The Double Rainbow Bed Intruder Guys

WORDS MILÈNE LARSSON, PHOTO BY LANDON METZ

The Gregory Brothers are the people who turned YouTube stars Antoine Dodson and Paul Vasquez (aka Yosemitebear, aka hungrybear9562, aka “the double rainbow guy”) into unintentional, successful pop singers. They also make “real music”, as well as the online political satire show

Auto-Tune the News

. They’ve had over 100 million YouTube views, but most importantly, by auto-tuning very popular absurd-funny social-realism clips into songs with catchy choruses like, “Hide yo kids, hide yo wife” and “Double rainbow all the way a-cro-oss the skyyyy”, they inadvertently invented a whole new genre which we’re going to call “Crazy people on the internet having their craziness turned into songs”.

It’s either the most annoying or funniest thing to happen to music since those embarrassing 90s Eurodisco ventures, or inbred 70s Scandinavian schlager, depending on what kind of thing you’re into. We’re kind of half way in the middle, so we met up with them to make our minds up.

Vice: Hi Evan. Explain to me how your group works.

Evan Gregory:

There are four of us: me, my wife Sarah and my brothers Michael and Andrew. I am in fact the oldest. However, Andrew looks older because of the beard.

But you all have facial hair?

This may come as a surprise, but in the videos we’re not wearing our actual hair or facial hair. We use wigs and/or fake moustaches. For instance, Senator Junkie Einstein is not a real US senator.

Really? You mean it?

He’s actually just a character played by Michael wearing a wig and fake moustache. So he’s doubly disguised.

How did the Gregory Brothers’ satirical music video venture come about?

Well, we started the band in 2007 making folky soul jams, like the ones on our 2009 “Meet the Gregory Brothers!” EP. Then, in 2008, Michael made a music video using footage of the US presidential candidates debating. There were very few songs about political debates, and also a problematic lack of sweet bass lines and soaring melodies in news delivery, so there was a niche there. Auto-Tune the News evolved from that, and from realising we could use technology to make the people in the videos sing along with us. Then we thought it’d be fun to turn it episodic by applying the idea to current events, using virals and news castings.

What’s your connection with Barely Political?

For a while, Michael worked freelance for them, writing and producing music. When

Auto-Tune the News

started, they liked it so much they aired it on their channel, exposing our stuff to a huge audience. We’ve been working with them ever since. They’re funny-looking but very nice.

Your satirical auto-tune videos are musically miles apart from your “folky soul jams”. Do people ever get pissed off when they buy your EP, thinking they’d get the funny video tracks?

Sometimes. People all react differently. We have all kinds of different musical influences but we mostly work on the videos now, because they’re fun.

How do you record them?

Very amateurishly under Michael’s bed with a $5 green sheet behind us, and then we use simple, free video software that erases all the green.

Is it difficult to keep a straight face when recording?

We certainly do a bunch of takes.

Because once you start laughing it’s hard to stop?

No. We’re actually very focused and serious. Mainly we do many takes to get the details right, like making sure we have exactly the right moustache.

Right. Do you all share the same sense of humour or do you get into stupid arguments about how to present stuff?

We argue all the time! But those tiny disagreements about what to rhyme with “Boris Yeltsin” or how to position a pair of sunglasses are very important. It’s those details that give our work the stamp of craftsmanship.

Is this your job now? Can you make a living out of it?

Sort of. All four of us are just doing music and video now.

What’s your bestselling song?

“The Bed Intruder Song”. That sold over 100,000 copies on iTunes. “The Double Rainbow Song” is second.

Do Antoine Dodson and the double rainbow guy get a cut of the profits?

They get 50 percent. Their original videos were already receiving a lot of viral attention before we co-wrote their songs. But then when the songs began to receive a mass of attention in their own right, we reached out to them.

And gave them an opportunity to make a buck.

Yes. We considered Antoine and Paul to be co-writers and performers that we were in partnership with to create the music of today. Viral stars have been around for a long time, but only recently have they been able to take control of their own stardom, and that’s what Antoine and Paul have done.

Would you consider producing a whole album with them, and like, start a new kind of pop star factory?

How far they want to take it is up to them. I think Antoine is in school right now and isn’t intending to further his singing career.

Have you met them?

We haven’t met Paul in person yet. He lives in California. But we did get a chance to meet Antoine recently when he was in New York for a celebrity fashion week party he was invited to. He’s friendly and generous, not to mention fashionable.

He gets invited to fashion parties now?

Yes! And all the celebrities recognise him. He’s stoked.

I read that CBS has tried to sue you about ten times. Has anyone else threatened to take you to court?

Not sure. Our email inbox is pretty full.

I bet. There’s this common perception that comedians are depressed and deal with it by making fun of stuff. Would you agree?

I’ve also heard that most comedians had difficult childhoods and had to learn to be funny to get the attention they craved. We should ask a comedian to find out.

So you wouldn’t call yourselves comedians then?

We’re musicians at heart. And we just want to bring music into those places where it’s most sorely needed. Also, our childhoods were OK. And we’re not even depressed now. At least, if we are, we don’t talk to each other about it.

So what’s next? Will there be an album coming out soon?

We’re not planning an album right this second, but when it does come out it’ll include some of the auto-tune songs, for sure. We’ll keep making music and videos for as long as we find it fun, and we’re releasing “Backin’ Up Song” on iTunes soon, with our unintentional co-writer Diana.

For more on the Gregory Brothers and to listen to their recent “

Tornado Song

”, visit thegregorybrothers.com.