Interview with The Como Brothers: ‘Subconsciously, we think like The Beatles’

Long Island, New York-based duo The Como Brothers, Andrew and Matt, who combine pop with a blues vibe to create gorgeous old school ballads, released their latest single ‘Honey, I’ve Been Thinking Bout You’ yesterday (22 October), a track that will resonate with couples separated by the pandemic.

‘It’s about thinking about someone when you’re not with them,’ Andrew Como, the younger of the two, explained. ‘Matt wrote it, it’s about his girlfriend, Tatiana. He predominately sings this one but I sing the bridge.’

Tatiana apparently loves the song. ‘She films our music videos actually,’ Como said. ‘Matt saw her at a show three years ago and he turned to me and whispered, “You stay the * away from her!”‘

As the song goes: ‘Yellow sun, won’t you come? Yellow sun, I need you here, when our weary hearts collide, oh, mhmm, broken stars and bitter hearts, they held you near and pushed you far, I’ve been weathering the rain, you know it always felt the same.’

‘We thought if everyone on the radio is recording themselves, why don’t we?’

They have been extremely prolific in recent months, putting out a single around every three weeks since July. ‘We’re recording at home,’ Como said. ‘We used to work in the same marketing job. I started first, in 2013 but I was taking every dime I earned to go to a big studio in New York – a producer told us we were standing where John Legend recorded ‘All Of Me’ – but we thought if everyone on the radio is recording themselves, why don’t we? So in 2017, I started to learn to record ourselves. Anything after ‘See the Light’ (2018) was self-recorded. Sometimes we send tracks out for drums or I’ll play them, or we send them out to a keyboardist in New Jersey.’

Earlier this month, they released a lovely track, ‘Beautiful Tonight’, about getting married. He laughs when I ask if it is about one of them getting married. ‘No, it’s not about us getting married, I’m not dating anyone but when you’re in a relationship, it’s a feeling I’ve had before, when you wonder how it could have gone if it had been successful. That’s me writing, I date people in my head. This is my favourite of our songs.’

The lyrics are really heartfelt: ‘I want you to know that deep in my bones, you set me on fire and I hope that it shows, wherever we go, you breathe me to life. If you ask me, I’ll tell you it twice, you’re beautiful tonight.’

The next track up – ‘Another You’ – marks a slight departure for the duo because it’s a little sadder, more reflective. It will come out on 12 November. ‘It’s about wanting someone you’ve been with,’ he said. ‘You want someone new who’s like them but you’re not going to find that same person. It’s got a more outwardly sad vibe but it’s still tappy, more of a head bop than a dance! I sing that one, so I get the depressing one, Matt gets the happy one!,’ he laughed.

The lyrics really reflect that: ‘I tried moving on just like we said we’d do
but baby, all I wanted was Another You, I numbed the pain by looking out for someone new but baby, all I wanted was Another You.’

There’s also another new track on the cards that manages to blend both happier and sadder elements, according to Como. ‘It’s called ‘Take Another Piece Of My Heart’. It’s like The Notebook (he’s referring to the movie) kind of happy. If you cry at a wedding or if you like a montage of a couple who have been together for 50 years, you’ll like it! It’s not as outwardly happy as ‘Beautiful Tonight’. There’s a kind of sweet surrender in the lyrics.’

‘I think our roots are just showing through more’

Much like in his former marketing job, he says they are always working three months ahead of release dates. Their sound has evolved since their first album, Baby Steps, in 2013. Even their song, ‘Shooting Star’, which came out last year, has a distinctly indie vibe: ‘Yeah, sometimes you’re striving for a pop sound,’ Como said. ‘It’s never too conscious. I think our roots are just showing through more. I love Sinatra, The Beatles, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton and Sam Cooke. Also the Foo Fighters – I listened to them for a whole year in high school! That’s where our dirty guitars have come from on some songs. Dave Grohl is the ambassador of music, isn’t he? Me and Matt love him, Matt really looks up to him, I do, too.’

They are now mulling whether to release an EP for each year from 2019-2021 or whether to put out an album. Interestingly, they find fans in unexpected places, most notably in The Philippines: ‘Our song, ‘One and Only’, (2019) has a tropical vibe to it, maybe it’s that? Fans there tweeted that Kisses Delavin, a popular actress in The Philippines, should be in the music video with Matt!’ I ask if she ever reached out and he laughs: ‘No, she didn’t get in touch!’

Lockdown, while giving them a great opportunity to write, has been tough nonetheless: ‘We’ve been writing faster but we normally play 100-150 gigs a year, it’s a big source of our income. I’ve heard of drive-in gigs – I think The Chainsmokers (an American electronic DJ and production duo) might have done one – but we’re not really seeing them here much.’

The Como Brothers – their name comes from their Sicilian grandfather – have had songs featured in TV shows such as MTV’s The Real World, Oxygen Channel’s Best Ink and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. They have also worked with industry legends such as drummer Steve Jordan (John Mayer, Saturday Night Live band, Late Night with David Letterman), keyboardist Andy Burton (Little Stephen & the Disciples of Soul), Aaron Sterling (Taylor Swift), and many more.

‘The first song I ever heard was ‘Twist And Shout’

The brothers have been in several bands over the years, perhaps most memorably in a Beatles cover band in high school, brilliantly titled The PJ Day Trippers (the PJ stands for Port Jefferson, where they’re from). Andrew was George, his dad was Ringo, his uncle was Paul and a friend took on John’s role, with Matt sometimes subbing for him.

‘The first song I ever heard was The Beatles’ rendition of ‘Twist And Shout’. Playing in that band gave me a real appreciation of songwriting and harmony. George’s vocal part is always the hardest to follow because it’s usually the least obvious harmony and the hardest one to pick out.  Especially the three part harmony stuff, if you look at songs like ‘This Boy’, ‘Nowhere Man’ and ‘Yes It Is’. Their harmonies were incredible. The whole family is into them.’ I mention that I’ve been listening to their White Album recently and he becomes very animated: ‘ That one really showcases their individualities. What I like about them is that all their albums are so different, from Meet The Beatles to Beatles for Sale and then you have the extreme change that came with Revolver. Subconsciously, we think like The Beatles (he picks up his guitar and starts playing some very identifiably Beatlesey chords), like this last chord of theirs from ‘No Reply’.’

He is also very conscious of just how much the music industry has changed since The Beatles first shot to fame: ‘We can listen to anything over the internet but I saw an interview with Paul McCartney where he was talking about what it was like in the 50’s. He talked about going to the record shop to buy a record just to hear a particular chord because that was the only way he could hear it. You get these unique moments that kind of stick with you.’

Como compares it, laughingly, to growing up with Blockbuster: ‘You know, you had to fight the woman next to you for the latest release! You’d get pizza and popcorn and that was your night. We’ve become so anti-social. Don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful for everything we can do with the internet, especially when we’re sending out tracks to get parts added, but I didn’t really get to grow up with record shops. They sound cool.’

If he could tour with anyone, it would have to be The Beatles: ‘To tour with them, to hear their interpretation of anything we’ve done, that would be a dream. That’s like handing a musician a zillion dollars! To hear Paul sing ‘Beautiful Tonight’, that would be the craziest thing in the world!’

(Photo: Matt and Andrew)