Somewhere deep in the hills of California, beyond the beaches, palm trees and nightclubs is a relatively small barn that is currently used as a music space by a current California native, upon arriving you will notice the greenery that surrounds it, the grass leading up to the two large wooden doors is long and not particularly well kept and there’s a number of trees that surround it and at this point are almost leaning over the barn, sure it may seem a little impractical but as Brandon Caulfield states with his unmistakably gritty west coast accent while we make our way over towards its entrance, “Everybody needs to escape from it all for a couple of hours” he turns and points ahead at the view of Los Angeles in the short distance, “It’s alright in small doses but let’s face it … California’s a lot more beautiful from up here.”
He turns and continues walking through the grassy area and unlocking the large wooden doors of the barn which shows what can only be described as some sort of musical haven, there’s stairs leading up to a plat formed area that displays a large number of guitars hung up against the wall, while downstairs is a large Steinway piano, a seating area and bookshelf as well as a number of other accessories that have turned this small area almost into a sanctuary, there’s a couple of platinum disks on the wall which Brandon reassures me with a hearty chuckle that they are replicas of the ones that he has at home, “I’m still working on the security aspect of this place, one swift kick and you’re in” he walks even further into the barn to a couple of chairs and a table and we begin our conversation;First of all, thank you for allowing myself to have this sort of access, you rarely do interviews and often avoid public situations, do you not like the spotlight and attention?He places his hand down onto his knee and thinks of a brief moment “Uhh … It’s pretty difficult for me, you know? I’ve never been entirely comfortable with discussing my life in such a public way, but of course when people become aware of my discomfort in discussing those things they seem to want to know more.” He starts fidgeting with his finger nails before continuing, “I did one or two interviews early in my career where my uncomfortable nature and awkwardness was highlighted and shortly afterwards I had more and more requests for an interview, It’s quite odd to me because believe me … I’m really not all that interesting.”
And what would you say is the cause for you discomfort?“I’m not sure … I guess you could say that I’m a private guy.” He chuckles slightly, “But when I’m asked questions, I’ll answer them and I guess that’s the issue. I never intend to have the depths of my soul canvased across three pages of a magazine but that’s sorta the way I feel whenever I do these types of things.”
It seems rather odd for a social awkward individual to take such a public career path, do you think that there’s a part of you that may actually enjoy the attention?“Not even in the slightest sense. I think for me to be a musician is more down to a love of music combined with a risk-taking thrill. If that makes sense, It’s like … I don’t enjoy being onstage but once I’m there I don’t have coherent thoughts or fears I just do it. The whole day building up to a live show is some sort of nerve wrecking hell but once I step onto stage it just goes. I can’t begin to explain it because I don’t fully understand it myself but for some reason I manage to get through each performance … perhaps it’s because I don’t play live all that often, I guess if I had a thirty five show tour or something of that magnitude then it would be different but I tend to tour in small increments of say, seven shows and then I’m done for a short while.”
It appears to be a rather bizarre situation but it seems to work nevertheless, what about when it comes to creating music, you wouldn’t be what many would consider to be the typical music star but you do manage to have success with it.“I don’t think there’s a deep and meaningful answer to it, I do it because of a love of music, the whole process of creating a song and recording it and then performing it live is a beautiful thing, to see how something can go from a couple of words on a piece of paper to what they eventually become is a unique thing. It’s just music though, people have been doing it for many, many years and there’s no right or wrong way to do it … there’s just doing it”
So would it be fair to say that you don’t approach making music as a job?“Yeah exactly … I don’t set myself a time frame, I often go two or three months without writing anything or even contemplating writing anything. I feel like it would be unnatural for me to wake up each morning and think to myself, ‘Okay, I need to write two songs today’. It’s often why a lot of what I do release will happen sporadically, you may not here anything from me for half a year and then I’ll maybe send something to the label and let them deal with the release.” He thinks for a moment, “I definitely wouldn’t consider it a job … if I did I think I’d have been fired already.”
So what are your opinions on the music industry that you find yourself a part of?“I honestly know nothing of what happens with fellow musicians in their personal lives. I may pick up Chasing The Renegades by Cristina Lake and enjoy the music as I have done but I don’t know nothing of her personal life and that’s the way I think music fans should approach music, I’m sure that they don’t and that they’re interested in all aspects of their favourite musicians but I think it’s important to remove that side of musicians personal lives from the work that they create.” He brushes his hair out of his eyes before continuing, “I would much rather people picked up my work for the listening experience rather than anything to do with who I am as person or whatever I may have done in my life.”
