Looking for an artist who refuses to box themselves into one genre? For an artist who experiments in new ways with each song? Look no further than Bri Carter! Bri Carter released her second album, I CAN’T LOOK AWAY, in the back half of last year and is already showing with ‘BLOODY KNUCKLES’ that she is exploring new sides to her artistry. We were lucky enough to get to dive into ‘BLOODY KNUCKLES’ with Bri, and we hope you love this interview as much as we do!
Let’s jump in!
Stream ‘BLOODY KNUCKLES’ here!
Hi Bri! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! To start us off, how would you describe your music to someone who is tuning in for the first time?
Hi! Thank you so much for having me! I honestly still don’t even know what genre I make, but I’d say it takes the edginess and rawness from alternative music, the high energy and glitchiness from hyperpop, and the catchiness of pop music. I grew up listening to emo music and going to Warped Tour, so I think that type of sound will always be prevalent in my music somehow. But I absolutely fell in love with the glitchiness and production of hyperpop music, which became a huge influence on me… I’d say it’s like if Pierce the Veil had a baby with brakence.
‘BLOODY KNUCKLES’ is almost here! What emotions are behind this track for you? What is the feeling leading up to release?
This track really holds a special place in my heart…2024 was a rough year for me. Basically, everything that could go wrong did, haha. I really felt like I was constantly just getting knocked down over and over again. So I took that feeling and wrote the chorus for the song. It actually originally wasn’t going to be a motivational song, but then at the last line of the chorus I wrote, “I’m on the floor unraveling til I’m undone, but I’ll always get back up,” and that was really meaningful to me in that moment, because it was everything that I needed to hear for myself. It kind of became my own personal anthem that helped pull me out of that feeling of defeat. So I took my own advice and realized the only thing worse than failing is quitting.
When crafting ‘BLOODY KNUCKLES’ were you able to immediately imagine visuals to go along with this track? To us, it feels like these are such visual lyrics!
Yes! I actually kind of visualized an entire boxing match while writing this track. I pictured a fighter getting beat up by their opponent and falling to the ground and the ref is counting down for the knockout, but then at the last second, the fighter gets back up, ready to keep going. And I really think that’s the whole symbolism of the song, to get back up no matter how hard you get knocked down.
With ‘BLOODY KNUCKLES’ are we looking at a stand-alone track? Or are we looking at a small part of a larger project?
As of right now, it’s just a stand-alone track, but as the year goes on, it could potentially be a part of something larger! I just released my 10-track album I CAN’T LOOK AWAY a few months ago back in August, so I’m still coming down from that. But there will definitely be another project in the future!
TikTok has played such an incredible role in your career, what do you think it is about that platform that allowed you to naturally find your audience?
TikTok has such a broad range of interests that it’s almost impossible not to be able to find someone who likes what you’re doing! It’s really helped me find my audience all over the world, which is cool, and it actually introduced me to my manager, Bianca, who lives in Australia! It’s really nice to be able to find your community and get exposure for free. I’ve made the most amazing fans on there who I am very grateful for!
We have to talk a bit about I CAN’T LOOK AWAY we know 2024 wasn’t too terribly long ago, but when you look back at the artist who released that album, and the artist who is releasing ‘BLOODY KNUCKLES’ is there an obvious area of growth you can see?
I definitely think I’ve grown…I think I’m always in a cycle of losing myself and finding myself, but I guess that’s what growth is. I’ve had a lot of life lessons happen to me since the album dropped which I’ve come to realize was a blessing even though in the moment it felt like the end of the world. 2024 might have not gone how I wanted, but I think it allowed me to come into 2025 with more resilience and more motivation to succeed. It taught me how to find strength in the moments you feel weakest.
We know that a big part of your artistry is that you’re self-produced/engineer, what do you find to be the greatest advantage to that freedom? And what has been the biggest struggle?
I think the biggest advantage is the exact same thing as being the biggest struggle…having too much freedom. There’s nothing like spending over an hour trying to figure out which snare sample sounds better haha. It’s great that you can get your music to sound exactly how you want it, but then at the end of the day, it’s never truly how you want it because you have way too many options and possibilities. I found that ever since I started producing my music I’ve gotten way more critical of myself which is a blessing and a curse. Sometimes I get so caught up in something being perfect that I hyperfocus on it and lose my initial vision so you gotta learn to let things go. But it’s helped me feel more connected to my music knowing I was able to start and finish something.
Genre isn’t something that you really conform to, and seems to be something that instead, you have fun within your music, why, for you, do you feel like it’s important not to box yourself into one genre?
I think it’s super cool to be a versatile artist! I listen to so many genres that my music is all over the place and I think that’s been a big part of why I don’t stay inside the box when it comes to certain styles. I think if you limit yourself to anything you’re limiting your creativity. I’m the type of person who never really listens to playlists, 99% of the time I’ll just put all my music on shuffle so I can go from listening to Ethel Cain, to Lil Baby, to Pierce the Veil all in a matter of minutes. And I feel like I take something from every genre and put it into my music.
Once again, thank you so much, Bri, for chatting with us! Before we let you go, since we are just kicking off 2025, what is something you’re hoping to accomplish with your music this year?
Thanks again for having me! I want this to be my biggest and best year yet! I’d love to hop on as support for some cool shows! I’ve also always wanted to play a festival, so I’m adding that to my list. I just want my music to keep growing and reaching the right people. I’ve come this far, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon!
Check out more of our exclusive interviews here!
We would love to hear from you! What do you think of ‘BLOODY KNUCKLES’ by Bri Carter? Let us know by commenting below or by tweeting @TheHoneyPOP! We are also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!
