Meet Scarlett Brais of Scarlett and The Fever in Whittier

Today we’d like to introduce you to Scarlett Brais.

Scarlett, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up with a true love for music and performing. Really, since the earliest age I can remember, it’s been a dream of mine to write, record and perform in my own act. I was blessed with parents who understood my passion and believed I would benefit from a formal performing arts education, and so they prioritized piano and dance lessons for me all throughout my childhood and teenage years.

In high school, I fell in love with singing and excelled in the school choir concerts and musicals. At the age of 16, I began teaching piano lessons to a few families in my community. This quickly turned into a pretty lucrative business venture as I continued to grow my home studio and expertise, and was able to help pay for my college music education at Cal State Long Beach. In 2010, I graduated and received my Bachelor’s of Music with an emphasis in Vocal Performance.

After college, I was torn between what areas of music I wanted to pursue most. I was still teaching quite a bit, and also choreographing and co-directing full-length musicals for children’s theatre and the local high school. As much as I loved working behind the scenes though, my heart longed to be onstage. I had always been a choral and theatrical singer and even had plans to move to New York to pursue a career on Broadway, but there was a bigger part of me that wanted to create something completely my own. As fate would have it, I landed my first gig as the keyboardist and female vocalist for an original reggae/ska band. I had never played these styles of music before and it was humbling learning how to play with the right attack and finesse to fit the genre. Reggae music is something you have to FEEL in order to learn, and this new experience forced me out of my comfort zones and opened doors for me that I never would have imagined. I did a lot of guest performances and collaborative work with other bands and artists until I finally decided to create my own project so to have complete creative freedom to do and say whatever I wanted. I took all my personal savings, invested in a studio space, and began my journey as Scarlett and The Fever.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’ve had my fair share of setbacks and complications along the way. I’ve had to overcome sexism, racism, dishonesty, disrespect… you name it.  Not to mention overcoming my own fear and self-doubt when things get rough or I find myself in a negative headspace. Also pursuing music at this level is an expensive passion, and one of the biggest challenges has been figuring out how to fund the project primarily on my own. But…I enjoy investing in and fighting for my dream! I believe in my dream.  And a loving reaction from an admiring fan or audience shows me that this is all meant for something.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a professional musician and performing arts educator living and working here in Los Angeles. I manage my own seven-piece band, Scarlett and The Fever, and I’ve been writing, producing, recording and performing with this project for almost six years now. We are a team of trained musicians and like-minded individuals who specialize in fusing Neo-Soul and Jazz music with classic RnB flavors and Reggae rhythms.  We perform all throughout southern California.

As an educator, I have over 16 years of experience teaching piano, voice, dance and guitar lessons to students of all ages. I hold the choir director position for Braille Institute’s Johnny Mercer Children’s Choir, where I lead a choir of about 20 visually impaired and blind students between the ages of 8-18. We perform all over Southern California and most recently we made our Hollywood Bowl debut in July 2019, performing alongside 80’s pop icon, Cyndi Lauper.

I’m so blessed that I’ve been able to combine these two worlds (performance vs. teaching) by integrating my bandmates into our choir concerts and other events. A unique quality about The Fever is that every member has experience as a music educator to some degree, and this mutual bond of understanding and compassion within our group is really special.

It was January 2014 when I started the project with a tiny fanbase, two original songs and zero experience leading a band. But I never placed any limitations on myself or the band’s potential, and I worked hard, learning as much as I could to further develop my craft one day at a time. Now, nearly six years later, I have a wonderful, supportive, and growing fanbase, a full gig schedule, a stellar 7-piece band of brilliant musicians (and beautiful people), a catalog of at least 35 original tunes, one 5 track EP, one full-length album, two music videos, and an entirely new collection of music and visuals set to release in October of this year.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.scarlettandthefever.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarlettandthefever/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarlettandthefevermusic/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScarlettnFever

Image Credit:
Light Touches Photography, Cre8ive Design Studio, Fabian Photo, King Mantis Records, Braille Institute

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