Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Simply Brick

What is your earliest memory connected to music? 

When Ariel was only two years old, her parents bought her a toy guitar that played snippets of songs when you pressed its buttons. She still has the video of her playing with it and you can see that she is both amazed and enamoured with the guitar. Corrina’s earliest memory connected to music was her introduction to her mom’s friend who played the flute when she was just a toddler. She remembers really loving the sound of it and even decided to learn flute in her high school music class ten years later, although she didn’t end up enjoying it as much as she thought she would. 

How did your passion for creating music begin? 

Corrina’s passion for creating music began almost as soon as she picked up the bass. She had been playing other instruments before, namely the guitar and drums, but never felt connected to them. When she was forced to pick up the bass in her last year of high school for music class, she quickly picked it up and started creating her own melodic bass lines. For Ariel, her passion began when she joined her first musical project. They were a punk rock band and after a few months of being with them, she started creating and recording her own riffs and posting them on SoundCloud. 

What’s the story behind your current music project? 

The name Simply Brick had been floating around in Corrina’s head for over five years, but only came to light when she met Ariel in 2019 and they began creating music together. They met through the Montreal music scene, both of them playing with other bands, but as soon as they met, it became a fast friendship. They realized they enjoyed the same type of dreamy alternative music and decided it would be fun to create their own project. Since then, they’ve worked hard to build a repertoire of songs that they both love and finally found the perfect drummer to complement the band. 

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before? 

We would describe our music as dreamy alternative rock, having an atmospheric tone combined with groove-driven guitar riffs. If we were to compare it to a band, we always say it’s like the Stadium Arcadium era of Red Hot Chili Peppers if it was layered with more dreamy vibes. 

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music? We’ve learned that the most important thing when it comes to creating music is that you 

are making it for yourself and not in the hopes to become famous. If you aren’t loving

what you are doing then it will show and even if our songs never make it to a huge audience, we can always look back on them fondly. 

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process? We keep it simple, using at most a phone recorder and notebook to keep track of our 

ideas and of course the instruments we play in our band; guitar, drums, bass and vocals. We usually start with just guitar and vocals when creating and then add on the other instruments once we have something solid. Occasionally, we use a piano to help with writing vocal melodies or harmonies. 

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now? 

We are very inspired by Colleen Green and love her song titled “Darkest Eyes.” We love how raw her music is and Ariel is especially moved by it. She discovered the song back in 2013 and it has been a staple in her listening ever since. 

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision? Having both dealt with a lot of heartbreak and conflict, a lot of our songs were written to 

express the emotions we felt during our tough times. Working together, we both did a lot of healing and growing, and our music grew with us. 

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work? We hope that our listeners’ can find an outlet for their own emotions through listening to 

our music and that they can relate to the messages in our songs. We also hope that through being authentic and weird ourselves, that those who engage with our music will feel comfortable to do so as well. 

What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far? 

Music has not only taught us to be ourselves, but has also taught us to stand up for ourselves and what we believe in. When we met, we were both afraid of conflict and would allow others to walk over us to avoid upsetting anyone. Having had to deal with a lot of unpleasant people and situations, we have learned that it’s important to defend ourselves even if it means some people won’t like us. 

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at? 

Playing in Los Angeles, California is on our bucket list. Doesn’t matter the venue, it could even be a tiny dive bar in the area and we would be happy. We’re both Red Hot Chili Peppers fans and I believe that’s why we would really love to play there. Otherwise, playing at the Bell Centre in Montreal would be a dream come true. 

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why? We would collaborate with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As we mentioned above, we’re 

both huge fans and would jump at any opportunity to meet them. Ariel loves John

Frusciante’s beautiful guitar riffs and takes a lot of her inspiration from him. For Corrina, she’s always thought of Flea as her favourite bassist since she started learning the instrument. We also admire how authentic they are and aim to be like that ourselves. 

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links) Our music can be found on pretty much every streaming platform; Spotify, Apple Music, 

YouTube, Deezer, etc. We have links for our music attached to our social media pages. Links: 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Ejy5y7g2wFajJUZQDnPBy?si=HES_WbVnRrueEFDsK_7mK g 

https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/simply-brick/1593828162

https://www.youtube.com/@simplybrickmusic

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey? 

We would love to start playing at larger venues in Montreal, as well as to branch out and play in nearby cities. We have our eye on a few venues; Foufs, Escogriffe and Petit Campus being some of them. We will also be applying to a few festivals and would be delighted if we got into any of them. 

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way? We hope that our listeners will discover our authenticity and genuine love of our project 

and follow along with our journey. It means a lot to have others experience our musical trip with us.