Today it feels as though we are drowning in content. Another new star sensation of the day. Countless artists clamoring for a spot in the iTunes new releases section. I look at all these names some I recognize and most I do not. These seemingly iconic songs always left me feeling bored, tired of the trite hooks that lead me down late-night scavenges for something more, something that strikes me in the gut. Music discovery is one of the most gratifying experiences once you finally hit. One good thing that comes from how easy it is, now, to get your content out there is the possibility of finding the music that isn’t necessarily the number one seller, or raking in vast mountains of cash. Good artistry can come from anywhere, not just Hollywood’s chosen crowned stars of the year. You can fall in love with music that you decide is worth space in your head.
One such artist, I was fortunate enough to speak with shares a similar take on the idea of fame and what constitutes great art in music. Her style reminds me of a peaceful moment I had at the ever so clustered shopping center monster, The Grove. I sat down on the grass and enjoyed the beautiful jazz covers coming from the elegant voice of a classic-looking young lady, some songs were in French. What a gorgeous sound French singing is to the ears. I feel lucky to make time to be open to everything and experiencing other cultures. It is how you find talent from around the world and like I did in French and Argentinian singer-songwriter, Brigitte Bertrand.
Brigitte grew up differently from most Americans, who, in my experience, just speak English in their homes. I know that is not true for all, but I’m talking majority here because I know plenty who grew up bilingual, even one side of my own family. French was the sole language spoken in the Bertrand residence. Brigitte attended a French school where she received a rather different education style. Not one made up of A, B, C, D, or None of the above that comes with the sterility of standardizing testing. Brigitte credits her education with why she can create what she does so well because of her unique experience growing up immersed in French culture, where they don’t measure a student’s understanding of test results, but with 10-page analytical essays followed by discussions.
Growing up, the Bertrand house was always filled with music, and Brigitte recollects learning to love music from her father. Brigitte always loved singing and was fortunate enough to have a happy childhood with a life that had a soundtrack to it. She remembers hours spent finding different music as a teenager and being very excited about constantly wanting to learn, finding different facets. She had a fever about expanding her brain with knowledge and not being afraid of that curiosity, above all really enjoying it, as she still does.
Brigitte isn’t a woman who would do things just for the cameras. She does not care one bit if she is famous, or if you know who she is, or even if you like her songs and singing at all. Brigitte has surrendered that ego and answers to a more enlightened ideal, she simply creates because she loves to do so. Imagine that an artist is not in it for the accolades and attention. Sure, she agrees money for what you love is always nice, but it cannot be what drives you. Before she realized that though, she believed the life of the artist wasn’t an actual way to live. It sounds like genuine fun, but in a world where you must make money, some artists like Brigitte suppress the dream to find a way to pay the bills. After living in Los Angeles for three years, it hasn’t gotten any cheaper. Although, as if the universe heard Brigitte’s voice, her life kept introducing her to people that pushed her in her current direction.
The first couple years of writing music and hearing melodies shaped Brigitte’s ears the more she wrote, and in turn, the more open she was to accept her creations. One of the biggest lessons she wants to share with young artists is to have no constraints in your mind about what music is to you. By doing so, it frees you up to play on.
Brigitte’s music speaks about empowerment and finding it within specific situations, with a humanist attitude. Her style is inspired by Serge Gainsbourg, a provocative popular French artist, a very 60s style of music with an enormous amount of atmosphere. Brigitte’s songs mark and enjoy moments, which are about having pleasure in the company of others and being present. She tries not to go where people expect. And that creating is not about copying, it’s about being inspired and letting yourself add a certain freshness or new experience out there.
You could say that she is living the dream, on exactly the right path, and knows where she is headed, which is no easy feat. It’s hard when you don’t know where you want to go in life, and it’s easy to get swept up into just doing anything for the money. An artist gets to be himself fully because to be a talented artist you must be honest. At least I always appreciate the honesty most of all. Brigitte speaks on when she doubted herself, a doubt that lasted most of her life. Doubt that didn’t end until well, she just started doing it. I know the feeling, it can be terrifying to actually go after your goals. Her advice is to go full throttle and take a leap of faith in yourself. After that, Brigitte says, “I don’t doubt myself anymore. Remaining yourself is the hardest thing anyone can do. If you can, it’s very freeing as an artist.”
When Brigitte sits down to write music, she isn’t doing it for anyone else. She doesn’t have anyone else’s intentions in her head. “It’s much more of a need, a need to transcribe and I have to write these melodies down, whether I use them or not it doesn’t matter, I just have to pull them down and make them into reality. It was never a matter of if I make it or not, I just needed to do it. I am not here to please people. I am here to do, not to sit around and talk about things. I am here to take risks because it is easy to find yourself in the assimilation of everything. You don’t need to go with the flows of the other birds.” How does someone break that pattern and make a change to grow? Staring down your fears has some good to it after the dread subsides, you gain empowerment and take away a positive experience. You learned to survive. Brigitte says on her journey here and overcoming fears that, “I didn’t allow my anxiety to keep me in fear instead I chose to do this as something in my spare time. My intention was clear before I wanted to create music. It was something to do for fun and not money. Money of course is nice, but it doesn’t bother me to have to do things on the side, no limitations, I have the freedom to do what I like, it is invaluable. I just do what my idea is regardless of consequences, we need more people to take a risk.”
Currently, Brigitte is working on a set of different spy-themed songs. She is at the very beginning, but she also has a lot of other material, as well as demos, that she is going through to put something out there, some snippet into her musical mind. She is still figuring out what the next step is and has earned another invaluable lesson, to be patient. After all, it is better to make decisions you are comfortable with and take the time to do something well instead of half-baked, hence the over surge in content today.
“If they get it, they get it. I’m not trying to hammer any ideas into anyone’s head. There’s a whole new wave of music and artists, and there are a lot of people who are pissed off with the world right now and these people are starting to create things to challenge what we believe is art and music. I am just finding myself on this new wave unimpressed by money and reality television and I want to bring more worth into art. There is emptiness in the fame today and we want to fill that with a new energy that cannot be put in these categories that the industry has created. Sometimes it is not bad that we are upset about the world because it is pushing us to do our art differently, to evolve.”