Review Fix Exclusive: The Savage Poor’s Jeff Brown Talks ‘Alone And Cry’ And More’

Review Fix chats with The Savage Poor’s Jeff Brown, who discusses their new track, “Alone And Cry,” as well as his origin in music and creative process.

About the Band:

Hailing from Austin, TX, The Savage Poor is the band project of brothers Jeff and Ben Brown. Growing up in central PA, Jeff learned to write songs as a teenager by listening to Ramones records, while Ben learned on his own studying David Bowie. In their early 20’s they decided to join forces and began playing and writing together. The Brown brothers have always been infatuated by the excitement of American rock n’ roll and the cinematic soundscapes of British post punk and indie music, with one foot in the world of The Replacements and another in The Smiths, with the literary influence of Lou Reed and the rainy day dreams of The Cure. Being based in Texas, Jeff and Ben feel that the eclecticism of Doug Sahm and the opera of Roy Orbison has also been an influence on their music.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Jeff Brown: I originally got turned on to popular music when I was in grade school by my friend’s older brothers.  I started reading music magazines, and somehow I stumbled upon the Ramones.  Through them I learned you could make amazing and timeless things without a great deal of technical skill.  I began writing songs at a very early age thanks to them.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Brown: Everything we do is informed by the passion and possibility of rock n roll music.  We say we play subversive rock music as we’re trying to infuse rock music with the original outsider spirit that it has always had when it’s at its best.  All that being said we are rock and pop music fans in general and incorporate elements of a music from the last 60 years.  There are industrial soundscapes, ’50s doo wop, punk guitars, dub rhythms, and more all mixed together.  We’re trying to give people a unpredictable cinematic journey.

Review Fix: What makes “Alone And Cry” a special track?

Brown: We were very conscious while making this record, to mix elements from different genres together, so that things became new, and weren’t just genre exercises.  “Alone and Cry” is one of the few tracks that we sort of took down a classic Wall of Sound pop route without messing with the formula too much.  We felt the lyrics alone differentiate it from that era.  “The body decays, the mind gets perverted, one day you wake up afraid, that you’ll become conservative.”  We were trying to say something true, inside of a dark joke.  It is one of those classic sounding pop songs that seems like it always was. I got really lucky with it and it came to me all at once in about five minutes, like it was always there and I just happened to find it.

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Brown: Music is an art form that is able to communicate strong emotions in a very short time.  Although lyrically we tried to pack the songs with ideas and sometimes complicate those emotions, we first want people to feel a range of strong emotions while listening.  Whether that is joy, sadness, or even being uncomfortable, it’s all acceptable.

Review Fix: Why is this album a must buy?

Brown: This is a cinematic record that a lot of talented musicians that I respect played on.  Everyone that contributed came in and left my jaw on the floor.  Even though I was there at the beginning, it’s not something I could have done alone and I often wonder how I got lucky enough to be a part of such a thing.  There is a lot for any music fan to dig into.  It’s a whole range of soundscapes and emotional worlds that one can get lost in.  Pick it up for a trip down the rabbit hole.

Review Fix: What are your end goals in music?

Brown: I want people to know that the world as it is now, doesn’t have to be the way it is.  We get so used to things that they seem normal, when really they are quite absurd.  But whether it is political ideas or commercial entertainment, there is a lot that is pervasive that isn’t normal and isn’t ok. Hopefully we’ll communicate with others that feel the same way, and if we’re lucky maybe get some new people to realize those things too.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Brown: The next step is to figure out how to get this material to as many people as possible, whether through overseeing the album release, or through the live show.  I’m incredibly lucky to be surrounded by great musicians that can effectively convey all of the emotions on this record in a live setting.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Brown: Often when I turn on the news I feel like I’m watching the theater of the absurd. Much of what is going on in modern American seems like it could be a strange comedy, if it wasn’t all so horrible.  The record isn’t topical, as it doesn’t use any names and dates, which would instantly date it. However, a lot of lyrics on this record are about what it feels like to be an American right now.  We are living in a time and space where the lines between comedy, horror, and sadness are often blurred.