brothers griiin, oklahoma city, oklahoma
Photo by Geon Tillinghast
You may recognize the Brothers Griiin as the fearless drumming duo behind The Flaming Lips, but after the show these international DJ destroyers bring the party to the people.
Matt Duckworth (Stardeath and White Dwarfs) and Nicholas Ley (Colourmusic) were friends as regulars in the Oklahoma music scene until they each got the call to join the Flaming Lips in early 2014. The plan was to alternate drumming duties for the Lips in between their other tours at first, but after a few shows with both drummers it was decided that the Lips would only play with the "Brothers". Matt and Nick learned quickly how they complemented each other with acoustic and electronic drums but also how their ability to swap duties within the band and offer other musical options.
It was during the preparation for the Miley Cyrus and her Dead Petz tour that Matt and Nick realized there was another musical venture they'd like to tackle together. "These days, the rock bands at festivals end fairly early. And our club shows do too. For those of us in the band and crew who weren't ready to pack it in for the night, we had limited options. None of the DJ's at the after parties were playing music we liked, so we decided to start our own party..." says Ley. Duckworth confirms "Yeah, we didn't start DJing as much as we just started taking control over the after-party. So now we look for places for our friends and fans to continue partying after the Lips' explosive live shows get everyone riled up. Eventually, we'd like to just be the party."
The Brothers Griiin aren't stopping there though. With their new found love of music curation, Matt and Nick are starting to remix songs for other artists and are beginning work on their first record of original material. The purpose of their SixTwelve residency was multifaceted. While in Savannah in June of 2019, they had the opportunity to focus on writing thier first original album while collaborating with Ryan and Chloe Manon of GRAVEFACE Records, other local musicians and songwriters, thereby creating SixTwelve’s first musical bridge between OKC and Savannah.
When you catch them live, the Brothers have no genre or playlist, they just spin what the party needs, all night long. Mixing funk, hip hop, pop, indie and dance, these gladiators of style and taste keep the dance floor packed. Go party with them, you're all invited.
It will be loud.
It will be wild.
It will be Griiin.