’m always talking about things!”

“I feel very proud of it really,” says Tom. “It’s just nice to able to hand someone a CD, a family member. It’s very different from the other EPs, even though they were serious in their own right. This has a more complete feel about it.”

Part of the BPLO experience is the banter between the three Blake siblings. Tangents are pursued, abandoned and then a song is launched into. How does Anne find being in a band with James and David?

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.