Get Your Groove On: Branch Anthony on Inspiration, Creativity, and the Universal Language of Michael Jackson

Branch Anthony, known widely across Manhattanville University’s campus for their unique style in everything from their fashion to their music, is a talent begging to be played anywhere from late at night when you’re in your feels to that party with the music that could use a bump. Tackling young love and the jagged edges that come with modern youth and connection, Branch Anthony’s music can be expected to have the soft pop-rock elements found in artists such as Blood Orange and Tame Impala while simultaneously retaining some classic sounds from the 80s. From North Carolina to New York, Branch’s journey has been a long, winding one of self-discovery, and we get into all of it in our interview.

Who were some artists that really influenced or inspired you growing up?

I grew up listening to everything, honestly. My mom had such an eclectic music taste growing up that she just played whatever she liked to hear, and then my brother and my sister also had their own types of music taste. My brother listened to a lot of rap music, and my sister listened to a lot of, like, punk rock and girly Disney channel shit, so, like, that was kind of what I grew up with. And then my Dad was a DJ, so he kind of just played whatever he had when he was around, but I think the first artist that I really liked and that I feel like I really just vibed to was Michael Jackson. That’s usually everybody’s first answer but for me, oh my God, you couldn’t tell me shit, I wanted to be him at nine years old, I was like ‘Oh my God, he’s a child doing this and then he grew up and became popular,’ and I’m like ‘Ugh, where can I go, like singing lessons now, dancing lessons now!’ So it would be Michael Jackson, and then maybe a weird one for me was, I listened to a lot of fifties and sixties stuff growing up, too, and there’s this singer named Annette Funicello, and she was like one of the first really big teen idol people. I don’t know, I just liked listening to it. It just kind of felt comforting to listen to that, so yeah. I’d say Michael Jackson and Annette Funicello.

What does your creative process look like from writing through production of a song or an album?

So, the first part is to go through shit. I like to start there when talking about the creative process because I probably wouldn’t have a lot to write about unless I went through the things I went through, unless you just have a really active imagination. Those are the two things you really need when writing stuff. I would say that’s kind of where that begins. Producing is a little harder. I can come up with a sound I kind of want, and there’s some songs I produce that I really like and some others that are, like, hot garbage, but mostly, and this is a little trick I’ve found that’s really helped me, I just find stuff on YouTube that I like to listen to and that kind of goes with what I’m writing. But when it comes to making or producing my own stuff I like playing around with samples. I love samples. I like just finding the weirdest fucking things I can put together. I find things from songs that, like, producers have put down and I try to see if I can blend them together into a nice, cohesive way. Then it’s putting it with words and recording. I know everyone has a fun little studio, but I record in my bedroom! With no mic, I use my headphone mic because that’s cheap! [laughs] I don’t know, I record in studios sometimes, and then I just record on the go or in my room because I feel like it’s easier. It’s so much easier just to have something there when you’re writing stuff, you don’t want to lose it the next day or something like that, so it’s easier to just record when something’s right next to you. So that’s kind of how that process goes.

You said the first thing to do when writing music is to start by experiencing things. How do you find that writing relatable music goes?

I would say I’m a little selfish and so I kind of think about myself a lot more when it comes to what I find at first. And then when it comes to other things, you know, like, I personally have gotten better at writing in terms of other peoples’ experiences, being more relatable in that sense.When I was younger and writing original stuff, when I was about 15 or 16, I was like ‘I’m gonna write this towards me, and be towards me and what I’m going through’, but then after awhile I was like, you can have an original experience or whatever, but once you reach a certain age, like once you get to college or when you get over the age of 18 pretty much, then you’re experiencing what it’s like being away from your parents and kind of having freedom and going through all this shit at this completely random time in your life. And so everybody goes through that. In their own little ways. And so kind of how I make it more relatable is that I just talk to people. I love listening to people’s stories and listening to things maybe we have in common, maybe we don’t have in common, things that we can talk about, laugh about, cry about. But I can also add my own input there, sort of like ‘you went through this entire thing, and now here’s how I react to it.’ Like that kind of thing. It’s very hard, I would say, to think about relatability. Some people can do it so well, I can’t. I don’t know why. I think that personally I stopped trying to think about relatability as much as possible because I feel like nothing will get done. Then I’m just, like, wondering if everybody is going to understand what I’m trying to say. But the thing is, nobody has to understand what you’re trying to say. I mean, obviously somebody has to, but it doesn’t have to be everybody. I can be a select few people in, like, Amsterdam, you know? So it’s more about finding a balance of what works for you at the time, because things can always change. 

