Brigitte Calls Me Baby talks Bardot, Elvis and film inspirations

Chicago alt-rockers Brigitte Calls Me Baby recently performed at xBk Live in Des Moines in promotion of their sophomore album, Irreversible. The band’s music has an undeniably modern edge, but what sets it apart is its 20th century flair: Roy Orbison-esque crooner vocals over post-punk instrumentation à la Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s new wave or The Smiths’ jangle pop.

Brigitte Calls Me Baby famously gets its name from frontman Wes Leavins’ teenage pen pal correspondence with the late French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot. Bardot’s legacy was tainted later in life by numerous public displays of racism, and Leavins set the record straight in our pre-show interview: Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s name may reference the late sex symbol, but it is not an homage to Bardot.

“The association of a name with a band, in our case, is to evoke a sense of longing,” Leavins explained. “I come from a town in Texas, which is very small, and I admired a lot of these foreign cinema stars and artists of all kinds. The title of the band sort of came from this idea of this person, (being myself) from a small town, and you think 'what is the most foreign sort of idea — the most unattainable.' And in this case, it was [me doing] writing work in the '50s. When it came time to name the band, we sort of decided, ‘Okay, this is romantic.’"

Leavins’ larger-than-life vocals are frequently compared to the distinctive stylings of Orbison, so it may come as no surprise that Leavins’ early career and vocal development came through professional impersonation of one of the most famous crooners of all time: Elvis Presley.

Leavins was initially recruited to provide vocals for Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film Elvis, after Luhrmann discovered Leavins’ performance as Presley in the stage musical Million Dollar Quartet. Ultimately, Elvis star Austin Butler was able to provide his own vocals for the movie, but Leavins’ stint in pre-production connected him with producer Dave Cobb, who worked on Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s early EP and debut album. Leavins met his guitarist Jack Fluegel, bassist Devin Wessels and drummer Jeremy Benshish through the Chicago music scene, but it was Leavins’ work impersonating The King that led the Texas native to the Windy City in the first place.

Anthony Scanga

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Studio One

“Unfortunately, this happens to a lot of great artists: The public kind of turns them into a cliche of themselves,” Leavins said about Presley. “I think the integrity of his voice kind of overshadows any of the unfortunate areas that his career went.”

Brigitte Calls Me Baby rose to prominence much faster than most bands. They opened for Inhaler and Muse before they were even signed to ATO. Leavins explained that they landed these high-profile initial gigs through conventional channels — their professional management. While much of the Chicago music scene is defined by its DIY nature, Brigitte Calls Me Baby seemed destined for major festival stages and support slots for big names like Morrissey since their inception. Their debut album, The Future Is Our Way Out, put their retro-inspired sound on the map, and their recent sophomore effort, Irreversible, proves the band’s prowess is here to stay. Like their debut, Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s influences shone through the new record.

“A lot of the creative time [writing Irreversible] was spent on the road,” Leavins explained. “When we're traveling, I often watch movies in the van or in the hotel or whatever, and I was reading a bit then, which I don't have many opportunities to. I was reading a book called Love's Executioner. That inspired a lot of the sentiments of the songs And then movies I think found their way into the process as well, just things like Blue Valentine and Lost in Translation and things like that. Those kinds of movies, there's a hopeful quality to them. You just kind of leave feeling a bit, you know, touched, in some way.”

Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s intrigue spans across multiple generations, exemplified in the diverse crowd that gathered for the band's xBk show. Their status as a new, unique alternative act speaks to the Gen Z and Y audiophile, while their '80s-inspired stylings attracted a surprising amount of Gen X fans. Their widespread appeal only solidifies the fact that this Chicago band’s momentum keeps growing, and they’re undoubtedly worthy of terms of endearment from far more than just their namesake.