BRANDON CAULFIELD: A RELUCTANT SUPERSTAR



FOR THE BEST PART OF HIS ADULT LIFE,
BRANDON CAULFIELD HAS FOUND HIMSELF RUNNING SCARED,
BUT NOW AT 23 YEARS OLD HE SEEMS TO HAVE FOUND HIS PLACE,
A SELF-CONFESSED “WEIRDO” THAT USED TO HIDE HIMSELF AWAY
HE'S NOW COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT “ISOLATION MAKES ME FEEL LONELY THESE DAYS.”
AFTER 6 YEARS OF CONFUSION AND FEAR HE IS FINALLY IN A GOOD PLACE
AND IS READY FOR HIS “REDEMPTION”.

WORDS: DANNY GODDARD PORTRAIT: ELIZA LAKE

It’s an incredibly cold mid-morning in Indiana, as you make your way through Shelby County and into Bartholomew County you pass through several small towns and into Rock Creek, it’s about another 15 minute drive into a picturesque place called Elizabethtown, it’s a quiet little town with a little over 300 population. Surrounded by several hills and one beautiful river that stretches through into the neighbouring towns, at this time of year in particular it’s clear to see the appeal of this town and the effect that it has on quite possibly one of its most famous residents. It’s almost an impossibility to get lost out here with homes and buildings all within maybe a five minute walking distance, but it’s out on the very outskirts of the centre of town where the beauty of the place appears, there’s three rather large cabin’s located down by the river that runs through this small town and located somewhere down close to the river bank is the lake which has played host to the indie singer-songwriter, it’s the place that he calls his “Second home” and having read things about Caulfield in the past, it’s quiet clear why he holds this place in such high regard.

As I arrive at the location which was mapped out for me by the man himself a few weeks ahead of our arranged interview, I notice the view that I’m quite sure brings Caulfield out here so often, there’s a quietness that just leaves you in a thought-provoking state of mind, the sound of birds in the woodland area nearby are the only things that can be heard, that and the shimmering peacefulness of the river, to stand out on the bank in front of Caulfield’s lake house and take in the view doesn’t fail to leave you almost breathless, mountains in the distance, the air is as crisp and fresh as ever and the beautiful blue sky is like something out of a painting, it’s clearly a place that is held in high regard for Caulfield and as I turn to make my way across to the lake house owned by Caulfield there is the man standing on the front porch area in front of the doorway, he smiles at me and waits for me to sidle up towards the house, as I get close he stares out at the river and then looks back at me and smiles, “It’s quite a view, huh?” he runs his hand through his hair and continues, “You just gotta breathe it all, there ain’t no better place than this.” I arrive up the small steps and he greets me with a smile and a handshake, “Come on in” he welcomes me inside and I’m awestruck by the warmth that exudes this old-fashioned looking house, he brings over a drink and some snacks before we begin the interview.



Q: It’s quite a location that you’ve found here, It’s like something from a novel, How long have you known about this place?
Caulfield lets out a large breath of air as he thinks for a moment “It’s been a while man, my parents first brought us out to Indiana when I was, I guess I would have been about … seven or eight” He pauses and takes a quick drink of his coffee before continuing. “But Uhh, we came out here a few years back, I’d have been fifteen at the time and my parents allowed me to bring my friend out here, there was this day, it was raining real heavily, like I’d never seen before so there wasn’t much to do and me and my friend decided to do a little exploring … we jumped on this train that ran through the neighbouring towns and it before we could get very far we decided to get off and turns out we stopped in Elizabethtown, it was like a ghost town back then … it’s even more so now, that old train track isn’t there anymore so it’s almost a forgotten town, I think the population was almost four hundred a couple of years ago but there’s not enough industry here to keep those numbers up and so people are leaving regularly, but to be honest I don’t think it’s cut out for a permanent place to live for most people, I mean … I come out here a lot but it’s more of a retreat for me these days.”

Q: Your primary home is Los Angeles though, The difference between the two couldn’t be any more obvious, it’s seems like Indiana would be your preference, would you agree with that?
He closes his eyes for a moment and thinks before continuing, “I think it’s a pretty accurate assessment. I mean, I wasn’t brought up there, I’m from Seattle so I’ve been in that big city environment, that’s where I was brought up but I’ve lived in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and you know? They are what they are.” He pauses again for a moment, while he speaks you can almost see him thinking things through in his mind fully before answering, “Like everywhere there’s gonna pros and cons. I have a life out in LA that I enjoy and that city brings an influence in what I write more than it would if I wasn’t living there, I don’t adhere to that typical Los Angeles image even in Seattle I think I’d have probably been referred to as ‘The pasty white boy’” he chuckles slightly before continuing, “But I definitely feel more productive as a songwriter out here, it’s where I work best, the imagery I can work off of is just … it’s pretty overwhelming, Los Angeles is home for me and I owe a lot to that place but of course given the choice, I’ll choose the peaceful serenity of Indiana every time, you know?”

