Balu Brigada are an alt pop duo from New Zealand, made up of multi-instrumentalist writer/producer brothers, Henry and Pierre Beasley.
The pair started making music together young, when a 12-year-old Henry capitalised on his Older Brother status by appointing himself lead-guitarist and forcing Pierre to learn bass. They spent the next few years teaching themselves production, songwriting and a handful of instruments, before officially forming Balu Brigada when Pierre was old enough to pass as 18 and play in bars.
Before anyone else asks, the band name has its origins in the Jungle Book’s character Baloo - “the ultimate chiller,” according to the boys. This morphed into Balu Brigada when they wisely decided they didn’t want to get sued by Disney.
As a multi-talented duo, they have a hand in every aspect of Balu’s output. Pierre is even allowed to sing now. Their inimitable brotherly dynamic comes through in everything they do, from ripping each other out on stage to riffing off one another in skits. Natural-born performers, the boys dipped their toes in acting during high school, before fully immersing themselves in their love for music after deciding acting was “somehow not as exciting as playing under-rehearsed covers in front of an audience of 30 drunk teenagers.”
They’ve since graduated to playing well-rehearsed versions of their own songs to much larger, probably still drunk audiences, cementing their place as the best duo out of New Zealand since Flight of the Conchords.
In 2020 the boys return with BOP FIASCO, a brand new show, ushering in a new era of neck snapping bops.
BOP FIASCO is set to be a night of light headed melodies and heavy weight grooves, with support from 0800 and Lily Carron.
