Braden Bales holds a prime spot in the next class of pop artists that are just going to blow up on the scene, mark our words! Braden Bales is an artist we have been obsessed with since ‘CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS’ went viral on TikTok, and the music has just gotten better and better since then! After hearing Braden’s track ‘EVERYTHING IS QUIET’ we knew we needed to pick the mind of Braden Bales, and that came just in time for his newest single ‘HEAVEN AGAIN‘ to drop! We hope you love this interview as much as we do!
Stream Braden’s newest single ‘HEAVEN AGAIN’ here!
Hi Braden! We are so happy to get to chat with you today! To start us off, how would you describe who you are as an artist to someone who is diving into your music for the first time?
I typically use the term “sad pop music” when I speak to someone who’s never heard my stuff. My music is typically up tempo pop that’s written from a lens of introspection at the same time.
‘EVERYTHING IS QUIET’ is the newest track! When we listened to the track for the first time it became very apparent that through our lens it sounded like it was a love letter to someone you’re missing while you’re out touring and making this career happen, when do you know those feelings are coming across clear enough that you can turn them into a song? Is it the first day you’re gone, or does the grieving being away only become song material after some time away?
Funny enough this song was written before I left. A weird thing about me is I often write songs about things I know I’ll be going through as a form of preparation. I was dreading doing long distance so much that I wanted to visualize it before it happened. Preemptive songwriting is a funny way my anxiety presents itself.
With ‘EVERYTHING IS QUIET’ we know the lyric video is out there, but with lyrics that paint such a picture that comes with endless visual opportunities, is there a plan for a music video to follow this track? There isn’t a plan for one yet. I haven’t been making music videos as much recently as I’ve been putting the bulk of my efforts into music creation, daily content and touring. I think music videos are a great creative outlet, but I get a similar satisfaction from creating my own content around the song. I think a day will come soon where I focus more on big picture things like that but for now I’m happy focusing on consistency and growth.
‘CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS’ going viral was a huge moment for you, what did you notice worked with that track, that people latched onto? that you implanted as you continued releasing music?
My biggest takeaway from ‘CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS’ virality is the fact that people related to it. It’s a song about my own personal insecurities and seeing how people made it their own makes me feel less alone in my troubles and insecurities. I now feel the freedom to be completely vulnerable and personal in my own writing since I know I’m not the only one who feels how I do.
Since you started putting out music, with the exception of ‘Crazy’ and ‘Big Dreams,’ all of your song titles have been capitalized, can you talk us through that thought process a bit? What significance does that artistic choice have to you?
I like to capitalize my song titles because of how much my songs mean to me. I like to present them in the biggest way possible and I love the way that all caps looks. Truthfully I wanted every song of my career to be all caps but at the time of ‘Crazy’ and ‘Big Dreams’ I thought that the all caps thing wasn’t an option. I was using apple music at the time and the songs I was putting out through my former distributor weren’t showing up capitalized on apple music so I stopped submitting them that way until i found out it worked everywhere else
When you look back at the artist you were at the start of your career and put that person side by side the person you are now, what do you see as the biggest area of creative growth?
My biggest area of growth has been in my songwriting, specifically the way I’m now able to articulate my feelings. I now have the ability to accurately package a difficult situation in my life into a song that I love, and have it maintain its complexities and emotions.
Its natural to put out a project and thank all the people who helped bring it to life, but we’ve noticed a lot of artists rarely pat themselves on the back, when you look at ‘EVERYTHING IS QUIET’ what is something you want to pat yourself on the back for within that creative process?
I’m really proud of the clarity in EIQ. It’s a direct time capsule of what I was feeling with all of its twists and turns and I’m proud of painting such a clear picture of a complicated situation.
With ‘EVERYTHING IS QUIET’ are we looking at a stand-alone song? Or is this the beginning of an album rollout upon us?
‘EVERYTHING IS QUIET’ is the first release of an EP I’m working on. I’m in a new chapter of acceptance in my life and all the songs I’m writing are about this new person I’m becoming. It all ties into accepting myself and my life for what it is, the good, the bad and the ugly.
When you look at your discography as a whole, is there a lyric that really stands out as one that you’re proud to have written?
My all-time favourite line in my discography is from my song “BREAKUP ON A TUESDAY”. It’s a whole stanza about my (recent at the time) breakup and it goes:
“You said I’d stolen your trust, like a thief and a wallet, framing me like a deadbeat tryna fill my vault, but that’s just simply not what happened”
It’s a simple line about the relationship I had just come out of but it was the perfect way to describe what I was feeling at the time. I think back to this line fondly because of how much personal progress I made with it.
Thank you SO much for taking the time to chat with us! Before we let you go, what can fans expect as we venture into summer and close out 2024?
Fans can expect for me to evolve as an artist. I’ve been a lot more adventurous in the studio in terms of subject matter and style. I’ve really reconnected with my love for versatility this year and continued to make music that makes me happy. This may lead in any direction so all I can say for now is evolution and change.
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