BRANDON COPELAND: Meet the Artist
BRANDON COPELAND
is an artist and teacher of many talents, we are honored to have worked with him and share his story. Mainly focusing in music and video, he has shared his craft working with us on an Artprize 2021 exhibition.
Q: How did you get involved with Lions and Rabbits?
A: I heard about Lions and Rabbits from Kayla (our band's former cellist) who had performed at the space a few times. I didn't get involved until years later, when I submitted a proposal for Artprize.
Q: What themes/ideas are highlighted in your work? Intentions?
A: Music is an exploration into the human mind as it tries to tackle complex concepts such as religion, philosophy, love, politics, and loss. The goal is to have people dancing to the tunes while also leaving them with a message that generates dialog or conversation.
Q: Run us through your creative process - How do you start, flow and finish?
A: The process is fairly fluid, I start with an idea generated by my own experience or experiences of the people around me. I'll expand on that idea through conversation and lyrics are formed. The music may be formed before, at the same time, or after the lyrics depending on my mood. Music, in general, is very visual for me so I tend to also generate a storyboard during this expansion of the idea. I'll then record the piece, sculpt, and chisel it down to a format that is easily consumable. Lyrically I tend to like the concept of "Less is More", only leaving the raw emotion without over-explaining the idea. Musically I am the opposite, I follow the mantra of "Record everything, every idea, you can always delete stuff later". I don't ever feel any of my songs are complete, I just put them out so I can free up space for new songs.
Q: What obstacles/struggles have you encountered throughout your career as an artist? Or challenges you face through your creative process
A: The largest obstacle I've encountered is that a ton of people don't believe being an artist is a viable profession in this city. That mindset plagues both artists and those who provide opportunities for artists.
Q: Can you share a little more about how your art career started. Have you always been in your field? Were you self taught or had additional schooling?
A: I was a kid and my older sister had just bought Missy Elliott’s Supa Dupa Fly CD. I listened to it, was blown away by the production, and decided that's what I want to do. My older brother and I saved up and bought a keyboard that you could produce on and my parents bought me a sax.
Q: Who/what are your biggest inspirations that play a key role in the work you produce?
A: I am constantly inspired by the people/artists around me. Helen Lyle, Justin Golinski, WuZee, Dagger just to name a few. I am also inspired by old art. I love new wave french films. I love the showmanship of 70s funk groups like Parliament and Isaac Hayes. I am also inspired by the complexity of jazz music.
Q: Is there anything you wish you could change about your work?
A: I wish I would’ve had a bigger budget for most of the music videos we created. I'm definitely proud of the work but sometimes the ideas are bigger than my capabilities at the moment.
Q: What mistakes have you made? What did you learn from them? What are you trying to get better at?
A: My biggest mistake is not sharing or making sure my peers have the same information or experiences that I have. It's hard to have conversations about art with people who don't have knowledge the experience. I am trying to get better at documenting my experiences so that others can follow without having to go through those experiences.
Q: Do you feel supported by your community as an artist? In what ways could you feel more supported?
A: Mostly Supported; I feel I need help navigating the corporate world as an artist. The language, processes, and general thought patterns are all foreign to me.
Q: Describe a moment when you felt most proud of yourself
A: I felt extremely proud of myself after creating the Deep Blues music video. The tonal color palette change accentuated the feeling of awakening that was being portrayed in the video.
Q: What's most important to you about what you create, and how it impacts others?
A: Music is therapy for me. It allows me to write down and process things that are going on in my life and then create something new and artistic from that. What's most important to me is the feeling of letting go.
Q: What's next? What are you currently focusing on or looking forward to?
A: I am curating The Beat Suite again. I am excited about the culture based around that event. I am also excited for the new music that I am creating.
Q: What does being an artist mean to you? What is the function of artists in society?
A: Being an artist is about mastering a form of science, it could be light, color spectrum, audio, or whatever. Artists master the physical world and manipulate it to invoke emotion or thought. The function of art and an artist is to inspire creativity.
Q: And of course, if you could chose any vehicle to travel, real or imaginary what would it be?
A: U.S.S. Enterprise
Follow more of Brandon’s work on www.facebook.com/lescreatifmusic and instagram.com/dantecope or instagram.com/lescreatifband
Thank you for tuning into this week’s Meet the Artist, be sure to checkout more artist stories every week on our blog!
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