Cover bands and tribute acts, especially in the Northeast United States, are a dime a dozen. You can find them playing the biggest clubs and the dirtiest of dives. They put their spin on bar anthems and back catalogs, providing a familiar soundtrack to a night out.
Yet, there are some acts like Brass Against that completely reinvent the song without ever losing the true spirit of the original.
Brass Against is a collective of wildly talented musicians that take hard rock and alternative anthems and reinterpret them with a full brass section, multiple vocalists, and a rock ‘n’ roll backbone. Originally known for their Tool and Rage Against the Machine covers, the band has expanded their repertoire with their versions of classics from Alice in Chains, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, The White Stripes, Faith No More and so many others. The sheer talent of the collected musicians leaps out of every track making these covers feel wholly original and immensely enjoyable (and re-playable) as the source material.
Recently we caught up with members of Brass Against: guitarist and bandleader Brad Hammonds, baritone saxophonist and musical director Andrew Gutauskas, and vocalists Liza Colby and Michael Cunio. The band discussed having a song in 2021’s Matrix Resurrections, developing setlists, the hardest songs to cover, and their latest album.
Let’s kick things off by talking about how your cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Wake Up” ended in The Matrix Ressurections. How cool was it having one of your covers in a massive film?
Brad Hammonds: It was awful. (band laughs) I’m joking. It was … insane. We call this moment in our career the Matrix/Tool moment, because they both kind of happen in tandem, opening up for Tool and being on The Matrix. This was recorded in 2020…
Andrew Gutauskas: We recorded August 2021.
Brad Hammonds: So we were home doing nothing, and we got a message that Lana Wachowski wanted to talk to us. She was interested in having our version of “Wake Up” in the movie. We hopped on a bunch of Zoom calls with Lana and the producer. It was really surreal. We’re huge fans of the movies.
Andrew Gutauskas: Very surreal.
Candace Hammonds: And once she decided that they were gonna go with us, Andy put together a whole string arrangement.
Andrew Gutauskas: To emphasize what Brad said, the surreality of it was unbelievable. So then once they decided that they would use our song, Lana Wachowski was like, ‘Oh, it’d be really cool if we had strings and percussion.’ We had already had our arrangement of “Wake Up,” so I wrote a bunch of string parts and worked with their orchestrators as well. It was a really cool collaboration with their orchestration team developing different new ideas. Then they recorded at Abbey Road. We zoomed in. We really wanted to go, but they wouldn’t let us. We zoomed in from different places. I was up at Bard College doing something there, and Yeah, it was unbelievable.
Brad Hammonds: It was fun to watch. They had the scene with Keanu [Reeves] and Carrie [Ann Moss] playing while they recorded. They would just do take after take while they were in Abbey Road Studios in London.
Cunio: Did Sophia [Urista] record fresh vocals for that?
Andrew Gutauskas: So the vocals were existing. They used our band version, and then we overlaid the bulk orchestra. It was really cool to see in the theater. I started crying, because it was just like, what the f- you know, what the F? I think you can say fuck, yeah?
Brad Hammonds: You can say fuck here.
You can absolutely fucking swear.
Liza Colby: I mean have you heard [the person] who is running this country has been saying? I think fuck is appropriate.
Let’s talk about the new album which absolutely kills. Talk about the decision behind the songs chosen for the album.
Brad Hammonds: I think in the beginning I was more precious about which songs we were doing, sticking to certain bands. Then as time’s gone on it’s much more of a collaboration now with vocalists. Like, “Ace of Spades,” [by Motorhead] Liza brought it to me, and I was like, I’m not sure if it’s gonna work.
Lisa Colby: I’m gonna correct it. I pushed for it for years, and he’s like, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’ I was like, dude, let me have “Ace of Spades.””
Brad Hammonds: I was crying, you crushed it. It was fucking great. “No More Tears.” That’s been on the to-do list for years, and Morgan [James, vocalist] suggested that. We had “Back in Black.” That was a cool story.
Cunio: We were on tour in Europe, and we got hit up with this incredible opportunity to shoot some sort of B-roll national video for the Rugby World Cup. This was in 2023. They wanted us to do a couple of different things based on who might win the matches and what would be appropriate. One of the teams that was playing was New Zealand [also known as The All Blacks]. They’re like, ‘We’d love it if you could do an AC/DC.’ So, Liza sat in. We roomed together and we sat until 2 in the morning just her drilling the lyrics in my head.
Liza Colby: He’s like, “I’m tired. I’m tired.” I was like you’re not tired, you’ve got to do this at 10 in the morning. You know this! You know “Back in Black!”
Brad Hammonds: It didn’t end up getting used.
Cunio: So we ended up just digging what we did with it. Then we put it into the show, and it became an encore as part of two other songs. When we got home, it was like, ‘We gotta record this because it’s such a fun one to do.’
One song that jumped out to me was “It Ain’t Like That” by Alice in Chains. It’s not one of the more mainstream Alice in Chains songs out there. Who chose that one?