Q: So could you perhaps see yourself living here on a permanent basis in the future?
As he thinks briefly, his black hair falls in front of his eyes, he brushes it out of the way and after thinking about the question once more he gives a childlike grin, “Yeah, you never know.” He takes a quick drink of his coffee before continuing, “I’ve come to realize that planning things … it isn’t really all that, you know? It may give you a little direction or guidance but you never know what the future can bring … One of the problems that I have is that I think about a lot of things, I lose myself in thought, analysing things and over analysing things at times and we all think about the future, right? And there’s an image that I have in my mind.” He pauses for a moment and struggles to contain his smile, “And it’s really something”

Q: You mentioned about thinking too much, over analysing things, do you think that is a big part of you not as a person but as a songwriter, losing yourself in thought perhaps being an important tool as a songwriter?
“I’m not sure, I mean everybody’s different with how they do things. Some people will have an extremely vivid imagination and those people are the ones that are likely to be the most productive … then there’s the perfectionists, the ones who battle with their own abilities and take longer to write songs or become inspired to write songs, for me I think I don’t wake up and think, ‘Oh I wanna write a couple of songs today’ I really couldn’t work like that, I don’t have a set schedule for myself ever because that creates less of a freedom and I think freedom is a massive part of songwriting, some people work well under pressure, I definitely don’t … I think pressure tends to eat at me. But I think if you’re gonna be a songwriter with longevity then you’re gonna need to have a vivid memory, it’s a major part of it, without it then you’re gonna struggle to have a long term output with your music.

Q: So it would be fair to say that you’re looking at longevity with your music rather than one or two years of glory?
Caulfield pauses again as he ponders the question, he gives it much consideration before answering, “I don’t think you can really look at it like that at all, you can’t plan how long you’re gonna be able to make music and I don’t think looking at it as one or two years of glory. It’s about re-inventing yourself through the years and the thing that I’m probably more interested in is looking back on my career and finding a whole different range of music that people can draw upon, in the same way that the artists that have influenced and inspired myself have done too, that’s the goal here and that’s what I hope to work towards.”

Q: And who would be your primary influences?
Brandon looks down at the floor for a moment before looking back across at me and smiling, “You know, there’s influences everywhere, it’s not just music influences but everyday things, you can never run out of things to write about that’s the beauty of it, you can always strive to write something different. But in terms of music influences, there’s so many people that have shaped what I do and what I look towards to creating, it’s the imagery that is created by the likes of Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Simon & Garfunkel. The Beatles. It’s all music that was played a lot when I was younger and I guess it really stuck with me over the years.

Q: And is there one particular artist that effected your life the most?
He thinks again for a few moments as he ponders the question before lifting his head back up, he looks at me and smiles a little, “It’s gotta Springsteen … you know people will have their own opinions but for me, there ain’t no other artist that can come close to him, the imagery that he’s able to conjure up in his songs is second to none, the stories that he tells is … When I grew up there was a lot of old music played, so many to choose from but man, Bruce Springsteen’s music just wowed me, lyrically it’s, some may say that it’s simple but it cut’s to the core of who I am every time, I mean” He pauses for a moment before continuing, “I mean, there’s some songs you hear and you just think, ‘Man I wish I had written that’ when I listen to his music, I feel like that on almost every song I hear, some lyrics are just incredible, I mean Jungleland … ‘And the poets down here don’t write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be.’ … you know? ‘There’s an opera out on the turnpike and there’s a ballet being fought out in the alley.’ It blows me away, The Ghost Of Tom Joad ‘Families sleeping in their cars out in the southwest, No job, no home, no peace, no rest.’ I can go on forever, The River, ‘Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, or is it something worse’ … Badlands, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Thunder Road, Racing In The Street, Candy’s Room, The Promised Land, Independence Day, Drive All Night, My Hometown, No Surrender, Backstreets, Spirit In The Night, Lost In The Flood, Rosalita, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, Atlantic City, Reason To Believe, Growin Up, Adam Raised A Cain, Prove It All Night, Out In The Street, Born To Run, The Price You Pay, Brilliant Disguise … and that’s not even including anything from the past ten years … Bruce Springsteen? Yeah, he’s alright.” Brandon sits back in his chair a little with a smile, he shows a childlike enthusiasm to his idols work, I sense that he could talk about the guy for days, he takes a drink and then lets out a chuckle … “You’re not gonna use that are you.”

