We talk with the intriguing and incredibly talented Emilie Brandt this week, Coming soon the releases of her new album ‘FREEFORM’. With so many influences and inspirations evident throughout his stunning sounds, we wanted to get to know the Emilie a little better.
- Hey Emilie welcome to Find Your Sounds, how are you?
Hey! Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. I’m doing really well, I’m super excited for everyone to hear my new track ‘To Love = To Suffer’!
- Firstly, where does your love of music stem from and what was the deciding factor for making it your career?
My mother listened to country music a lot when I was growing up and I remember always being in the backseat singing along to Reba McEntire and Shania Twain. I have always loved singing but I didn’t start playing guitar and writing songs until I was about 15. My senior year of high school, I got accepted into a few colleges for graphic design and was half-heartedly ready to move forward with it. My grandfather was very sick at that time and we would often sit down and talk about life. He was always very adamant about all his grandkids going to college but one day when we were talking he told me, “I know music is very important to you, and I want you to know that school will always be there. Do your music for a few years and if it doesn’t work out, you can go back to school at any time.” A few weeks later, he passed away and left me with a very powerful and inspiring message. Six years later and I’m still working on my music.
- Do you have a favourite song from your upcoming album ‘Freeform’?
My favorite song on the album is probably ‘Shed My Skin’. It’s the last track on the album and that’s because I felt it was the most powerful track for me and a very optimistic note to leave all the emotion on. It’s all about finding yourself and your happiness again after a toxic relationship— some of the lyrics are ‘then I found myself alone, the one I loved turned me to stone. I found myself alone. I found myself.’ I won’t give you too much, but I’m really excited for everyone to hear it.
- You worked with Illenium last year on the hugely successful track ‘Lost,’ how was this experience?
The experience of how that song came to be and what it is now is super random and beautiful. Nick was working on the ‘Awake’ album and the instrumental for what is now known as ‘Lost’ trickled down to my team and as soon as we heard it, we all knew we wanted to be a part of it. We wrote, recorded, and sent our idea back to Nick’s team within like two days and we heard back immediately that he was really digging it and wanted to move forward with it on his album. At the time I don’t think I knew how huge that song would become, but I’m so thankful to have been given the opportunity to work with someone so talented and inspiring.
- Who would you say has influenced your music the most, both as a singer and as a songwriter?
My top influences are a bizarre mix of Florence Welch (Florence + the Machine), Hayley Williams (Paramore), Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel (Phantogram). When I meet any of them I’m going to have to try really hard not to pass out from excitement. All of them have always been so inspiring to me as an artist and on a personal level have helped me through a lot of weird life events.
- Your music and lyrics definitely spark emotion, was there a story behind your most recent single ‘To Love = To Suffer’
Khalil Gibran once wrote, “for reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, left unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.” I am the type of person who would rather have passion in a relationship than reason, because I lead my life from my heart, not my head. My message with this track is to not be afraid of loving someone in fear of what might go wrong. ‘To love is to suffer’ sounds super emo, but this track is actually super uplifting. After it was all said and done and we had driven our relationship into the ground, I realized that I really appreciated everything that we had. They say its better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.
- How have you acquired this skill for seamlessly blending genres to create your own style?
I think that comes from all my influences being really diverse. I try to work with as many different producers and co-writers as I can because I really enjoy the unique experiences each one brings. I also don’t like to be constricted by anyone putting a label on me and my sound, so it’s funny to hear people try to figure out what genre my music is because I never get the same answer from any two people. My music comes directly from my soul and since I am always changing as a human being, so does my sound.
- What’s the next step for you after the release of your album?
We will be announcing some show dates soon for 2018, and I’ve already started writing and recording for my next releases after the album. I have a few collabs that I’m working on right now too, so expect to see a lot more from me in the near future!
Thanks for taking the time to speak to us!
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