A Chat with Brian Lambert (06.10.23)
In a swoop of various genres, singer-songwriter Brian Lambert breaks the rock ‘n’ roller mould in an awe-inspiring way. We speak with Lambert about his new album Wild, his perfect day, future plans and much more.
OSR: Hi Brian, it’s great to be talking with you again. We spoke a couple of months ago following the release of your collaborative single ‘I Don’t Believe In You’. What have you been up to since then?
Lambert: At this very moment in time, I’m working up a one-man show with backing tracks in lieu of a band. I’ve got a show coming up and came up empty on trying to fill out a roster for a band. Everyone I know was already busy and while I attempted to find some new people I was not having any luck so I decided to go ahead and build a show myself. I’m going to leverage going big and try to bring that whole band energy in one show. It’ll be quite the feat if I can pull it off. Plus if it works out it’s a much more scalable thing to tour on.
I also finished up the album and a new Star Crumbles single in that time. I’ve been very busy coming up with fun ways to promote the new album. I’ve been playing out more too, solo acoustic. That and my family keep me pretty busy.
OSR: You’ve currently released your album Wild. What can you tell us about it?
Lambert: Wild is an attempt to bring all of the last couple of years together. Really it’s bringing together all the different parts of my musical personality into a cohesive album. To me, we’re in an age with streaming services where everyone listens to everything. My hope is that people who don’t normally listen all the way through albums get an experience better than a playlist. Lots of diverse music that is somehow tied together.
OSR: What were the good bits and bad bits (for lack of a better word) about recording Wild?
Lambert: It was a process that took a few years. Six of the nine tracks were recorded during the 52-week music production challenge. For those tracks, I needed to remix and remaster them to match the feel of the album. This really was dictated by the lead track ‘Wild’ which was recorded last. I know that some of it was a challenge, especially during the challenge when I had a strict deadline to get it done. In hindsight, I don’t really feel like there were any bad parts to recording it. I love making music and it’s always a joy to do so. Really I could just record all the time if it weren’t for the other parts of the business, playing live and promoting. I try and have fun with those parts too, but if I’m honest I’d just record, mix and master and never get tired of it.
OSR: What do you hope people take from the album?
Lambert: I hope it’s a fun listen, something you want to share with your friends. There is some meat hidden in there too that might stimulate some thought but really I just want it to be an enjoyable listen that people put on to feel good.
OSR: Wild is your second album following 2020’s Before This. How do you think you’ve grown since Before This?
Lambert: ‘Before This’ was my last attempt at trying to fit into a certain box for career reasons. At that time given my live show options, it made sense to fit that Americana, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson kind of thing. Once the pandemic hit, that all went out the window. Now I make the music I want to make and only try to please myself with it. Ironically doing that has led to many more people enjoying the music. This is how I am honest as an artist. I’ve always had diverse tastes and I rather blend that all together and make something new than ever try to fit into a genre ever again.
OSR: You mentioned in our previous interview that you’d like to do more collaborations. Are there any in the works?
Lambert: I most certainly have. I did two collaborations with my dear friend Quizboy. One was a cover of the Decemberists ‘Down By The Water’ and the other was the cover of ‘Breed’ that is on Wild. Of course, I have my favourite partner in crime Marc Schuster from The Star Crumbles helps me out with rad drums on a few songs on the album. I recently reconnected with an old bandmate Harmoni Kelley, to totally name-drop plays with the Kenny Chesney band. She’s an absolute badass and in addition to playing bass, she sings backups on the song ‘Wild’.
In addition to that I have some awesome covers of Nirvana tunes with my main man John from Only The Host, a super awesome music network. He’s also a great musician and we have a couple of songs. One with Below Carbon out of the UK and another with a fabulous musician, singer and writer from Spain, John Serrano, that I am excited to share when they come out.
OSR: Describe yourself in one sentence.
Lambert: I am someone in love with life, my wife, music and excited about what the future could hold.
OSR: If you could choose one of your singles to be a theme song for you, which would it be?
Lambert: I’m going with ‘Wild’ right now. I am all about that feeling of freedom and feeling the power of being alive.
VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
OSR: What is your idea of the perfect day?
Lambert: Well not to be too graphic but start out by spending some time with my wife and then go for a walk to chat it up. Come home, have a nice meal, then spend time working on music. Stop for a break then work on some more music. Finally maybe out on the town for a delicious meal and some ambience, perhaps catch a show or come home and watch a movie with a glass of wine. That sounds like a pretty great day to me.
OSR: Do you have future plans as a musician?
Lambert: Currently working on an EP that has a bit of a punk edge to it with my friend Harmoni. I also have the tracks for the next Star Crumbles album and am working on that as well. I suppose tackling the touring and live music part is the most important thing that I’ll be spending time on coming up. The reality is that if you want to get the music out to the people then you have to go out and see the people. Who knows, I’m always open to some new musical adventure and I’d love to produce some of the great tweetcore artists I hear.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Lambert: Sure, learn to love yourself unconditionally. This is the best way to be happy with your life and make the most of the opportunities you have. We get so down on ourselves because of this lack of self-love that we don’t see how it holds us back. The world feels like a much better place when you love yourself unconditionally.
Many thanks to Brian Lambert for speaking with us! For more from Brian Lambert check out his official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
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