Headbutt: New Band, New Music and a ‘Fish’ with a Killer Hook

Headbutt (photo provided)

Meet Headbutt, a new Buffalo band that despite emerging only a few short months ago already has some notable excitement swirling around it on the city’s indie rock scene, which in the past year has been thriving at an increasingly steady rate.

The buzz comes with good reason. Made up of scene veterans, Headbutt is comprised of Wavy (vocals), Bran Schlia (bass), Kameron Plotner (drums) and Sam Share (guitar), each of whom brings to the group their own impressive musical catalogue.

The band’s debut album is expected to drop in a handful of weeks, with a show marking the occasion slated for April.

And, just recently, Headbutt released its first single titled, ‘Fish,’ — which you can listen to HERE — a superbly structured song featuring a dynamic contrast of bouncy melodic verses and an exploding chorus, replete with emotionally soaked and expertly delivered vocals.

‘Fish’ is earworm material, indeed.

Headbutt dons a very cool aesthetic, adding a degree of mystique to its being. And given that it boasts a roster of artists known for pushing boundaries, it’s a safe bet that there should be some rad music coming from this band.

Recently, 1120 Press spoke with Headbutt’s Bran Schlia — (also a producer, filmmaker and founder of the indie label Steak and Cake Records) — to learn a bit more about the band and its music.

1120 PRESS: Congratulations on the new band and music! Headbutt is made up of noted scene veterans, and you’ve all known each other for a while. What prompted you to finally join forces and what’s the vision for the band?

BRAN: Kam and I originally met and played together as the rhythm section in a band called ‘CLUMP’. Over time, that project disbanded but Kam and I still wanted to hangout and make music. After we got some material together, we started to look for other members, but we both agreed that we’d wait as long as it took to find the right people. After almost a full year of searching around we found Sam, our guitarist, who came in with just the right mix of jazz and metal. Around the same time, I was playing in the backing band for Way2wavybaby’s album release show. That group had originally planned to play a few more shows beyond that, but schedules just weren’t lining up for those involved. It offered the perfect opportunity to recruit Wavy in as our lead vocalist and, after so much waiting, we finally had a band.

1120: So, the band has an upcoming album release show tentatively scheduled now for April, which, of course, indicates there’s a Headbutt LP coming out. So, to bring it back to the new single, what was it about ‘Fish’ that led the band to choose the song as the lead single for the upcoming record (not to mention the band’s debut song)?

BRAN: ‘Fish’ actually started out as a song that Wavy's band was messing around with. It was the first new song (not on her album) that we attempted, but we ran out of time to fully realize it. Once Headbutt’s lineup was established and the material Kam and I had written was fleshed out, we turned our attention toward new songs and Wavy presented ‘Fish’ as an option. So much of what our full length has become hinges on Wavy's unique approach and because this song had such deep roots, plus themes that aligned to be representative of the entire album, it felt like a great choice to introduce our sound to the scene. I think we all agreed that a strong hook is key and the hook in ‘Fish’ is one of our best. 

1120: Headbutt hasn’t been around that long but you’ve played a few shows and already it seems you’ve been warmly embraced. What do you make of the reception so far?

BRAN: I think I speak for all of us when I say how grateful we are for the support the community has shown us so far. Although we are all scene vets to some degree, it seems like our social circles overlap less than you’d think, and that makes for a really cool mix of people that come out for the shows. I also need to give a ton of credit to the BICA squad (Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art) that always seems to be out there, front row, singing along and bringing the energy: Sage, Chango, Silas, Natalie, are just a few of the names that come to mind – such a supportive and loving group. Their enthusiasm really brings out the best in our performance.

1120: Is there anything else you want to say about the single or anything you want to plug?

BRAN: We’re really excited to share more details about the album release show as they come into focus. But for now, I’ll just say that we have some merch for sale and if you’re looking to support the band, that would be awesome. We’re all really drawn to the idea of paying local artists for their work and whatever money you send our way is being cycled back into the Buffalo artist community for recording, album art, T-shirt designs, music videos and all that good stuff. Very lucky to be surrounded by so many lovely and talented people that deserve to be compensated for their creativity.