BNQT

Lore & Background

The concept for BNQT came to Eric Pulido while touring Midlake's 2013 album Antiphon. He wanted to gather artists he had befriended or shared the stage with, establishing an environment for collaboration. Due to members being spread around the world, recordings were done either through travel to Denton, Texas or remotely over the internet. Pulido initially approached John Grant of The Czars, but Grant was unavailable for the debut album, though he expressed interest in involvement in the second album, Volume 2.

The band's debut album, Volume 1, was recorded and self-produced at Redwood Studios in Denton, Texas and released on 28 April 2017. Each of the five vocalists wrote and sang on two songs each. The album received a mainly positive reaction from music critics, with a Metacritic score of 78 based on 14 reviews, indicating 'generally favourable reviews.'

BNQT's promotional tour for Volume 1 began in Dallas on 23 October 2017, then visited the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland, and France, where they played at the Café de la Danse theatre in Paris.

Reader's Guide

BNQT represents a deliberate, collaborative indie supergroup formed not by record label fiat but by personal connections and mutual respect among its members. Eric Pulido's vision of a 'poor man's Traveling Wilburys' positioned the group as a low-key, artist-driven project rather than a commercial juggernaut. The band's debut album, Volume 1, demonstrated the viability of remote and travel-based collaboration, with each vocalist contributing two songs, resulting in a cohesive yet varied sound. The album's generally favourable critical reception (Metacritic 78) validated the concept. BNQT's significance lies in its demonstration that supergroups can emerge from indie circles and succeed through distributed recording methods, presaging later remote collaboration trends. The project also highlighted the interconnectedness of the indie rock scene of the 2000s and 2010s, bringing together frontmen from Travis, Franz Ferdinand, Band of Horses, Grandaddy, and Midlake. The planned Volume 2, with potential involvement from John Grant, suggests the project may continue to evolve as a recurring collaborative platform.

Did You Know?

• Eric Pulido conceived BNQT while touring Midlake's 2013 album Antiphon.
• Pulido described the project as a 'poor man's Traveling Wilburys.'
• Each of the five vocalists wrote and sang on two songs for Volume 1.
• John Grant of The Czars was initially approached but was unavailable for Volume 1.

Formation & Collaborative Philosophy

The idea for BNQT germinated during a long stretch on the road. While touring in support of Midlake's 2013 record Antiphon, Eric Pulido found himself thinking about the musicians he had grown close to over the years—friends he had shared stages with, artists whose work he genuinely admired. What he wanted was not a one-off jam session but a sustained creative space where these contrasting yet complementary voices could sit down and make something together. He described the impulse in plain terms: for him, the point of making art is to do it alongside people you love and respect. He even framed the whole endeavor as a "poor man's Traveling Wilburys," a nod to the legendary 1980s supergroup while acknowledging the more scrappy, DIY reality of what he was building. Because the eventual members lived in different parts of the world, the logistics were never straightforward. Sessions alternated between physical trips to Denton, Texas, and remote collaboration conducted over the internet, a practical compromise that kept the project alive despite the geographical scatter.

A Supergroup of Indie Veterans

BNQT assembles a lineup that reads like a who's-who of twenty-first-century indie rock. The five principal vocalists are Fran Healy of Travis, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Eric Pulido of Midlake, Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses, and Jason Lytle of Grandaddy—each a frontman or central creative force in a band with a devoted following. Behind them, the rhythm section and additional instrumentation are handled by three fellow Midlake members: Jesse Chandler, Joey McClellan, and McKenzie Smith. This structure gives the group a stable musical foundation while the five singers bring distinctly different tonal palettes and songwriting instincts to the table. The collaborative format was deliberately democratic: for the debut record, each vocalist was responsible for writing and performing exactly two songs, ensuring no single voice dominated the record. The result is a collection that feels less like a band with a lead singer and more like a round-robin showcase of five distinct artistic sensibilities, all held together by the shared chemistry Pulido sought when he first reached out to his friends.

Volume 1 and the Road to Critical Approval

The fruits of that collaboration arrived on 28 April 2017 as Volume 1, a record the band recorded and self-produced at Redwood Studios in Denton, Texas. The album's structure—two songs per vocalist—gave each member a clear creative lane while the Midlake trio anchored the arrangements. Critics responded warmly: on Metacritic the record settled at an average score of 78 out of a possible 100, drawn from fourteen reviews, a rating the site classifies as "generally favourable." The positive critical reception set the stage for a promotional tour that kicked off in the band's home territory, Dallas, on 23 October 2017. From there the itinerary stretched across the Atlantic, taking the group through the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland, and France. The European leg culminated in a performance at the Café de la Danse theatre in Paris, a venue that has long been a touchstone for indie and alternative acts. The tour demonstrated that the project had resonated beyond a niche audience of fans who simply enjoyed hearing their favourite frontmen under one banner.

Unfinished Business and the Road to Volume 2

BNQT's story does not end with the debut. From the very earliest planning stages, the project had a sixth voice in mind. Pulido initially reached out to John Grant, the lead singer of The Czars, inviting him to join the fold. Grant, however, was unavailable during the recording window for Volume 1 and so missed the first chapter of the collaboration. Crucially, his absence was not a rejection; Grant has since expressed a clear interest in contributing to the band's second album, which is slated to carry the straightforward title Volume 2. This pending involvement underscores a key aspect of BNQT's identity: it is not a fixed, static lineup but an evolving gathering of friends who come together when circumstances allow. The practical realities of the project—members scattered across continents, sessions split between in-person studio time in Denton and remote internet-based work—mean that the band's output will always be shaped by who is available and when. Volume 2, when it arrives, will be a test of whether that flexible, friendship-driven model can sustain a second act.

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