Check Out Wett Brain’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wett Brain.

Hi Wett, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a professional recording artist that goes by the stage name “Wett Brain” I’ve done upwards of 100 million streams across a catalog of only around 30–40 songs, which stats wise puts me somewhere in the top 0.5% to 1% of artists or something like that. It’s really not about numbers to me at all tho tbh, I only mention it to give some context as to my level of commercial success thus far and experience in music.
I’m originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, but I’ve lived on the westside of Los Angeles for about the last 10 years. I got into skateboarding really young, and honestly I think that’s what eventually led me into music.
Early on, I really just played guitar. Being from a beach town and being into skateboarding, surfing, and music, there was also just a really heavy drug culture around me growing up. At least within my peer group and the environment I came up in. I got into hard drugs pretty young, and addiction ended up derailing my life for roughly the next 10 years.
During that time, my girlfriend Megan accidentally overdosed and died in my apartment when I was around 20 or 21. That experience completely destroyed me emotionally and made staying sober even harder than it already was. Shortly after that, my family relocated me to California hoping it would help me get sober, which I pretty epically failed at for the next few years.
Around 26 or 27 though, I finally started taking sobriety more seriously. A big part of that honestly came from meeting my friend Jules Muck (“Muckrock”), who’s a very well-known artist in Venice. She was probably the first genuinely cool sober person I’d ever met, and she was also the first person to start calling me “wett Brain.” the term is also slang for a medical condition ppl can get from drinking too much. the term can also be found in the “big book” of alcoholics anonymous.
By that point I had learned how to produce and record myself, and I had started singing. Before getting sober, I was basically locked in my room on drugs trying to make EDM music. Once I got sober though, I finally had enough clarity to realize I was actually a much better singer and songwriter than producer, although i still do produce a fair amount of my stuff.
That’s when I started releasing music professionally as Wett Brain. My first song, “Don’t Lie to Me,” did really well almost immediately, and that eventually led to a good amount of success in my music career.
I definitely relapsed throughout the years, and addiction slowed things down at times, but thankfully my relapses usually didn’t last super long before I hit bottom again and had to sober up again. And no matter what i kept putting out music pretty consistently ive never really stopped for too long a period of time tbh. Despite all the chaos, I managed not to really burn any bridges within the music industry either, which I’m grateful for.
As my career grew, I eventually signed a record/distribution deal and got some money, although honestly that probably just made things worse for a while. I’ve signed a few smaller deals throughout my career, but for the most part I’ve remained mostly a DIY independent artist.
Around the same time, the music industry really shifted into the TikTok/Reels era where short-form content became the main driver for exposure. That adjustment has honestly been difficult for me because when I first got into music, that culture didn’t really exist yet. There used to be a lot more ways to organically build a fanbase and get exposure for your music outside of constantly making short videos. But whether I like it or not, that’s the landscape now, so I’ve been trying to adapt, get better at content, and continue slowly building my brand and audience.
A few months ago, I had probably the most impactful experience of my life. I went to jail for about 7–10 days, and while I was in there I somehow lost basically everything. My car got impounded, I was in the middle of moving when I got arrested so I lost most of my belongings, including computers with all my unfinished music on them, and my someone stole all the money in my bank account while I was locked up.
When I got out, all I really had to my name was a hoodie, a pair of jeans, and shoes without laces because jail takes them. That was basically my entire life for a good few weeks.
Eventually I was able to get a small amount of money from some music-related work, which helped me get a another car, and a friend let me stay at his sober living while I got back on my feet. Which was really really nice of him. shout out to Nonno Recovery in redondo beach. Today I’ve got four months sober, a car again, clothes, possessions, recording equipment, and honestly a completely different mindset.
Losing everything was devastating, but it also changed me in a way nothing else ever has. For the first time in my life, I genuinely feel like I might actually stay sober long term because of what I went through. I’m still rebuilding and it’s definitely still a struggle at times, but I’ve at least gotten to a point where im starting to feel like I can finally start to breathe a teeny tiny bit again and start putting my life back together.
Right now I’m mainly focused on music, sobriety, and continuing to build my future. I’m about to launch a clothing line called “All Junkies Go to Heaven,” release official wett Brain merch for the first time, and put out a bunch of new music. More than anything though, I just want to stay sober, keep growing, and hopefully help others too. that’s really what its all about tbh.
So yeah — that’s pretty much how I got to where I’m at now, in a nutshell.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
i already said alot of this on the previous question but:

It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Addiction has been the biggest obstacle throughout both my life and music career. I struggled with relapsing for years, lost my girlfriend to an accidental overdose when I was young, and more recently went through a major reset after losing basically everything while spending a short time in jail.

At the same time, adapting to how much the music industry shifted toward short-form content has also been challenging. But today I’m sober, rebuilding my life, and more focused than ever.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a recording artist, songwriter, and creative that goes by the name “wett Brain.” I’ve built a mostly independent career that’s done over 100 million streams across a relatively small catalog of music. My sound blends elements of alternative rock, reggae, emo rap, hip hop, punk, and indie music in a way that feels really unique, raw, and emotionally honest.

I think what sets me apart most is that almost everything I do comes from real-life experience. A lot of my music is rooted in addiction, loss, recovery, relationships, and personal growth, so people tend to connect with it on a deeper emotional level. I’ve also remained mostly DIY throughout my career, which allowed me to build a very genuine fanbase and creative identity without heavily relying on major labels.

Lately I’ve also been expanding creatively outside of music into clothing, branding, and visual art direction with projects like my upcoming clothing line “All Junkies Go to Heaven.”

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think pursuing any kind of creative career seriously is already a major risk, especially in music. I moved across the country, stayed mostly independent, and put everything I had into building a career off my art without really having a backup plan. Financially and emotionally, that’s definitely been risky at times.

At the same time though, I think some risks are worth taking if they align with who you really are. A lot of my music and career decisions came from trusting my instincts instead of chasing trends, even when that probably would’ve been the “safer” option commercially.

I also think getting sober has honestly been one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken in a weird way, because it forced me to completely rebuild my life and identity from scratch. But looking back, it’s also been the most rewarding decision I’ve made.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wettbrain
• Twitter: https://x.com/wettbrainmusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@wettbrain
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/4tgT4GS6CfjXm6R9JK
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rRR4a0u50S9JNZtL4OB5K?si=R9rgU1RCRriTlg3LP1yGUw