A Conversation with The 5 Browns – HuffPost 10.8.13

Mike Ragogna: What a coup! I have five of five browns on the phone today. I’m an old guy, so please can we do the role call so I can keep up?

Desirae Brown: [laughs] Sure! I’m Desirae.

Deondra Brown: I’m Deondra, I’m the second out of the five browns, I’m the oldest.

Gregory Brown: I’m Gregory, I’m the middle child.

Melody Brown: I’m Melody, I’m the second youngest, I’m the fourth out of five.

Ryan Brown: And I’m Ryan, I’m the youngest.

MR: I guess that makes you the baby of the group. I mean, age-wise only, of course.

Ryan: [laughs] Yes, I am.

Desirae: Would you rather we said our names before we answer questions?

MR: Yeah, please. I got Melody and Deondra’s voices mixed up immediately. That age thing.

Browns: [laugh]

MR: All right, let’s start with The Rite Of Spring, Live At The Arthur Zankel Music Center. This is a live album, as opposed to a studio recording. Would it be fair to say that the live environment has brought out qualities over a strictly studio recording?

Gregory: I think it definitely brings out different qualities, that’s for sure. Whether one is better than the other, I can’t really say, but I know that when we’re performing live versus in a studio, there’s a different kind of energy because you’re not doing take after take and you’ve got hundreds of people there watching you. There’s an energy about live performance that can’t really be captured in the studio, at least not very well. It was actually really fun for us to be able to try a live recording like this and have one shot at it and hope for the best. It was a really cool experiment.

MR: That’s wonderful. What’s the story behind the album?

Melody: It’s been a hundred years since the debut of the “Rite Of Spring” and it had such a riotous debut in Paris in 1913. We’ve been wanting to play this piece as a group ever since we started playing together, which was ten years ago. It was one of the first pieces that was ever actually talked about amongst the five of us to be arranged for five pianos. So this year, we finally felt like we kind of had enough time as a group to tackle it because we knew it would be such an epic work to tackle. We finally decided to do it this year. It wasn’t actually until after that we realized it was the Centennial year and that a whole bunch of orchestras and performers have made it the year of Stravinsky. So it really just made sense, and then the album is quite amazing because we performed it live at that concert on the same day, May 29th, that the first performance happened. It was kind of like we were really acting it out, like we were part of it even though it was a hundred years ago.

MR: Awesome. What event in 2013 would be similar to what happened then?

Desirae: I think the riot that happened at Paris at the time was so crazy, people were so thrown off by it, that’s what makes this work so monumental. I don’t think there’s ever been a concert or experience like it to really top it. Maybe you guys disagree, but I don’t think there’s anything happening now that could really top it. This work changed music forever, it really ushered in the modernist movement and if it hadn’t been written music, today would be totally different.

Gregory: The only thing that I can think of is if you brought a classical audience into a concert hall expecting classical music and then you got Metallica instead and there was a mosh pit in the middle with all old people.

MR: Hey, I resemble that remark!

The 5 Browns: [laughs]

MR: Now, you guys are very studied, you went to Juilliard and all studied under the same teacher. And having a piano ensemble is such a unique thing for recordings, it seems like the only possibility for something like that to occur would have been in a conservatory. What is the secret of The Five Browns, and how do you pull this unique concept off?

Deondra: I think we’ve all had very similar training over the years that has kind of added to the fact that we all approach the keyboard in a similar way. I think that when you get into our own individual interpretations of our ideas we’re all vastly different. I think that’s what makes the music come alive. We go through a process together of weeding out the best ideas from amongst everything and when we come together as a group and perform onstage, it’s a culmination of what we feel are our best ideas. I think we kind of feed off of each other’s energy. I think the fact that we share the same DNA, we can kind of read each other. Just the slightest look of your eye or a head nod or anything like that and we can kind of feel what each other is thinking; that kind of adds to it. And I think just the fact that we enjoy playing together and we enjoy hanging out together… It’s always a difficult thing for a lot of quartets over the years of performing to continue wanting to spend time together and I think the fact that we do kind of brings a certain amount of harmony to not only the group and how it functions but also as a musical entity.

MR: Holidays must be pretty wild at the Brown house when you all just play to have fun together. So who’s taking cues off of whom? How does that even become gelled?

