Most likely stuffed into a TikTok frame, Bryant Barnes, with his dreadlocked hair and a cross necklace framing the silhouette of his neckline, isn’t a stranger to the term “viral sensation.” Within just a year, he’s gone from pulling requests from the comments section, each piano cover reminding others that his parents enrolled him into classical lessons when he was six, to racking up 3.5M monthly listeners on Spotify with his own soulful notes. (Even when we don’t counter that he only achieved this with a single EP, it’s impressive enough.)
We chatted with Bryant about ‘I’d Rather Pretend,’ one of those original tunes. This time, his mother joined him in the frame, returning to the first time it exploded. He also spoke about the transition from collaborators to gaming buds with Andrew Luce and Jon Castelli, his EP VANITY, a word currently hiding in a speech bubble and its various meanings floating around, anchored by associated lines.
VANITY
VANITY is often a word we associate with having an overindulgence of love toward our appearance. By naming the EP such and having various tracks tied toward the insecurity of love, you’ve almost caused your listeners to speculate how they view the word in that emotional field. What does the word mean for you regarding relationships?
To start off, VANITY did mean to have too much pride over your looks. I remember I was on the phone with my dad, telling him that I was going to get earrings, and he told me that was a sign of vanity. So that’s when I first was introduced to the word. Then I looked it up and saw that it also just meant pride in general. I felt like that connected to my relationships because the majority of them do end due to me having too much pride or my significant other having too much pride. I feel like a lot of relationships, in general, end because one person or the other, or even both, are unable to lower their ego and pride.
Say we were to backtrack a bit, the word “vanity” also represents a negative, though often faux, assumption about another world you love outside of music: fashion! Notably, one of your favorite designers is Rick Owens. As your career evolves, how do you see fashion as a medium through which you can express your music?
Whenever I create my music, I have a vision of what I want it to look like visually. Even with my lyrics, I sort of paint a picture in my head. Then I translate that to the music videos and the stuff that I wear inside them. But what I’ve been doing recently is just wearing all black. Even with more colors in my videos, the constant is black. It just represents the absence of love, or whatever it is I’m talking about in the song. I feel like that’s also a good piece that connects with the word VANITY too. Because it is constant, and having that continuity just makes sense. Fashion plays a part in how I portray things visually.
Andrew Luce and Jon Castelli, known for Kesha’s ‘Praying,’ were your partners in crafting this EP. What was the emotional journey like working with them to bring your vision to life? Which artists did you have on your inspiration board in terms of sound?
I feel like it was really smooth because Andrew and I were able to connect as friends. He’s really the homie now. We play video games and stuff like that, so whenever I have an idea, it’s really easy to run some stuff with him. I feel like my best music has been made with Andrew because it’s just so fluid, and it’s just on some chill sh*t. And Jon is an amazing mixer. I feel like I was able to get exactly the sound that I wanted.
The main artists that I had on my inspiration board were XXXTentacion and Shiloh Dynasty because I would read a lot of my comments, and the people wanted that sound from me. They think I sound similar to Shiloh and Joji, so those were definitely my inspirations. Just giving the people what they want to hear and implementing my skills musically to make something entirely new. Those were the main artists, but I think I definitely took inspiration from artists like D4vd, Joji, Giveon, Ecstasy, Omar Apollo, and all of those. Those are just people that I listen to in general.
‘Adore You’
‘Adore You’ delves into feelings of relationship anxiety and questioning if you’ve become a burden to your significant other. If we turn it around, when has there been a moment in your career where you’ve been a bit hard on yourself but wish you could’ve adored yourself in the moment instead?
I feel like every time I make a song, it’s like that. I want to get the best song possible, so I don’t really think of things like I’m neglecting myself. I discipline myself more when I know I have this amount of work to do, and I push myself to get it done. Maybe if I’m late to something, that’s when I’m hard on myself, but being hard on yourself really means you just need to get stuff done. It’s when you want to do better for yourself. So, I wouldn’t say I needed to adore myself, but maybe I shouldn’t be as hard on myself. But I don’t know if there’s a point at which I need to do that because I feel like I need to go at everything that I’ve done 100%.
We’re obsessed with the music video for ‘Adore You’ and how various yous come into the frame with different instruments. It’s very much giving the musical version of Inside Out. Then there’s also the keyboard crescendo. Each of you is looking over at you playing with the instrument. How do you decipher the times when you’d let the guitar version of you emote a song compared to the piano?
Just whatever sounds better, I guess, whenever I make music, not only the piano and guitar are a factor. I also think about how fast the tempo is, what key it’s in, and whatever is inspiring me at the time. For ‘I’d Rather Pretend,’ we started off with the guitar, and it was a bossanova feel, but when I switched to the piano, it was a ballad feel. That felt much better than the guitar, so it’s really just experimenting, and whichever one sounds the best, that’s the one I choose.
‘I’d Rather Pretend’
‘I’d Rather Pretend’ went viral recently through a TikTok of your mom listening to you play the pre-chorus and chorus on the piano. She adorably complimented with a “good.” Are your parents the first people you usually share your music with? Are they involved in the creative process in other ways?
Usually, I send my songs to my dad because my mom doesn’t really know how to save files on her phone. But I usually send them to my dad, and he just plays them for my mom. I think the first people I send them to are usually my friends, though. I have a friend who graphic designs the cover art for all of my stuff. And I always send it to him first to see what he thinks because he always gives me an honest opinion. Then I have my other friend who just helps me put things together visually and brainstorm ideas, so I always send things to him, too.
My friends play a part in my creative process because a lot of times, I pull from their experiences and relationships that are similar to mine. Because I know if they relate to it and I relate to it, then everyone will relate to it. It takes me out of this box of only writing about my experiences and helps me write about the people around me. So, I would say that’s how they play a part in my creative processes.
Moreover, “But my head is holding up my heart” is a beautiful lyric in ‘I’d Rather Pretend,’ emoting the overthinking trap many of us get into when we’re afraid to love. What helps you drop into your heart space?
Music, probably just listening to sad music, I guess. But I feel like I’m always tapping into my emotions. It’s just picking and choosing whether to express them. But music definitely keeps me thinking a lot.
Musical Notes Dipping Into Other Mediums
It must be a fantastic feeling to see other artists sing covers of your songs compared to being the opposite. We’re peeping your rendition of Shiloh’s ‘So Low.’ If it could happen, which all-time favorite artist would you choose to recite a particular song on your EP?
D4vd or Adele or SZA on ‘I’d Rather Pretend’ would be crazy. When I sent ‘I’d Rather Pretend’ to one of my friends, he said it was some Adele sh*t, so that would be cool.
Finally, since we know you’re an avid gamer, which game would you love to see use a song from the EP on their soundtrack?
Fortnite! That would be insane, for sure! I feel like that’s the main one because they always use artist songs in the game.
Always one to be on the ball, the ‘I’d Rather Pretend (with d4vd)’ is newly out! D4vd (yes, we know. Bryant’s supplying Easter eggs through his answers to us!) proved we can shake our feelings away by head-bopping to the cry-dance tune. We find little else as dope as working with our favorite artists. But if an answer springs into your mind, let us know, and then hit the notification button on social media, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook so we can rave about the remix together!
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