Brother Derek

Long time, Friend! When’s the next gig, ya ask? For starters, I’ll be playing a few numbers at Uptown Lounge Chicago this Monday evening, thanks to a tip from a friend. Any close trackers of my songwriting exploits will want to be there, as I’ll be playing some unreleased material. This is an advance-booked open mic, and I believe I will be in fine company — stop by if free! Will update on the day of with my set time.

Also, beloved Montrose Saloon penciled our band for a gig Saturday November 14, details to follow. Save the date!

Thanks if you checked out our spring EP release “Bootlickers, Unite!” or plan to, or for that matter checked out or revisited any of our other releases. Just a matter of time before we release s’more. Hope to see ya soon!

-D

9/7 UPDATE: Tonight‘s Uptown Lounge event is CANCELLED, because our lynchpin of the evening - host Nick - came down with a nasty cold, the poor fella. 😞 Rescheduled date TBA!

We ❤️ Chicago rock scene stalwarts The Razor and Die Show and appreciate yesterday’s spin! Tune in when you can every Friday late afternoon on WLUW!

Thanks to for the recent spins of new EP tracks, and for its longstanding support of Chicago area acts! Be sure to tune in to the DJs who spun us, as they obviously have great taste :) They are listed here and can easily be found on CHIRP’s newly (fabulously) revamped website.

DJ SuperFrye
DJ Mike Bennett
DJ Steve “Stevo” Anderson
DJ Bobby Evers
DJ Kevin Shields
DJ Eco

Behold, another Q&A/ Feature from over the weekend, this time courtesy of / Ryan Martin. We appreciate the coverage!

Brother Derek - Bootlickers, Unite! + Q&A - Daily Dose (Daily Featured Music) - Jammerzine Brother Derek’s 'Bootlickers, UNITE!' feels like the sound of a band gleefully throwing elbows at modern anxiety while still making sure the hooks land

Here, Dear Reader, is a Q&A feature on the new release, courtesy of Music Crowns. Happy Friday!

Interview with Brother Derek | Interviews - Music Crowns A classically trained cellist by background, Derek Wu launched Brother Derek in 2016 as an outlet for what Splendid eZine once called his “capable, considerably-itchy talent for battered noise-pop.” The project threads Brill Building-influenced songwriting through post-punk energy, midwestern po...

Many thanks to Hype-Index for the feature today and for including “Always Tainted” in their truly-stacked “editors’ picks” playlist for Indie, Pop & Alternative. Check it out!! Link to playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1g0w86o1k0hDIuAdOenKCO?si=N82NZcBNT3K9tTQE7ebW7Q&pi=c_qB7z2ERHeei

Celebrators of Bandcamp Friday: Today’s a great day to add our new EP to your collection!

Bootlickers, UNITE!, by Brother Derek 4 track album

Hello fellow Earthlings! 🌎 ♻️ Many thanks to Montrose Saloon and its Wonderful Staff, David Bash, and of course the fabulous folks who took in our International Pop Overthrow set (doubling as EP release event) last night. Such a blast! We enjoyed the super sets delivered by our talented billmates as well! See you again soon, I hope! I, for one, am planning as a fan to catch some IPO sessions in the coming days, so maybe see you again before the circus leaves town! Thanks to Space Age Zeros for capturing the moment we kicked things off.
-D

Have you heard the new EP yet? Don’t let yourself be outfoxed by the other uber-cool hipsters already busily recommending it to others, adding its tunes to their playlists, requesting or playing its tunes on radio etc.! Silliness aside, I’m happy with its reception so far.. and appreciate folks checking it out! There are enough streams on the dashboard to start seeing some trends.. apparently “I Will Pursue My Dreams” is out-performing the opening tracks being pushed a bit as “singles,” go figure! Those dreaming of seeing it live can scratch that itch this very Tuesday at Montrose Saloon! Brother Derek @ IPO Chicago Link to EP stream options in comments/bio. Cheers, D

Thanks to V13 for the kind introduction to our new EP dropping tomorrow! In my biased opinion, it’s fun and worth a listen, but it’s not for everybody (e.g. if you hate horns), and as usual, folks usually gravitate to different Bro D songs depending on their personal tastes.. please let me know what you think!

I’m pumped that the guys are helping ready up renditions of a few of these tunes for our April 21 IPO set at Montrose Saloon. So heck, let’s just call it a release party! I will also try to squeeze myself into some upcoming open mic lineups too to peddle these EP tunes in a simple way. First to mind is Montrose Saloon’s newly-revived Open Mic restarting tomorrow (Tuesday April 7).

Catch you soon!

-D

Brother Derek Premiere Their Festive EP, ‘Bootlickers, UNITE!’ Brother Derek goes heavy on the horns with the premiere of their new ‘Bootlickers, UNITE!’ EP via Postal Recordings.