Brotherly instinct fuels Madden Bros

The Madden Brothers.

Good Charlotte twins Joel and Benji Madden have surprised fans by reinventing themselves as summery soul-pop crooners. Joel tells Rachel Bache why they branched out.

TimeOut: What inspired you and Benji to start The Madden Brothers?

Joel: The inspiration just came from the possibility. The endless possibilities of what we could do together, with the freedom to step outside what everyone knows us for and as. To be able to really, truly be creative again. The freedom we have to be The Madden Brothers is a wonderful thing.

You have definitely created a new sound as The Madden Brothers. What can people expect from the album?

I wouldn't say it's specific to a genre, but the record's got a real soul and there is a real heart to it. There's some personality. Musically, it's just got a lot of sounds that are reminiscent of other times. There are some nostalgic nods to old records and classic music, but there's a modern twist, too. All the sounds on record are unique sounds. Everything you hear was made by a human. It wasn't in a box, it wasn't on a computer, it was made by a person. There was a lot of love put into the craft of the record.

What does The Madden Brothers mean for the future of Good Charlotte?

Good Charlotte is Good Charlotte. We started when we were 15, 16 in our bedroom and it was made to be special by a big group of people who we feel like we owe. We really do respect and love the Good Charlotte fans and the fanbase that made GC what it is. So anything we do with GC has to be special and has to be meaningful. It's not something that you turn on or off because it lives outside of us. It really kind of became something that belongs to a group of people that continually grows. Every year there's a new group of kids that get into GC and this band belongs to them and lives kind of outside of us.

Fans still tweet me and contact me. On the street every day I meet young people who have just discovered GC, so that's something we respect and love and we let it live wherever that is. There's life to it and when it comes time to create something for them, we'll know. It'll have to be something meaningful.

But first you are bringing the Madden Brothers' California to New Zealand?

We're doing the very first tour of The Madden Brothers. We're trying to create the physical live incantation of the album, so people can come and experience this "California".

What's that going to look like?

This is a musical tour. It's definitely not a Good Charlotte show. People [who] have seen us live before with GC know that GC shows are really specific and a lot of fun. This is going to be a really fun and cool and entertaining in another way. We have a ton of musicians and some big production. It's going to be Greetings from California, but there's going to be other Californian music. We're going to be doing a set that is very "California", so there are going to be songs people know. We might do a couple GC songs, but re-imagined, but the story being told is the Greetings from California narrative. It's going to be an entertaining musical show.

Watch the music video for We Are Done by The Madden Brothers:

App users: Tap here to view the music video

Who: Joel and Benji Madden, aka The Madden Brothers
What: Debut album Greetings From California, out now
Live: Performing at ASB Theatre in Auckland, November 4

- TimeOut