May 12, 2020
Tune-In Tuesdays #69: Brudini on “From Darkness, Light”
By: burgundy bug
Indie artist Brudini playing the keyboard
Source: Brudini
Using music as a medium to convey his deep and introspective journey, indie artist Brudini encourages the listener to soul-search alongside him in his upcoming debut album, “From Darkness, Light.”
Recently, we spoke to Brudini via telephone to learn more about the story behind the album and the path he traversed to fully embrace his passion for music.
Tell us a little about yourself and your work
When it comes to the style of music, I really love all kinds of music. Not just the contemporary stuff, I really like classical music, older pop music, jazz.
There’s a slight philosophy in what I’m doing where I want everything to be organic. It’s all kind of analog recordings. There’s no autotune or computer effects on it.
I also really value the craft of musicianship, like the guys who helped me out on the album, the bass player, the drummers. They’re all very accomplished musicians from the jazz world.
When we play live, and also in the studio situation, I might have a strong idea of the track, but I don’t want to directly tell people what to do. I want them to bring their musicality, freedom, and playfulness.
I think in our live set up you really feel that because nothing’s pre-recorded. We create everything on the spot. So, if it’s a slow song and we want to change it into a faster one, there’s so many things we can do, depending on the mood.
Which is natural, but I do find that it maybe sets us a little bit apart from the contemporary stuff that’s around now. I’m a bit old school.
Hopefully it becomes a trend, like organic food [laughs].
What sparked your interest in music?
I’ve always been very interested in music. I don’t come from a very musical family. At all. I’m an only child and my parents were never really into music in any way, they never really played anything or sang.
But I can recall from early childhood that I was always listening to music on my Walkman, or whatever it was at the time. Kind of over and over, just zoning out listening to music, really, as a small child.
I got forced into piano lessons, which a lot of kids do [laughs]. I always loved playing the piano, but I remember the way they did it for kids where you have to learn all these different pieces and learn how to read sheet music, it’s not what I enjoyed the most.
What I really enjoyed was to just sit by the piano for hours. Just playing, really.
Brudini
You said that you have a very organic process, but how would you describe your creative process overall? Do you write the song first, the melody first? Do you need to unwind before you start a piece?
Almost all my songs have a very different way of becoming. Maybe that’s part of what else I try to do and what I hope comes across the album; all the songs have their own unique character. I never want any of my songs to sound the same.
There’s typically one or two core ideas that I start off with each song, which gives them the initial identity and then I build upon it.
“Radiant Man” I wrote playing the guitar and the lyrics came to me pretty quickly on that one. It’s probably the song I spent the least time writing – but I also think it’s also one of my most complete works, in a sense. Everything is kind of there. The lyrics are very condensed already, it’s very precise, I feel.
So “Radiant Man” was just playing guitar and singing, then you have stuff like “The Nightcrawler,” which started off from a more literary angle. I was reading quite a lot at the time, so there’s some traces of existential novels in it and some poetry.
“Emotional Outlaw” to me was this dark mood. I just had this kind of dark mood I wanted projected into a piece of music. I think it started with the early demos, where it had this tribal tom rhythms that I put down on my own first. Then I developed the rest on top and eventually I took it to the band.
“Emotional Outlaw” by Brudini music video
Source: Brudini – Emotional Outlaw (Official Video) | Brudini
The lyrics on “Emotional Outlaw” are very strong and insisting. I remember when I wrote it – when you’re kind of fiddling with your lyrics and you don’t exactly know the melody you’re going to try out, you sound a lot more insecure before the vocal line and the lyrics cement themselves. Those lyrics really need this gusto delivery, otherwise it just sounds a bit… weird.
So I remember when I wrote it, I was like, “Ehh, is this going to work?” Then I thought if I deliver them with enough confidence it would work.
The key thing is there are typically a couple angles that give me the original idea. There’s the songwriter approach, the guitar chords, the initial lyrics, or something like “Radiant Man.” Then you have “Emotional Outlaw,” where I had more of a mood I could envision; this dark, Moulin Rouge voodoo church, so I started off with the toms (rhythm) and added from there.
I typically start with one or two core ideas and build around it, and hopefully all the core ideas are different, so all the songs sound different.
What do you find most rewarding about being a musician?
The most rewarding thing to me has been all the wonderful people I have met on this journey! Either from artistic collaborations, or from people I have met and gotten to know through shows or in some way through the music.
For example, Casper Hoedemaekers from Netherlands on double bass and jazz drummers Derin Bayha – he’s since then moved back to Istanbul, Livio Polisano from Sicily. Everything I do seems to end up pretty multinational. London is great for that, a truly world city. I hope that doesn’t change.
Also, sometimes there is this feeling when performing live (as an audience you can feel it too) where you feel the whole consciousness of the room connects and experiences that same moment or emotion. Doesn’t always happen, of course, but when it does it’s a really special feeling.
The album has a very unique vibe to it, but if you had to summarize it in three words, what three words would you choose and why?
It’s introspective, it’s poetic – there is poetry in there, and I also hope it comes across as honest. It’s a very honest exploration of myself through a transitional phase of my life.
