Balu Brigada spent a decade chasing the dream: ‘Portal’ is them living it

Balu Brigada haven’t exactly eased themselves gently into the launch of debut album ‘Portal’. Henry and Pierre Beasley spent the months leading up to the record’s release playing European arenas as the opening act for Twenty One Pilots’ ‘Clancy’ tour, and the week before the record dropped, they made their debut at Reading & Leeds Festivals. “‘Portal’ is the culmination of a lot of work we’ve both done,” says Henry backstage. “We’re a bit jittery about it right now, but ultimately, we’re super pumped to get it out.”

An early version of the band formed in 2016 after they were inspired by their older brother [and original drummer] Charles. “He was playing in bands and we just thought that was the coolest thing ever,” says Henry, with the pair doing anything to get involved in household jam sessions – including playing terrible covers of Iron Maiden and Kings Of Leon. A handful of exploratory singles followed alongside their chirpy ‘Almost Feel Good’ mixtape.

Pierre ended up going to study Jazz at university, but it was when they were self-producing their wonky pop banger ‘Medicine’ that something properly clicked. “I just got that electric feeling and was so stoked that something we had made sounded that good coming out of the speakers. It just felt magic,” he grins. “And from that moment, this is all I’ve wanted to do.”

“That’s come from ten years of eating shit”

The pair have properly thrown themselves into being a band. They’ve toured relentlessly, released a pair of EPs and discovered an energy that feels like them. ‘Portal’ is the sound of them flexing. “There’s a lot of fuzzy guitars on this album. I don’t want to say it’s psych-rock because we’re a pop band, but we’ve definitely been inspired by the gods of that genre, and there are some dreamy elements to it as well,” says Pierre. It’s basically 12 pop-rock bangers, cut with funk, groove, urgency and excitement.

“It’s got a lot of sass, but there’s plenty of sensitive stuff as well,” adds Henry. “The core of this band is our vulnerabilities.” Written in breaks between tours when life was hectic and fast-paced, ‘Portal’ sees Balu Brigada try and make sense of what was going on. “It’s mostly about going through these big shifts,” Henry explains. “We’ve both been preparing for this moment, and we really wanted to make the most of it. Even with all that prep, it’s not easy, but it is the dream. We’ve just been trying to support each other through the intensities of really getting the chance to do that thing that you’ve dreamed of for a long time.” He continues. “That’s a big part of the album’s ethos, really.”

In the midst of all the chaos, getting to roadtest some of these songs in Europe’s biggest venues offered them some validation. “We played something like ‘Backseat’ before it was even released, and to see it resonating with people so quickly, we knew it had the potential to be something special,” says Pierre.

It might be the band’s debut album, but it follows on from streaming giants’ Moon Man’ and ‘Designer’ and comes after playing to hundreds of thousands of Twenty One Pilots fans. Still, Balu Brigada weren’t really feeling the pressure with ‘Portal’. “We’re pretty delighted we finished an album in the first place,” grins Pierre. “We also took on the daring decision to produce it ourselves. It took a lot of effort, obviously, but proving to ourselves that we could do that… I’m really proud of us.”

And now ‘Portal’ belongs to the world. “We might have gained some ground in recent months, but I hope people understand that’s come from ten years of eating shit,” adds Henry with a smile. “Pierre and I have spent a long time trying very hard to do what we’re doing now. It finally feels like the music is starting to connect with people, and that’s all we’ve ever dreamed of.”

Taken from the October 2025 issue of Dork. Balu Brigada’s album ‘Portal’ is out now.