MORGAN BANKES TALKS “TOURING THE WORLD AS BROTHERS” AND NEW MUSIC

INTERVIEW | MORGAN BANKES – THE BANKES BROTHERS by Morgan Hermiston

Canadian five-piece The Bankes Brothers have been steadily building up a repertoire of music that sets them apart from other groups growing alongside them. With a track having already featured in the Top 30 of the Canadian Alternative Radio Charts, the quintet know that their style is working. However, most recent track ‘Risk It All‘ takes The Bankes Brothers away from their quintessential quirks, and into a more rock-and-roll, vintage vibrance. I got to ask one of their frontmen, Morgan Bankes, some questions about this release, as well as a return to international performing, and what it’s like being in a band with your brother.

You’ve released ‘Aaliyah‘ and ‘Risk It All‘ this year ahead of your forthcoming debut album. Both have quite different sounds, from more acoustic to vintage and almost nostalgic, but both are lyrically consistent with past material. Can we expect the album to contain more of these differences?

I think we branched out a lot from our early releases. We wanted to achieve a sort of timeless sound on these songs, and were inspired from all different directions. So the direction wasn’t clear, but we’d know we’d reached the outcome when we heard it.

Has the songwriting method(s) changed a lot between these recent releases and 2023 work like ‘In Waves‘, and the subsequent 2024 EP of the same title?

Yes. I think the first EP was a lot of ideas that Nelson [Bankes] had fleshed out over the course of the COVID shutdown. Coming out of those ‘In Waves‘ studio sessions, writing became a lot more collaborative. Nelson still takes on the bulk of the initial writing, but it’s a pretty open forum once we hit the studio, and the ideas are a lot less realised, so we go into it without a preconceived notion of what a song SHOULD be.

A lot of bands are made up of siblings, but has being brothers allowed the approach to writing and releasing music to be more straightforward or amicable? / Do you share a lot of similar musical preferences?

We grew up on the same music, so a lot of our inspirations are pretty similar. Beyond that, we’ve known our bandmates since we were kids, and we’ve turned each other onto things over the years that have steered us towards a result we are all excited about.

What are some of the best memories and/or experiences from being in a band as brothers?

I think it’s been pretty cool to travel the world as brothers. There’s a ton of shared experience, which keeps us pretty close. We’ve gotten to see our whole country, Europe, and UK together. When we come home, we get to tell our whole family about our crazy adventures and debauchery. Usually you grow out of childhood, visit your siblings every once in a while when you have time off work; we get to go to work together, and do the coolest job ever.

You made your international festival return with an appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival in June. Are there any other UK festivals, venues or cities that you’re keen to play?

All of them. Obviously the big ones; Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds – but the UK festival ecosystem in general is awesome. As far as venues go, we walked past the Oran Mor in Glasgow our first time we ever came through and it looked super cool… or King Tut’s is another one to tick off the list. But the Royal Albert Hall, if we want to talk dream venues.

If you could create your own festival lineup, who would your headliner(s) be? (Can be a collective lineup or individual)

Radiohead, Lana Del Rey, The Strokes, Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, Paul McCartney.

Who are some Canadian artists/bands that we should be listening to, other than The Bankes Brothers, of course?

We’ve toured a lot with Jesse Roper, who’s a pretty badass Americana-rock guy, with epic pipes. He’s given us such a leg-up. Also Vox Rea, they’re a sister duo from our neck of the woods – super rad, electronic indie dream pop; we’ve toured alongside them a bunch, and we even played as their band for a couple of shows too.

You can listen to The Bankes Brothers newest singles, ‘Risk It All‘ and ‘Aaliyah‘ below. Keep an eye on their socials here too for future touring or show announcements.