A Chat with Shawn Brown (30.11.24)
A musical alchemist and shapeshifter, singer-songwriter Shawn Brown cannot be defined. From RnB to folk, indie-rock, alternative rock and Americana, there is an innovative obscurity woven in his sonic concoctions. For over a decade – 2006 to be exact according to Spotify – Brown has enchanted the masses with his moving music reaching far beyond his US borders. Join us as we speak with him about his three-track EP, Into The Furious Light, advice for upcoming artists and more.
OSR: You recently released your three-track EP Into The Furious Light. What can you tell us about it? Is there a particular theme or backstory?
Brown: Thanks for having me! I’m thrilled with how this EP came out, so it’s great to spend some time with you guys having a chat about it. Grecco Buratto (producer) and I have forged this really unique partnership where we make records wherever we feel like we have enough interesting ideas to explore. I just send him voice memo ideas for songs and every once in a while, he responds in a way that lets me know he hears something cool in there somewhere. I had rough stretches for ‘Hold Fast’ and ‘Let Them Love Ya’ and we both felt good enough about those tunes to move forward with cutting them.
Typically, we’ll book a studio in LA and dip into Grecco’s network of killer players to make my records, which has been amazing. This time, I was curious what would happen if we reverse engineered our process and cut the tracks up here in Portland with the guys in my live band and have Grecco fly up here instead of me going to LA. Luckily everyone was up for that plan and we booked time at The Panther Studio with Steve Drizos here in Portland. The sessions were super fun and I think everyone involved is pleased with what came out. Thematically, I think there’s a significant struggle between loss and resilience happening. There’s a lot packed in there.
OSR: You mention that the opening track ‘Hold Fast’ pivots from your usual Americana sound. How significant is evolution as an artist, and can we expect more diverse genres from you in the future?
Brown: It’s a great question because I so often talk about my disinterest in genre as a concept. In a lot of ways, it’s a luxury these days to be independent and therefore not beholden to a business model that needs to quantify you as an artist in order to sell you. I’ve been a part of the music business as both an artist and a writer on the publishing side for a couple decades and I’ve seen so much change over that period – for better and for worse. What I love about the current landscape of popular music is that many of the biggest, most celebrated artists are arguably genre-less. Taylor Swift, Adele, Beyonce, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, even Keith Urban, Jason Isbell and John Mayer – are all mega important artists who’ve essentially transcended their original marketed genres and moved into whichever musical spaces move them the most. There’s some good lessons there I think.
For myself, a song like ‘Hold Fast’ represents a far more indie rock space than most of my discography, but ironically it’s probably more in line with my own actual music tastes – so in that way, it’s not as much of a departure as it might seem. If anything, it’s been fun to pick up electric guitars and get loud, so you might expect more of that in upcoming songs but we’ll have to see what happens.
OSR: Which track has the greatest meaning for you, and if so, why?
Brown: I’m not sure there’s a clear winner on this EP as far as greatest meaning. All 3 have their moments. That said, it’s been really satisfying to release the acoustic version of ‘The Sad Ones’ and have the type of reaction that it’s received. I’m really proud of the single version that we put out earlier this year and I think this EP version is a nice companion to that track. ‘Let Them Love Ya’ is one of the more emotionally packed songs I’ve written, which makes it really difficult to sing live actually. My eyes are welling up and I look and see other people feeling the same, it’s hard to keep it together honestly. It feels good to connect to people in that way, even if it’s based in something painful.
OSR: If you had to introduce a new listener to your music, which song would you choose and why?
Brown: Sitting here, right now – today, I’d go with ‘Hold Fast’. There’s an urgency to that song that’s been really fun to share and play live too. Turn that one up and see what you think!
OSR: What advice do you have for up-and-coming musicians?
Brown: Get really clear about why you’re pursuing music. It’s currently not an industry with much real support for artists and musicians and certainly the financial rewards are few and far between. Like most industries, there’s this current pressure to be a content creator and be relevant on social media too. None of it has anything to do with making good music. It’s all a distraction, which for many is a necessary evil – I get it. I just think it’s important to make the distinction. Being a musician, a singer, a songwriter is an incredible vocation but you’ll need to be very clear as to why you’re pursuing it. One of the benefits of the music business completely imploding is that there are so few real limitations on artistic expression, so lean into the opportunities to make the kind of noise that is the most meaningful and authentic to you. If you like it, share it but try not to get distracted by the other stuff. Put your phone down and write some songs. Be you.
Many thanks to Shawn Brown for speaking with us! For more about Shawn Brown, check out his official website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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