BY ELIZABETH FEIRSTEIN
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH FEIRSTEIN
Christian and Brody Clementi, brothers from Nashville, make up the country duo, CB30. The name comes from the boys first initials and the fact that they were both born on the 30th of a month, Christian being May 30th, and Brody being March 30th. They have always loved music and were given the chance to sign with Buena Vista Records in 2017. Since then they have opened for Luke Bryan, played at Stagecoach, and have shared their sound across a variety of social media platforms. We got the chance to sit down with them at Playlist Live in Orlando to talk to them about their career.
For starters, who are you?
Christian: “We are Christian and Brody, CB30. We are brothers from Nashville, Tennessee, and a country music duo.”
Why music?
C: “Growing up we were always into sports, but we always had family in the music business. Our dad is a songwriter in Nashville and cuts for Luke Bryan and a bunch of other big country artists. Since we were constantly around the music industry it led us to try and get into it. When we stopped playing football, we started writing songs and picking up on [music] and eventually we fell in love with songwriting, recording and performing. We picked up a guitar and haven't put it down since, and that's why we chose music.”
How would you describe your music to those who haven't heard it yet?
Brody: “It's in the mixture of pop and country. It's upbeat like Dan and Shay and like Sam Hunt.”
Where do you pull inspiration from?
B: “We get our inspirations from all different genres, but obviously Luke Bryan because he's a good buddy of ours and we look up to him a lot.”
C: “Additionally, we also listen to rap and also a lot of pop artists like Post Malone and Bazzi. We also pull inspiration from our own lives and experiences.”
How do you balance TikTok and Instagram with music?
B: “TikTok could be a full time job now, but honestly it's something we like to do in our free time.”
What's it like performing together as brothers?
C: “It's cool, we live together so obviously we have more time to rehearse and to have everything down. Living and being siblings also comes with dumb brother fighting, which is not bad with us, unless we are playing basketball, football, or video games, then it’s bad. We are very competitive with each other, but performing is always smooth and comes easy especially since we know each other so well”
What was it like opening for Luke Bryan on his stadium tour?
B: “It was honestly really shocking at first, it was really last minute, he literally told us the day before. We rehearsed all that night for like eight hours.”
C: “We were on vacation in Colorado with our family, and he was playing Mile High Stadium that night and was like, ‘Y’all wanna play a song tonight?’, and we were so shocked, we had no clue. We didn't even have our guitars or anything.”
B : “We had to use other people’s guitars which was weird.”
C: “That was the first time we used in-ears. Since that was a hectic first show we felt prepared for the other shows we got to perform at. It went well, it was wild.”
You recently released your single “Love That About Her.” Can you tell us a little about the song and the inspiration behind it?
C: “Love That About Her is about literally every little thing you love about a girl, like what the girl wants to hear and not like how hot she is and like that kind of stuff. It's about the little details, things that can make her smile, all the things you love about this girl. Who that girl is, we can't say.”
What advice do you have for people that would like to pursue a career in the music industry?
B: “Just keep working hard at it, stick to one thing, figure out what you want and go for it.”
If you could plan your own tour, who would you be touring with?
B: “Honestly I'd love to get a tour with all our friends”
C: “Going on tour with Jacob Sartorius would be fun for now. But then we wanna headline one day which is the ultimate goal.”
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH FEIRSTEIN
B: “We would also wanna tour with Bazzi, Bieber, and I'd have to say Post Malone.”
What were some obstacles you come across while writing?
C: “There are a lot of obstacles with being young and being in country. A lot of other artists don’t have this problem, but because we are only 18 and 15 we can’t write about beer and other alcohol. Obstacles in writing can sometimes be if you don't have a super close bond with people, or if you just met them and it just doesn't click. Usually we have no idea what we are going to write about. Luckily in Nashville everyone is so amazing and just great songwriters, if they are there for that and to do, usually it's amazing. We all just work together to come out with good music.”
What can we expect in the future?
B: “A lot of new music, maybe an album in the future. We don't have it planned right now, but we have a bunch of songs set to come out, singles and additionally new content on TikTok and Instagram.”