Adding a new lease of life to the phrase ‘dad rock’, a group of dads who formed a band during the Covid lockdowns are preparing for their first major London gig.
Soon to perform at O2 Academy Islington, 49-year-old Brandon Keenen – a tech marketer who lives in East Sussex – had never sung before becoming the lead singer of his band, SuperZero, in 2020.
Originally from Scottsdale, Arizona, the dad-of-two spent his time at home during the pandemic taking vocal lessons to achieve his teenage dream of joining a band.
Brandon said: ‘I’ve always been around music, I’ve played drums my whole life, but I’ve never actually been in the band. It’s just been one of my goals that has always eluded me.
‘I became the singer of the band despite having never sung in my life and the very first time I was ever on stage was in front of around 4,000 people at a local festival. Nobody could believe that was my first experience on stage.’
Lockdown gave him a chance to stop and think about the things he wanted to achieve in life.
He said: ‘I think lockdown gave a lot of people a chance to start thinking about what’s important. We get so caught up in the hustle and bustle, and I think lockdown just kind of stopped us from doing everything.
‘I stayed home, almost completely isolated, for six months and it made me realise that life is short.
‘There’s so many more things I want to do and I just thought the one thing I’ve never done that I’d wanted was to join a band.
‘I realised that I didn’t know why I had been waiting this long, we don’t have much time on earth so we might as well do it.’
Brandon searched online and found a website, called Join My Band, for people looking to fill spots in their groups.
He said: ‘I found a few people who were looking for a drummer. I hadn’t played drums in about 15 years, but I went for it and agreed to be their drummer.
‘Then, me, the guitarist and the bass player decided we were going to do our own thing and form a new band.’
Leaving to form their own group in spring 2020, SuperZero was born – made up of lead guitarist 50-year-old Neil Abnett, a gardening business owner; bassist 38-year-old Sam Aflatt, a nuclear power plant supervisor; and 44-year-old drummer Martyn Cheesman, a drug rehabilitation supervisor.
Brandon performs lead vocals, with the name SuperZero coming from a mash-up of superhero and patient zero.
The group were able to practice while social distancing in a Maidstone studio when lockdown restrictions eased in the summer of 2020.
Brandon said: ‘Because we were formed during Covid, we were going to call the band Patient Zero until we decided to combine it with Superhero.
‘When I suggested that I could be the singer, the other guys laughed and the guitarist said, “well, do you even know how to sing?” and I said, “not really, but it can’t be that hard”.’
The band’s first gig was at Crow Fest, a local Crowborough festival, in July 2022.
Brandon said: ‘I saw someone post about the festival on Facebook and I just decided to apply. They had hundreds of bands apply and only about 12 made the cut.
‘Somehow we made the cut. We were on on Sunday, two slots before the headliner, and did a 45-minute set.
‘It was literally the first time we’ve every played to a crowd in our life. It was just crazy.
‘About 50 of my closest friends were there, right in front of the stage, which meant so much to me.
‘I think some of them had come out of sympathy but afterwards everyone was raving about our music, which gave me a lot of confidence.’
Now, the band are preparing for their first major London gig next month, as a support act for alternative rock group Pulled Apart By Horses.
He said: ‘We want to get a coach for our friends and family coming from Maidstone to drive them all to London.
‘I have a friend who’s flying into town from Arizona to come see it, so this is a big deal for us, this is our World Cup.
‘At the end of the day, this is just really fun for us – it’s our passion project.’
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