Brothers' Podcast Bridges Generations With Music, Humor

The new "Brother Brother Brother" podcast (@TheBrotherPod) came together when three brothers — one born in the '60s, one born in the '70s and one in the '80s — decided that their six-year text message thread about music was worthy of sharing with the rest of the music-loving world.

The brothers are Wyndham Lewis (@WRHL), Jeremy Sartori and Christian Lewis (@CWCLewis), who live in Los Angeles, Boston and Brooklyn, respectively. Though they grew up in different worlds, their love of music has not only bonded them, but also shaped the adults they became. The brothers join Here & Now's Robin Young.

Christian, on what it was like for his older brothers to give him music recommendations

Christian: "Well, I still love 'The Real Slim Shady.' So I actually don't think that I ever got fully past that. But no, actually, I loved it. [Wyndham] sent me sort of a musical care package when I was probably 12 or 13 years old. It included things like Ted Leo and the Pharmacists' 'Hearts of Oak,' and Interpol's 'Turn on the Bright Lights' — which is still one of my favorite albums. I mean I think it really sort of broadened my horizons."

On how their musical tastes developed

Wyndham: "You know, I was an odd kid and we moved a lot. So music was a real grounding thing. I used to listen to 'American Top 40,' Casey Kasem's program, and actually chart the movement of certain songs up and down the charts like, you know, a baseball fanatic would keep score during a game."

Jeremy: "I think for me it was about connection so, I'm eight years younger than Wyndham. And then we also have an older sister. We all lived in the same household, but I was kind of the son of the remarried parents, so I had to find ways to connect, and one of those ways was music. I vividly remember having a Fisher-Price plastic record player, and Wyndham and our sister Sarah getting me 45s. So my first 45s were, you know, 'Start Me Up' by The Rolling Stones, 'Shake It Up' by The Cars... I genuinely liked the music, but I also think the sort of bond that it gave with my older brother was another part that initially pushed me into that..."

On how they help introduce each other to new music

Wyndham: "It's fun. I mean this is, I never anticipated... I certainly didn't do this purposefully. But it's nice to reap the rewards of having younger brothers that have their ear to the ground when it comes to new things, because part of the thing we talk about on our podcast is that, I feel a little overwhelmed by unlimited choice. And so it's nice to have someone like Christian or Jeremy helping with the curatorial part of finding new music."

"We've become brothers through music."

Jeremy Sartori

On how their musical tastes differ

Christian: "I mean I think, you know partly growing up in D.C., which neither of the other guys did, I definitely trended toward some of the harder punk and noisier rock when I was a kid, and I think that that thread sort of continues in my musical taste now. So there are times when I'll be talking to Jeremy and sharing with him some of, whether it's Girl Band or USA Nails — who we actually just interviewed — and I think it sort of fits really well sort of within my taste in wheelhouse, but by contrast I think Jeremy sort of trends towards singer-songwriters a little bit more than I do."

"I gotta say I mean I grew up with a family that has I think a really pretty eclectic music taste. I think that was a pretty good starting point. And it only sort of grew out from there."

On how music has helped develop their relationship

Jeremy: "We've become brothers through music. I mean the first time we met was in Chicago at a Pitchfork Music Fest in 2006... And so that sort of kicked things off, and then from that, I sort of join this text chain that Wyndham and Christian had been having. We talked about the podcast, I think starting three or four years ago, and finally got our act together and got it off the ground."

Wyndham: "I think that's one of the storylines that I think is really interesting about this podcast is that, essentially, Jeremy and Christian are getting to know each other on the air."