Honey Brothers - gelling like a real family

By Meredith Deliso

The Honey Brothers are, in many ways, like a family – a group of different personalities united by one bond.

While not blood, or honey, their bond is music.

Comprised of two full-time musicians (Andrew Vladeck and Dan Green), a filmmaker (Ari Gold), an actor (Adrian Grenier, of “Entourage” fame) and even a doctor (D.S. Posner), the Brooklyn-based band started off as somewhat of a novelty – a ukulele-driven indie folk band. But since forming in 2001, they’ve solidified their lineup, done the festival circuit, and released a critically acclaimed full-length album.

This fall, they’ve been in the studio at work on their next one, collaborating with producer Malcolm Burns.

“He seemed to have the right vibe, the right personality to work with our assorted personalities,” says Vladeck, a Bedford-Stuyvesant-based musician.

Indeed, the band is a unique one. When they started back in 2001, none of the members used their real names (Vladeck, for instance, went by Dory Honey). As the band’s evolved over the past seven years, some of that jokey spirit has changed, and the band has even considered changing their name, if only for a hot second.

“We started as this all-ukulele, old-time street corner folk song band, so everything we did was mildly tongue-in-cheek,” says Vladeck. “The name came from that incarnation. The other day it occurred to us, maybe we should start thinking about this name. It’s not perfectly representative, but at the same time, it’s what we’ve lived with for seven years.”

And, as the name hints at, the band is incredibly brotherly. Gold, Vladeck and Posner all met in college, Green has been playing with Vladeck for the past several years, and Grenier came on board on the drums shortly after the band’s first gig. And like brothers, their closeness does not always translate musically.

“Everyone in the band has such distinct tastes,” says Vladeck, who leans more towards Americana and old-time music himself. “No one in the band likes anyone else’s taste in music. Everyone shoots each other down and we find the middle ground. It requires collaboration in its utmost form.”

And it helps them wind up with something different when they head into the studio. While preserving their folk roots, the band has brought in all varieties of rock – glam, classic, indie – as well as pop and world music into the mix for their new album, which you can get a taste of this month when they play Brooklyn Bowl December 18.

“It’s going to be something you can hum along to,” says Vladeck, who anticipates the album coming out in early spring. “Everyone in the band has great ideas. It’s the little details that we get stuck on. But once we blast through them, it’s very enjoyable to play.”

And while the band’s name may no longer be as relevant as it used to, true to being in a family, you can’t change your name.

The Honey Brothers play Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave.) December 18 at 9 p.m. Tickets $10. With Balthrop, Alabama. For more information, call 718-963-3369.