Not every artist finds success – or even finds their own strongest creative voice or outlet – easily or early in their life.
For some, it takes persistence and work, and can take a bit longer to pinpoint the skills and perspectives necessary to break through. Sometimes it can even take the entire world slowing down and offering the chance to reconnect to that creative energy for the first time in years.
That’s all especially been the case with OKC-based singer/songwriter Brandon Birdwell, who’s seen some rolling successes over the past few years in the forms of breakout singles, acclaimed albums and EPs, and even high-profile, cross-genre collaborations like City Cinema, the OKC supergroup he formed alongside rapper Jabee.
But that’s all come in the wake of a long period of Birdwell’s life when he largely wasn’t creating and wasn’t engaging with the vibrance and color of his own art and music, a period that would only finally bear creative fruit on the eve of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
Brandon Birdwell: It was like if you're looking at a screen or something and someone kind of just slowly turns the color down on it a little bit. And everything in life was great and whatever, but just like, creatively I felt very, like, unfulfilled.
And so right before COVID is when I kind of was like, you know, I've got all these ideas stacked up, and I like to joke that it's almost like I'd been kinking a creative hose for a long time, and then let it go all at once.
And then the world kind of shut down and I had nothing to do with my time but, like, start writing music and making music.
Brett Fieldcamp: And once the music started flowing, it didn’t stop.
The next few years saw Birdwell drop a steady stream of releases, quickly evolving from a more straightforward style of funky, soulful acoustic pop to the much darker, much more introspective and experimental “How Have I Let You Down?” in the Spring of this year, the result of continuing to chip away at his own creative barriers and to unburden himself of the ideas and emotions that spawned the songs.
Brandon Birdwell: It was just like, I just need to put this out, to get it out of me.
I'm not one to sit for long on a project, and I don't know if that's because I feel like I'm making up for lost time or because I took a big ol’ break from making music and I'm trying to, like, play catch up, or if it's just the fact that, like, I love the process more than the actual releasing of the thing.
Brett Fieldcamp: That process is actually a daily thing for Birdwell. He’s developed a morning ritual that involves actively engaging with his own creativity and new ideas each and every morning, resulting in the majority of those rapid-fire releases of recent years, and building up an even bigger catalog of yet-unreleased new tracks.
Brandon Birdwell: I have my thing I do. It's non-negotiable. It's every day. It's called Morning Creative.
I have to do something every single morning before I do anything. And sometimes it's a fully fleshed-out idea. Sometimes it's like a bar of something. Sometimes it's just a loop of ambience or whatever. But if I don't do that… It's like the thing that kicks off my day.
And that whole record, the “How Have I Let You Down?” record, was all born out of Morning Creative.
To me, it's like, some people can do this, but I can't, like, wake up and wait for the muse to strike, and when it does, you get this divine inspiration and you come up with something beautiful. For me, I've learned that I almost have to treat it like a job and punch a clock and I have to show up and say, like, do the work.
Brett Fieldcamp: It’s that mentality of work and persistence that Birdwell says finally allowed him to start breaking through the hang-ups and imposter syndrome that plague so many artists and that keep too many creatives waiting in vain for the fleeting moments of inspiration to convince them that they’re on the right track.
Brandon Birdwell: You can get really in your own head when creating something, especially if your name's going to be on it.
I think that any person who gets into creativity or anything is going to have some level of imposter syndrome all throughout the entire thing. And I don't know when that tipped or what happened, but one day, I feel like maybe I got a handle on my imposter just long enough to be like “you can probably do this.”
It's the things in my head that I already know, that I need someone outside of me to remind me of. It's just like, sometimes you can just be like “hey, man, you can do what you want. No one's going to tell you not to.”
Brett Fieldcamp: That’s the sentiment that Birdwell says he’s constantly reminding himself of, especially as he looks to release of his next batch of songs that are expanding his horizons even further into lush orchestrations and dense atmospheres, beginning with the timely “It’s Colder Outside than I’d Like,” set to drop in January.
It’s all part of the work, he says, and all in service of keeping the self-doubts quiet enough to keep engaging and collaborating with a scene that he believes is richer now than ever.
Brandon Birdwell: Just over time, it's just I've come into contact with some of the most talented people. It's unreal what our scene has in it. And it's like it's kind of a little gem that I think people outside of Oklahoma need to start discovering a little bit more.
Brett Fieldcamp: You can keep up with Birdwell and his upcoming releases on his official site at brandonbirdwell.com and by following @brandbirdwell on Instagram.
· Music excerpt reflects an exclusive early peek at the track “It’s Colder Outside than I’d Like.”
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