Brookline is an alternative rock band from upstate New York.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Tommy Carter-Vocals

Mikey Pace-Guitar

Dae Bennett-Guitar/Backing Vocals

Matt Spinner-Bass

Chris Fox-Drums

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Brookline? How long has the band been around?

 Dae was in a band called Almost Accounted For, Matt plays in a band called The Northway, Mikey played in a band called Flood the Streets before he joined the army in 2012, Chris was in a band called the Conflict Theory, and Tommy has never been in a band before. Brookline has been a band since April 2018, but Matt and Tommy didn’t join until this past October.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

The name comes from a road in Ballston Spa where Mikey grew up. It doesn’t really have any real significance, he just had a friend that lived there and thought it would be a cool name for a band. No, we haven’t ever changed the bands name. 

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

Writing is a pretty collaborative effort. Everyone pretty much writes their own parts for our songs and gives each other ideas on what to do if they’re stuck. The main theme of this EP is recognizing your own need to change and the process is takes to make that realization. It’s something we’ve all gone through in some degree recently so writing about it came pretty naturally. In the future we plan to continue writing as transparently as we can about our own life experiences, so I’m sure as we grow the themes and topics in our music will as well. 

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

We all have pretty different influences that round out our sound.

Mikey- The Wonder Years, Beartooth, Billy Talent

Tommy- State Champs, Movements, The Story So Far

Matt - Beartooth, Blink-182, A Day to Remember

Chris- The Story So Far, Bayside, Taking Back Sunday

Dae- Silverstein, Senses Fail, Linkin Park.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

We’ve all been involved in music one way or another since we were preteens but I think everyone has the one show, or those few shows, they’ve seen that really inspire them and make them want to chase the dream.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

It’s actually pretty weird, but we do a 5 part harmony starting with Mikey hitting the lowest note he possibly can and everyone else chiming in one by one. It doesn’t have any real purpose, we just did it one day as a joke and it stuck.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

So far we’ve opened for a few bigger bands that were coming to our hometown on tour, and we have another show scheduled on March 30th opening for Calling all Captains and Makari, so we’re pretty excited about that.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Mikey - The Wonder Years for sure. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes but I’m willing to take the chance.

Matt - Beartooth. They're one of my favorite bands and their live shows are always insane.

Tommy - It’s would be awesome to see State Champs kill it every night on tour. Being from upstate New York, they’re a huge inspiration for me and they just seem like genuine, cool dudes.

Chris- Bayside or The Story So Far. Those guys kill it with every performance and it would be awesome to play alongside them.

Dae- Linkin Park. They have been one of my favorite bands since I was young. It would be a dream come true to share the same stage.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

We just want to say how much we appreciate everyone who’s been checking out our music and everyone who will listen to this EP. We’ve been in bands in the past but this is the first time we all feel like we’ve really dumped our hearts and souls into our art and are just so grateful for anyone who connects with it.