Today we’d like to introduce you to Brent Nuffer.
Hi Brent, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Thank you to VoyageLA for this opportunity to speak to you. Thank you for all the light that you shine on the Musicians, Artists & Entrepreneurs here in Los Angeles. We’d like to take this opportunity to share a bit about The Sunday Night Revue. If I may, The Sunday Night Revue is a monthly residency held at the legendary Hotel Cafe every 3rd Sunday. How it works is we select an Iconic Artist each month and invite Los Angeles Songwriters & Musicians to interpret the music. Unlike all the other Jam nights here in Los Angeles, TSNR never uses a backing band or a pre-arranged song list. Instead, our performers are encouraged to select any song they would like and interpret the song in whatever way they feel through their own artistic lens. We are all Songwriters first, so this gives our performers a chance to be creative and think outside of the box on one of the most relevant and iconic stages in Los Angeles. It keeps things interesting for us and the audience as well. It is so inspiring to discover a new way to look at a song, take a Nirvana song and perform it on a Ukule or a Stevie Wonder song on a banjo. We’ve seen it all! The mission of TSNR is to help create a strong and supportive Music Community here is Los Angeles. I am native to Michigan and the Detroit music scene. At the time, it was a very supportive scene where we all went to each other’s shows, collaborated with each other, bought each other’s music, etc. When I moved to Los Angeles, I found quite the opposite. In all fairness, I knew no one at the time or where I really fit in. I recall one of my first shows here, I had forgotten my guitar chord. I had asked the Songwriter that went on before me if I could use his. His response was “Nope, gotta go.” That definitely took me back a few steps.
In that moment I told myself if I work hard enough at this, my goal was to be in the position to change that attitude. After some time working the scene and meeting other Artists, The Sunday Night Revue was formed in 2018. We started at Lost Property in Hollywood and soon outgrew it. We are grateful to Lost Property for giving us a chance and a start. I had gotten to know the good people at Hotel Cafe by then and asked if we could move TSNR to Hotel Cafe. From day one everyone at Hotel Cafe has been so supportive and they’ve become good friends. At the heart of TSNR is to not only build a strong music community but to also help support the communities around us. We’ve been able to work with and help support the work of MUSICARES, the LAFD, St. Jude, The Midnight Mission, Alexandria House and so many others. Music & the Arts can be used as a vehicle to give a voice to our communities and to help lift them up where we can. In 2021, I found ELECTRIC MOON Foundation and we work to bring the healing energy of Music & the Arts to our youth that it may not otherwise reach. You can learn more at electricmoon.org TSNR has been an integral part of our growth. In addition to the Music, we also have what we call a Live Painting Experience. We invite local Artists to create a painting live in relation to what they hear and feel in the music around them. We are so grateful to Hotel Cafe for opening their doors to us and all of the support they’ve given us.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In the beginning, our biggest challenge was finding enough Artists to fill the night, which is a two-hour program. We were still new to the scene and meeting new songwriters was not always easy. I remember thinking we gotta hustle now, but eventually, the Artists will come to us. Our lineup now fills up within a few hours of announcing the next theme. There are plenty of challenges in putting on a big production, always working to find a larger audience and gather interest in what we do. We feel as though we offer something unique and we’ve build up an amazing group of not only gifted songwriters but also very good people. The reward is seeing songwriters that met at a TSNR go on to become friends and do shows together and collaborate. That’s the best feeling cause that’s where it’s at! That’s why we do this! We are lucky, I’d say 98% of the musicians we work with are focused on their work, no ego and out to support one another and have a good time. One of our challenges is to curate the evening in a way that all the Artists are happy & making sure we selected the right Artist to celebrate that will draw and excite an audience. The criteria in selecting the evening’s Artist is based around their body of work, influence, how vital and relevant they may still be and also their humanitarian efforts. We have honored U2, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Pearl Jam, Prince, Nirvana, MoTown, Dolly Parton, Beck, Paul McCartney, The Pretenders, The Beatles just to name a few.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work as a solo artist can be found under the name ArthurAutumn, and I’ve released three full-length albums to date. arthurautumn.com. I’ve also been a part of BARBARIAN OVERLORDS, we released to full-length albums and are currently on indefinite hiatus. I also released to albums with a band in Michigan called Studiotone. After releasing records and doing the whole cycle since 2001, my main focus currently in upon building ELECTRIC MOON Foundation. Our Music & Art Programs include writing songs with the Kids so I am able to keep my chops up as a Songwriter in that way. We hope to record the songs to accompany an illustrated book sometime in the near future. Writing kid’s songs is probably the most challenging thing for a songwriter. Kids are very smart, especially the kids we work with, so it can be challenging to find lyrics they can relate to with big hooks that make them want to sing from the bottom of their hearts! It’s been a wonderful challenge as a songwriter and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to do the work.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
In this work, at every turn is an opportunity to collaborate! We collaborate at The Sunday Night Revue every evening which is always challenging and helps us break new ground artistically. I really enjoy collaborating with the kids in our EMF programs as they always have something insightful to say and they inspire me greatly. To learn more about ways to help support our work at ELECTRIC MOON Foundation, visit electricmoon.org
Interested in performing at The Sunday Night Revue or being a part of the Live Painting Experience? Email us @ [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: electricmoon.org
- Instagram: arthurautumn23
- Facebook: facebook.com/electricmoon.org
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcFWxfxX32c
Image Credits
Priscilla Bouillon Jasmine Day
