When Brooklyn collective Gentleman Brawlers performs, it’s more than a concert: It’s an electrifying experience. Led by creative duo Becca Fox and Matt Walsh, the band channels musical inspo Talking Heads with their distinct brand of Afrofunk and indie dance music. “If you can MOVE you can DANCE!” shouts an exuberant Fox from the stage — or from the dance floor, where she’s joined the crowd. Gentleman Brawlers loves to engage an audience, and the audience loves them right back. The BBC’s Tom Robinson hailed them as “a virtuoso live band, grooving together like a beautifully engineered machine.”
GB has two distinct incarnations – live and in studio – that elevate and inform each other. Through a sonic blend of disco-based horn lines, sticky highlife guitar, and polyrhythms from West Africa, Trinidad, and Brazil, GB’s live shows ignite a community-based, improvisational energy; in studio, the band will often reimagine their songs through an EDM lens. Whether the audience is on the dance floor or pressing play, Gentleman Brawlers always delivers an exhilarating, celebratory experience.
Acclaimed by NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest & WNYC’s The Greene Space, Gentleman Brawlers has opened for Cimafunk and Grammy award-winning artists Los Amigos Invisibles & Fantastic Negrito at Brooklyn Bowl, Live at the Archway Festival in Dumbo, and performed at Pier 1 on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for Summer on the Hudson.
“The challenge for the Brawlers is putting all their creativity into something that sounds original and consistent, making it just opaque enough to create mystery while acknowledging the legends.”
— Andrew Thompson, Hybrid Magazine