The exact circumstances for me become less important, but it can speak to people who are going through changes, questioning their values, way of living, and dealing with their emotions in some way.
The press release for “From Darkness, Light” touches upon those different emotions and the spiritual journey you went on while creating it over the course of five years. Could you tell me a little more about your journey and how it inspired various tracks on the album?
I worked in the financial industry for a long time, including a couple years at Citigroup, so I did spend some time in New York as a part of that.
With me, I always loved the music and the artistic side of it, but I never had the confidence, or I guess my objectives changed, as well. I was brought up where education, career, all that stuff is really what matters, and an artistic career wasn’t really seen upon as a career. It’s nice that there’s art out there, but within my upbringing it was never really understood that was a craft and dedication as impressive as anything else.
When I moved to London – I mean, I’ve always lived abroad, I left Norway when I was 18, but I always brought all my musical instruments with me; my keyboard, guitar, all that stuff. It was a bit ridiculous because I didn’t use it for all those years, it was always in the corner.
So, it started at some point when I decided I wanted to do something. I think the album echoes a lot of that in a more abstract way; what I’m doing, where I’m going, what’s important to me.
This sense of longing for something that you’ve forsaken or… longing for something that’ll feel more substantial to you.
What tracks off of “From Darkness, Light” mean the most to you and why?
I guess “Radiant Man.” In terms of production, it’s the most simple track on the album – except for that final track, but that’s more of an epilogue.
You can angle [“Radiant Man”] as this person who’s fighting a tidal wave. The more introspective angle is there’s someone who’s in conflict with himself; everything’s planned, everything’s going the way it’s supposed to be going, but there’s something wrong that’s really eating at him… Which, probably echoes the way I felt, for a long time [laughs].
It’s also probably the most accessible track on the album – like, my mom even likes it, y’know [laughs]. But it seems like my own friends, whether they’re synth aficionados, goths, or more into mainstream music, it always seems like that’s the favorite track among people.
“Nightcrawler” is the track that took the longest to finish. The rhythm, the bass riff, and most of the initial lyrics were there pretty early, but to stitch it all together. I even kept changing it during the mixing of the album and after all the mastering.
I put so much into [“Nightcrawler”], from start to finish. I put in so many different ideas. Even now, I’m not sure I’m completely happy with it. But as a musician, I felt that track really paved the way for a lot of the other things I’m doing. It was quite an ambitious track from the start, in terms of lyrics and production.
How have you progressed personally and musically since you began working on “From Darkness, Light?”
Quite a bit. When I started, I hadn’t done music for a very long time, and not at a professional level. If you listen to some of the vocal demos from earlier takes, I thought I was an okay singer at the time, but when I listen back now… First of all, I sounded like Mickey Mouse. Then my intonation is wrong, I was off pitch. That’s gotten a lot better.
I’ve done a lot of gigs – I’ve probably done a hundred gigs, so the craftsmanship is a lot better now. Confidence is probably much better, in terms of producing new things. I kinda know a bit more of what I’m doing now.
I listen to a lot of the songs, and “Radiant Man” is very kind of sweet, in a way. I guess there’s this innate urge to always make things just a bit more complicated and a bit more textured, but I’m wondering if I’ll be able to write more compositions that are as simple as that again. I hope so.
Personally, I’m much more settled in the role as an artist now. For many years I’d say, “Yeah, I’m interested in music,” or “I play a bit of music on the side,” the way you discard it as a hobby.
Now I feel much more grounded as in this is what I’m doing and let’s see where it goes. This is me.
It’s the way it should be, but it’s also a nice transition.
What were the most profound and lifechanging experiences that took place while writing the album and what did you learn from them?
The most profound experience is I became a father. She’s now three and a half.
It’s funny, her name is Luna, and I told a friend… I can’t remember what I told her first, that I was releasing an album called “From Darkness, Light,” or that my daughter’s name is Luna, but she immediately stitched them together and said, “Of course. Luna is the moon that shines from the darkness, that’s why you called her Luna.”
I was like, “Oh. I didn’t think about that.” But it’s a nice coincidence.
It wasn’t a planned fatherhood. I was in a relationship, and if I roll that in with a couple other things, I always had this fixed view on what life was supposed to be. You were supposed to have a career that would go really well, find a partner – and in my case, marry and have children. You have this feeling that everything is kind of set, everything’s going to be on track.
Then over the course of the last few years, I’ve had a child, the relationship [with the mom] isn’t together anymore. We have a good relationship, but we’re not together. I left my career.
There’s probably more I can add in there, but in many ways, I’ve broken all of these set ideas I used to have about what my life was supposed to be.
I’m really happy with the place I’m in my life. It just shows me that you can’t plan everything. Let things flow and they will work out… Which, I guess, is the feeling of the album, as well. It starts off longing, then questioning.
Especially the song, “Everything is Movement,” which is kind of the penultimate song. In the beginning, it’s quite ambient, then there are funk riffs that come after a while.
