Meet Collin Brannon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Collin Brannon.

Hi Collin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In college, I studied arts and business, but never really could sink my teeth into what I was looking for. Call it the artist in me, but I never really felt like I fit in with the “model” of institutional learning.

After a few years of school, I decided I needed a radical shift in another direction to get out of the “funk” school had put me into. That radical shift came with my enlistment into the United States Marine Corps, following a long and proud line of the family before me.

I ended up becoming selected to be a part of a small specialty occupation within the Marines which specializes in weapon optics and personal optics. I got to learn in a different setting, and what I didn’t know at the time, I was getting to learn a trade that would directly affect my life from then on.

I took my knowledge of optics and how lenses can work and affect what you see and brought that over into my passion, which is art. I wanted to do something with my life that brought people together and showcases the beautiful moments people can have. For myself, music has always been my escape from my head and everything around me, so I knew I wanted to put myself in a position to work in that field if possible.

The quickest and most impactful way I found I could do that was through videography, utilizing the knowledge of optics I had been taught during my time serving.

I began shooting everything and everywhere I could. It was like an addiction to me. I always watched videos online of shows and something always seemed like it was missing to me. So while I was spending all this time figuring out what I can do with a camera, my main drive was finding and experimenting on how to capture that “thing”, that “feeling”, that “vibe” I had been missing while watching all those videos.

After figuring out what I wanted to achieve and present to people and for artists, I just put my head down and worked for next to nothing for the next biggest artist I could get the attention of (at the time I refused to post any of my own work and only delivered media straight to artists as a form of trust forming so it was hard).

I ended up landing some pretty large names and once I started getting my work published by artists, it became easier and easier for me to “open the door” for myself to really see what I can do with this new passion I had created.

I’m currently investing a lot of time into festival and tour media and scaling my video project to the next level by now releasing and promoting my video brand fully. I have a lot of exciting ventures coming up, and am really thrilled to see what more I can achieve in this field!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I lost my brother who was a Marine helicopter pilot to a helicopter crash, and actually got the call from my father late after a show, right when I started doing videography. This really shook me, and I found myself not wanting to be around or uncomfortable around people after that. Knowing I had a business to run and artists interested in working with me, I had to really dive deep and rediscover what it was I was after.

What it was I wanted to leave behind. Honestly, without that accident, I wouldn’t be where I am today. That drove me to look in the mirror and throw all excuses away. I HAD to do something, not just for me, but for my family. That type of fire, for me, is what really pushed me over from “what can I do?” and “can I do it?” to “I know I can do this” and “nothing will stop me”.

It was in those next few months I truly went from a camera operator to a visual artist. I would shoot till my shoulders would give out, trying to express my feeling and emotion through video. I’m really not good at communicating my personal feelings, so for me, this was how I could let it all go. People really started to take notice and I could say that’s when it took off for me.

Travel and festivals began to be a normal part of my daily routines. I had found my “home”, what I feel I’m meant to do on this earth. Unfortunately, it wasn’t but 2 years after my brother’s passing, that my family would be stuck with bad news, yet again. My father was diagnosed with cancer, a battle that he, unfortunately, lost within a few months of diagnosis.

Again I found myself staring at the mirror and demanding more of myself. The only way I knew how to hang on was to keep going and refuse to look back. This compounded unease and sorrow I found myself wrapped in made me go to places I didn’t know I had in me. It was this depth within myself where I found my “VibeMonsta”. This has been the only “name” I’ve been able to describe as the art space I find myself going into.

I noticed my style, my feel, and my emotion was finally coming through more and more because I had so much I needed to get out and I owe that all to those two men in my life I lost. One of my father’s last lucid conversations with me was that “I’d get there”. That sentiment is what I hold truest to my heart.

I just have to remember what the end of the road can look like and know to “get there” I have to make my steps and my impact in this world solid and true.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a videographer and photographer. I specialize in RAW, unedited cinematic footage of music artists, shows, and festivals.

I’m proud that I get to get be surrounded by people who truly are living and pursuing a career of self-expression, and in turn creating connections between people all over the world. That may sound cliché, but that to me is what makes this most worthwhile.

I feel like there are only a few career paths in life that afford people the opportunity to actually express themselves in truly unique ways. To be able to be a support and help capture moments for people who are doing that, and getting to do it by expressing myself in the process, is honestly humbling.

What sets me apart is my approach to how I video and the background and mindset I bring to the table. The Marines instilled a relentless hunt for success, selflessness, and self-fulfillment in me. That is a path you have to seek, it won’t come to you. The fact I know that I chose that path, and came out the other side makes me believe I can do anything and everything I truly set my mind to.

People picked up on that and saw that I was here to make a name, and I wasn’t going to waste time doing it. That mentality is what I look for in others, and I’ve been blessed to have found artists that see that in me.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The entertainment industry is one hell of an unstable beast!

Your network is your worth in this business. Without having a pre-established network of promoters and artists I had come to work regularly with, I would have had to say goodbye to videography being a realistic full-time endeavor for me anymore. I owe a lot to the people who, even when cash was tight due to the pandemic, believed in me to help them showcase their work for them.

I was on a tour in Denver, CO with an artist when the COVID shutdown occurred, and I tell you what, going from working every day and having email after email about booking to not knowing if we’d ever be able to enjoy music together again was an incredible shock, not only monetarily, but emotionally as well.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vibemonsta_video/

Image Credits
Headshot photographed by @zoeelizabeth photo