Brand New Heavies Interview With My Mom

Words: Willow Stewart
October 6, 2024

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to talk to my mom about her favorite woman singer (in honor of Women’s History Month) and this is the interview we had. She was driving on her way home from work, so the article is edited a bit for clarity.

Willow: Okay. So my first question is if you could tell me a little bit about your relationship to the Brand New Heavies and if you could, also describe the band, and the reasons you like them.

Willow's Mom (Ze): Let's see. So they have an old school sound where they sound like a little bit of James Brown with that old 1960s sound like brass instruments and horns. The sound is really nice and the music sounds very warm when you play it as well. The music is uplifting, makes you feel good, and makes you want to dance, that type of thing.

Willow: Very, cool, can you tell me a little bit about the lead singer in particular? I'm assuming that's the woman.

Willow's Mom (Ze): Yeah. So first off, the band is called the Brand New Heavies. And then what they've done is they rotate lead singers. She's the second singer that they have, and her name is N’Dea, and it's like a capital N, an apostrophe, D-E-A Davenport.

And she just has this nice voice where she can go really high, and she can go really low. And again, she's got a warm sound to her voice. You can probably tell that she probably sang when she was little in a gospel choir. She got a little bit of that to it. You also can tell that she's probably influenced by people like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight. So again, with the Brand New Heavies, it's just that old-school sound. But her voice is just so versatile, and it compliments the music really, really well. And out of the lead singers that they rotated through the band, she's probably the one that sounds like the most perfect fit for their sound, I think.

Willow: Do you remember [when] you discovered them?

Willow's Mom (Ze): I was in college, so it was my freshman year of college and I heard the song called, hm wait, let me think which one it was. Oh my goodness, what it's called. Hold on, I'm going to look for it really quick. I'm sitting at a red light. I'm going to get the title right. Give me one second. Okay, yes, the name of the song is called “Never Stop”.

[accidentally plays the song over her Bluetooth speaker] Oops, hold on. I started playing it. Yeah, it's called Never Stop. And I got fascinated by the song because again, it was her voice and it was also the music. It's got a nice intro to it. And then she comes in singing, and it's a song that just makes you want to dance. It's a great, great song. It's a beautiful song.

Again, discovered them my freshman year of college, and, I was on a committee that helped choose artists or entertainment for the school, and I lobbied for them to come and play our school. And we had a concert with them. They were very kind on top of it. So I got to see them live and meet them…all that fun stuff.

Willow: So you met her?

Willow's Mom (Ze): Yeah, I did! She did her makeup and hair, in our dorm room.

Willow: [laughs] In your dorm room?

Willow's Mom (Ze): Yeah, [laughs] while she was doing her makeup, she asked if, we had any makeup sponges. And I was like, “I do,” and she asked if she could borrow 'em. I was like, “Of course!” So she did her hair in makeup, right in her dorm room. Yep. She, she's very down to earth. And they were really good. They did a fantastic– they did a great show.

Willow: And this was the same year you lobbied for them to come?

Willow's Mom (Ze): This was probably the year after that. So I started school in 1990, so they probably played our school in 1991? ‘92?

I like the band because of the musicians.

Let me think of the word for it. They're very true to their sound, so their sound doesn't change much. They don't do a whole lot of like, “Oh, we want to sound like a rock band,” or “We want to sound like this.” They're very true to that jazzy hip-hop sound. The genre that they're called is Acid Jazz, and it's just something that they're seen as pioneers in. The sound is very distinctive, even though it hearkens back to sounding like James Brown could be the lead singer for them with the horns, guitar, and soulful N’Dea's voice.

Willow: All right. And your favorite song is your favorite song “Never Stop”?

Willow's Mom (Ze): Yeah, I like “Never Stop”. They have another one that became their most popular song, called “Dream on Dreamer” and I think if you played that, people, you might recognize that, but it has never been my favorite one.

Willow: Did you ever play these songs around me?

Willow's Mom (Ze): I have! You would know immediately if I played them, you'd be like, “Oh yeah, you played that music a lot” like the way if I played you some Jamiroquai, you would recognize it in a minute. You know what I mean? It's the same thing with this. You would know them.

Willow: Yeah, I do [laughs], do you have a favorite album?

Willow's Mom (Ze): I'm going to go that it's with their very first one, and it's just called “The Brand New Heavies.”

They collaborated with some rap groups in the nineties too, and it's like they have the rappers rapping, and the band is playing behind them, and it's a sound that I think Beyoncé also kind of does. And it always sounds really good.

Willow: Lastly, I'd like to ask if you have a memorable or prominent memory of listening to them.

Willow's Mom (Ze): Oh, it was them playing at my college, because they weren't necessarily a popular band at the time. They weren't as well known at that time in the U.S. They’re a British band. Well, N’Dea is from the South, while the band is British. So when they played our school, it was really special to me in the sense of being able to see a band that maybe would one day become incredibly popular or have some kind of notoriety. And right after they played our school, they had another album come out called Brother Sister. And the song “Dream on Dreamer” became popular. You probably hear the song when you're at the grocery store or something. And again, I thought, “Wow, we had them at our school right at the beginning of when they started to become incredibly popular here in the United States.”

They are very nice people. N’Dea is nice. They also sound really good live. I've seen them probably four times live, and each time they're just incredible. The last time I saw them was in Baltimore, and they opened for Macy Gray, but I only went to see them. [laughs] I had the T-shirt on from the tour that they did for our school. And afterward, they came out to do autographs, and one of the guys saw me leaving the venue and was like, “Hey, wait a minute! You're wearing a T-shirt from one of the first times we came to America!” N’Dea was there too, and she was just like, “I vaguely remember that tour.” And I said, “Well, yeah, you did your makeup in my dorm room.” And she started laughing and said, “That sounds about right.” And then she asked how I was.

Willow: What year was this?

Willow's Mom (Ze): Lemme think about when you were born… So maybe this was 2007? I can look it up for you. And then they were doing a couple of autographs and stuff, and then one of the guitarists, was like, “Are you leaving?” and I was like, “Yeah, I only came to see you all. I don't care about Macy Gray.” He then asked me if I wanted to take a photo with them, and I said, “No, no, I don't want to do that,” and they were laughing and were like, “You don't want a picture with us?” And I was like, “No, I don't need a photo. This is enough, just talking with you all.” They are just really nice people.

Willow: So the interaction was most important?

Willow's Mom (Ze): Yeah, the interaction is always more important. I will probably always be one of those people who never asks to take a photo with a celebrity. I mean, I did take one of JK [of Jamiroquai] because that was just important to do. [laughs]

Willow: [laughs] All right. Is there anything else you want to say about N’Dea Davenport and The Brand New Heavies?

Willow's Mom (Ze): Yeah! I would say go listen to the Brand. I would say check them out. She stayed with them for a couple of albums, I think she did two albums with them. I feel like N’Dea Davenport represents the sound and the feeling of that band well. They have other lead singers, but I think she's the best one. And she's probably– I like her voice out of all the singers. She's a strong singer and has a really powerful voice. And she's also very petite, so when she sings, it's like, wow, that big voice is coming out of that little body as well. Yeah. So I would encourage all people to listen to the Brand New Heavies.

Willow: Alright, well, thank you!

Willow's Mom (Ze): You're so welcome!