Cary Brothers and Zach Braff

How 2 University Friends Conquered Indie in their own Way

Jun 20, 2007

Cary Brothers first came to prominence with his song Blue Eyes from the film Garden State. Here, in part 6 of our interview, he discusses his friendship with Zach Braff.

Genre: Alternative / indie / rock
Cary Brothers (vocals / acoustic), Jason Kanakis (guitar), Marco Meneghin (drums), Matt DelVecchio (bass)
Sounds like: Pete Yorn, Badly Drawn Boy
Home: Los Angeles, California
Cary Brothers

Friends In Cool Places

With his new album Who You Are, indie singer-songwriter Cary Brothers has continued where his EPs left off. Yet it was Blue Eyes from his first EP that initially brought this talented songsmith to everyone's attention, thanks to its prominence in the sleeper hit movie Garden State, directed by Cary's old friend Zach Braff.

In part 6 of our interview with Cary, he tells us how the song came to be in the film, how he doubts that kind of special connection will ever happen again and what it's like having a friend in Zach Braff.

Special thanks go to Cary for being such a wonderful and genial interviewee, and to Jenna LoMonaco at Girlie Action Media for arranging everything.

Cary Brothers Interview Part Six: From Blue Eyes To Zach Braff And Beyond

Suite: Zach Braff – you went to University together, he's put your songs in the soundtracks to Scrubs and his movies, etc., and he shot the video for Ride. What's it like having him in your corner?

Cary: Oh, Zach's cool to be around. When I first moved to L.A., he was there. I think the reason we have such a good relationship with each other is we were both broke together (laughs). He was waiting tables, and I was working nights in various jobs, just both trying to make as much cash as we could. At the time, I was writing a lot of material that would become the first and second EPs, and Zach was working on Garden State.

Suite: And your song Blue Eyes became a huge favourite with fans of the soundtrack from that film.

Cary: Yeah, that was strange. I mean, no one really knew just how much that film was going to take off. But as far as Zach and I were concerned, creatively we really trusted each other, and trusted each other's taste. So, as well as liking each other as human beings, creatively we're in each other's pocket. So when Zach came and asked me if he could put Blue Eyes in Garden State, it was just this little indie movie, much like any other indie movie, so it had its chance of success or failure like those before it.

Suite: Then it took off the way it did…

Cary: Yeah, which none of us expected! I mean, we both looked at it as this little thing that no one would care about, and saw it as a chance to put in music that we liked. So once I got invited into that process where he wanted 1 of my songs, I just went over to his house with a bunch of CDs, friends were also just coming across and putting CDs in Zach's player. And no one had any idea it was going to connect the way it did. But I think it did succeed because it was just an honest film – the movie was honest, the music was honest, it was just something straight from the heart, and people got it. It's something I'm really proud to have been involved in, and I think it's something that can never happen again in the way it did.

Suite: Did you have a lot of soundtrack offers after the film's success?

Cary: You know what, you'd be surprised how many film people called me up and said "You gotta give me a Garden State kind of soundtrack for my new movie", and I'm saying "Dude, that's never gonna happen, that was something special I can't replicate". Even with The Last Kiss, which Zach did and it had Ride on it, and I was proud of that and it had some really great music on it, it was always going to get compared to Garden State, but that movie was such a once-in-a-lifetime thing, it can never compare.

Suite: So if Zach was to make a film of your life, what music would you want on your soundtrack?

Cary: Wow… Great question (laughs, then pauses for a moment). I think I'd want Peter Gabriel to score it. How about that? (laughs heartily).

Suite: And maybe have Sting playing bass for him?

Cary: Sure, why not – that would work (laughs again).

Suite: And Peter Gabriel's written soundtracks before, too.

Cary: Right – he scored Birdy and Last Temptation Of Christ. That's another guy I would love to tour with, going back to when you asked who I'd like to tour with. But you know, I probably couldn't – I don't think I could open for him, as there's just a little too much reverence there for me, you know? He's a pretty important person to me musically, for sure.

The copyright of the article Cary Brothers and Zach Braff in Indie Music is owned by Danny Brown. Permission to republish Cary Brothers and Zach Braff must be granted by the author in writing.