"Although I didn't write this song, it spoke to me in a way that made me feel as if it was my own story,” Brandon said. “I found myself playing it over and over again in my bedroom, remembering situations that I've been through.”
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Today premiering on office, here is the soundtrack from KidSuper's Fashion Week show:
Step In KidSuper, ft Safa Gaw X KidSuper X Dessy Hinds, Produced by Take A Daytrip.
How is creating your music and visuals a cathartic experience?
I’m a visual person by nature, so a lot of times when I’m in the studio working on stuff and get blocked, I directly go into visual. But I think it’s just being able to express yourself in a multitude of different ways—being able to get those feelings out feels like catharsis. I think any artist can relate to that, whether it’s a music artist, visual artist, or a trumpet player. There’s no better release.
Can you tell me a little bit about your history with activism and why it’s so important to you?
I’ve been an activist since I can remember. It’s just in my nature. As a kid, I was always plucking things. You’re raised in a society thinking that if you’re a girl, you have to do this or abide by this, and you feel it when you are little. As a kid, I always felt like a “tomboy,” and I’ve always disliked that term because what is that? Is it cause I had all these other characteristics about me, and all of a sudden I was put into this “boy” form? I think everything about me, actually, is quite feminine. My fierceness, my very sensitive moments—all of that is a part of me being feminine, so I think my activism kind of began when I started to realize that.
In addition to that, something that’s an uncomfortable conversation for others and for me at this point—I was sexually abused as a kid, and I think that really put a lot of things into question. What does it mean to be a woman? Does that automatically make you a victim? Does being feminine make you a victim? Do I have to dress a certain way to protect myself? I think all of these things and just a number of conversations and experiences led me to really want to fight for girls. And honestly, at the end of the day I’m always rooting for anybody that’s on the fringes, anybody that’s more vulnerable to not being heard by society. I think that in the perfect world, we’d almost stop judging one another and just live and let live.
Jewelry by Jules Kim
I hope the term “Tomboy” is one of those things that slowly dies out…
Oh my God, I can’t wait. Such bullshit [laughter].
It seems like you seamlessly blend your activism with your music—it’s not like one is more important that the other. What do you have to say to people who say entertainers should “stay out” of politics?
I have to say that if you look at your history, a lot of movements have been either supported or started by creative forces and by the fact that artists are willing to express themselves. This has happened time and time again in history, so shut the fuck up, essentially [laughter].
A lot of the times, people who say that only say that about entertainers who don’t share the same views as them.
Yeah, I mean we have a voice—why shouldn’t we express it?
Obviously it’s a very confusing time in the world right now. Something that’s been on the mind lately is solutions. Something like the Las Vegas shooting will happen and people will tweet about gun control for two or three days, but then it dies out until the next thing happens—it feels unproductive. Do you have any thoughts on how to actually get things done in the age that we live in?
There are so many things that need to get done in the age that we live in. I can’t give advice to the masses because we’re all very different individuals, but I just need to continue fighting for the things that I can handle, the things that I can tackle. I feel like if we all make a concerted effort to fight for the things that we strongly believe in and really not give up until we start to make a dent in the wall, it’ll start to happen. And that’s with anything.
If you feel strongly about XYZ, go and call your representatives. Call your senators. Write letters. Go out and protest. Do what you need to do, whatever you feel is the right thing. Anything in your power to be able to see something from point A to point B, and if that means just ten more steps of progress, that’s ten more steps in the right direction. We’re not all going to see it through to the end, but if we’re able to at least take the next ten steps then you are pushing this force forward.
When it comes to guns, listen—I grew up hunting, you know? I have a father who hunted his whole life, and even he would be, and has been, willing to put it down because it’s essentially a hobby. We’ve seen time and time again that if we just make certain changes and make it more difficult to have access to some weapons—in a civilized society, you and I don’t need to be walking around with a semi-automatic weapon—at some point we’ll get to a place where life will matter more than profit. And that’s what I feel is important. And I could talk about gender equality on the same terms, etc. I’m not a believer in—how do you say this in English—reprimanding? I think you should take action yourself, and that action will ultimately start to reverberate, and you will lead by example.
The concept of “9 Months”—it being a term of pregnancy and also the time it took you to get out of an abusive relationship—is very clever and obviously very personal. Could you tell me a little bit about the process of how this came about, as well as the execution and putting out the content?
I have to say, the fact that nine months actually is the length of a pregnancy term is actually completely coincidental with the fact that this relationship lasted exactly nine months. It was almost a sign. I had to go through that to learn and to be who I am today. So I guess that’s the best way I could deal with understanding why I went through it in many ways—obviously if you could avoid something like that, you should. But it’s something that I went through.
In terms of execution, there was nothing really planned or organized about it. I had been trying to write this song for a very long time, and what became sort of difficult was that I guess I hadn’t really fully understood how I went through something like that, how I put myself in that, or just how I ended up in something like that. Until I was able to understand my experience, I wasn’t able to write about it.
And like I said, the fact that 9 months is the period of gestation and nine is such a powerful number for completing cycles, was just a coincidence. If I want to get all witchy and spiritual with it, we could go there, but..
Do you think that’s how the best songs are written—when it happens all at once?
I think creativity just happens how it’s supposed to happen. It’s almost like trying to predict when your child will be born. How do you do that? It’s your baby, and your baby will be born and you will have to just care for it as much as you can and watch it go out into the world, give it the best home that you can.
