If you live in Los Angeles, you may have felt a rumble from rap group Brother Reade. Wait, let me take that back. You can compare them to a 4.6 earthquake. Making heads bop and girls shake their asses, Brother Reade has steadily taken over the eastside, and and soon the world, with their ingenious lyrics “This is for the strippers and the fans of the Clippers / cuz life ain’t easy for y’all” and infectious beats.

Hailing out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Brother Reade is rapper Major Jamz and DJ Bobby Evans, or Jimmy and Erin, respectively. Having met back in North Carolina, Jamz and Bobby relocated to Los Angeles to follow through with their undeniable musical chemistry to create some of the most highly praised music coming from the Echo Park/Silver Lake area. While in LA, they’ve released two EP’s, Northcack Aphonicrobotickillatrackatronic and the Illustrated Guide to: 9 to 5, as well as their recent full-length album, Rap Music.

Brother Reade has performed at Cinespace, Family Book Store, SXSW and Fuck Yeah Fest, and will also appear at the much anticipated Neighborhood Festival in Downtown LA this weekend. Recently, LAist sat down the twosome to discuss the release of their latest album and music video, some fav LA eats and why you should let them have a house party at your place.

Interview and music video after the jump!

Your debut full-length album, Rap Music, came out in July. Was that all recorded in LA?

E: Yeah, it was recorded all in my studio in Echo Park. It’s where all of our records, except the first one, were made.

Did living in Los Angeles shape the direction of your music or album at all?

E: Well, we didn’t do music in the same way when we lived in Winston. We didn’t have Brother Reade together. We were in punk bands then. Definitely being out here, then starting this project - everything about it is LA based. Everything that we picked up, it’s all from being in the city and knowing the people we know and experiences after that.

Has LA become the official home base?

E: I really enjoy LA. It’s definitely where we need to be to do everything we do. Right now, it’s so easy to live here because opportunity is just kind of everywhere.

J: I think Erin is much more tied to Los Angeles than I am. When I came out here, I was like, “I’ll be out here for three months. Make the record, see what happens.” It’s been longer than three months, but that is still sorta my attitude. My parents are on the east coast. I think eventually I’ll be back there.

Do you have plans for an extensive tour?

J: We’re trying to put together some overseas stuff for the end of the year, mainly in the UK and France. This will be our first time leaving the country with the group, besides Canada.

How did you hook up with Banner Gwin to direct the “Like Duh” video? Did know him beforehand? Was he suggested?

E: He just hit us up.

J: Yeah, he approached us. But the funny thing was when we took our first meeting, he was telling us his resume and all this stuff, like what he does. He’s worked on pretty impressive projects (The Interpreter, You, Me, and Dupree). But then eventually, what really made us [pick him]...we found out his cousin was in Mika Miko and we got really excited. We were really enthusiastic about the video and the idea, but then we also kinda geeked, because we’re way into his cousin’s band. We also know the same people, come to find out.

Did you guys collaborate with Banner on storyboard for the video?

J: We had input. But it was interesting because I felt like [Banner] did a pretty good job developing a concept from out of the song, you know? He had the music in mind, and what the music and the lyrics were doing. I mean, that’s all his, but that’s our house.

Yeah, where is this house and who does it belong to?

J: We lived there.

E: It’s in Atwater.

J: It was a whole house of people that Erin and these two other guys started a long time ago, and [the video] was its most recent incarnation.

And the poster of the person in the hallway? It’s pretty haunting.

E: It’s a friend of ours.

J: Yeah, she used to live there.

What did you think of the video when you saw the final product?

J: It was executed exactly how I thought it would be. The film just looked so good. It was kind of a long time from when we shot it to when we saw it. For one reason or another, there were delays in production. We kind of forgot about it. It’s like someone hands you something that you didn’t participate in almost.

How long had it been since when the video was shot to when it was finished?

E: Several months. The reason it took so long was because Banner did it completely on his own. He had his crew and everything but he was just pulling favors. He would pull together shorts to get the film and everything was spare time outside of his job. He put in tons of work. It’s not like there was a budget behind it or anything either. It was [Banner] pulling favors to get into editing rooms and everything.

He really did a wonderful job. Everyone I show the video to loves it.

E: It was a whole shoot that night too. There was a dolly truck in the house, full on Panavision camera. I was sick. I was upstairs the whole time sleeping. Banner would come in, be like, “Hey, you gotta get ready for your thing.” And the whole time I have a 103-degree fever. It was completely miserable.

Well, Jimmy’s mostly in it.

J: (Laughing) At the end of it, I was like, “Man, this is extremely hard work.” It’s 6 in the morning, and you’re trying to be video taped. It’s film, so if it doesn’t look good then it gets lost. I think we did one take of everything. We may have done a couple takes of some stuff, but really, Banner would offer the direction, say “This is what we’re trying to do,” then say, “Go!”

So now that you live in LA, what are your favorite restaurants?

E: I could tell you the restaurants I go to all the time. Where do we go the most? Mexican spot – Terry’s is crazy.

J: Terry’s is the best Mexican restaurant. Terry’s is for real. They make their own tortillas. The horchata is always real dope. It’s on Melrose and Cahuenga.

E: As far as burrito spot – Tacos via Corona in Atwater.

J: Tacos via Corona is the jam.

Where are your favorite bars in LA?

J: Uh, I don’t know. A lot of our friends work at the Cha Cha, so we always end up going there. That’s the only bar I feel like I go to.

What are your favorite LA venues?

J: Family Book Store on Fairfax. We had a show that was really unlikely, awesome sounding, beautiful surprise with a great crowd.

E: I agree with that. But besides that, house parties are easily the best venue.

J: Good point. It’s been so long I’ve almost forgotten. If any of your readership would like to have a Brother Reade party at their house, they should write us directly and we can make that happen.

Yeah, I’ve heard about your house parties. Why haven’t you had any?

J: The kind of person that is going to allow you to do what we do when we have a house party to your home is a very few and far between, extremely special kind of person.

E: I think what happened was we had offers for house parties, then we did a series of house parties. And then everyone else heard about the house parties, and they all had fun. But they were like, “I’ll go to them, but you can’t have it at my house.”

You can check out more of Brother Reade at:

http://www.myspace.com/brotherreade
www.brotherreade.com

Top photo courtesy of Brother Reade via Myspace

Music video by Banner Gwin via YouTube