Brad Hammonds: Yeah, that was probably me. I mean, I remember watching Singles in the movie theater. [In one scene] Lane [Staley, the former lead singer of Alice in Chains] comes on with his dreadlocks. I remember getting full-body chills. I was probably in 9th grade so that’s been such a big song for me my whole life. Have we done another Alice in Chains song before?
Cunio: No, and this is what was fun for me. I’m born and raised in Seattle. I grew up with all of that music. I think I’m kind of a glutton for punishment because all of the songs that we’ve done have been pretty big swings as far as iconic vocalists, so it’s always very dangerous territory. We did Chris Cornell so we did “Outshine” [Soundgarden]. Now we did Lane Staley. Obviously, my first song with the band was Led Zeppelin. So it’s always a fun and terrifying challenge for me. But, Lane’s voice. He was the guy that I identified with most in that moment when it was happening during the ’90s in high school when all this stuff was coming out. I always just loved his voice, and it’s a great tune. So it was fun for me to get to kind of pay homage plus I think it was the anniversary of the album, so it was the right time to do it.
Liza, we’ve talked about iconic singers, and you tackled one — Lemmy. Of course, not a great singer like Chris Cornell, but one of the most iconic voices of all-time. Can you talk about taking in “Ace of Spades?” It’s not easy to take on Lemmy as so many have tried and failed.
Liza Colby: I’ve been playing with Brass Against and touring with them since 2019. To tag on what Brad said – this band is collaborative. You start hearing certain songs and when we try them out [sometimes] they don’t work. [With “Ace of Spades”] I just was like, ‘Man, I just feel like this is gonna hit so hard. I think the horns are gonna be great on this.’
When we were first running it, the guys were like ‘Dude, this is a chop, like, this is so hard for the chops.” I was like, this is great on my chop! This is a song where [I’m] really comfortable and I feel like I can have a good time doing it. I’m not killing myself and I just love it. I’m from a rock ‘n’ roll background and I feel like “Ace of Spades” is just a linchpin between punk, metal, and rock. It’s just one of those songs where you can see where so many bands came out of it from there. So, that’s why I wanted to do it. And also, it’s just awesome being a woman singing Lemmy. That’s why I wanted to do it. And I feel really lucky that I got to do it, and it’s a lot of fun to play.
Do you have a Mount Rushmore of songs that you want to tackle going forward?
All Four: There’s so many. So many.
How about a Top 4 or Top 5?
Brad Hammonds: It’s interesting, because we’ve done so many of my Mount Rushmore. You know, I’ve put a lot of those songs up there, “46 & 2” by Tool, “Killing in the Name.” We have such a huge list. There’s a bunch of Rage songs that we haven’t done from… from that first record. Like, we did a mashup of Freedom with a Beyonce tune. I’d like to do just Freedom, because it’s such a great song.
Andrew: I have a list, but I can’t access it. I can’t find it.
Liza Colby: The list is so long. I know Sophia has an opinion on the ones she wants to sing, myself, Cunio [do too]. But it’s a two-part thing. For Mount Rushmore, it all depends on who’s the vocalist, and, sometimes it depends on who’s in the ensemble. Once you bring the song into the room it tells you if you can play it or not.
Andrew: I say “Freebird,” maybe? No, I’m just kidding. I was just kidding.
(All laugh).
Cunio:What’s crazy is, to Brad’s point, they’ve done so many songs, and one of the cool things but also one of the challenging things about a band like this is … most bands will go out, and they’ll play 90 minutes, and of that 90 minutes, maybe four of their tunes are big hits. And with this band, we’re playing all of these band’s biggest hits. I think it’s just such a testament to what Andy does as the arranger, and how fucking good the band is, that they can hang like that for 90 minutes a night, and blow out epic tune after epic tune after epic tune.
Andrew & Liza: Including ‘Epic!’
So how do you create the setlist?
Liza Colby: I don’t know how the set lists were done pre-me being in the van, but I love to be part of making a setlist. It comes down to what is the story that we’re telling when we’re going on the tour. How do we want the arc to be? Some of the songs we’ve played for the majority of the tours that we’ve done and it’s like do you want to kill these babies? How is it gonna serve everybody in the ensemble the best? Now it’s Cunio and I, but before, when there was one vocalist, you do have to structure the set in a certain way so that the vocalists and so that the horn players are not killing themselves.
Cunio: And the audience as well. It’s important to have the build and the release, and the build and the release. There’s an art to that in of itself. Some things that you think are just gonna be fucking awesome, you’ll get out there, do it, and you’re like, “Oh, this is way too long. We were losing them. This is boring.’ Even if it’s a great, epic song.
Brad Hammonds: “Cashmere.”
Cunio: “Cashmere” is my Mount Rushmore. It’s one of my favorite songs that we’ve ever done. But, we always end up just cutting it in half when we do it live, because unless the whole audience is fucking stoned, staring at a light show, it just overstays its welcome.
Liza Colby: You have to figure that out. For instance, when we’re playing Gramercy Theater [in New York City] we can do different songs together that maybe we haven’t tried before, but I don’t know if we’d necessarily do this set for a month tour in Europe. I feel like we do think about it where it’s like, “Where are we playing tonight?” Also, what are the meat and potatoes of the songs gonna be for this run?