You’re very involved with GEMS and just did a show in support of Planned Parenthood. What other organizations or communities are you involved with, and how do you think this plays a part in other aspects of your life?
I’m supporting nine different organizations for the duration of my 9 Months Girls Rising campaign. GEMS is one of them, Insight is one of them, the UN Women’s Fund is one of them… It is nine different organizations that I looked into outside of GEMS, which I am very much physically involved with and I volunteer at a lot. These other organizations I don’t have much involvement with besides just wanting to support them. They’re organizations that I feel are doing a fantastic job at supporting women—mostly women who have been through abusive situations, but also women in general. I just wanted to focus on ones that I really felt were doing a great job, and I say that because I feel like there are organizations out there that I feel like maybe aren’t putting as much into it as they say they do, but I definitely researched all of these and went through the process to make sure that they’re putting their money where their mouth is.
Tell me about your next single “Goliath.”
If “Nine Months” was one astrological sign, “Goliath” would be its direct opposite. “Goliath” is my love song, essentially. It’s very light-hearted, and it’s a song that I wrote for my guy. He’s a feminist, he’s one of the coolest motherfuckers in the world, my best friend and somebody who has supported me throughout this entire journey. So I decided to write him a song.
What can we expect from your debut album Rituals?
A lot of honesty.
Why the name Rituals?
Because I feel like I’ve had to go through many moons and many of my own internal and external rituals to make it through a lot of the things that I was finally able to tap into, and a lot of the things that I was able to honor and talk about. They’ve been there, and they’ve been kind of haunting me. It took my dealing with them and confronting them for me to be able to honor them correctly.
Your music kind of has an old school Garage Band feel. Like the MacBook app, not like Nirvana. It’s ambient, but makes you want to dance. Where do you draw your musical inspiration?
Well all the music is a collage, there’s no live instrumentation. When I started the project I began to pull melodies, drums, baselines from everywhere, and mash them altogether. Nearly all of the tracks were produced on an MPC. My last project was heavily synth and software driven so I wanted to reject all of that and go back to no longer looking at a screen, and instead focus on feeling the music.
Your new EP is called Grand St Blues. What was the impetus for this album and its title? I know you said the album art is based off the Chinatown “Thank you” bag.
I moved to New York at the end of last year, and had a pretty tough time the months that, a lot of stress, anxiety and a relationship ending. Writing and pulling together this EP was my therapy in a way, and so the tracks string together in a cycle, a relationship beginning, ending, and resolving. Dance music can feel so impersonal, and I hadn’t produced music in a long time, so for this to work it had to have a deeper meaning to it.
Did you grow up in New York? If so, where? How has the city or other places you've lived affected your work?
I grew up just outside of London, then went to university in Leeds. That definitely influenced me musically as Leeds is one of the homes of House music in the UK, with the longest running club night (Back to Basics) bringing tons of house music legends over the years. It made me really respect history and heritage, and I think that’s a hugely important part of me as a DJ now. My Mum would play tons of Jazz Funk, Motown, Soul and Disco whilst I was really young, but I didn’t realise how much it influenced me until my early twenties. She gave me her entire record collection, which I still love to play out.
After Leeds I moved back to London for many years, but New York for me was really the turning point - I visited when I was 21 and I immediately knew it was going to become home. This city really respects the DJ as the selector, you don’t have to be a producer or a promoter to earn a living here. Again, I think it’s the history of the city that influenced that - it has a really special kind of hustle that nowhere else I’ve lived has.
What is the ideal setting to play your music? Where do you see it, or where do you want it played?
With Grand St Blues, I setup to make a record that has tracks you can play in a club, but also that you’ll enjoy as much at home, or on a run, or in a car. The digital version of the record is slightly different, and meant to be more of a personal experience. Ultimately I just hope people enjoy it and find a track that speaks to them.
What are you listening to these days?
Truly everything - one minute I’ll be listening to Stanley Cowell and the next Selena Gomez. I’m really not precious about genres or perceptions. If it makes you feel something, then it’s doing it right. I’ve been getting really into Japanese Funk and Disco recently - Yasuka Agawa, Tatsuo Yamashita, Minako Yoshida and a few more. I’m fascinated by how incredibly talented so many Japanese musicians are, especially working in genres that didn’t originate from their country.
What’s your all-time favorite album?
That’s waaaay too tough, so I’ll flip it slightly. Without a doubt my favourite producer is Patrick Adams - his body of work extends through so many records, even the lightest of his touch makes a hit.
Who are some of your musical influences?
The way I’ve described this record is if someone forced The Avalanches to make house music - I’m not really sure if I succeeded but it certainly gave me a jump off point, haha After working at Boiler Room for the past couple of years and producing under various names, I’ve embarked on a new project called Lovers. with videos, apparel, design and lots of other aspects bleeding into and under the name, it’s less of an alias for myself, but a body of work.
The EP is inspired by my move from London to New York and a relationship I had at the same time. It was produced using an MPC and tracks from records that I discovered in my first year here. It’s a deeply personal project and the first of many EPs I’m lining up for the next 6 months. The record all bleeds into one another using field recordings from the city.
The name Lovers and the music is meant to breath some positivity into the world - even if melancholic at times it’s purpose is to bring people up, and most importantly, together.
