Alto Verde

Who’s Alto Verde? How did you guys all meet?

Nick: I met Kris while filling in on some shows with Gary B & the Notions and thought he was a badass motherfucker. Andy Bopp called me and said he wanted to rock, so I suggested that we call Kris.

How was it to perform at NXNE?

Kris: I’ve wanted to perform at NXNE ever since I can remember, so it was cool to cross that off the list. And Toronto is an awesome city to visit for any reason.

Nick: Toronto is beautiful.

So one of the members have been signed to a big label, how is it to start from scratch again?

Kris: Gulp.

Andy: It’s very painful to start from the beginning, especially when you have to start a new fan base…

Nick: But you’re always starting from scratch in this business. I’ve never cared about Andy’s previous successes, other than to be a fan of his music. I’ve always admired his work. I wanted to get in the whole mess and make sounds that I think are complementary to Andy & Kris’ sounds.

What are your music influences?

Andy: 45 rpm records from 1961- 1973.

Kris: We’re all pretty nerdy when it comes to the Beatles. McCartney was my primary influence learning to play bass. Also, growing up in Maryland, the DC scene in the 90's was huge: Shudder To Think, Jawbox, Dismemberment Plan. I’m interested in anything Animal Collective does, at this point.

Nick: I’ve only heard one song, and that’s Tracey Ullman’s single “They Don’t Know About Us”. I play it constantly, like a mantra.

Can you talk to us more about your upcoming new album? How was the recording and writing process? Any title yet, release date?

Nick: This record is about literacy. It’s a plea.

Kris: The album is called ‘Paper Clips.’ It will be out this Fall. Nick and Andy worked very closely on the songs and recorded it themselves in Andy’s garage. I basically just showed up towards the end to lay down bass and some vocals!

Speaking of which, I understand you guys are working on another new album. Can you give us some insights about that record?

Andy: It’s not a pop record — it’s a huge progression from the first album.

Kris: Yeah, it’s definitely more expansive and experimental. I’m bringing in probably as much new material as Andy is these days, and writing most of the lyrics for both of us.

Nick: We’re writing and recording it a bit differently this time. We’re saving most of the musical ideas on our smartphones as we violently expel them. We just have to catch them, sort them out, and then commit them to some recording media. Easy.

Are there any more plans for the near future?

Andy: Recording!

Nick: We’re going to keep making music that WE think is cool, until we can no longer stand to tolerate each other. Then we’ll just be “old friends.”

What has been the funniest moment you guys have been or took part in while touring?

Andy: Breakfast at the Marriott in Cambridge, Mass…

Nick: 102.8 THE PIG!!! BIG A AND THE BEAVE IN THE MORNING!

Do you guys feel you are moving in the right direction?

Andy: Bertling got a GPS, so we’re usually going the right way. The thing does get us turned around from time to time… - Vents Magazine

Alto Verde is the latest band fronted by longtime Baltimore rock fixture Andy Bopp, whose history includes Love Nut’s brief major label tenure in the ’90s as well as the long-running solo project Myracle Brah. Anchored by bassist Kris Heath, also of local powerpoppers Gary B. and the Notions, and drummer Nicholas Bertling, the band’s songs are like an astute study in the history of the jangly, nervous guitar pop that might be called indie-rock but is probably best evoked by its ’80s tag, college-rock.

Bopp acknowledges his influences both implicitly and overtly throughout Alto Verde’s debut album Paper Clips, due out August 30th with a release party at Frazier’s on the Avenue on the 27th. One of the album’s standouts, “Paul Westerberg,” is outright named after one of those influences, much the way Westerberg himself once wrote a song called “Alex Chilton.” But there may be an extra layer of meta in that the tumbling drums and smooth hooks of “Paul Westerberg” actually recall Big Star’s “Back Of A Car” more than any Replacements song. And it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the next song on the album is titled “Minneapolis.” - Baltimore City Paper

Baltimore may not be known for much aside from crab cake and football, but you’re going to want Alto Verde to the list of Charm City’s up-and-comers. The trio plays muddy alternative rock that recalls the genre’s glory days in the ’90s. But beneath all the grit lies beautiful power-pop pearls. And it’s no coincidence that way back in the alt-rock boom era frontman Andy Bopp was signed to Interscope with his former pop-rock band Love Nut. When he wasn’t playing with that Baltimore band, Bopp was touring Europe and having his songs picked up by the likes of Buick for television commercials.

