Today we’d like to introduce you to Brogan Smith
Hi Brogan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have always been a musical person. From a very young age I was singing, doing theater, and playing piano. When I got to about thirteen or fourteen, I started songwriting. Looking back onto any of these songs and really any song I wrote for the next four years after that through high school I cringe. I didn’t really know who I was as an artist or as a songwriter until the last couple years after the pandemic. I graduated high school in 2020, during the pandemic, and I just remember writing at my piano all the time. I lived at home with my parents for my first two years of school in Atlanta. In 2021, I would commute to Georgia State University where I met a fellow classmate who was a producer that ended up recording a single with me. It was a completely new experience for me getting to work with someone and be with them throughout the entire process of production for the song. I got to hear everything they were adding, give my own suggestions of how I wanted the song to sound, how my voice should sound. Shortly after this experience, I decided to move to Nashville. Nashville had always been the dream and the goal since I was fifteen. I moved up here in 2022 for my junior year at Belmont University. I am really grateful for this experience because it was truly my first time away from home where I got to learn so much more about myself. It was during this time where I really began to evolve as an artist. I let much more sounds, genres and styles of writing inspire me and push me forward. I think it was also during this time where I started to let myself become more vulnerable and more honest with my songwriting. In October 2022, I wrote a song about a situationship I experienced when I was younger from the perspective of who I was now after all that time had passed. The song ended up becoming the lead single for my debut EP which centered around that point of my life when I was seventeen and eighteen and learning who I was and how to deal with having my heart broken for the first time. That was a very pivotal point in my life and I think I always needed to continue to write about it to finally come to a sense of closure for myself. That song, “a letter i wrote,” started the journey of me making this first project. From then on, I started to become so much more influenced by artists and genres I never expected to see myself take my music. I always viewed myself as just an indie folk singer/songwriter. But it was during this period where I let myself explore and was so inspired by other artists in rock, country, and americana. During the process of writing and recording this project, with my collaborator Keller Lindley, I drew a lot of influence from artists such as Orville Peck, Faye Webster, Phoebe Bridgers, and Gregory Alan Isakov, to name a few.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I wouldn’t say the road has been horrible, but there have definitely been some bumps along the way. It’s definitely hard trying to write about very honest and personal situations in your life as a closeted gay person. I felt that way a lot when I was going through high school. I was constantly writing about my experiences as a young person while also trying to filter or hide the truth that these were gay songs. It became more evident that I was never going to make good music if I wasn’t being honest about who I am in these songs. You can’t half-ass your way through any form of art and expect people to truly gravitate towards it. I think that has been the biggest internal obstacle I’ve been trying to battle. It’s a struggle I’ve always had with myself as a queer artist and making sure that I am being 100% authentic with my music and stand up for the art I am creating. But, now more than ever, I have never been more confident in my abilities as a songwriter and being completely honest about my identity and experiences through my music.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a singer/songwriter. I write songs about my own personal experiences and emotions from growing up and discovering who I am. I am so inspired by many different genres and sub-genres of music that I want to blend and mesh these styles from pop to indie rock to Americana into my own sound and art. I believe that I write all of these songs for my younger self. While my artist project has only really started to come into fruition within the last year, I believe I have been working on my craft and figuring the artist side of myself out my entire life. Music has always been my one true passion from such a young age and I am finally letting myself put 100% of myself into this work. I am writing the songs that I wish I had when I was eight and twelve and seventeen. I want my music to be able to resonate with younger people learning who they are and can find comfort in knowing that they are not alone and their experiences and feelings are real and valid. That is the biggest take away I hope anyone can get from my music.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Currently, my favorite podcast is Ride with Benito Skinner and Mary Beth Barone. By no means is it an educational or serious podcast. It’s kind of like my guilty pleasure whenever I am not inspired to listen to any music considering all I do is listen to music. I have never laughed harder and it gets me out of any funk I may be in.
I have and always will be a Pinterest fan. I am always on there. It can totally help me get inspired when I have a vision in my head for artwork, or video visuals for my music, or even just outfits for a show, its the perfect moodboard to help me further bring my artistic visual visions to life.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/broganvsmith/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Broganvsmith
- Other: https://linktr.ee/brogansmith
