Introducing Bruvvy, Miami’s Hottest Rock Band
Pictured, from left to right: drummer Juan Cabrera, lead singer and guitarist Liz Varnum, bassist Paula Bunich, and guitarist Nelson Gonzalez.
Bruuvy, a rock band inspired by the aesthetics of rebellion and ferocity, rediscovers the very spirit of the genre — the one possessing listeners to jump, to scream, to sweat, to connect — through their feminine power. Formed in 2019, Bruvvy is composed of lead singer and guitarist Liz Varnum, bassist Paula Bunich, guitarist Nelson Gonzalez, and drummer Juan Cabrera, all of whom I got to meet over zoom to talk about their journey thus far.
Frankie: I have to ask, where did the name Bruvvy come from?
Liz: “I had this moment a couple years ago where I would not stop calling everyone bruvvy instead of bro. I have no idea where I got it from, it was just a thing that I picked up somewhere. We already set up a first show for ourselves, but we didn't have a name yet. In rehearsal one day, we were all driving [around] trying to figure out what the hell we were gonna do because it was approaching quickly, that first show. We were calling out names and stuff and then I said ‘Oh, what about Bruvvy?’ I put it in a sentence to kind of see if it worked as a band name and it felt so good. Everyone was like ‘okay, that's it, that's the one.’”
Frankie: And what made you want to start a band?
Liz: “Paula and I actually met in middle school, we went to the same middle school. Little music-obsessed teenagers were very few and far between, so we kind of took that as an opportunity to get a little bit closer and we started playing music together. We formed our first band ever, which the name we shall not mention [so no one looks it up], but, we had a little falling out. When we were playing in that first band, we met Juan, and he became like our replacement drummer for [the drummer of our first band]. So we've known each other for a very long time and after we had our falling out, we actually ended up meeting up again, like five years later or something, and we tried jamming again. It just felt super magical, especially when our guitar player Nelson joined.”
Frankie: That’s so cute, I love that origin story! So you guys have an EP coming out soon, what can you tell us about it?
Paula: “We recorded it back in January of this year. It was work that we were really proud of that we accumulated throughout the pandemic [and] beforehand . . . We worked with a producer who really knew the sound that we were going for. His name is Ryan Haft —”
Liz: “He’s a god.”
Paula: “ — He kind of made our vision come to life and he is a god. We're just so excited to show people what we've been keeping up with. We really feel like these songs have a lot of potential and we're super proud of them. So it's gonna be amazing to see how people react to them.”
Paula: “It's really cool because we're kind of at a point when we play the songs, the people who do go to our shows often [are] always asking, ‘Oh, when is the song going to come out? We need the song recorded.’ A couple of weeks ago, we played this one show and we got a message from a new fan and follower on our Instagram. He goes, ‘Hey I really really liked the show, but there was this one song and it's in my head. I don't know the lyrics, but [it] sounded something like ‘Good, good gravy.’ I was [like,] ‘A good, good gravy? That's not a lyric of ours, but maybe I can try to try to decipher what you're talking about.’ I'm singing all of our songs in my head and trying to add in good gravy to see where that could fit, in what rhythm. [And then] I was like, ‘Oh, I think you're talking about attention,’ which the song goes ‘You got my full attention, baby!’”
Frankie: What does it feel like to finally be able to give your audience recordings of your songs?
Liz: “It's super exciting but it's also super nerve-wracking for me because I know that people have built their own ideas of what the song is supposed to sound like. Hearing a song live and only having a live reference, as opposed to hearing it recorded [and] live later, is the same thing as reading a book and then seeing the movie later and being like, ‘This cast [is] weird and that's not how I pictured the characters.’ Everyone has their own ideas of what it sounds like to them. So it's nerve-wracking because I also want everyone to like it.”
Paula: “Nobody's gonna think you're saying good good gravy anymore!”
Liz: “You know what, though? When Twilight cast Rosalie, Nikki Reed got bullied because they said she wasn't beautiful enough. If that happens with any of the songs [on Little Heat,] I'm gonna have a cry in my shower.
Frankie: Looping back to playing live shows, what is your favorite song to play live?
Juan: “I think ‘Not For Sale.’ Every time that we play, it always has an awesome atmosphere. We usually use it to wrap up the show, so it's a really great way to clean it up. It's super high energy. I feel like it's one of the better ones that we've written as well.”
Paula: “For me, it has to be ‘Proof.’ Every time I play that song, you see the energy that's created in the crowd and it's pretty wild.”
Liz: “‘Attention’ has to be my favorite that we have recorded, but my favorite song to play live, even though it gives me a lung embolism every single time, is ‘Proof.’ It's so fast-paced and fun and gives me super intense My Chemical Romance vibes. But it's rough. We play it really early in the set, too, so by the end, we're all like [Liz imitates heaving noises.]”
Frankie: You were featured on Gibson’s August playlist! How was that for you? It must have been a huge deal.
Nelson: “Personally, I don't have words. I only play Gibsons, [and my friends] play Fenders and [are] always just like ‘Fuck, Gibson,’ we just joke around a lot. So the fact of being kind of associated with this brand, their August playlist and stuff like that is already just too surreal for me to comprehend.”
Paula: “[This was] probably like a dream come true for you guys. Just because, like that was what started you with playing guitar.
Nelson: “Day one. My mom got me my first freaking guitar, which is a Gibson and she was like, ‘I just threw a rack on this guitar. If you don't learn, I'm gonna kick your ass.’”
Liz: “A couple days ago, I scrolled down in our Instagram feed and one of the first pictures that we ever posted was Nelson with our two Gibson guitar cases on the floor. The caption is: “Gibson gang.” And it's just like, ‘What? That's insane! What a full circle of events.’”
Frankie: My last question for you all is what has it been like to be in a band with your best friends for the last two years?
Liz: “It's the most true and authentic music experience ever. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen that often. We got like stupid, stupid lucky with it because a lot of people that we know that are in bands, like with a couple exceptions, they're just each other's bandmates and that's kind of it. All [of] us have a really long history with each other and we're very close. It produces these beautiful one-of-a-kind moments, especially when we reach milestones. I share a lot of these moments with Paula, Juan, Nelson, everyone, but there have been a couple of moments where after the show Juan comes up to me and he’s like, ‘Wow, that was amazing.’ He has [a] little look in his eyes; he doesn't have to say much, but he's letting me know that he's aware that things are going [good]. We kind of just hug. It’s just a beautiful experience.”
Juan: “I had no idea that I did that to be honest, but I'm sure I do.”
Liz: “You go into a haze and then go back to your cynical moments right afterwards. You're like, ‘Wait a minute, I slipped up!’”
Juan: “I come out of my shell for a second. No, but it’s very true. I don't think that I would rather be in a band with literally anybody else. I think everybody is a perfect fit in every way. Of course we hope for the best, but I wouldn't care if we were just playing for ourselves at any point. It's the biggest thing for me in my life. I don't care about anything more than I do about being in the band… I'm just super excited to be with none other than these three.”
Nelson: “Juan stop being cute. We hate each other bro, what you talking about?”
The songs featured on their EP Little Heat are songs Bruuvy fans and audiences have been hearing live since as early as 2019. The band has released a handful of singles since their formation, but has yet to release an EP or album. Bruvvy’s first EP Little Heat is now available everywhere!