Goldy, an eccentric band that started when Saul Nadis PO ’19 was still in high school, has come to the Claremont Colleges. The current members of Goldy spoke with TSL about their history, musical style, songwriting process, and hopes for the band’s future.
Band members include bassist Nadis, drummer Libby George PO ’20, and singer-guitarist Jesse Brinkenhoff, a student at Santa Barbara City College.
The band’s music is currently on Spotify. The trio sat closely together on a bench, exchanging small inside jokes and sharing a bag of chocolate chips, as they answered TSL’s questions.
TSL: Whose idea was it to start Goldy?
Jesse Brinkenhoff: Probably mine. I had a dog named Goldy. It died on my seventh birthday. The band started a long time ago, and it’s just been evolving.
Saul Nadis: I started playing in Goldy my junior year of high school. Jesse was a grade above me and had been playing at least since his junior year.
TSL: Where has Goldy performed?
SN: We’ve been performing at the 5Cs since last semester. We’ve performed at the Grove House and at various campus events, but not at parties. We played at The Press, a restaurant in the village. I loved the atmosphere there.
TSL: Have you collaborated with any other student bands on campus?
SN: No, but we wanted to get all the student bands together and do a rendition of The Black Parade. We chat about it with the other bands on campus, but it’s one of those things where the more you chat about it, the less likely it is to happen.
JB: I think it will just happen.
TSL: Can you tell us the style of your music?
JB: The style is folky, rock, a lot of pop, some swing.
SN: Mostly rock I say. We basically sound like The Black Keys.
TSL: How has the songwriting process been like?
SN: We do a lot of covers of My Chemical Romance. But we occasionally do our own songs. Jesse is the songwriter here.
JB: Songwriting has been pretty good. The process has been very easy. My inspiration is mostly based off previous relationships: both romantic and platonic.
TSL: What direction do you want Goldy to move towards?
SN: I would like us to play at more shows and play more songs by Jesse. We want to record and play more shows forever.
Libby George: I want to see more jazz and, maybe, some K-pop.
SN: Jazz doesn’t really appeal to the kids, so we need more pop appeal.
JB: We need more pop of every sort.