AKA BK
You Just Have to Take the Leap
Brooklynn and Cecile Herledan (AKA BK) at SXSW 2026. Photo: Micah Bierman / TMN
Los Angeles band AKA BK discusses a friendship that began in kindergarten, reconnecting through music after years apart, and developing a collaborative sound rooted in Detroit’s independent culture.
AUSTIN | TMN Editorial | Interview and Photo Report by Miacah Bierman
Brooklynn and Cecile Herledan met in kindergarten while growing up in Metro Detroit. By fifth grade, they were already playing music together in their first band—a project that continued for several years before different schools, cities and careers eventually took them in separate directions.
Brooklynn moved to Los Angeles approximately ten years ago to attend school. After COVID, she began writing the material that would become AKA BK, initially developing the project under her own name.
Cecile, meanwhile, was living in Chicago and working in the corporate world. Brooklynn invited her to visit Los Angeles, spend time together and listen to the new music. Cecile flew home after the visit and was laid off the following day.
“I visited LA, and then I flew back to Chicago, where I was living, and I got laid off the next day. Full destiny, baby.”
The unexpected timing helped bring the two friends back together creatively. Brooklynn had already recognized that she did not want the project to remain a solo endeavor. Growing up in bands in Michigan had shaped how she understood music, and she wanted AKA BK to develop through the energy and interaction of a complete group.
Over the following year, they gradually found the musicians who could help build that group. Drummer Jake, a longtime friend from Michigan, joined them for their SXSW performances, while guitarists Sean Gunnar Lee and Julian became part of the developing lineup in Los Angeles.
At the time of our interview, AKA BK had only been performing live for approximately fourteen months.
“I knew for a while, because of growing up playing in bands in Michigan, that I really did want it to be more of a band dynamic and be more of a full band than just myself.”
Bringing other musicians into the project has made AKA BK increasingly collaborative. For Brooklynn, working with a band is similar to looking into a mirror: the people around an artist can reveal which elements feel authentic and which no longer serve the work.
Every musician introduces a different tone, musical reference and instinct. Those contributions gradually affect the identity of the songs, even when the original material was written before the band existed.
“You hope somebody holds that mirror up to you, and you can see what you identify with and what maybe doesn’t serve you as much. That can really shape the sound of a project.”
AKA BK at SXSW 2026. Photo: Micah Bierman / TMN
Cecile’s involvement brought an especially important element to AKA BK: her voice. The newer arrangements now consider how her softer backing vocals can interact with the heavier qualities of the music.
Rather than reducing the intensity of the songs, those vocal contrasts have expanded the possibilities available to the band.
“How do you interject a sweet, angelic backing vocal into a heavy, maybe post-grunge, new-wave song? It just gives you more tools to work with.”
Brooklynn describes the process as adding more colors to a palette. Each new element becomes another option when deciding what kind of picture the band is trying to create.
The connection between Brooklynn and Cecile is also visible during their live performances. More than two decades of friendship allow them to communicate almost instinctively onstage, frequently exchanging looks and anticipating what the other person is about to do.
“We can basically read each other’s minds. Because we’ve had this friendship for so long, it’s been really helpful as we approach the live show and how we work together.”
Brooklynn and Cecile Herledan (AKA BK) at SXSW 2026. Photo: Micah Bierman / TMN
The songs on AKA BK’s current EP were written primarily by Brooklynn and her longtime friend Caleb David Waterman before the rest of the band came together. As Cecile became more involved, they returned to the material and added vocal parts that would reflect her presence during live performances.
The project is now entering a different phase. Brooklynn wants the band’s future work to be written more collectively, allowing the musicians to develop the material together from the beginning.
The final song released from the EP offered an early example of that approach. The band recorded it together in one room using a traditional live rock setup, capturing the interaction between the musicians instead of constructing every element separately.
“We actually recorded it all together in a room, very OG rock style. I think you can feel that energy in the record.”
MUSH. EP By AKA BK, 2025.
That energy also appears in “MUSH,” a song built around the uncomfortable softness that can accompany being in love. The title gave the band a way to express that feeling without using language that felt overly sentimental.
“Mush equals love. ‘Mush’ is about being in love. When you’re in love and you feel all mushy, you don’t even want to say that word because it’s so gross. We decided to say ‘mush’ instead to make it a little easier.”
The song’s references move between food, independent music and cinema. Brooklynn jokingly names Taco Bell as an inspiration—and as a sponsorship the band continues to pursue—but the musical foundation came from Pixies.
An early version of “MUSH” included a sample from “Debaser.” The band was advised to rerecord the guitar part to avoid potential legal problems, but the influence remained.
