Photo of Brigitte Calls Me Baby by Scarlet Page
w/ Skorts | 04.18.26, 8:00pm | Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave. | All ages | $24.70
It’s Summer 2022. I start my car to back out of the garage, and Colorado Public Radio Indie 102.3 fills the speakers. It is a new song, something I haven’t heard before, familiar, but new. In the driveway, I turn off the car and sit, listening. The song is comforting, soothing. The music, the voice take me back to the Smiths, a band I listened to as a teenager because it was indie and dark, and a band I continue to listen to because it’s brilliant. The DJ announces the song: “Impressively Average” by Brigitte Calls Me Baby.
It took until 2024 before the Chicago-based band dropped their debut album The Future Is Our Way Out, but it was worth the wait because the result was well beyond merely “impressively average.” With Irreversible, their equally compelling sophomore full-length (out now courtesy of ATO Records), also under their belts and a U.S. tour before them, lead singer Wes Leavins took a few minutes to speak with me.
What drew you guys together as a band?
Well, it’s just naturally meeting people in Chicago. Upon my first visit to Chicago— I really love the city. One thing became the inevitable, you know: You meet someone, and they introduce you to one of their friends, and they know someone who plays guitar, and it just kind of happened like that. Eventually, you meet 15, 20 people, and you form a band.
What artists, albums, or songs most influenced you? Two-part question: personally and collectively.
So, the band. Well, I think it early on was one thing, and then now you constantly have new influences, things that come across and resonate for some reason now more than they did at another time. I would say currently, for me, I’m really into Jeff Buckley, and what he was able to accomplish, the intimacy that he could provide on recordings. And then, across the board with the band, I know the first band that we sort of all mutually loved was The Strokes. That was the common denominator.
What bands or songs made you fall in love with music?
Honestly, it may surprise people, but hip-hop was the first thing that I gravitated to. Three 6 Mafia was my favorite. Early on, when I was a kid—and I probably shouldn’t have been listening to it—it was inspiring because it had a lot of intensity, and it was exciting.
Which artists do you feel drive your sound? Or do you feel like it just comes from a collection of all of your loves of music and all of your interests in the direction you’re going?
I think it’s more that you fall in love with things like art, but for me it was always expression, in any way that I could express myself: lyrically, musically. I think I’m just into that. I’m into the music as a means of expression, wanting to be understood without having to have a conversation or having to explain yourself, you know. You just— it’s all in the music. That was what was appealing to me.
Talk to me about the new album. How was your approach to writing and recording this one different from the last one?
This one was written all mostly on the road. We were touring so much after the first album, so we basically didn’t have much time at home to get into a studio and strategically write. So we were writing in hotels, and in the van, and backstage soundcheck. We recorded the record in L.A., and that was just about keeping the integrity of the live feel, how it was all written.
What do you feel this album accomplishes that the last one didn’t?
Well, you know, I think people had an idea of who we were with the first record, and a lot of people liked it; some people didn’t like it. And this is just the extension, touching on things within ourselves that we weren’t able to on the first album because you only have so many songs you can put on a record, especially a debut.
[The Future Is Our Way Out] was almost intended to be like a sampler, like, this is where we’re at right now. But there are more nuances on this album, I would say, like parts of our lyrics and things that we weren’t able to fit on the first.
Which of the new songs speaks to you the most, or is the most personal?
One called “The Pit,” I think, is the most personal. Lyrically, it’s something that came pretty quick, because it felt like it was very inspired. I was very flowing on thoughts that I feel quite often, and when you’re writing lyrics, you know, you want to say something. I wanted to say something so literally that it just feels like you’re spelling it out, so I think that’s what we did with the bit. I’m very happy with it.
The first album really took me back to the Smiths. And so, on that note, what the heck was it like opening for Morrissey last year?
Oh, it was great. You know, we did three shows with him on that tour. One was in Manchester, in his hometown. And that was, you know— It was like the return of Christ or something for a lot of those people. They worship Morrissey, and so that was pretty wild to see.
And then to open the show… You would think that you’d be intimidated, but I was very excited, because I knew that I knew Morrissey had embraced us. So I felt pretty safe to play for those people.
That’s amazing. What was he like?
Very witty and funny, and I think you understand the music more when you meet him because he’s— I think people take a lot of the stuff that he writes about very seriously, and it seems to me that he’s actually quite funny, and a lot of that is baked into the music. But I think the people who get who get his music, get the humor in it as well.
OK, last question. If Brigitte Calls Me Baby had a motto, what would it be?
A motto? Probably a lyric from “The Pit.” Something from “The Pit,” because that song is my life story.
OK. Which line?
There is no compromise, I have tried
I’ll close my eyes, then commit.
I love that. OK, last thing: My colleague in St. Louis asked if you remembered your St. Louis show and whether it was your first.
We opened for someone before [it was Saint Motel…check out a review and photo gallery of the show here! –Ed.], but this is our first St. Louis show [headlining].
Oh, what is the restaurant there that I really enjoyed? The Fountain on Locust, that’s what it is. I’ve got to give that place love because it was very good. It’s like an Art Deco café, but they’re very good.
Good luck with the new album and the tour. | Laura Hamlett Schlater
Brigitte Calls Me Baby plays Off Broadway (3509 Lemp Ave.) on Saturday, April 18 at 8:00pm, with support from Skorts. The show is all ages, and tickets are $24.70. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit offbroadwaystl.com, and check back here after the show for our review and photo gallery! Keep up with the band at brigittecallsmebaby.com.
Brigitte Calls Me Baby on tour:
04.14.26: xBk Live, Des Moines, IA
04.16.26: Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL
04.17.26: Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL
04.18.26: Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO
04.19.26: recordBar, Kansas City, MO
04.21.26: Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
04.21.26: Goosetown Tavern, Denver, CO (After party DJ set at Goosetown Tavern)
04.24.26: Barboza, Seattle, WA
04.25.26: Fox Cabaret, Vancouver, BC
04.26.26: Holocene, Portland, OR
04.28.26: Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA
04.30.26: Lodge Room, Los Angeles, CA
05.01.26: SOMA, San Diego, CA
05.02.26: Valley Bar, Phoenix, AZ
05.04.26: Puzzles, Dallas, TX
05.05.26: Antone’s Nightclub, Austin, TX
05.06.26: White Oak Music Hall – Upstairs, Houston, TX
05.08.26: The Basement, Nashville, TN
05.09.26: Vinyl at Center Stage, Atlanta, GA
05.11.26: The Atlantis, Washington, DC
05.12.26: The Foundry at The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA
05.14.26: Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
05.15.26: Red Room at Cafe 939, Boston, MA
05.16.26: Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
05.19.26: Longboat Hall, Toronto, ON
05.20.26: The Loving Touch, Ferndale, MI
05.21.26: HI-FI Indy, Indianapolis, IN
06.13.26: Pozitif Vibrations, Istanbul, Türkiye
06.19.26 – 06.21.26: Traumzeit Festival, Duisburg, Germany