Ryan: Like Deondra was saying, we’ve had very similar backgrounds since we all started at the same age of three years old. It was kind of like a coming of age thing. Growing up, our house was pretty noisy. We started out with one upright piano, but then as more kids started coming into the family, the practice hours started increasing and we had to get more pianos. We kind of all shared the same passion growing up and it was about ten years ago that we all decided to start playing together. We wanted to share that same passion and try to bring together all of our best ideas. That’s how The 5 Browns was pretty much created. We wanted to go into the business together to bring music to as many people as possible and doing that together made a lot of sense.

Deondra: And the funny thing is we always try to keep our relationships as siblings first priority even over The 5 Browns. So when we come together at holidays and birthdays we try really hard not to talk about work-related issues; we just enjoy being together and have fun. If somebody does want to start tinkering around and playing something on the piano, we’ll talk about music as a whole. But in general, we just try to enjoy each other’s company and do other things outside of just the music related.

MR: I also wanted to work in that concept of “improvisation.” Are there improvisational moments within the family during the creative process?

Desirae: We don’t do a ton of improvising as classical music because you’re playing music off of a score. But creative and interpretive improvisation happens a lot on stage. Somebody will turn a phrase differently. There’s a lot of freedom in how a live performance plays out. We follow each other. I think that’s why knowing each other so well helps. We allow each other that freedom, we can follow their body language, the expression on their face, where they’re going with music because we know each other so well. So in that way, we do improvise a lot as far as interpretation goes.

MR: Which reels us right back into the live album. It happens to be on the label “Steinway And Sons.” How did that come about?

Melody: Steinway And Sons have been not only a huge support to us, but we’re what they call “Steinway” artists, which means they sort of sponsor us in the sense that they’re bringing pianos around for us. It was just in the last couple of years that they have formed this record label of theirs through Archive music. It’s been such an amazing thing for us to work with them because they understand everything; they understand the piano and they understand what’s needed in an album like this. It just made so much sense. I know for both of us, we are so excited about the project with them being a newer label and with us being able to finally make our dream project. This is, literally, our dream project. We’ve been talking about it for ten years. We’ve been wanting it to happen, and it was so amazing that it happened, not only through Steinway And Sons, but also through the Saratoga Arts Fest and Skidmore College. They really made it possible because they have an amazing hall up there and worked with the Grammy-award winning producer Adam Abeshouse. Between all of these things, lining up it was just like the stars aligned and this dream project was made and here it is.

MR: What do you ladies and gentlemen think of the state of classical music these days?

Gregory: I think the five of us, or at least I am of the opinion that classical music is here to stay, really. I think throughout the course of musical history, it’s had ebbs and flows of popularity, and obviously, our main goal is to get young people involved with classical music. The music is so good, just like any other piece of art from the history of the world, and things like that stick around because they’re so beautiful and so moving and people really can relate to them. I don’t think people will ever stop wanting to hear this beautiful music and we’ll keep playing it.

MR: Do you feel that there are composers out there who are knocking on the door of immortality? Who are your favorite modern composers?

Desirae: Oh sure. We know that there are living legends and it’s amazing that they are still here, like Philip Glass or John Adams or Steve Reich. These amazing composers living today, it would be a dream to have one of them writing for us, just because I know once they pass, we’ll be like, “Why didn’t we have one of these living legends write something for us?” There are also young composers like Nico Muhly who composed the “Five Piano Concerto” for us that we premiered with The Chicago Symphony under James Conlon, and he’s having his Metropolitan Opera debut with an opera here in New York City in just a couple of weeks. So there are young composers carrying on the tradition of these great composers still living and it’s just amazing to live in a time like this.

MR: It is. Also with social media the way it is, your dream of having a Philip Glass or Steve Reich or any of these people compose for you is really only a tweet away.

The 5 Browns: [laughs]

Desirae: It could happen!

MR: I’m serious, whoever your managers are, they should be sending out emails when we hang up.

The 5 Browns: [laughs]

MR: I have a traditional question, and it’s an annoying question, and yet I will ask it because I know you’ll forgive me afterwards since you’re all so cool. What advice do you have for new artists? Please, I’d love each of you to answer, if that’s okay.

Deondra: Sure, sure! My advice for new artists would be just to find what type of music you love, what you feel you can attach to, and play it as genuinely as you can. Don’t take “no” for an answer. If you get somebody who doesn’t want to be your manager or you get declined here or there for your album, just keep out there. The relationships that you form are so important. Nico Muhly, for instance, like Desirae said, composed the piece for five pianos and orchestra for us and we met him back at Juilliard. So go out and meet people and make those connections. You never know when you’ll be working with these people. The music business is full of artists who are performers and then went and took their talents in a different direction. Feel free to, just as much as you can, get yourself out there.

