Check Out Kyle Briskin’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Briskin.

Hi Kyle , it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Hi! My name is Kyle Briskin and I am a musician based in Los Angeles, CA. I am originally from Atlanta, GA and moved out here originally in 2019 just months before the world shutdown and Covid was happening. I am in a band called Lucky Me as well as a producer and touring musician with other artists. I always knew I wanted to do something creative with my life from a young age. I grew up in a household where my parents worked long corporate jobs and I played lots of sports growing up. I remember when I would come home from school or various sports practices and would play the video game “guitar hero” and just fell in love with music and specifically “performing”. I used to envision myself playing in front of large crowds and perfecting my stage presence haha. I loved the arts and was involved in theater, art classes, and school worship bands (i was attending a private christian school in atlanta, ga). As high school came closer to an end, I remember feeling a lot of pressure about which direction do I go in my life? Do I follow my parents footsteps and get a business degree or do I do something totally different and try and pave a way for myself in music? I got accepted into Belmont and pursued a degree in Music Business and I moved to Nashville in the fall of 2015. I quickly became very involved in the music scene and networking with different musicians and finding myself falling into the touring world. At the same time, I interned for a music producer in Franklin, TN. This internship turned into a long relationship with the studio I worked at for several years where I was assisting Ed Cash (Grammy winning christian music producer) and getting to watch records being made in front of my eyes. It made me really fall in love with the idea of collaboration and putting together a team to record and bring an artist’s vision to life. I started getting really into music production and working not only on my own music but producing/writing for others. It was a busy time in my life because I was also touring and traveling all over the United States as a college student. Fast forward to 2019, I found myself in another opportunity to intern for a songwriter/producer named David Hodges who just moved to Nashville from LA. This was a completely different experience where I was watching a writer build demos and navigate a career more in the pop music world. From hanging out one night with Ed Sheeran and watching his demos get built out so quickly to seeing more insight on how songs get quickly turned around, it provided me with a lot of insight on how things worked in Nashville and tools I could add to my bag. At David’s studio, I met two other producers that I became close with, and they asked me if I was interested in moving to Los Angeles the summer of 2019. Coincidentally, I was in a season of life where I was really ready for a change from Nashville, and I had always dreamed of living in Los Angeles. The mountains, beaches, 24/7 sun was something I never experienced and I was excited to take a leap of faith. The three of us moved to LA and I remember just putting my head down and trying to write/produce with different artists on a weekly basis and building a network out here. A couple months go by, and boom, covid happens. The world shutdown. I remember feeling super weird and uncertain of what the future looked like and at that time 22 year old in me was overthinking and putting so much pressure on myself. I had so many good experiences in Nashville. I worked for some amazing producers and mentors, toured with different artists, and was very comfortable, but then here I was now in a very uncomfortable place. During the covid pandemic, I got really into surfing and one weekend I went down to San Diego to surf. That day I ended up breaking my foot while out in the water, and was confined to a walking boot for 12 weeks. I got super depressed because I had been misdiagnosed twice, and the injury got pretty bad. I love physical activity and I feel like that is all I had during covid at times, and it just sent me into a deep depression where I was re-thinking everything, even music and art. Months later, I got a call from my friend, Conner Smith, in Nashville to tour with him but it required me to move back to Nashville. I felt like it was a sign from God. I had been praying and manifesting for something to point me back to music and I felt my gut telling me I had to go do it, so I did. I moved back to Nashville and ended up playing for Conner Smith and touring the US opening for Thomas Rhett. It was incredible experience and I am so grateful for it. I got to play some of my dream venues like Red Rocks Ampitheater, Shoreline, etc. After the couple year of touring came to a pause, I was in Nashville and back again feeling confused, depressed, sad. I realized deep down, that I missed LA and just had to be back out there and give it another chance. A chance this time, fulling taking a leap of faith, and doing what I have always wanted to do, which was put out my own music. One of my closest friends I had met out on a trip to LA, Connor Rivaldo, was coincidentally in Arkansas and going through a similar thing, and we got on the phone one day and just talked about all of our favorite bands like The Killers, Kings of Leon, Interpol, etc. and I remember him saying just before the call ended, “do you wanna start a band? Im going to be moving back to LA too”. I said “YES” and this really felt like my first time diving into the deep end but doing it fully for myself. I love being a part of other people’s dreams and helping build careers, but I realized I had never given myself the chance to do the same. It is a scary feeling but fast forward to today, I am so grateful that I did. Lucky Me, the band Connor and I started, is founded by two southerners who found themselves out in LA wanting to make music that makes their younger selves proud and to build an indie rock scene that is non-existent right now. I am talking about an indie-rock scene similar to the early 2000s and what was happening in New York and other cities at that time. We have been a band now for techincally three years, but just started putting music out about two years ago. My dream is to build a community for indie rock artists in LA and to bring back a sound that was once so loved and heard everywhere on the radio. My hopes are for us to tour the US soon and keep releasing music and building our community. I would also love to eventually get into acting and collaborating with artists in that realm as well.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No it definitely has had its ups and downs as I have mentioned. From physical injuries I have had that put me into bad mental spaces to very difficult career decisions, I have learned a lot over the years. I had the opportunity early on while I was in Nashville to be in a band that got signed by a major label. I realized that I, personally, was not ready to devote my life at that time fully to that and to be tied down to Nashville. I wanted to do more and always knew I wanted to travel and live some place else. Maybe at that time, I didn’t realize I wanted to be an artist and release my own music, but I feel like if I didn’t go down the other path, I wouldn’t have gotten to that realization or learned the things I have learned to help me where I am today.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a producer/songwriter/performer/actor and I love collaboration. I started touring professionally in music when I was 15 years old and still in school. I was the youngest one and learned a lot from those experiences being around people older than you. I have found that if I can be a good hang and someone people want to be around, that will give me an advantage. Those experience matured me quickly I feel like and not to say that is the most important thing. You have to be good at your craft whether that is guitar, bass, drums, singing, you at least have to put the time in to practicing and getting good at what you do. I, by no means, am an expert musician at all, but I practiced a lot and always showed up to gigs prepared. I feel like the same can go for production as well and working with artists. You can be skilled at what you do, but a lot of it has to do with your interpersonal skills and how an artist feels in the room when you are working with them. I love championing artists ideas and making them feel comfortable and inspired when I get to spend time with them. I have found myself applying a lot of these same things now to when I am working on my own artist project, Lucky Me, and writing songs with my bandmate Connor.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success can mean a lot of things to different people, but for me it is just doing the things I love and that make me happy and truly feed my soul for as long as I can do them. I feel like at this point I have lived a lot of different lives and done different things within music, but nothing truly has fed my soul as much as finally taking a gamble on myself and doing something I have always wanted to do, which is start a band and release my own music.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luckymeband/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LuckyMeBand
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/76nQodUXJKG8tv0eorwqCb?si=7aRrKZh7SeGnMzf-qUhuRA

Image Credits
Matt Kallish; Cooper Smith; Bryce Glenn; Charlie Stern; Hunter Lyon