Today we’d like to introduce you to Lelia Broussard.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m a songwriter and musician and have been making music professionally for the past ten years. I started out playing gigs in small clubs in New York, writing and collaborating with others as much as I could and recording my songs and pressing my own CD’s and merch, I planned DIY tours with other singer/songwriter friends.
I started doing a small circuit on the east coast and then eventually made my way touring across the country. We slept on couches, air mattresses, and the rare hotel room. I drove in whatever vehicle I could get my hands on. Everything from a Honda Civic, to borrowing a friend’s SUV, to eventually the exceedingly glamorous 15 passenger van. (It was not glamorous) I released several records on my own, continued touring and started making some headway. I signed a publishing deal and got a manager that was passionate about what I was doing. I had a group of friends that I was touring with and we would act as each other’s band for each of our respective sets. We eventually started writing songs together and we loved making music together so much that we knew we needed to make this project into a band. We wrote and recorded an album and pretty quickly after that, signed a deal with Cherrytree / Interscope records. We toured all over the US and abroad for about three years until the label folded and subsequently, the band broke up, as bands do.
After that, I moved to Los Angeles to start the next chapter. I’ve been working on my new project, Jupiter Winter, which is a collaboration between myself and Royce Whittaker. We’re just starting to release music and get it off the ground which is really exciting. I’ve been writing and producing music for film and television and other artists. I also tour in other artist’s bands playing guitar, bass, and vocals. It’s been more of a zig zagging journey than a linear one, but one thing has always led to the next and I think we always end up exactly where we’re meant to.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Anything but! Getting anyone to pay attention to what you’re doing can feel like you’re just shooting rocks into the abyss. It goes without saying that the music industry can be really tough. I’ve experienced so many rejections and disappointments over the years. Sometimes it feels really hard to keep coming back to it, but at the end of the day music is how I express myself and I would do it if no one was listening.
One good thing about this age of music and the internet is that whatever niche thing you’re into, you can find an audience of people that are really into that niche thing too. I’m a firm believer that good music will always find it’s audience. I try to tune out the noise of other people and of my own self-criticism and just do my best at making the kind of music I’m really excited about.
My biggest struggle has been with my own self-doubt. Sometimes that can feel really crippling but I’m learning how to make that voice a little bit quieter. When I’m going down that rabbit hole, a gratitude practice helps to pull me back down to reality.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I’m a songwriter and a musician. I think the thing I do best is making honest songs that people connect with emotionally.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
It’s really hard to say. The music industry has been changing so rapidly over the last 15 years and now with the public health crisis we’re facing with COVID-19, it’s changing every facet of an already volatile industry. Touring and merchandising was one of the last remaining ways for an artist to really make money, and it seems like we won’t be seeing any major touring for at least a full year. I think one thing that’s changed that we’ll continue to see is a higher volume of output, but with smaller bodies of work. Lots of singles and EP’s. More established artists will still make albums but it’s almost become lost art at this point. People consume so much media on a daily basis and have such short attention spans. Artists are adapting to become more prolific by putting out new music and other content out more frequently.
Contact Info:
- Website: jupiterwinter.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leliabroussard/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leliabroussardmusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/leliabroussard
Image Credit:
Nicole Mago, Rob Bondurant (white wall)
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