Desirae: I remember some of the best advice we ever got was from one of our teachers at Juilliard. He said, “Find your niche.” You go to your conservatory and you’re expected to play Bach and Beethoven and Mozart, this full range, but it doesn’t mean you have to make your career doing that. We made our career playing five pianos. Who does that? Don’t be afraid to think a little bit out of the box. Find your space in the music world and just enjoy living there.

Gregory: What I would say is don’t be afraid of doing things differently than everyone else has done them. I know we had multiple discussions early on about what direction we wanted to take our careers and sometimes, it was hard making some of the decisions that had been made because they hadn’t been made before and people weren’t doing those things. But we decided that we should be ourselves and go about our career the way we want to even though that’s not the stereotypical way. I think people understood the authenticity of that and they can see that we’re just having fun and playing music the way we want to play it, and I think that resonated with audiences. If people are just authentic with themselves and they’re not afraid to do something new, then I think there’s a possibility they’re in there.

Melody: I think a big thing is to be “current.” For instance, in the classical music world, you go to school and you think, “I’m just going to be playing my Bach and my Beethoven and I’m just going to lock myself in a practice room and that’s all I’m going to do.” But what you don’t realize is when you get out of school, suddenly you’re supposed to be able to relate to an audience. Suddenly, you’re supposed to be wearing clothing that relates to younger people, like Yuja Wang, the famous pianist that’s making the rounds right now. Not only is she an amazing, amazing artist, but she’s cool. She’s wearing cool clothes. Don’t take for granted the avenues of social media. We’re just finally starting to get more into it and it’s funny because all of these elements of being current, of being able to be connected to your audience through social media and being able to be marketed in a way that gets people excited, all of those things, I think, are really important and when you’re in school nobody tells you that. Nobody tells you that you’re going to have to learn to do all of these things, learn how to work with a website, learn how to work with managers, just be “people” people. A lot of times as musicians, we just want to be introverted and lock ourselves in a practice room and that’s just not how it is these days.

Ryan: I’m the last one, so there might be some similarities to what other people said, but I think that for young musicians or musicians just starting out, it’s important to still have fun with the music. I know that a lot of kids get inundated with how much work it takes and the practicing behind it, but it’s important to try to find, like Deondra said, some pieces or music that you personally want to learn, not just what your teacher wants you to learn. Also, work with your teacher to find out what suits your personality best. I think that can cause a lot more fun in the practice room and in your performances as well. Also for young musicians, I feel like it’s important to try other types of music, like singing, playing the violin or piano, try different instruments and see what you take to the most.

MR: Very nice! Obviously, you guys are all well edumacated, ain’t yuz.

The 5 Browns: [laughs]

Desirae: After we talk about old people in a mosh pit, yeah right.

MR: [laughs] Who are some other artists outside of classical music that you guys appreciate?

Melody: My husband and I are huge into indie bands right now, for instance, The Lumineers are bigger, and we just went and saw them a couple of nights ago. We’re huge fans of a band called Other Lives. There are just so many of these great acts. We’re into the indie band scene right now. I’m also really loving Punch Brothers, they’re so awesome; they’re like folk a little bit but still rock, it’s great. They’re like a less popular version of Mumford & Sons with a really good lead singer.

MR: Actually, I interviewed Chris Thile the other day. He released his first classical album.

Melody: Oh that’s so cool! I’ll have to check it out.

Ryan: I’m also watching The Avett Brothers, The Civil Wars, The Head & The Heart, and The Lumineers as well. Lots of fun.

Gregory: I like to listen to a lot of old American folk music and bluegrass. I like The Carter Family and The Delmore Brothers, just really old school stuff. It’s really fun.

MR: Are you familiar with The Louvin Brothers?

Gregory: No, I’m not!

MR: The Louvin Brothers, basically, were a very influential, kind of bible-banging country duo who were very popular decades ago. Kind of still are. And if you’re into Americana, there’s also a guy named Colin Gilmore, Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s son, who put out a record that I think is the Americana album of the year.

Gregory: Okay, cool, I’ll definitely check that out.

MR: So what do we need to know about The 5 Browns that we never knew before?

Melody: We’re all thinking real hard.

Ryan: Individual or as The 5 Browns?

MR: Either way, but I guess the easiest would be as a group.

Melody: You kind of stumped us!

Desirae: Just to throw something out there, and I’m sorry to pick on you Melody, but she’s not a morning person. She’s almost late every time we have to leave a hotel for a flight.

The 5 Browns/MR: [laughs]

Desirae: She also sets her cellphone alarm to wake up in the morning probably two thirds of the time.

