No matter how well-established an artist might seem, they can always find themselves starting from scratch, striking out in a bold or uncharted new direction and casting themselves out of their comfort zone and out of the expectations and assumptions that they’ve set for themselves.
But beyond those comforts and expectations might just be the place to find the creative freedom they’ve been looking for.
That’s the discovery being made right now by Cobey Brown, longtime singer, leader, and showstopping guitarist of Tulsa-based rockers The Odyssey.
But despite some “local favorite” status and a continuing fanbase of guitar-rock-loving diehards, Brown chose to wind down The Odyssey and to begin growing something deeper, darker, and more personal in its place with his new project, Heralds.
It’s a darker, more layered, and more textural sound for Brown, who says that the music, the visuals, and the full immersion of Heralds are all built to work together and to give audiences a glimpse into his head.
Cobey Brown: I love movies, I love fantasy, I love sci-fi, and I want to kind of bring elements of that into the writing, and I thought this track in particular was perfect to start down that road.
What my goal is, is to be very intentional about the shift visually. What's the art style? What does the live set feel and look like, you know? What's on the stage? What's going on?
I want it to be more of a production.
Brett Fieldcamp: For Brown, embracing the creative freedom of Heralds also means embracing his own love of theatricality and flash through costumes, decorations, and broad showmanship, elements that he found himself downplaying before, but that he feels are integral and honest parts of his inspiration and his expression.
Cobey Brown: Being more authentic, but being more theatrical. Because it does make sense for those to both be happening at once, but they almost feel opposite.
What matters is that I felt inspired by it, and so I'm going to take how I feel and make it even more dramatic. Because if I want to communicate my feelings to people, I can't be nonchalant, you know? I got to just go all in and show them, “hey, this is my vibe. If you dig it, then sick, then you're really going to like it. If you don't, that's fine.”
I think I got in the habit with The Odyssey, I think I got to the point where I was a little less dramatic. And I'm a kind of dramatic person, you know? I felt like myself, but I didn't feel like I was really getting, like, all of my expression out. And music is that for me.
Brett Fieldcamp: The key, he says, is keeping the vision consistent and strong, and by announcing the new project with the kind of confidence and resolve that too often eludes younger artists. It’s a confidence and a streamlined vision exemplified in the very first single from Heralds, entitled “Heralds.”
Cobey Brown: Yeah, I didn't want to do it, but I felt like I had to, because I was in a very vulnerable place when I wrote the song, and so it was all… I wanted to keep the heart of it, and the name just felt important to me.
But I liked it so much that when I decided I wanted it to be the project name, I thought about changing the name of the song, and I was like “nah, screw it.” But I was like “look, if I'm gonna do it, it better be the first song.”
Brett Fieldcamp: But for all the creative freedom and all the newly endless possibilities for theatricality and orchestration, Brown says that the main guiding principle for his writing with Heralds is simply honesty, being open with his audience about how he thinks and how he expresses himself, and not second-guessing what his skills and his songwriting are capable of.
Cobey Brown: If you want to call it maturing as an artist, I feel that way because it feels more accurate to myself.
You know, I do feel like the songwriting is better, but I don't feel like I made a decision to be like “oh, I'm gonna change this about the writing.” It's just, I just know my voice better, and how I write is more honest now, and that is why I started Heralds.
And so it hasn't been challenging at all. It's been really freeing, and I feel a lot more honest.
Brett Fieldcamp: You can catch Heralds Friday, March 13th at The Lot in Ada and Saturday, March 14th for the official release show and celebration of their debut single at Chimera in Tulsa.
For more, follow @thisisheralds on Instagram.
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