That song is basically the idea that you just surrender to these forces of life, which are much bigger than you and you just kind of go with them. You realize they’re stronger than you, so you have to just let them take you where they want. But in a sense, you can find your peace doing that and even enjoy it.
And I think changing in values, as well, from working on something and always looking forward to something. Thinking that if you just do things right it could happen in the future, to making sure you’re actually enjoying the here and now. That you’re alive in the here and now.
I think it’s good to be ambitious and plan for stuff, but make sure that you’re having fun along the way and enjoying yourself.
What was the most challenging part of creating, “From Darkness, Light?”
It took five years [laughs]. From starting off with demos, and the core idea was typically there, but [the demos] are quite far off from the final product, in terms of expression, instrumentation, quality of things.
I needed that time to also catch up musically with what I was trying to do. I feel if you listen to the early demos, stylistically it would be all over the place, even if it’s originating from the same source.
The most challenging part… I’m not sure if there’s anything that stands out, it just took a long time. I always knew that I wanted to finish it. A couple of years in, I pretty much had the songs. I had two tracks that I actually removed from the album after the mastering. I just felt it was stronger without them.
It wasn’t easy, but it was just a slow, progressive thing that I never gave up on.
What do you hope listeners take away from the album?
I think you can still listen to “Radiant Man” and some of the songs on their own and kind of enjoy them. But what I’m asking of the listener is for people to actually listen to the album from start to finish – which is a lot to ask these days.
If they do, I’m hoping they’re left with the feeling of almost having been on a journey. Or watched a movie, but where the images will be their own. And hopefully the music helps to stir them up.
It is quite dark, all my music is quite dark, but I don’t want it to be depressive. I want people to take comfort from it or emerge with a sense of hope – or at least, not lose any sense of hope, if they had it initially.
There’s an honesty in the music, which I hope connects to people, and maybe enables them to connect with their own feelings. I’m not trying to project this image of myself as some kind of cool guy, I’m a conduit for this music and I want the music to be meaningful from the perspective of whoever’s listening.
If you could give your audience just one piece of advice, what would it be and why?
Probably the lesson that took me so long: you need to do what makes you happy.
It really sounds like a cliché, but some may not even recognize or figure out what they really want. You can be very good at what you’re doing and very switched on, but it’s just important to listen to your inner voice.
Of course, there’s an exterior life that we have to live with certain constraints and demands, but as soon as I knew what I wanted to do, a lot of those things can be worked around. You can find solutions to things as soon as you know what you want. You make some compromises in order to do it, but you only live once, you should really try to do what drives you.
What’s next for you, Brudini? Do you have any music videos, livestream performances, or additional music in the works?
I have another EP that I’m working on, with Chip Martin who’s the contributing poet on the debut album… He hates it when I call him a poet, he says that he’s a writer that occasionally writes poetry, but he’s the best poet I know. I think his work is really, really good.
He has a very long poem called “The Eagle.” We have some performances where he recites it and I play music around it. It’s darker, it’s longer, and the sound of the whole package is a bit more experimental as a package, but I hope to do that on this EP.
I’m also working on a second album. If “From Darkness, Light” is this introspective journey, then this next one is going to be like a dusty road trip, exposing the many facets of America, from raw capitalism, cronyism and consumerism, contrasting with the beauty and longing of your lands and deserts, and finally a reach to the stars.
Do you have any additional comments or final thoughts to share?
You know the cover? It’s by a Belgium artist named Sammy Slavik. He randomly popped up on my Instagram feed about four years ago, and I started to really like his work. He does all these collages where he takes ‘60s and ‘70s magazines, he cuts them out and puts them together into beautiful things.
I bought one of his prints and I started thinking, “Y’know, I really like his stuff. Maybe I could approach him for the album cover.”
I found this piece of work, which became the cover. I contacted him about it and said, “Look, I really love this piece, I’m an independent musician, so I can’t pay you a lot, but would you be interested in me buying this piece to pay you for my album?”
He was like, “Yeah, yeah, sure.” Super nice guy. It wasn’t very expensive at all.
But that was maybe three or four years ago because I thought the album was done, and it ended up taking longer. I had to email him again a couple months ago to make sure the agreement was still on.
In the meantime, he went on to do the cover for what became Leonard Cohen’s final album [laughs]. He’s got an album called, “Do You Want it Darker,” and that’s the same cover artist.
It’s completely random and I’m glad he stuck to the deal, but my album artwork is by the same guy who’s worked for Leonard Cohen [laughs].
Post-Interview Note: Brudini was approached and signed by a Apollon Records shortly after this interview, and the debut album has therefore been postponed until September.
Give Brudini a listen on Spotify!
Be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with his latest work.
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burgundy bug
https://burgundyzine.com/about/#burgundybugA cynical optimist and mad scientist undercover, burgundy bug is the editor, graphic designer, webmaster, social media manager, and primary photographer for The Burgundy Zine. Entangled in a web of curiosity, burgundy bug’s work embodies a wide variety of topics including: neuroscience, psychology, ecology, biology, cannabis, reviews, fashion, entertainment, and politics. You can learn more about working with burgundy bug by visiting her portfolio website: burgundybug.com
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