Deondra: Let’s see, as a group, though, one thing we haven’t talked about yet is that I feel like we’ve come into a much more authentic phase of our career. I think when we started out, we were all young and fresh faced–and we’re still kind of young–but we were just wanting to be fun and please people. But now, we’ve been through a lot and we just want to play the music that we love. Some of that might be a little darker as we grow into a more mature phase of our career; maybe we’re just darker people emotionally. But we’re still hopeful for the future. We’re having a really fun time with this album and the stuff that we’re playing in concerts is really being true to who we are right now. And like I said, we’re playing together almost ten years later and we’re still enjoying it. We still have great moments on the stage. There are times where if you watch closely, you’ll see some of us laughing because we caught a funny look from one of us or there’s an inside joke or something. We’re still laughing, we’re still attached to this music and we still feel passionate about it. Even ten years later, our relationships are still amazing with each other. Hopefully, we’ll be able to perform for some time to come. We have our Carnegie Hall debut in a few weeks, which is really exciting for us as a group. To think that we sat as teenagers and as students at Juilliard watching amazing musicians on Carnegie Hall stage and to be able to be on stage ourselves, living our dream to perform there and play the Rite of Spring there. It’s like we have to pinch ourselves. It’s amazing to be able to do these things together.

Melody: Maybe that’s also something a lot of people don’t realize, we’ve been performing for ten years and this is our first time playing in Carnegie Hall. That’s kind of cool for us.

MR: Oprah’s in this picture somehow.

Melody: We were on Oprah a long time ago.

Deondra: And we did a special that aired on the O network maybe a few weeks ago. But other than that, we’ve done a few press things leading up to The Rite of Spring project, which we’re super excited about. This will be our first time performing in Carnegie Hall together, so we’re soaking it all in.

MR: Congratulations on that. And I also want to say that you’re no slouches on the big stage, because you had The Chicago Symphony Orchestra with you.

Desirae: Yeah, but there’s something about Carnegie that just makes you a little nervous. When you know you’re living one of your dreams, that’s a cool feeling.

Deondra: It’s kind of like we said before, here we are ten years later finally getting to debut at Carnegie Hall. You kind of have to keep at it. Sometimes things don’t happen overnight, but you just keep doing what you love and eventually you’ll get there.

MR: That’s beautiful, although don’t you feel, I don’t know, a little guilty? Carnegie Hall is a rival to Lincoln Center, which is associated with Juilliard.

The 5 Browns: [laughs]

Deondra: Yeah, I guess we are a little bit, huh?

Melody: It’s funny because we’ve traveled the world playing bigger halls like The Beijing National Theatre, that amazing egg-shaped building, but for some reason, feeling like we grew up in New York, having Lincoln Center and Carnegie accessible in our neighborhood, it feels like, “Oh my gosh,” that much bigger of a deal, even though you’ve played in all of these crazy places around the country and around the world.

MR: Yeah, wow. Okay, you did this dream project, but something tells me you’ve got another dream project up your collective sleeves. You don’t have to tell me what it is, but do you guys have plans as far as follow-ups and what you’d like to do next or over the next few years?

Gregory: I think we do. We’re always keeping things in mind. Whenever we get together, we’re always talking about different things that we could do or different ways that we could challenge ourselves. Even with the Nico Muhly concerto and The Rite Of Spring album and the Carnegie appearance, like you said, these are all dreams and they’re all things that we’ve hoped for and talked about for a long time. There are definitely more of them, and we’ll see if we can live those dreams as well. Some of them are recording projects and possible commissions; others are just, like, winning a Grammy. That would be freaking awesome. I don’t know if that will ever happen, but there are all sorts of dreams.

MR: Wait a minute, you’ve shortchanged yourselves on the Grammy front. And don’t forget you’re tweeting Philip Glass the second we get off the phone. Look, you guys are the only game in town as far as what you’re doing, and you have such a unique perspective with your interpretations. At some point, that has to get acknowledged, even by a body like the Grammys.

Melody: Well, thanks for your encouragement. The nice thing is we don’t focus on it; we just keep performing and doing the things we love and if it happens, great, if it doesn’t, we still enjoy performing together and life goes on and we continue doing amazing projects together.

MR: Nice. That’s a really sweet last line, let’s leave it there. This was fun, and all the best, 5 Browns, with everything you do.

The 5 Browns: Thank you!

NOTE TO PHILIP GLASS: Come on, man. Five pianos, young smart musicians who adore you, what more do you want?

Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne