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NWMS: You’ve had an amazing summer. BRANDI: We’ve had a great summer. It’s been real fun. Less camping and fishing than I’m used to. NWMS: Well you’ve been to the Gorge a couple times, right? Dave Matthews Band, the Sasquatch Festival... How was that? BRANDI: Well Sasquatch was really fun. It was just… it was really a great show but we didn’t get to play for as long or as much. Then we got to play in the Plaza show with Dave Matthews Band and that was really cool because we got a really big stage and a big sound system. NWMS: Is that the biggest show you’ve done so far? BRANDI: Well I’ve played the Lilith Fair at the Gorge. Probably, off the top of my head, I’d have to definitely say India.Arie. I thought it was pretty incredible. I was so nervous though. For like two seconds, I was nervous. NWMS: Do you get nervous before you play? BRANDI: Never. I never get nervous. Yeah, I mean… I get downright, horrified, terrified scared if I have to sing the national anthem at a game or whatever. But, you know, as long as I’ve got a guitar to hide behind or a band, I’m okay. NWMS: So your record, We’re Growing Up, that just came out early summer? BRANDI: Yeah, on June 1st, my birthday. NWMS: What a good birthday present. BRANDI: Yeah, it was fun. We did a big show and we sold a bunch of records and we had a good time. NWMS: Yeah, you’ve been out of records for some time. BRANDI: Oh yeah we sold the 1,300 press within two months. We had to burn CDR’s. We probably sold 1,500-1,600. For a local scene and because we haven’t really left Seattle, we know there’s at least 1,500 people in Seattle that have our CD. NWMS: Are you planning on touring on a wider scale? BRANDI: That’s what I’m planning on, yeah. I’m going stir crazy. I want to really get on the road. We did some stuff. We went to San Francisco last weekend and Spokane, Portland, Bellingham. Those were really fun. I’d love to get on a circuit though and conquer a region. Make a trip and spend a few months going back and forth. Getting each individual city and community excited. NWMS: Did something come of opening for India.Arie or Shawn Colvin or… BRANDI: Something always comes of those things. If anything, you sell a bunch of records and a bunch of people who didn’t know who you were hear you. NWMS: How do you decide what songs to cover? BRANDI: Well my usual kind of ammo on that is that it has to be a band that either isn’t playing anymore or isn’t playing that song anymore but I’ve found that that’s just a little bit too general. I like to cover songs that guys sing because that way, even if you don’t change the style of the song too much, it’s still individualized because of a girl singing it. And, a song that typically a girl wouldn’t sing, you know what I mean? Like we covered Creep by Radiohead. They’re still touring and playing that song and everything, but you wouldn’t see too many girls singing that song. NWMS: Didn’t you grow up in a really small town? BRANDI: Yeah, I grew up where I live now. NWMS: Well I grew up in a town of 1,200 people so I completely understand that small town mentality and environment. BRANDI: You either want to leave or you want to stay. I decided to get a house there and stay. NWMS: Do you think you’ll be there a while, regardless of success?
BRANDI:
I hope so. Well, if I move I’ll just simply move to another small town.
That’s where I like to be. BRANDI: I guess I’ve seen some of my siblings affected by that mentality but just not me, you know? My brother got married when he was nineteen. He’s twenty now and he’s been married for a year. I thought that was pretty stupid. Well, actually I shouldn’t say stupid. It just wasn’t one of the decisions I would’ve made. NWMS: Yeah, my sister’s twenty and just got engaged. BRANDI: Really? Do you just shake your head and say ‘congratulations’? NWMS: But you know, I’m twenty-seven and I don’t have a clue. So who am I to say? BRANDI: Well you never really do. It’s just when you start thinking that you do is when you start making dangerous decisions like getting married at a young age. So I guess the smartest thing you can do is to just kind of conclude that you don’t have a clue. NWMS: That reminds me of what my friend Christina was saying the other night. I was talking about some situation in my life and I said, ‘I don’t know. I think I’m just crazy.’ Then she said, ‘Okay, you’re definitely not crazy because the people that actually are crazy are the ones that think they’re not.’ BRANDI: (laughs) That is so true. It’s like especially, with teenagers or people who are ‘coming to age’… the ones who think they’re grown up are the ones who have the furthest to go. NWMS: Is it hard to have conversations about your life with complete strangers? BRANDI: I think I meet so many people through my job that it just becomes really easy to meet people. I get so busy that I don’t have many strong, lasting friendships. So it’s easy for me to have these casual things with people that I meet. That’s easy for me in a lot of different ways. Then the friends I do have are always pissed at me. ‘You didn’t call me back. Why can’t we go to a movie?’ Because a movie’s two hours longs. Those two hours could be spent practicing or… NWMS: So you’ve been pretty busy? BRANDI: Mmm-hmm…. If you’re not playing, you’re recording. If you’re not recording, you’re practicing. If you’re not recording, practicing or playing, then you’re doing this kind of thing. NWMS: Are you in rehearsals this week? BRANDI: This week I’m going into pre-production with a producer. We’re recording three or four new songs. |
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