Cunio: I think the market matters, too. New York is our hometown and when we play there we’re playing a very different setlist for that audience, because they know us so well. They’ve seen so much of our stuff. When we go out on the tour, we’ll change it up because we’re hitting cities we haven’t hit before. So they’re meeting us for the first time, and we gotta deliver a different experience for that kind of a crowd.
Bill Bodkin: You all dedicate a large amount of time of your lives to this band. What do you love about being in Brass Against?
Cunio: It sounds corny, but this band is really a lovely group, and we really enjoy each other.
Liza Colby: We do.
Cunio: Liza and I have gotten to lead the tours and stuff. We find ourselves finding excuses or creating opportunities for us just to sing together more because we can and it’s cool, and we love singing together. We sound great together.It’s a nice way to be able to…Level up, you know, what we can bring to the shows.
Liza Colby: Outside of Brass Against, just check out every one of these musicians, if you can. If people are in their rabbit holes online, do it because every night when I play with this band I’m fangirling out. Everybody is so amazing. Individually, as people, and as musicians it’s a treat.
Brad Hammonds: Not the people! (the band laughs). It is the camaraderie and it’s all about the people. It’s such a blast being on the road with this band. And then the shows are just so fun. I don’t think we get sick of it. I usually get anxiety when I’m getting ready to tour, but then once I’m there it’s just so nice. There’s really little to complain about. I come home and I try to explain to people that we really like each other. We go to breakfast, lunch, and dinner with each other. People expect, like, you must get really sick of everyone.
Cunio: It’s not always glamorous. On the last tour we did 7, 8, 9 hours just in a van together going from the Pacific Northwest to California, or whatever. That ended up being some of the best times of the tour. It was just sitting in that fucking van on top of each other, listening to podcasts, and talking shit and all that stuff.
Liza Cloby: For some bands the best part of the day is the show, and the show is a great part of the day. Sometimes you hit the lotto with this, and sometimes you don’t. We all play with a lot of different bands. This band in particular everybody loves food. We really enjoy listening to podcasts together. We’ll get into a podcast, and we’ll do that, and we laugh a lot. We laugh a lot in this band, and that laughter in itself is something that can push a band to go much further, because it’s hard. I’ve said this on stage before, but leaving home for … you name the circumstance … it’s a lot. You’re switching up your routine, you’re leaving your family, or your comfort zone. If the best part of the day is just the show, it’s good, but it’s sometimes not enough. And in this band we get those other things, and it makes it so that every time we’re together, whether it’s just a one-off or we’re on the road it’s really fun, and we look forward to it.
Cunio: And that spills over to the crew. Our sound guys, the guy that does our driving and our merch guy — we have this really deep friendship with all of these people, and it’s a very special and unique experience.
Andrew Gutauskas: I would also add that it’s funny especially if we are on a tour bus and have been touring for a long time. In the old days of rock, rock and roll people were crazy, they got wasted, and they, and they do lots of crazy drugs and have this crazy lifestyle. The lifestyle [for Brass Against] is completely different. People will ask ‘What’s it like on the road? You guys are partying all the time?”
We get back on the bus, we boil some water and drink some tea, maybe have some wine, we sit and talk and listen to music. It’s very tame. We stretch, and we work out. We do vocal cool downs. It’s just so tame, and lovely.
Liza Colby: Everybody has their roles. Andy will be the one who’s like, ‘Who wants a tea tonight?’ You’ll come on the bus, and Cunio’s like, ‘Don’t worry I just organized the entire bus. I cleaned the entire bus and don’t worry, everything’s here.’ and like, you know, Nate (Nathan Bell, drums) will be grabbing all the rider and bringing them back to the bus. Everybody is super conscientious that they are part of a group, and being helpful just makes the time together better, and it’s awesome.
Cunio: Yeah, the only band where you’ll see the singers loading in equipment and fucking sound gear.
Brad Hammonds: Yes, that’s right. That’s… that’s rare.
So I gotta just ask, like, what’s for each of you, what’s one thing coming up for this specific band that you’re extremely excited for for 2026?
Cunio: I’m excited to do more videos. We haven’t done a video in a while, and we’ve got a couple ideas in the coffers that I’m really excited about. Also, there have been rumors, I don’t know if we should say this or not, but there’s rumors about maybe going overseas, so if that happens, that’s always a blast when we get to go to Europe or get out of the country.
Liza Colby: I’m excited for our tour coming up and being back together with the guys.
Brad Hammonds: Andy and I have been talking a lot about writing this year. We want to put out some originals, so that’s on the docket. Hopefully Europe works out. It’s so hard these days to get over there. It’s so expensive, and this band’s not small. There’s been some offers, but a tour needs to come together.
Andrew Gutauskas: I’m excited to write some new music, record some new videos, and get to see everybody. It’s really a blast to get to be around all these awesome human beings, and anytime we get together we always make really great stuff together. So nothing specific just spending more time together, and playing more shows, and being together, making great art and great rock ‘n’ roll.
