Interview & suggestion of the day:
Brian Matthew Hadsell - Our Little Infinity
The most exciting part of running a music blog is discovering new talents – well, new to me at least, because as it turns out, Brian Matthew Hadsell is an experienced musician, having been the lead guitarist of two bands (A Coastline Ending and Move Out West) that produced several studio releases and toured the US extensively.
In 2013 however, Brian moved to San Francisco to start a solo career as a singer/songwriter. Admittedly, I still have to get round to listening to most of the material he has released since then (Bandcamp ), but if it’s anything like his latest EP, I’m bound to fall in love with it.
„The purpose of my music is to create positive, lyrically focused songs for people to find comfort in. This is a collection of songs about spending time with a loved one Whether it be driving along the coast on the beach during sunsets, or having wonderful conversations on city rooftops with the skyline in the background.“ Cheesy? Fear not, Brian’s songs are much too honest and passionate to fall into that category. Plus, despite the positive message of the lyrics, the vocals transpire a certain sadness – it would have been a real waste if Brian had sticked to „just“ playing guitar!
Brian also kindly agreed to answer a few questions I had:
Our Little Infinity inevitably makes me think of The Fault In Our Stars – is that where the title comes from?
Yes!! That is where the title comes from. I was on a date a couple months back and we went to go see the movie “The Fault In Our Stars” The date wasn’t going that well so I just really watched the movie and fell in love with that part when they mentioned “Our Little Infinity” and said “I”m going to call the next release that”
10% of your sales are donated to ADHD/Heart Disease research and education. Is there any special reason for that?
Yes they are and absolutely. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was a child and it has carried over into adulthood for me which is common with many people, at any rate daily battles are faced by myself and millions of others who live with this condition. I wanted to donate to help in the research of where it comes from and exactly what it is, and to help educate those that have it and those that don’t have it about what the medical community does know about ADHD/ADD, because learning about it with the information that is out there has helped me very much. I hope that by contributing it can help others understand it and deal with it as well.
Heart Disease runs in my family. We develop what is called atherosclerosis, which is a gradual clogging of the arteries in your heart. As I was getting older I started thinking about my health and so I started learning more about Heart Disease. The leading cause of death for men and women is Heart Disease and 600,000 people die in the USA due to Heart Disease every year. One of the things I learned is that by making good choices for your heart it can help prevent any problems down the road. When I learned all this I said I need to get behind helping aid in the education and research of Heart Disease because it is avoidable, it affects myself, many other people and many of them could also be my listeners. The bottom line is if I can use this career as a way to help others I am going to do that.
You started with music at the age of 12 – was there a certain moment when you decided that it was what you wanted to do for the rest of your life?
Yes. I got my first guitar for Christmas when I was twelve, it was an acoustic guitar. I grew up with music, I remember listening to Raffi tapes when I was a child and singing country music in the car with my mother (she sings as well) and rocking out to Aerosmith, Tom Petty, and Green Day with my father and brother (my father is a wealth of rock knowledge, he has/had a very large record collection). I knew I wanted to play guitar when I was very young. My family went to visit some family members out of state and I saw my cousin named Mark playing guitar and I remember thinking it was the coolest thing and that I wanted to do that, so that started my journey with guitar. Even with most of my life surrounded with and being involved in music the moment I decided it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life was shortly after I moved out to San Francisco (I actually live in Berkeley but I say SF) I said “This is new and this is on my own and if I don’t do it now life will not be what it should be so I am going to marry the music and do nothing else” it can be scary but I don’t look at the fear, that won’t get me anywhere, so shortly after moving to California to answer the question.
What was your main motiviation to start a solo career?
The main motivation to start the solo career was that I always wrote songs but never followed through with them. I would write lyrics here and there, or write guitar riffs or parts, sometimes make whole songs but never release them. Going solo was a way for me to challenge myself, to face the man in the mirror and say “Well here you are, no excuses, no one to lean on do you really have it or can you not hack it”
Where do you usually find your inspiration?
All of my inspiration comes from the life I live with my best friend Chris and his Girlfriend Jenan. We share a house in Berkeley and all of the songs are written about our lives and what happens with/to us. I feel that you need to write what you live and that this is a perfect way for me to show the love, trust, and respect I have with them and they are family to me.
You have released quite a few songs already – what are your plans for the future?
Yes I have. My plans for the future are to keep releasing music, I want to release new music as often as I can which means acoustic releases between my full band releases (acoustic songs take less time to record than full band and offer another side of songwriting which I think is important and they also offer more tour options), I am constantly writing and working on plans to record. I would also like to tour in Europe, I would love to go to England, and then to tour in the United States. I am also working on getting my songs placed in Movies and Television.
Is there anything else you’d like to get off your chest?
I would like to say thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to answer questions and for allowing musicians a place to be heard. I would also like to say that I hope everyone enjoys the music and to always do what you want in life, it may be scary and you may be unsure but give it time and focus on the “Why” you do something (I have found that to be helpful) and I always remember this advice from my mother “You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it” .
Thank you very much, Brian, and all the best for the future!