Q: So needless to say your quite a fan of his?
“Oh man, there’s not even a word that’s been created to explain it. Some people will no doubt disagree but that’s the great thing about music, one artist that a guy adores can be hated by someone else. It’s just the way it is, but yeah I’m an obsessive, I’m deadly serious when I say that, it’s almost an addiction to his music … but there’s worse things to be addicted to, right?”

Q: So let’s talk a little about your own plans, what does the next few months have in store for you?
“There’s actually nothing set in stone right now, I’m trying to figure things out with some of the music that I have … I think myself and my backing band had plans to get Fireflies & Bedouins released but Uh … well that didn’t quite work out how I envisioned, So I think right now I’m just trying to figure something out with those songs and the album that we had finished.”

Q: So you actually finished recording Fireflies & Bedouins, that was set to be your third album right?
“Yeah, most definitely. Well that was the plan, we worked on that for almost four months and you know, when your recording you’re in your own little bubble, kinda. And in the moment, everything was great, I was positive about the music that we had recorded, but when we had that first listen to the finished version of the record, well it didn’t quite translate the way I felt it would … so I was left in this, doubtful situation and right now I’m trying to figure what to do with it, as it is it definitely won’t be released but I’ve got an idea that I’ve been taking forward a little with it, but nothing it definite yet.”

Q: So it won’t be released as your third record?
“No, definitely not, certainly not as it was. I spoke to the guys that I worked with on the record and sorta explained that I wasn’t gonna be using it, they were less than happy to say the least, you know it was like, ‘Well that’s four months of hard work thrown away’ but you know I’m not gonna release something that I’m not entirely positive about, there isn’t a chance of that happening, I’m always gonna remain in sole charge of my music. The idea that I’m processing right now is to rework some of those songs, remove some tracks that I wasn’t comfortable with, recording it as an entirely solo piece and releasing it as an E.P. But this is the early stages of that. I’ve got a label that I’d like to think will trust my instincts and go with whatever decisions I make. But once I’ve figured out a couple of things then I’ll be able to give more information.”

Q: That’s understandable that you want to remain in control of your own work and your own output, let’s move into a more personal territory, What do you think the image of yourself is to other people looking at you from the outside?
“People don’t know me, they can’t know me … I don’t even fully know me. I’m definitely not as closed off as I have been in the past, I’m becoming more comfortable with certain things over time and I’m learning how to deal with things on a daily basis … What do I think the image of me is to other people? I have no idea, I’m generally a pretty quiet guy, I mean I’m a bit of a weirdo, I’m aware of that but I’ve got the same beliefs and fears of a lot of people, I’m a doubtful person, I’ve got a crippling shyness and awkwardness that a musician really shouldn’t have, one on one talking to someone, I’m absolutely fine, Onstage in front of a number of people, man I’m terrified … absolutely. I don’t tour all that much, I can force myself to get onstage and perform and sometimes when I’m onstage I can lose myself in the moment but other times it terrifies me and that’s something I know I need to work on, but how am I viewed, I’d like to think that I’m viewed favourably but it doesn’t matter so much either way, it’s just opinions when all is said and done.”

Q: It seems like there was a version of you that existed in the past that has slowly started to disappear, you seem to have become more comfortable as time has progressed and you’ve gotten used to certain things?
“I … hmm, I was destined to be alone … I enjoyed it, that thought of needing someone else to make you happy wasn’t something I understood or necessarily wanted. I was the kind of person that was happy to hide himself away from the world and hindsight is an incredible thing, now I realize that wasn’t right, we’re not meant to be alone in this world, loneliness is a long road to be walking down and if the opportunity for you to get off of that pathway comes then you have to take it … I’ll say I’m quite a different person now … I have things that I never expected to have and I’ve said this before, but the things that once scared me now make me enthusiastic and I look forward to the things that once scared me … that probably sounded a little masochistic but what I’m trying to say is that now, when I’m on my own … I hate it, I can’t quite deal with it, I used to isolate myself a lot but isolation makes me feel lonely these days.”

Q: You mentioned about having things that you never expected to have, what are those things?
“You know it’s funny, I always thought that needing someone was a real sign of weakness. It’s clear what those things are, a woman that opened me up to many possibilities and put me on the right track, I don’t want to sound like a hopeless romantic when I say this but if I lost everything tomorrow but still had that angel standing beside me in the form of Hannah then everything that I had lost wouldn’t matter at all. It’s a different world that I’m living in right now and it’s a real chance to have something that I never expected, there will come a time when you grow tired of the loneliness and when that time comes, you must seize it because that … well that’s your redemption, that’s the opportunity for your life to truly begin.