Nicholas Braun, AKA Cousin Greg, drops surprise summer bop, ‘Antibodies’

Emmy-nominated actor Nicholas Braun — a.k.a. Cousin Greg from Succession —  experienced a flash of inspiration in early May even though quarantining in his friend’s L.A. guest household, lonely and wishing for companionship: a tongue-in-cheek rocker, “Antibodies (Do You Have the),” which premieres Wednesday together with the official online video on Rolling Stone.

“I want a female whose blood’s acquired the stuff/I want a female who’s safe,” Braun sings around gentle guitar, developing towards the explosively emo chorus: “Do you have the antibodies?/Do you want to be with me?/Do you have the antibodies?/’Cause if you really do not/you much better remain absent!” There’s also a line about antibodies equating to “pants off!” but be advised that that is not medically audio assistance.

“My close friends are a few and they’ve been jointly for a long time, but I was back there type of currently being like, ‘Man, I desire I experienced anyone proper now to go by way of this with,’ ” Braun tells Rolling Stone. “And so this female and I had been talking and we had been like, ‘Maybe we need to go meet up and go for a stroll — with bandanas on.’ So I went on this quarantine date it type of felt magic formula due to the fact I did not want my close friends to know. And I guess the combination of paranoia and romance is what the tune is about.” Braun’s 81-yr-outdated father also caught — and survived — the virus.

With a few of lyrics in hand, Braun turned to his Instagram to crowdsource interpretations of the tune from his fans. Hundreds of movies adopted. “I assumed: ‘This variety of an wonderful issue,’” he says. “Then this A&R from Atlantic Documents attained out to me and claimed, ‘Hey, I know this tune is variety of a joke, but I also variety of assume that bridge and your 2nd verse are truly catchy.’ I talked to him and I was like, ‘Does it make feeling to basically make this tune proper now?’”

With producer Colin Brittain (Papa Roach, Dashboard Confessional, five Seconds of Summertime) in tow, Braun created a pop-punk edition of the tune, a portion of proceeds from which will go to Cope and  Partners in Wellness. Braun then slapped on some eyeliner to shoot the quirky online video: “That just felt like the character to me. Like a punk guy. I truly required him to get emo and variety of grunge with it. I have in no way employed that phrase before… ‘grunge with it.’ Which is fantastic.” Artist Camilla Engstrom — a.k.a. Braun’s walking date — stars as the enjoy fascination. “In the online video when we hug, that was a incredibly actual issue for us in actual everyday living,” he says. “We had been on date 3 and we had been like, ‘Hey, is it Alright to consider off our bandanas and hug every other now?’”

Braun has been acting since age six but has very long been interested in songs as properly. “I started writing songs like six a long time back,” he says. “I’ve just been incredibly hesitant to place something out. It’s always in the back of my head — producing songs. I’d enjoy to accomplish, I’d enjoy to tour. This is the first issue I’m formally putting out, but I enjoy this tune.”

To these who are curious: Braun has been analyzed for the two COVID-19 and antibodies — and the effects had been the two damaging. So in Braun’s very own text: “You much better remain absent!”