Brandon Poletti
Perth’s Brandon Poletti has released his debut EP Words from Within along with new single Too Long. His creativity as a gifted songwriter was rewarded being a finalist for the Listen Up Songwriting Competition with his song Find My Way Through. Poletti answered some questions about his new music and how he prepares for his creative process.
How does it feel to release your latest EP Words from Within? Is it a relief to finally have your work out there?
Yeh, absolutely. I always get a bit anxious when releasing music but I am feeling really great about this release. I think compared to my first EP, these new songs represent who inspires my music and what I want to express through my music. These four songs mean a lot to me so I’m glad that they’re finally ready to be shipped out into the world.
What sort of things do you do to prepare yourself for the creative process of writing your songs?
I really don’t have a set way of doing things, but I do know that my writing comes in stages. Some days I can write three or four songs and then I can go weeks without having felt the spark to even bother. I find that a little touch of inspiration is needed most the time, whether it’s going for a hike with my favourite tunes on or perhaps an experience that has transpired in my life. I kind of need that kick to get the creative juices flowing!
Which song was the most creatively difficult to write? Or is song writing an easy process for you?
Songwriting feels like a bit of a knack, most people have something that comes naturally, for me it’s my writing. I think perhaps it’s because I’ve spent so long practicing and trying to understand the music of people like The Beatles or Paul Kelly that I have learnt a couple important lessons about songwriting. I’d give anything to be half the writer Lennon was!
The hardest song was probably Sitting By Myself, it took me a good couple months to really nail both the form and lyrics, both of which I probably changed several times prior to thinking it was ready to record.
Can you tell us a bit about the song Too Long?
The narrative of the song follows the friendship of myself and my childhood best mate as we went from being inseparable to strangers due to changes in who we are as people. I feel like it really is something that most people can connect with, throughout time most of our friendship circles change and it’s just another factor of growing as a person that we must accept.
What was it like to work with Josh Dyson and all the other musicians that appear on your recordings?
Josh is great, he has produced my music for a good three or four years now and we work well together. He is a phenomenal multi-instrumentalist with a great ear for instrumentation and arranging so I feel privileged to work alongside him. Other musicians – Karl Florissen, Harry Winton, Gregory Brenton and Lucky Oceans –were great as well. they are all super talented individuals so it really is special having them on these tunes.
What were the inspirations for the songs on this EP?
Musically there is a lot of inspiration drawn from Amos Lee and Chris Stapleton. Those two are probably in my top five favourite artists of all time and their music has been hugely influential to the way I think about things like instrumentation and the overall sound of the recording. Personally though, the inspiration comes from several places. Each song has its own theme, like the necessity to live freely, to love wholeheartedly or to understand that we change as people. All these songs were inspired by particular events or contextual factors in my life.
Congratulations on being a finalist for the Listen Up Songwriting Competition with your song Find My Way Through. That must be exciting for you?
Firstly, thank you so much! It is rather exciting, I’m currently in Sydney and the band guys arrive on Wednesday. Were all itching to get up there and play our little hearts out, hopefully we’ll take home the prize but we’ll see, there are some seriously talented artists competing!
What is the song Find My Way Through about?
I tend to avoid getting into the nitty gritty of this song, it’s extremely personal and something I think is best left to the lyrics. To give a little summary though, it’s about particular events that took place in my life earlier this year that I wasn’t overly satisfied with and felt that writing it into a song was probably the most necessary thing to do. That is a little ambiguous but the song will describe it better than I ever will.
What plans do you have for the future? Touring? Writing more music?We’re hoping to do some shows around May next year throughout Australia but haven’t made any concrete plans yet. As for recording new music, I have been in the studio with Josh laying down some more demos and we’re thinking of potentially commencing work on a debut album pretty soon.
Interview by Anastasia Lambis
Follow Brandon Poletti on Spotify…