Meet Brendan Doyle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brendan Doyle aka Brendie.

Hi Brendan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My life began in Santa Monica, California in 1994. When I was four years old, my family moved into the mountains near Boulder, Colorado, where I started school. I spent most of my free time playing with my older twin brothers in the woods. Although my parents didn’t play music, they encouraged the three of us to pick up instruments early, my first being the violin. Going to high school in Boulder, I did not vibe with almost all of my 2000 classmates and decided to embrace my differences by joining a hardcore band as the vocalist. With the small group of similarly eccentric teenagers I knew, I began playing shows in Denver and the surrounding area, where I would jump about the stage barefoot, head banging and screaming lyrics about glorified depression. When I began singing, it was somewhat of a closeted thing for me, going out to my parent’s garage at night and turning on Chris Brown to sing along in the back of my mom’s minivan. After graduating high school, I became more obsessed with singing than I had been about anything before, singing every day for hours on the stand at my job as a lifeguard. Taking influence from artists like Alicia Keys, Tori Kelly, Usher, and John Mayer, I started writing my first pop/r&b songs in a garage band. Fast forward three years later, I threw myself into music and managed to turn singing into a full-time job, performing at large venues in Denver, weddings gigs, and anywhere I could get on stage. After a couple of years of gigging full-time in Denver, I needed a change in my environment. I had a couple of friends who moved to Nashville and recommended that I come to check it out. On a whim, I sold most of my belongings, moved into the van I was driving at the time, made my way to Nashville, and started living in a Walmart parking lot.

During this time, which happened to be the dead of summer of 2019, I had to get creative, using a spare car battery to plug my amp into and play music on the street for tips. I remember dragging the 40-pound battery up and down Broadway on a skateboard until I had made enough money to move into a month-to-month room. I got my first gig in Nashville playing on the sidewalk outside a bar on 2nd avenue when the owner happened to walk by and booked me for later that night. The little victories added a sense of glamour to this retrospectively unsustainable lifestyle. Thankfully, I found a stable living situation a few months before the pandemic, and Nashville began to feel like home. I have been fortunate to continue playing music full time, having performed at numerous local venues and released three of my songs/music videos to streaming platforms. I’m very grateful to be here, and to anyone thinking about dropping everything to move to Nashville, head to Walmart on Powell! (just kidding, they don’t allow overnight parking anymore). This city has taught me many lessons, and I’m pretty stoked to keep learning. My next song drops at the end of July; stay tuned!

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think I spent a long time manifesting my sadness. After losing my mom to suicide when I was 21, I realized that it was up to me to create that reality if I wanted to be happy. This realization happened during the most challenging yet powerful time in my life when I had to decide if I would completely self-destruct or reinvent myself positively. To me, there were only two options. But there’s something so empowering about hitting rock bottom and realizing that you are the only person who is going to save yourself. I believe that you still have that power no matter what you’re going through. While it came at an immense cost, that lesson changed my outlook on life in the most valuable way possible.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Many people called me Brendie growing up, which I later adopted as my artist name. I have also been nicknamed things like ‘Justin Timberwood’ or ‘Robin Thin’ if that gives you an idea of the vibes I might be serving. I enjoy embracing my feminine side, as women tend to have the better fashion, hair, energy, etc. Pink clothing, jewelry, and hair dye (I promise I’m not trying to describe MGK as much as it might seem) are among the ways I like to express myself. I’m most proud of my live performances; performing is probably my favorite thing about music. I want to lay into the theatrics of the performance and give the audience something they’re not expecting.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck is a tricky word to describe, but think when it comes to being an artist, about 50 percent is being in the right place at the right time. You don’t usually know when or where that place is, so it’s a good idea to constantly put yourself in situations that increase your odds of getting “lucky.” And, of course, the other 50 percent is putting in the work ahead of time, so you’re prepared when an opportunity presents itself.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsbrendie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brendieofficial
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFfOZ8NK18ZXKqAD1mLWnEQ
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4FMvhtd25NQsFkhNP8LynO?si=7CjBPKY3Q0i08CPHWyIqKQ

Image Credits
Cover Photo – Acacia Evans 1&2 – Alex Rodriguez 3 – Rob Moroni 4&5 – Nicholas Banos 6 – Peyton Dollar 7 – Ishan Pradhan