Brother Kenzie is a one-man band by Nathan Stocker. Stocker is a multi-instrumentalist mostly known for being the guitarist in the band Hippo Campus, he is also in several other projects including Baby Boys. Stocker grew up in Minnesota where he would ultimately meet his bandmates from Hippo Campus at a performing arts school. After making music with them for several years Stocker started to branch off on his own and started making music under the pseudonym Brother Kenzie.
Brother Kenzie currently has four projects out one being an instrumental album. His instrumental album happened to be his first project aside from the many singles he released beforehand. The album is titled Barncat, it is only five songs long and spans about 45 minutes. The title Barncat is very fitting to the feel of the album, while listening to it you are almost forced to imagine a cat hiding from a snow storm in a barn.
His second project released later the same year is titled Big What. This album has 9 songs but only lasts about half an hour. This album encapsulates the feeling of a late June night, you can even see it in the album cover it is sure to make you nostalgic for spring and summer. The album is very lo-fi; you can almost hear the bedroom he made it in which only adds to its character.
His third album titled NATHAN is much more produced and hi fi than any of his previous works. This album is all about the artist Nathan putting himself on display flaws and all, and through that process self-discovery happens. The album touches on ego, religious trauma, destructive behaviors and self-deprecation. This is all represented by the black box he sings about throughout the album; the box is also physically featured on the album cover. Many may find it strange Stocker choses to put all this on display but as he puts it in an interview with clash “I value honesty above a lot of things.” instrumentally this album features more piano than any of his previous projects which are much more guitar driven.
Finally, his most recent project, Bloodsucker. This album is by far the darkest of any of the other albums; it feels like a continuation of NATHAN thematically but not sonically. So
nically it’s much darker and broodier, it almost feels like it was recorded in a dark void lit by a single red light like the album cover suggests, or maybe a gothic castle like the song entitled Nosferatu suggests. This album is 13 songs and 45 minutes long. This album feels like an appropriate end to the trilogy of albums Big What, NATHAN, and Bloodsucker.
Along with the 4 albums Stocker has released quite a few standalone singles, here are some standouts. Utah (feat. Samia) is a slower acoustic song featuring powerful harmonies. This song’s lyrics revolve around a couple talking about taking a trip to Utah. Another Stand out is titled Wasted. This song is about falling behind friends and wasting your life, hence the title.
Stocker has been carving his own path in the crowded music industry for years constantly evolving and creating newer and better works whether that’s on his own or in one of his many bands. So, although we don’t know what to expect next, we can expect something beautiful and groundbreaking, as well as soon as he’s been posting clips of new music on his X, Threads and Instagram.