Briston Maroney: Musical Bliss at Brudenell

0

Ella Nelson sits down with Briston Maroney pre-gig at Brudenell to discuss all things music.

IMG_0118

Image Credit: Ella Nelson

Written by Ella Nelson
Edited by Eve Moat

“I would go as far as to say that if you don’t know my music or haven’t been to a show, totally fine, zero pressure.” Those are Briston Maroney’s modest words, not mine. I would go as far as to say that if you don’t know his music or haven’t been to a show, you should totally tune in, ‘cus you’re missing out.

The 25-year old Knoxville-born indie singer, songwriter, and guitarist Briston Maroney made his way across the pond to play the Brudenell Social Club for the fifth stop on his Ultrapure tour. I had the great pleasure of sitting down for a pre-concert chat with Briston himself, and we spoke about everything from musical inspirations and songwriting to vulnerability and musical growth, while bonding over the fact that we both have roots in Tennessee.

Following in his grandfather’s footsteps, Maroney basically stumbled into music. Both his dad and grandfather played and, so, he ended up with a guitar super accessible very early on in his life, and music has been a giant part of his life ever since. When asked who his biggest musical inspirations are, Briston, without hesitation, named his grandfather as number one. “He’s the person who taught me to play guitar,” he adds, “and the first person to expose me to music in general.” Apart from his grandfather, one of his biggest musical influences is John Prine. According to Briston, “He’s like the coolest person ever.”

Conversations and interactions are the root of Maroney’s songwriting. “It’s pretty easy for me to get overloaded,” he says, calling himself a “pretty sensitive” person and explaining that “to be able to sit one-on-one with somebody is typically where I feel like I can connect with emotions the most.” This desire to connect with someone is one of the main things which Maroney thinks is reflected in his music. “I wish I could say that I was more dramatic in the music than I am in real life, but I think I’m a pretty dramatic person. I think I just feel things very deeply and have an urge, a need, to vocalise them, and affirmation of not feeling alone is very important to me so I think a lot of times I use songwriting and music as a vessel to connect.”

Connecting requires a certain level of vulnerability, but when some of your deepest emotions and feelings are going to be shared openly with the world and listened to on repeat, it’s difficult to know just how deep to go. “I’m trying with every creative endeavor I’m a part of to go further than before. I think it’s a fine line, it’s a difficult thing.” He elaborates that “I feel like you have to pace yourself as far as how much of your heart you can put into something or how much you can take in in order to output. Like right now, I feel like I’m working really hard on trying to reach a new level of vulnerability ‘cus I think there’s a level of vulnerability that takes time to reach and, when you reach that, it’s a very strange thing to get any sort of praise or acknowledgement for being vulnerable. I think I’ve been lucky enough to have people say nice things about that and now I’m questioning how vulnerable I actually am being or if I’m in the cycle of you know “Well, I just want people to like me.””

Image Credit: Ella Nelson

During the gig, Briston reminisced about having played Brudenell a few years ago in 2019 and how crazy it was to be back. At that point, he didn’t have an album out and now, four years down the line, he has two. “The first record was very young,” he reveals. “It felt very influenced by my environment and influenced by kind of a pressure to make it this big, gigantic thing and I don’t think that I was capable of doing that ‘cus I was a kid.” Coming off his debut album, his approach shifted slightly; rather than having lots of hands involved, he wanted it to just be songs that he wrote in his bedroom or on tour, so there was little to no collaboration on the songwriting. Speaking about where he is now, he says “I still feel like a kid but I think that this time around I kind of had swallowed that pill a little bit more and just accepted that I was only going to be capable of doing what I am capable of doing, so I think there’s a general element of being relaxed on this record that, even though the topics are maybe a little heavier, just generally more at peace on this one.”

Despite touring his sophomore album Ultrapure (2023), the setlist included a range of songs from his EPs, ‘Sinkin’’ from his debut album Sunflower (2021), and of course his major hit ‘Freakin’ Out On the Interstate’. Additionally, the set provided instrumental interludes, more guitar switches than I could keep track of, and a spontaneous storytime about when his drummer Nathan’s hand was impaled by a cymbal mid performance. In putting together a show, Maroney admitted that they try to switch up the setlist every night to fit in stuff that they miss playing. Three of his favorite songs to play, however, naturally made the setlist: ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Sink;Swim’ off the new album, and one of my personal favorites, ‘Fool’s Gold’.

The music was great, Briston and his band were great, and the atmosphere was great, but the one thing I couldn’t get over was the casualness of the evening. The set had a rawness to it that was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced at a live show before, and it was astounding: it was intimate, it was perfectly flawed, and it was fun. Frankly, it almost felt as though one was intruding on one of the band’s regular jam sessions; they were just enjoying the moment, enjoying the music, and enjoying each other’s company – and, we were there.

So, thank you to Briston Maroney and his band for sharing their moment with us and for being vulnerable. Rather than me trying to convince you to secure a ticket to one of his shows, I will leave you with Briston’s pitch on why you should attend: “I guess I would just tell people that they, in coming to one of our shows, there’s just like zero judgment from us, and it typically seems like these rooms have been pretty full of people who also feel that way. Same to the recorded music too, it’s just me telling my story, there’s no hierarchy of any feelings or experiences being more important or less important than others, so yeah, just a chance to be not alone is what we could offer.”

Briston Maroney’s sophomore album Ultrapure is available on all streaming platforms.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *