Brass Against

Senbla Presents... Throughout history, music has provided the soundtrack to underscore politically-charged times. From Woodstock in the late 60s to people singing from their balconies during the COVID-19 pandemic, music expresses the things that people can’t put into words. Human existence depends on using music to make a statement and inspire change. These days, that call to change sounds like a collective of musicians called Brass Against, fusing the sounds of a brass band, heavy rock and powerful vocals. Led and curated by Brad Hammonds, Brass Against began as a meeting between friends. Brad and Andrew Gutauskas (Brass Against’s musical director and its baritone sax player) got together in 2017 to vent about the unsettling, divisive and isolationist tones of the moment. The only way to do that? Rocking out to Rage Against the Machine. “I wondered what I could do as a musician, and my first idea was to do a performance of ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine with a choir and an orchestra,” Brad explains. “I really felt like we needed Rage Against the Machine during that time period.” After playing five tracks with Andrew on baritone sax, the effect was immediate. What Brad and Andrew ended up creating was a unique “cacophony of sound”–the brass band was more containable than an orchestra, but it simultaneously allowed them to make a big statement. They asked fellow musician friends to join–a violinist here, a vocalist there, and the band grew incrementally.