Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Baumann.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Brandon. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Music has impacted my life from as early as I can remember. Growing up in Seattle, being the youngest of six boys, there was no shortage of musical discovery on a consistent basis. I remember being seven years old, laying on my bedroom floor listening to 99.9 KISW on an old beat-up boombox radio, in complete wonderment of bands like Alice in Chains and Nirvana. I didn’t know what or how they were doing what they were, but I knew that it made me feel a certain type of way. Powerful, connected, impassioned.
These beginning stages of “shock and awe” only intensified as time went on and I can now see how truly special it was growing up in that environment during the grunge movement, as it was happening right outside my back door. I had unrestricted access to my brother’s cassette and CD collections, so it was quite literally revelation after revelation with each new discovery. I saw my first live concert at the age of eight and was handed down my very first guitar at the age of ten. Those pivotal moments ultimately shaped the way I would view the world around me and set me on an unknown path with a limitless trajectory. Even though I couldn’t articulate it at the time, I knew I wanted to find a way to create music, leave my mark on the artistic world, and inspire others the way that this music inspired me.
By the time I turned 13, we were now living in San Jose, California, and little did I know, the discovery and love of all things music only intensified and started to cement its place in my life for good. Being the isolated new kid in town, for a brief period, I reluctantly shifted focus from the bands and sounds I had cut my teeth on and embraced a whole new world of music I never had true exposure to. For starters, I finally had access to cable television. At this stage, MTV was ultra-prevalent, and the invent of ‘Total Request Live’ uncovered artists I’d not previously been privy to — Korn, Limp Bizkit, Eminem — my portable Sony Discman and these artists were my companions as I adapted to my new surroundings.
As time marched onward, I found myself at 15 with a whole new group of friends and a whole new group of influences. Digging deep into the world of Metallica, Black Label Society, Ozzy and contrastingly enough — all things 80’s — my best friend and I bonded over these artists and started a band of our own. Diamond Lane. We hit the ground running, and never relented for a second. Slowly, the pursuit of taking this band to unprecedented heights consumed our existence. After recording and releasing several albums, playing shows locally and building a strong following, garnering radio play, touring regionally and consistently growing DL year after year, we found ourselves wanting more. Enter the new plan: move to Los Angeles, just like many of our heroes had done, in pursuit of greater opportunity. And that’s just what we did.
By January 2009, we had liquidated any and all excess possessions packed my truck to the hilt and officially relocated to an apartment right off of Hollywood Blvd. Those days were anything but glamorous, but we made the absolute best of them and had a blast while doing it. The following decade brought us a slew of many highs and many lows, but generally, the good always outweighed the bad. Don’t let anyone tell you that keeping a band of five different personalities on the same page and path is an easy feat, because well, it’s damn near impossible. No matter how awesome the sold-out shows on the Sunset Strip were, the awesome festivals we played in the midwest, everything is about timing. The only things we can truly control are our effort and attitude. As the band began to unravel, instead of watching it burn, I knew it was time to hit “pause” and shift gears.
Now I find myself on the precipice of launching my debut solo album “Manifestation” and a new career. While the facade looks different in 2020, the fire inside stills burns brightly, and I’m genuinely excited to keep discovering and find out what’s next. No matter where the road takes me, I still try to keep that young version of myself rolling around on the floor listening to the radio, alive and as curious as ever. Sing to live, live to sing.
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 would not use the word smooth to describe the road I’ve traveled, in any capacity whatsoever. There have been no hand-outs or leg-ups along the journey, and I think that iron-clad tenacity, to keep grinding in the face of adversity, is what ultimately defines our character. These scars I wear have been earned, and if there’s one place where I know I am worthy of belonging, it’s in the challenging landscape that is the music business, and creative world in general. Teflon skin is a must. Belief in yourself is paramount because more often than not, you’ll have doors slammed in your face and access denied, regardless of talent. Struggles along the way? I could write a book. Maybe I will. But if you can imagine it, it probably happened somewhere along the path.
The commonplace horror stories are commonplace for a reason! Being ripped off by promoters and abused by clubs not holding up their end of the bargain. Shady managers embezzling money. Deceptive contracts. Under-appreciated and underpaid. Internal band conflicts, members quitting two days before month-long national tours. The brakes on the bus (think old old bus, nothing fancy) breaking down in the desert and stranding the band for four days. Cancelled dates, cancelled tours. More replacement members. Botched deal offers, being told one thing and getting another.
These are just samplings of the downside in being a band, running a business and pursuing something greater than oneself. Was it all bad? Absolutely not. But it’s that resolve, that willingness to dust yourself off, examine where things went astray, adjust and continue the unrelenting pursuit… that’s the difference-maker. Because I refuse to back down and know what I’m capable of contributing, is exactly why all the peril only fuels the current pursuit. I’m a lifer.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
After doing the band thing for a lifetime, 2020 finds me embarking on my very first journey as a solo artist. My debut album “Manifestation” is available worldwide starting January 31st! I am extremely proud of this body of work and I am now fueled up and inspired like never before, yearning to leave my mark on the artistic world. This body of work is my most personal and evolved to date, and was created out of an urgent necessity to pull myself out of the darkness and shine a light for me to lean on in these next steps. Every word, every riff.
I have songs in my heart that has been shaped by the lens of my experiences. Life is far from easy, but the power of our minds is where the never-ending capability resides. Thoughts become reality, and where we focus is where the road leads. Manifestation is real. I’m living proof because I’m still here — to try and tell my story, to exercise my demons, and to share my voice with the world — that’s the cycle that keeps propelling me forward. To contribute to the conversation and soak up as much beauty as possible, while spreading something beautiful in return… that is the ultimate goal.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I wouldn’t consider myself to be lucky, in either good or bad form. Luck, to me, is a synonym for preparation. Luck is something, someone, from the outside-looking-in views when they see the end result of someone’s relentless hard work, without having a context of their journey. Preparation meets opportunity = luck.
Hunter S. Thompson once said that “luck is a very thin wire between survival and disaster, and not many people can keep their balance on it.” Can random things happen that are out of our control, for better or worse? Absolutely. They do every day. But to assign something as trivial as “getting lucky” to an incredible situation denies the alignment of many circumstances coming together to define that particular moment.
Am I lucky? No. Am I blessed with a great support system and the ability/willingness to tirelessly work to be the best version of myself and what I have to contribute to the creative world? Absolutely. I don’t take that notion for granted, because some people would chalk up my opportunities of past, present and future, to be luck. I prefer to call it hard work in alignment with access. Comparison is a killer because all situations are unique. Like many things, perspective is defined by what lens we choose to look through. Thoughts become things… believe it!
Pricing:
- My debut album “Manifestation: retails for $7.99 — old school bargain price for something fresh in 2020!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.BrandonBaumann.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/b.r.a.n.d.o.n.b
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BrandonBaumannMusic
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2lDY3MoICGU2DGfVefDZLQ
Image Credit:
Tamea Agle, David Ruelas, Kevin Custer
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