Meet Barrett: Your new favorite alternative rock band out of Nashville, TN. Lead singer Addi Barrett, guitarists Declan Nelligan and Matt Rock, and drummer/producer Alex Murphy pride themselves on bringing what they’ve deemed, “skatepark pop” to your ears. Influenced by Paramore and The Killers, Barrett’s own sonic flavor exists where soft and sweet meets gritty and noisy.
Following the release of their new EP ‘Quit Dreaming’, we caught up with them to learn more about their artistry, signature sound and upcoming plans.
- How did Barrett come together as a band, and what were the initial inspirations behind forming the group?
Addi: From my perspective, Barrett as a collaboration initially formed out of a necessity to perform and record for my solo project at the time, but I knew I wanted more talent and eyes on everything I was writing. Once we all started working together on recording a demo, we discovered that we had a really fun group sound and energy that we were able to bring to a band structure. From there we decided to commit to a full EP project that we were all writers and performers on, and the Barrett journey began.
- Each member of Barrett brings something unique to the band. Can you each describe your role and how you contribute to the band’s overall sound and dynamic?
Addi: I would say right now I act as both the front woman and manager of sorts. When I’m not singing our songs or recording new ones, I’m usually the one trying to schedule rehearsals and make sure things get uploaded, people get paid, and that we are all on the same page for future plans.
Declan: While I am not an eloquent wordsmith, I do my part in songwriting, instrumental part-writing, arrangements, and helping Addi manage the band (social media, booking shows, etc). I bring a certain “fun” vibe to the function.
Alex: I’m lucky to be the producer! I get to kind of quarterback the recording process, from engineering vocals to playing drums and guitars to mixing!
Matt: I help out with the writing, arranging, and tracking/performing guitar!
- Your sound has been described as “skatepark pop” and combines elements of alternative rock and pop-punk. Can you talk about the influences that shaped your musical style?
Addi: We’ve been mainly inspired by the mid to late aughts era of very anthemic, rebellious pop punk songs that maintain a playful spirit. Specifically artists that are still being played at weddings, school dances and covered today. Some of the first acts that come to mind are Blink-182, Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte, and The All-American Rejects.
Declan: Paramore, Sweet Pill, The Killers, Remi Wolf
Alex: I agree with Addi, I feel like our inspiration is the era of pop rock that’s the newest thing that can be considered nostalgic, like we’re making a new version of a soundtrack to a fun 2000s coming-of-age comedy like American Pie or something!
Matt: We definitely have a lot of early 2000s pop rock influences, but with some modern twists mixed in. For example the arrangement for “Don’t Tell” definitely took influence from Willow’s <COPINGMECHANISM> album.
- Can you walk us through the creative process behind your debut EP, Quit Dreaming? How do you usually start writing a song?
Addi: Songs can start out any number of ways. I prefer to have everyone in the room while we write and be able to start arranging and laying down a demo right there, and that’s what we started to do with Quit Dreaming. Usually we begin each session by sharing our concept or hook ideas, and then we build melodies and guitar parts etc and edit in real time from there.
Alex: Yeah, I feel like our best results have come from us getting together with acoustic guitars and just spitballing from a really basic concept and building together from scratch.
Matt: Pretty much every single came from one or two of us coming in with an idea then the rest of the band building off of it. I think that’s why the EP has a lot of musical diversity because not all of the original ideas came from the same person/people. Yet there’s still a cohesiveness about the songs due to everyone have a hand in the finished products.
- Any challenges you faced while producing the EP and if so, how did you overcome them?
Addi: One thing that was tough about the EP process for me was deciding when things were finally ready to go ahead and actually release it all and start promoting it. I had a difficult time shifting from creative mode to marketing mode after working for so long to get things going. Luckily, the reception has been so warm and positive that I’m wondering why I was so nervous in the first place!
Declan: Funding would have been the biggest challenge for us if it wasn’t for the help of the awesome donors of our GoFundMe. Scheduling time to meet with our crazy schedules was also a difficulty in our recording process.
Alex: For me it’s been getting stuck in what I call the “mixing insane asylum” – going back and forth on a million little decisions until it finally feels like it’s at the finish line.
- What has been the most memorable moment for Barrett so far, whether in the studio, on stage, or during the writing process?
Declan: Aside from live show shenanigans, I think the most memorable moment for us was finally releasing our music this year.
Addi: One of my favorite moments happened during our release show; we surprised the audience by going straight into a cover of Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy”- and the energy in the room was so cool. People that had never met were all screaming along and jumping up and down with us. It was perfect.
Alex: I think my favorite moment was recording vocal harmonies on “Passenger Princess” – I remember Addi coming up with these amazing three part layers on the spot and all of us just laughing out loud about how cool it sounded, that was an awesome moment of inspiration, I think it gave us all chills!
Matt: I think recording the guitars/just overall finishing Don’t Tell was really memorable for me. Addi and I wrote that song all the way back in 2019 and it had kinda just sat on the shelf for a while. It was really cool to see it finally come to life with the help of the rest of the band.
- Now that Quit Dreaming is out, what’s next for Barrett? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you’re excited about?
Addi: Yes! We’ve been writing not just for and among ourselves, but also with some really talented friends and writers for their projects and future features as well. There is so much up and coming talent in Nashville right now that we can’t help but get excited to collaborate and release music with other artists in the coming months. We also have several more singles lined up for July, August and September…stay tuned!
Declan: We might be seen as a feature later this summer! Check out the very talented Slake Dranksy and keep an eye out for new music.
Alex: I’m just excited to be back in the writing room and the studio cooking up new tunes! We’ve got one we’re working on now that I’m super excited about.
Matt: I’m also looking forward to this next batch of songs, the initial writing stage is always my favorite part of each project!
- You had a release show in Nashville and will be opening for Six Foot Blonde next month. What can fans expect from your live performances?
Declan: We are fun! We hope our performances keep you in the moment and keep you dancing/singing along.
Addi: We really wanna get people dancing and grooving along if we can. Hopefully, it’ll be hard not to dance with us once we get going. I also do hope to get a few good crowd banter moments in, I love when people shout out answers to my silly questions or laugh at my dumb references in between songs 🙂
- What are some dream venues or festivals you hope to play in the future?
Addi: I honestly feel like right now, any venue that people show up to for us is a dream venue. That might sound lame, but I’ll take a living room to perform in as long as there is love to be felt from an audience that wants to be there.
Declan: I would love to play at Bonnaroo. Located so close to Nashville, we still haven’t had a chance to attend. Growing up outside of Indianapolis, I would also love to play at The Old National Center as well as The Egyptian Room.
- How do you see your sound evolving in the future? Are there any new musical directions you’re eager to explore?
Addi: I would be curious to see how our sound comes through in a ballad. I imagine we will get around to writing a nice power ballad soon enough, something that feels a bit more drawn out and understated but still driven and gritty.
Declan: As we continue to explore our sound, I think it’s a safe bet to say you will hear more electronic elements in our music (synths/samples/etc)!
Alex: I really don’t know exactly what to expect, like some new element pops up in every new thing we do. We don’t always know how to put our sound into words, but we know it when we hear it! I feel like we have a good shared instinct, and that’s going to carry us forward to more exploration and creation!
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