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 pop-rock momentum, and flashes of twang, shaped in part through collaboration with Indianapolis-based Postal Recording producers Alex Kercheval (Coven, Jomberfox) and Tyler Watkins (Margot and the Nuclear So-and-So’s).
Following the scattershot charm of 2019 debut EP Murdernite and 2022’s more classicist Parade Rest, Brother Derek returns in 2026 with Bootlickers, UNITE!, a frenetic, horn-driven four-track burst aimed at translating contemporary chaos into something unexpectedly celebratory. Recorded across sessions between 2023 and 2025, the project leans heavily into brass arrangements coordinated with Kercheval, adding both urgency and lift to its restless songwriting.
Opening track “Stupid as Me” sets the tone with a brassy, satirical surge, part anthem, part existential shrug, grappling with the shared absurdity of modern power structures. “Lost All Subtlety” follows, merging geopolitical unease with mod-leaning romantic yearning, while “I Will Pursue My Dreams” offers a lean, guitar-forward counterpoint, its cheeky lyrical backbone dating back to 2004 yet landing with renewed relevance. The EP closes with “Always Tainted,” a long-dormant composition that unfolds as a cathartic meditation on acceptance, uncertainty, and emotional reckoning.
We sat down with Brother Derek to learn all about ‘Bootlickers, UNITE!’, the process behind it and more here at Music Crowns!
—
Hey Brother Derek, welcome to Music Crowns! How are you doing?
Great to chat with you, doing well!
Brother Derek began as a vehicle for your “itchy talent for battered noise-pop” – what was it that finally made you give those songs a dedicated identity rather than letting them live in previous band contexts?
My “battered noise-pop” act Recent Photo splintered around 2007 with the departure of two bandmates to the west coast, and the band went fully dormant once I started a family towards the end of the ‘00s. That left quite a few songs on the table. By the mid-2010’s my kids were getting big and I was ready to get another outfit going. Instead of resurrecting Recent Photo, I opted to restart as a blank slate with “Brother Derek,” a nickname from one of my old work colleagues. All but three of the tunes off of 2022’s “Parade Rest” record hail from the fruitful period in the early ‘00s that fed into Recent Photo, two were penned in the ‘90s, and one was a fresh composition. The new EP has two newer pandemic era tunes plus a two older ones from the same early ‘00s period. We have some new material in the works for future release, and as usual, at least a few of the numbers will be pulled from past songwriting eras as appropriate for the release. I was very fortunate to convince my old buddies Guy Corl (multi-instrumentalist and vocalist), Barry Bennett (drums), and Rich Frye (flutist) to round out the live ensemble, and there are already plans to involve them in a future release.
The new EP leans heavily into horns and a more frenetic, ensemble-driven energy. What sparked the decision to expand the sonic palette in that direction?
The horns idea took root in June 2023 when we realized after basic tracking for “Always Tainted” that it needed lil’ extra “oomph,” which ended up being the horns you hear on the track. Then we realized the horns concept would fit with additional numbers tracked after that. Fast forward to fall of 2025 and we found ourselves overlaying the lovely horn arrangements on “Tainted,” “Stupid as Me” and “Lost All Subtlety.” Credit to Alex of Postal Recording and Joshua Silbert for crafting the arrangements. I think the frenetic energy may be a subconscious punky reaction of sorts to the onslaught of unrelenting headlines.
You describe “Lost All Subtlety” as both geopolitical commentary and romantic reflection. How often do political and personal narratives blur together in your writing?
I’d say just from time to time. “Subtlety” existed as a Chinese language chorus fragment of sorts since the ‘90s, conceived right after I had traveled East Asia and soaked up the local Gang-Tai (Hong Kong – Taiwan) pop music. (Google “My Future is not a Dream by Tom Chang” for a nice Gang-Tai example). The fragment translates roughly to a cloying “I love and miss you, why don’t you love me back?”. At some point during the pandemic, I got a kick out of thinking of the singer as being China itself, and that somehow opened the gates to completing the rest of the lyrics and song. Random fact alert: it all came together while I was riding a bicycle. I recall that historically, US was warm to the opening of China in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but now that we unfortunately find ourselves in tense “this town’s too big for the both of us” territory, I suppose this song in a way protests that development.
Some of these songs date back decades before being recorded. What determines when an older idea finally feels ready to be released?
“Lost All Subtlety” is a good example of how that call is made, it felt timely to release. I think ultimately the song just needs to stand the test of time and be worth recording, at least in my own head, and fit the vibe of the release. My cache of older tunes are the ones not recorded in my Recent Photo days, before I got the family going and had to focus my mojo and funds on the little ones, daycare bills, etc. rather than band and studio time. So in the past 10 years I’ve been enjoying batting clean up from time to time (if you’ll indulge an American baseball reference), and there’s quite a bit more of that to do still!
Who are your biggest influences as a band?
I’m not a super prolific guy, but your question brings to mind prolific folks like R.Stevie Moore, Damon Albarn, Todd Rundgren, and (local to my town) Jim Peterik etc. who through whatever vehicles (or lack of vehicles) surface whatever songs they fancy releasing, unbound by genre boundaries or seemingly even demand.
You mention “joyfully squirming” in difficult times as a kind of response. Do you see humour and chaos as tools for resilience in your music?
I sure do. I keep going back to what John Lennon said, that “..the only thing they [the establishment] don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humour,” and I think that’s an essential ingredient of resilience. As far as the chaos aspect of this release, or for that matter any politically-flavored punk or energetic music, it feels like fighting fire with fire.
Looking across “Murdernite,” “Parade Rest,” and now “Bootlickers, UNITE!,” what feels like the clearest through-line in the Brother Derek catalogue?
Finding your peace, your happiness, your footing through all the stimuli and surprises – pleasant or unpleasant – that life throws at you.
