Accompanied by the essence of America’s hipster beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon and the remnants of a supreme style pizza, local band ZA BRA is hitting the streets of Baton Rouge with an upcoming house party anthem album.
Lead guitarist Ryan Casey described the band’s music as funky indie garage rock with a blend of reggae ska beats. Bassist Zak Lanius also described the group’s sound as a combination of PBR and pizza being consumed.
But the band was not always the funky hodgepodge it is today. Originally, the group consisted of Casey and Percy Bergeron playing under the name Blues Tooth.
Bergeron decided he wanted to move from drums to guitar, and the two found drummer, Sean Beasley. The formerly all male band then welcomed Christine Brignac, who plays the ukulele and sings, to the inner circle. The band combines to form a laid-back vibe.
As for the band’s name, it came from a food group that’s a college staple here in Baton Rouge — pizza.
“We started talking about stuff that we like and how we would always say ‘I just want to eat ‘za, bra,’ … and that kinda just became the name,” Casey said.
The group’s first show together was during Mid City Merchants’ “Hot Art, Cool Nights,” an annual Baton Rouge art festival in the spring. Brignac said elderly people would swing dance to the group’s music.
After that, the band continued with a string of shows until an opportunity arrived after a show at Spanish Moon.
“We posted a couple recordings from the show on the Internet, and one of my mom’s friends told me to get into contact with this guy that lives in Baton Rouge that’s old and retired and has a home recording studio,” Casey said. “Without him it wouldn’t be possible for this album.”
That “old and retired” man turned out to be Jack Shaw, owner of ClearSound Recording Studio, who has been recording since 1969. Lanius said the group was excited to work with Shaw and started laying down tracks with the veteran music producer.
“It was so great to have someone hear your music and to immediately take an interest in it,” Lanius said. “It wasn’t just a job for him. He definitely was into the music with us.”
The new album, which doesn’t have a name yet, will feature nine original songs and an album cover designed by local graphic artists. A few songs from the album were released early on the band’s SoundCloud, and Casey said one of them was inspired by the debauchery the group witnessed on State Street.
The variety in the group’s music comes from the song-writing process, where each member writes the music for their instrument. Brignac, Casey, or Bergeron brings an idea or a lyric to the group, and the rest falls into place.
“It’s not just one person’s point of view, it’s a collective consciousness of music,” Lanius said. “We don’t necessarily abide to one idea of the song.”
As for the band’s future, Beasley said whatever happens, the group will always have its time together.
“We’re making good music and good memories with friends,” Beasley said. “I think if we can get the album down and have that, that’s eternal. It doesn’t matter if we break up six months from now or break up in 25 years, or even if we die together, whatever we put down is down.”
ZA BRA has upcoming shows at Spanish Moon on Thursday, Aug. 13, and Atomic Pop Shop on Saturday, Aug. 22. For changes in upcoming shows and more information on the album’s release date, check out ZaBraZaBand.weebly.com and the group’s Facebook page.
Baton Rouge band, ZA BRA, is set to release a new album in the upcoming weeks. Featured is bassist Zak Lanius.
