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.
“Gentleman Brawlers brings a level of theatricality to their music that takes their performances up to the next level. It is refreshing and inspiring to have artists not just make great music, as if that’s not enough on its own, but to bring so much creativity to the stage. A talented group of musicians, putting in the extra time to do something special. We could all use more of this.”
— Edjo W., Executive Director, Culture Lab LIC
