Interview: Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s Wes Leavins Talks Artistic Expression and Sold-Out Shows

Inspired by music legends like Roy Orbison, the Cars, and Radiohead, Brigitte Calls Me Baby frontman Wes Leavins started writing songs at 13 years old. Later, Leavins performed as Elvis Presley in the Tony award-nominated musical Million Dollar Quartet and worked on the soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. On the Elvis set, he met producer Dave Cobb, who recently collaborated with the Chicago-based band to create their stunning debut EP "This House is Made of Corners." 

Having previously toured with Muse, Inhaler, and — most recently — the Last Dinner Party, Brigitte Calls Me Baby knows how to command a stage. Now, they are finally coming to Boston to perform a special Valentine’s Day show at Cafe 939 on February 14th.

Before their Boston show, Wes Leavins sat down with our Music Coordinator, Claire Dunham to talk about sold-out concerts and the creative influences behind the band’s EP. 

 

SO, FIRST OF ALL, HOW HAS THE TOUR BEEN?

Wes Leavins: Great. Unexpectedly, every show we've done so far has sold out, which has been a surprise. We didn't know what to expect going into some of the markets, like Indianapolis. But they sold out, which was great.

 

SPEAKING OF SOLD-OUT SHOWS, YOU GUYS WILL BE PLAYING CHICAGO ON MARCH 2ND, AND I KNOW THAT SHOW SOLD OUT SUPER QUICKLY. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE SUCH A WARM WELCOME BACK TO CHICAGO?

WL: It's the best because that's where we're from, and we've been playing there for close to a year now. So that was always the goal. Now just to be here, it feels so rewarding.

 

DEFINITELY. SO YOU'VE OPENED FOR A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT BANDS LIKE INHALER, MUSE, AND THE LAST DINNER PARTY. DID YOU PICK UP ON ANYTHING WHILE TOURING WITH THESE BANDS? DID THEY INFLUENCE ANYTHING SPECIFIC ABOUT YOUR OWN PERFORMANCE STYLE?

WL: I personally feel like you can learn things from bands that your friends drag you to see, even if you don't like them. So definitely, I believe you can learn things from any band that you see, whether it be certain vocal things that work, or, in the case of the Last Dinner Party, they're just a great, enthusiastic bunch of performers. I feel like anyone would probably agree that there's a charisma amongst them that you can't fake. There's probably a lot to learn from them, but we only got to do a few shows with them, so I don't know that there was time to learn all that much, unfortunately.

 

THAT MAKES SENSE. DO YOU ALL HAVE ANY PRE-SHOW RITUALS? ANYTHING YOU DO PERSONALLY TO HELP YOUR VOICE OR GROUND YOURSELF BEFORE A SHOW?

WL: There are things I don't do, more than there are things that I do. I don't eat before a show because it doesn't work. For me anyway, that's the main one. I guess it's the nerves. Maybe you don't want to have like a full stomach and be nervous. It doesn't feel great.

There are more things that I that I don't do. I don't get up early if I don't have to, just to be prepared for the energy that the live show demands.

 

I KNOW YOU WERE ON TOUR FOR MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET. THAT WAS OBVIOUSLY A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, BUT HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR PERSONAL PERFORMANCE STYLE HAS EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS?

WL: Well, I would say that [Million Dollar Quartet] required one thing: you were an actor, so it wasn't necessarily the same sort of performing. But I was on that tour for six months straight, non-stop, and that taught me how to be in front of people and not feel unnatural. So that was the main takeaway from that. Every night for nearly six months being in front of a lot of people... eventually you start to feel natural on stage.

 

DID YOU HAVE THAT SAME LEVEL OF COMFORT ON STAGE WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SINGING YOUR OWN SONGS OR WAS IT HARDER? DID YOU FIND YOURSELF FEELING MORE VULNERABLE?

WL: No, I think I was maybe even more comfortable because there's no expectation. With the other thing (Million Dollar Quartet) there's more of an expectation with what you do. 

What is right is what you do naturally. There's not a formula you just write the way you write and perform the way you perform. And people either gravitate toward it or they don't. The expectation is only that. You either like it or you don't. 

And also, the other show that I was involved with was the same thing every night.

 

I ALSO WANT TO TALK A BIT ABOUT THE EP. WHAT WAS IT LIKE WRITING THAT AND WORKING WITH DAVE COBB DURING THE RECORDING PROCESS?

WL: That was also very rewarding because I met him working on the Baz Luhrmann Elvis movie. He and I were a few of the musicians involved, and most of the other people came from the Hollywood side and acting, so he and I hit it off. We started talking about music and the things we're into and hung out the whole time. After that experience, I didn't keep in touch with him. I just went back home.

Some time passed and I had written some songs, and thought, "It's been a year, I should probably reach out to Dave and see what he's been up to." And after I did that, I said, "Hey, check these songs out. What do you think?" And he said, "I think we should make a record." And I said, "Great." So in hindsight, because I had waited over a year to reach out to him, who knows what could've happened in that time? But I think the timing was right because the right songs had come. Yeah, it was just a great experience.

 

YOU ALL CITE A LOT OF DIFFERENT MUSICAL INFLUENCES WHEN TALKING ABOUT THE EP, BUT I'M WONDERING IF THERE WERE ANY OTHER INFLUENCES OUTSIDE OF MUSIC THAT HAD AN IMPACT ON THE WRITING AND RECORDING PROCESS. WERE THERE ANY BOOKS OR MOVIES THAT INFLUENCED YOU?

WL: Yeah, that's a good question because I've always been a fan of expression, whether it be movies or fashion. I knew I wanted the songs to have a certain charisma that was pretty specific to my interests, and when you're writing a song, you can have the vaguest example of what may inspire it. You might want a song to feel like a scene from a movie that you like or something like that. So that's why I think this is a great question because those other arts definitely find their way into the music. In thinking about the stuff we did with Dave — "Eddie My Love" is a good example of having other arts influence a song.

 

100%. I FEEL LIKE YOU CAN REALLY TELL THAT YOU ALL ARE VERY INSPIRED BY OTHER FORMS OF EXPRESSION. YOU HAVE A VERY COHESIVE LOOK ONSTAGE FASHION-WISE. I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING PEOPLE GRAVITATE TOWARD.

WL: Thank you. Yeah, I hope so because it was always like, "This is what we're gonna do, and hopefully people like it. If they don't, I guess that's fine, too." There was never any option but to sing the way I sing and dress the way I dress.

 

SO, LOOKING FORWARD, IS THERE ANYTHING IN THE WORKS RIGHT NOW THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH ME?

WL: Yeah actually, I know we're going to have the record out this summer. I don't have a date yet, but I believe it'll be later in the summer. We're excited about it because right now people have heard maybe five songs and there are like 10 or 11 on the record, so it gives a much fuller picture of what we do. That's the big one. That's the most exciting. But there are also some festivals at the end of the year that we're very lucky to have landed. Not sure if I can necessarily mention which ones and where they're at, but that is exciting for sure.

 

Brigitte Calls Me Baby is performing at Cafe 939 on February 14th. Tickets are available now.