Brainium Sounds Off

It's time for the band to play, but what songs will we perform? It depends on multiple factors as discussed by the boyz of Brainium. And the songs we decide to (maybe) play are on ... a set list!

Is it a song or a meme? The iconic Brainium classic "Elephant Head" has its story told at long last!

Most bands--especially small, local bands--play "covers" ... songs that were recorded by other artists. Sometimes bands only play cover songs. But other bands--like Brainium--play "originals" ... songs the band wrote themselves. The Boys of Brainium discuss the difference.

Our first crack at answering listener questions, not necessarily related to the podcast. Or music. Or reality. But we do our best with them anyway. Have a question for Brainium? Send it to podcast at brainium.band

We've mentioned it many times, now we finally talk a little bit about "The Musical" (as we cleverly refer to it). Almost 50 years (so far) in the making. Will it be worth the wait? Of course not, but hopefully it won't stink. In any case, at least we have this podcast episode about it. Hopefully it doesn't stink either. Confidence!

Brainium is only two guys so the guitar gets plenty of work in producing the band's inimitable sound. That guitar was (and is) Thom's Fender Stratocaster, aka "The Strat." Thom tells more than anyone could possibly want to know about this legendary axe.

Brainium, as a two-man band, used a drum machine both in recording sessions and live gigs. But we've also played with live drummers. What's the difference?

Being on stage looks fun (and it usually is) but someone in the band needs to manage the performance and interact with the crowd. (Even if it's a small one.) The Boys of Brainium discuss what it's like to do the job (not always well) in a local band.

Sometimes bands play live, sometimes in a studio. (And with Brainium, sometimes "live" to tape in a basement with no audience.) What's the difference? Plenty, actually. The Boys of Brainium (especially Thom) discuss their own experiences with playing live vs. the studio.

While Thom's Fender Strat provided almost all of the guitar sounds for Brainium (to date), another guitar shows up now and then played by Gary--the keyboard player who can't really play guitar (or keyboards, but that's another story). It's old and cheap (like Brainium?) but recently had some work done (unlike Brainium) so it seemed like a good time to showcase this obscure instrument.

Another in our series discussing the origins of specific Brainium songs. This one might be considered the band's "anthem" as it includes "Brainium" in the lyrics. (It also includes "pseudointellectual" but that's irrelevant.) A snippet from this song is the outro for our podcast episodes. Now you can hear the whole thing!

Big, successful bands have crews of sound people setting everything up and making sure it all sounds good during the performance. Most bands don't have that luxury. Brainium didn't. (Not yet, anyway.) So how do other bands (like Brainium) run their sound?

Getting into a band usually (but not always) requires an audition. Brainium talks about their audition experiences...both having them and giving them.

Believe it or not, things don't always go as planned during a gig. Shocking, right? In this episode, the boys of Brainium tell stories of some of their "uh oh" incidents. Unsurprisingly, this episode ran a little long even though we only hit the highlights (or lowlights) at Brainium and non-Brainium gigs.

In a previuos episode, we talked about some of our favorite Brainium gigs. Now it's time to talk about favorite gigs playing in other bands. While nothing can truly compare to playing a Brainium gig, there were still some good times for each of us playing in other bands. Just ask Thom!

Another Song Origins episode features the song "I'm A Monk." We discuss how the song originated and evolved into the new (for now) Brainium version. (The "new" version is from the late 1980s.) Hear the difference "Brainiumizing" the song made! Note: This episode is a little longer than usual. We'll strive to be more concise in the future. We do tend to ramble...

Hear about all the steps, from start to finish, that went into Brainium playing out live. There's a lot more to it than just the performance, especially when you're just two guys with no crew.

Brainium didn't play many live gigs, but all of them were fun, and some were particularly memorable. Sure they were decades ago but the boys of Brainium remember them well! (Sort of.)

Ever wonder what that local band you saw at the bar had to bring to their gig? Brainium tells you what they brought to their gigs! Hint: It's probably more than you think.

An in-depth look at the making of the song "People" from the early instrumental concept through Thom's first exposure to the new band and the 8-track studio recording. As best we can remember...it was a long time ago!

Brainium discusses their process (or lack thereof) for writing original music.

How Brainium recorded their music, starting with simple cassette decks back in the 80s and continuing through to the 2020s.

Brainium talks about how they got into music and how they ultimately got together to form the band Brainium.