Slick and soaring guitar riffs bring the live rasp and roll of soul-rock back to centre stage. The sensational live band Isaac Sloane & The Sound Brigade blend fast-fingered guitar solos with colourful keys, horns, funky basslines and live drums. Their superb new single Old Man Mercury blends jazz, funk and Southern Americana, to top off an impressive and addictively uplifting repertoire.
We caught an interview with the boys in the band, to find out more about the new song and their journey so far as a successful indie live act. If you haven’t seen them perform yet, there’s no better time. Links are at the bottom and here’s our conversation in full.
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Isaac Sloane & The Sound Brigade – what a pleasure! My congrats for the new single. To introduce things, how did you all meet, and what sparked the formulation of the band back in 2021?
We met in 2021 by chance after I put out a Facebook post in the local musicians group if anyone would wanna meet up and jam because I had just started writing music and had a few songs I thought would be cool to play live in a band. One guy answered (Michael Peterson/ sax player) and after we jammed for a few hours he asked if his roommate (Donicio Trujillo) could join who was also a sax player. Donicio said he worked with a drummer and bassist so we started having rehearsals and playing shows together in 2022.
Why this style of music and how easy or difficult has it been establishing yourselves as an esteemed live band in Texas and beyond?
This kind of music is what I grew up on. Now we’ve put our own spin on the sound but bands like the Beatles, The Who, Cream, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Chicago, and the Allman Brothers were all stuff I was introduced to super early in life. “Rubber soul” is the first piece of music I can remember hearing in my life. Doing this kind of music in Texas is very rough on building a fan base though. Texas just assumes the “red dirt” or “Texas blues” as the two main genres and we aren’t really either so we just hope people can connect with something they don’t normally hear.
What’s the conceptual story behind the new song?
Basically I wrote it about a really mean old guy who lived near me growing up. He was always just being a bother to everyone around him.
You’ve built an impressive name for yourselves as a live act, but there’s also something quite sensational about your songwriting. What was the creative process like for Old Man Mercury, and how do you balance contributions or potential disagreements when crafting a new track?
I’m very open to collaboration. I never fully write a song without the band all having input into it. Songs normally start from a riff or me just messing around on guitar while practicing. Lyrics come either all at once or it could be an idea that I wrote down 6 months ago that I couldn’t find the right sound for. Each song is different that way.
What do you have planned in the coming weeks and where can people catch you playing?
We are really diving into recording our debut album right now so our only two live shows left for 2026 are December 4th in Waco Texas at the Texas music cafe and December 11th at the Texas Soul Fest in Dallas at Encore Park! Lots coming in 2027 though.
What’s your biggest ambition right now?
Hopefully having the right person hear us that can put us on the festival circuit and small tour runs with more established bands so that we can grow.
What’s the best thing about being in this band?
Being the least talented guy in the group is a superpower because I’m always learning and getting better just by being around them.
Is there anything else we need to know?
We hope to see everyone on the road in 2027 and our album will be on the way! We’re super excited to share what we’ve been working so hard on!
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Find Isaac Sloane & The Sound Brigade on Instagram.