But Alto Verde isn’t the typical music you’d find in car adverts. Bopp and his bandmates Kristofor Heath (bass) and Nicholas Bertling (drums) have forgone the bubblegum for a moody and classically “rock” sound. sound. Since forming in 2009, the band has played alongside local B-more heroes like J-Roddy Walston And The Business, appeared on WFMU’s garage rock staple The Three Chord Monte and released a rollicking debut LP, Paper Clips, featuring stellar cuts like the chiming “Ammonia Coke,” and “Ariel,” which registers somewhere between the guitar acrobatics of the Who and the honeyed punk of Weezer. “Goodbye power pop world, I’ve done enough,” says Bopp. That’s right: with Alto Verde, Bopp is doing more and rocking harder. - CMJ.com

4.5 of 5 stars: Channelling the ghosts of late-period Beatles, Badfinger and Big Star with almost eerie accuracy, Myracle Brah's debut captures the sound and spirit of the classic power pop era to perfection. - allmusic

Myracle Brah deal out flawless power-pop, striking the perfect balance between those two elements. A word of warning, however: here be melodies. Nagging, irresistible ones, the kind you'll find yourself whistling in your sleep. - NME

Uplifting music [...] Classic guitar pop in a Byrds-y vein, via energetic Seventies power pop with gigantic hooks. - Melody Maker

Originally a tedium-breaker for Lovenut mainman Andy Bopp, Myracle Brah turned into his main squeeze after his first love were marooned in the Universal takeover of last year. Simultaneously, spirited cult acclaim erupted for the Brah's first album, the truly magnificent Life on Planet Eartsnap, and the rest is history. That opus sounded like a fledgling Lennon was rocking out with Dinosaur Jr. on a weekend bender with Teenage Fanclub at their most cuddily. And PlateSpinner repeats the process. On cue, Bopp sings in an enthusiastic swoon. Songs last three minutes and retain a classic posture. And guitars resonate like jittery melody diviners eking out every last smidgen of pleasure from their respective verse/chorus interface. Of course, the album is riddled with affectionate breaks and when a lap steel makes an appearance for "Hearts of Fire," Myracle Brah achieve new levels of euphoria. - MOJO

Myracle Brah exists in that special place where all our ideals about artistic integrity, creative talent, and performance craft actually come together. It's not about sales figures or extent of profile after all, it's all about a feeling. And, isn't that what the best music is supposed to do? - MTVAsia Online

Myracle Brah aren't just the pop academics their accomplished second LP, "PlateSpinner" might suggest. While they conjure up the spirit of bands like The Raspberries, the joyous abandon with which they tear in to the likes of "Eleven" and "Drowning" suggests that while their heads may be in the '60's, their hearts are firmly in the here and now. Yeah. Andy's grinning. But then, so are you. - NME

As the leader of left-coast power pop acts Love Nut and the unfortunately named Myracle Brah, Andy Bopp has been responsible for some of the genre’s finest sounds over the past decade or so. On his new solo effort, the cheekily titled This Guitar Kills Singer/Songwriters (Rainbow Quartz), Bopp goes it alone, literally — just himself and a solitary guitar. The stark presentation brings out the power in Bopp’s compositions, including old Myracle Brah chestnuts such as “Whisper Softly” and “Good Day to the Night,” as well as the lovely “Hello” and the wistful “Just Because.” Good stuff. - Goldmine