“Debaser” was itself inspired by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s film Un Chien Andalou. Following that relationship between music and cinema, Brooklynn used the second verse of “Mush” to reference Gregg Araki’s 1997 film Nowhere.
“The song ‘Debaser’ by Pixies is a reference to a movie, so the second verse of ‘Mush’ also references a movie that I really like called Nowhere by Gregg Araki. I wanted to pay homage to those early indie legends.”
Original frame from Un Chien Andalou, the 1929 surrealist short film directed by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí.
AKA BK’s connection to independent culture also comes from Detroit. Brooklynn describes the city as a place with a historically determined DIY scene—an environment where artists learn to organize, create spaces and make projects happen without waiting for an established industry to provide permission.
Los Angeles presented a noticeably different landscape. The city contains an enormous professional music industry, but its presence can make artists feel that there is only one legitimate path to building a career.
“Detroit has a really rich and determined DIY scene. Historically, that place just lives and breathes DIY. It’s always a make-it-happen city.”
For artists arriving in Los Angeles, the competition and difficulty of booking shows can initially feel restrictive. Brooklynn believes that this changes once musicians move beyond the most visible layer of the industry and find the people already building independent communities underneath it.
Those communities need to be protected from becoming another commercial product. The purpose of a DIY scene, she argues, is not to reproduce the structures of the mainstream industry on a smaller scale. It is to reach people who need those spaces, including audiences unable to afford the increasingly expensive tickets sold through major entertainment companies.
“A lot of scenes can be co-opted and made profitable by different groups. That’s not the point of a DIY scene. It’s to reach people who need it and people who aren’t necessarily able to afford a freaking Live Nation ticket.”
Finding and supporting those spaces in Los Angeles has become an important part of AKA BK’s experience. The scene may not be immediately visible, but discovering it has allowed the band to participate in a community that exists outside the city’s dominant commercial structures.
Touring has also introduced them to independent communities in less expected places. Cecile points to Green House in Lubbock, Texas, as one of those spaces. Despite feeling uncomfortable in other parts of the city, the band encountered an open and welcoming community at the venue, including artists such as Ghost Lux.
“If you go to Green House in Lubbock, Texas, and see bands like Ghost Lux, you’re going to find some great people. You’re going to find a great time and a very open-armed community.”
They have found something similar in New York, where the number and history of independent venues allow artists to perform without every show being judged exclusively by its commercial results.
Brooklynn contrasts that environment with the pressure for every concert to sell out, look a particular way or follow a predetermined route before it can be considered successful.
“People are able to play without that monetary oppression of, ‘This has to sell out, it has to look a certain way, and it has to go this way to be successful. ”
Brooklynn (AKA BK) at SXSW 2026. Photo: Micah Bierman / TMN
Cecile’s return to music required her to abandon the belief that this part of her life had already passed. After leaving their childhood band, she went to school, developed a corporate career and spent years assuming that becoming a musician was no longer a possibility.
Rejoining Brooklynn transformed that assumption. Regardless of how far AKA BK ultimately travels, Cecile sees the decision itself as worthwhile.
“I didn’t do music for so long. I went to school, had my corporate career, and just thought it was over for me. I didn’t even think it was a possibility. You just have to do it. You just have to take the leap.”
Becoming a full-time artist has brought uncertainty, but it has also removed the possibility of looking back and wondering what might have happened.
“I don’t want to have any regrets looking back on my life. Even if this is where we get to and we’re playing a couple of shows, I have no regrets about that.”
Brooklynn’s advice is equally direct: understand why you are making something, do it for yourself and work with the people you trust. Waiting for the correct circumstances can become another way of never beginning.
The difficult days are not evidence that the project has failed. They are part of the same process as the victories and deserve to be accepted with the same honesty.
“Have no fear. Know why you’re doing it. Do it for yourself. Do it with your friends. Just get up and go—don’t wait. Some days it’s going to suck, and that’s totally fine. Embrace those days as much as you embrace the wins.”
The friendship at the center of AKA BK began long before either Brooklynn or Cecile knew where music would take them. Years later, it has given both artists a way to return to something they once shared and build it again under entirely different circumstances.
For the band, moving forward does not depend on controlling every result. It means continuing to make music, supporting independent spaces and staying connected to the people who make the process worth pursuing.
“Go hug your friends. Go live with love. We’re going to be bigger than them. That’s all we can do.”
Our full interview with AKA BK is now live, and you can watch it below.
Interview by Micah Bierman / TMN. SXSW Austin 2026.
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