How do you feel that other mediums of art (film, television, novels, etc) influences not just your music but the music you listen to as well?

Oh, it influences it so much! I think that music that I listen to, a lot of it is stuff that was inspired by other mediums of things in general. I’ve started to listen to a lot of film soundtracks recently, because I’m super interested in how it ties into stuff, what it means, why are they playing this song at this time with this character, that type of stuff. And I’ve found that to be very interesting for me personally, I would say there’s so much that media that has inspired me, just because I watch a lot. I watch a lot, I read a lot, things like that. I think the first song that I legitimately loved when I wrote it was this song called “Jason Dean”. It was about relating a relationship to being as toxic as JD from Heathers. And I was like ‘oh my God, this is great, this is beautiful!’ and now I’m like ‘okay what the hell’. But now it’s let me work with that type of stuff. Even in the non-writing portion, more like the creative aspect, like shooting an album cover, shooting all this stuff, you just get inspired by so much stuff, just things that you look at, things that you think of. For me, a lot of it is tying together the photography and what I’m writing about. Photographers like Robert Mapplethorpe, like he’s such an interesting guy, and I take a lot of inspiration from his photos. There’s this film called Pink Narcissus, which is this 1970s, like, almost erotic film, but everything’s just so pink and lush, and personally I would love to use it some day. But also I could definitely write within that experience, sort of how I feel when watching that, what I think that the character might be thinking, you know? It’s all just such a big part of the process for me. I’m sure people can go without it, make things without it, but I think you’re kidding yourself if you’re not inspired by, like, a book, or something you’ve seen. You know, people are even inspired by the Bible all the time! So yeah, I would say all of that is very big for artists, and I would say especially for me.

We talked about relatability earlier on. What do you hope your listeners will get from you, either emotionally or musically?

I hope that they can feel like somebody is kind of understanding what they’re going through. I know a lot of the stuff I’ve written I started right around when I was turning 21, and kind of still trying to understand who I am as an adult, and even just college in general. But also, you’re just trying to figure out who you are by yourself, being single, just out of a relationship, finding your gender identity, all that extra shit. It’s a lot to take in, so I feel like I really just want that to be something people can get out of it, especially if you’re going through the same shit. That’s cool! I also make music that people can dance to, so I want people to feel like they can dance to it, feel happy to dance, to vibe, to just put on when you need to just listen to something and get your groove on. I think those two things are the top two most important. But also just, I don’t know, I am definitely not what I would have listened to when I was like 15 or 16, and that’s because when I was that age I didn’t know who the hell I was, so, you know… people who are figuring out who you are, listen to my shit!

As a young artist growing up in a world where it seems the impact of art can often be overshadowed, how do you feel that art can still make a difference in people’s lives?

Hmm, that’s a good question. I’d say be more present outside of social media. I think that’s the real thing. Like, yes social media can bring people together and all that stuff, but learning how to grow a base outside of it and just learning how to perform, too. I think that’s one thing that’s super important. Learning how to perform, learning how to put on a show, just busking in the city subway, joining your local talent show at your school, like that’s a great way to start. Just being more present outside. Social media changes like that all the time, and it can be detrimental to people when their stuff isn’t “doing numbers” or going viral and stuff like that. So being present for sure, and then also just working with other people in whatever community it is. Like, you don’t have to wait for someone to reach 600 streams or 600 followers, or even 6000 followers to work with them. I feel like, you know, if you know them, work with them! I love working with other people, I think that is my favorite thing about what I do. I get to work with some really creative people and if I’m not that strong on one end of the process, they can help me bring my message along, and I think that’s such a great thing to have that kind of network, to support each other, not to tear each other down if someone else is “doing better”. That’s kind of how the cookie crumbles that that’s how things are a lot of the time, but just try your best to find a way out of that. Find a community, build a community, and just use social media as a tool, not a crutch.

Spotify stream link here.