It would appear that not many people view music in that way, you mentioned Cristina Lake’s latest LP as something that you’ve enjoyed, are there any other modern artists that you enjoy listening to?“I enjoy the music of Misery Loves Company and often artists that are influenced by past music that I admire, their latest record was something that I’ve enjoyed very much.” He adjusts the collar of his shirt slightly before continuing. “I think that right now, Katie Coyle is an artist that you can’t look beyond, what she does is raw and meaningful. I don’t know what sort of music she is influenced by or what sort of person she is or anything of that nature, but if we’re speaking about music ability then I think she’s quite incredible.”
(left) Brandon onstage in April during his ‘Ashes of Dreams We Let Die’ tour, (right) With legendary guitarist of The Bards, JR. Rhythm.Let’s move onto a slightly different topic, that of your personal life.“Oh boy” he chuckles slightly.
You were born and raised in Seattle, Washington. With one sibling, how would you describe your childhood?“Confusing.” He laughs a little, “Yeah, it was deeply confusing. That’s my main uhhh … memory of how I felt while growing up. My life was basic I guess, my mother and father both worked, my mother always had the same job, she had a steady income and my father always seem to be in-between work. It was like a minefield whenever he was out of work though because if you take away the element of work from a man then you take away his pride and so myself and my sister would often be almost treading on eggshells when he wasn’t working and the home quickly became a dangerous place to be at times.”
So it was a fiery environment?“Yeah I guess from the age of six up to the age of sixteen it was difficult for me, that period of time fractured any possible father-son relationship, when you see a hand raised towards your mother or sister then you lose respect for that person.”
So there’s no bond between you and your father?“I don’t think there can be.” He scratches his eyebrow before continuing, “There’s been attempts at bridge-building but there can’t ever be a true bond there anymore. I’ve been told that it’s important to let go of that often but I can’t, I’ve tried but it’s something that can’t happen.”
You’ve been married for a number of months now, how has marriage been?“It’s a great thing, if it’s done for the right reasons then it’s incredible. To share a life with Hannah is a wonderful thing, the term love is something that gets thrown around too easily in the world now and I feel like it’s a word that has become demeaned but when you find that one person, you instantly know that it is love in the truest sense of the word. Married life has been great.”
So it’s fair to say that she’s changed your life?He thinks for a moment and smiles slightly, “Yeah, without doubt. I knew from the first time I met her that I’d become entranced by her. I was staying at the DB hotel in California that she frequently visited and I remember seeing her around a couple of times. I don’t remember when we first spoke but I remember thinking that this girl was something else, it’s obvious from that moment onwards that I was in deep, deep trouble.”
Your life has took a different trajectory perhaps since you’ve been together, you’ve spoken about this in the past that you see the bigger picture now.“Definitely, I do. Life is to be shared, that’s the real meaning of my existence. I wasn’t put on this earth just to play guitar and write songs, I was put on this earth for the same reason as Hannah was and everybody else, it’s about sharing a life and fulfilling it the way that it’s meant to be. There’s a bigger picture, sure of course there is and that bigger picture is being a husband and a father and that’s what life is about for me now.” He places his hand on his knee once more and relaxes into his chair, “It’s what life is for, you go through tough times like everybody but you work at it and learn and you grow and become a better and more evolved person because of the testing moments and that’s exactly what has happened, I’ve gone through the hardships and came out of it as a better person and with a better understanding of the true meaning of life.”
You mentioned about the possibility of becoming a father, that’s something you’re looking forward to?“I am, yeah. It’s the one thing that I’m looking most forward to, it will happen someday. When we’re both completely ready for that. A couple of years ago there was no chance of me being on this path but now that’s something that has become an important part of my future.”
It’s certainly interesting to see how you’ve grown from some say a loner into a more well-rounded person, do you think that lonely part of you has gone completely?“I don’t think that part of who I am can completely disappear. I’ve always been a solitary type of person and I think to an extent, I will always be a solitary person but perhaps not quite as much as I once was.”
Who would you say is your closest friend?“My sister.” He laughs and scratches the back of his head, “That probably tells you more about me than any in depth discussion would. I mean, I’ve got acquaintances, the guys that I’ve recorded with in the past have become friends and confidante’s and a bunch of people that I’ve known over the past year or so, it’s a small circle but it’s a circle that I can trust.”
One of those guys that you’ve recorded with would be legendary guitarist of The Bards, J R. Rhythm. That must be an interesting friendship?“Yeah, he’s a little crazy. He’s from a different time, so it’s always interesting to see what he has planned. He’ll vanish for a few months and can be impossible to contact at times and then out of the blue he’ll call up and tell me to go meet up with him and before you know it we’re heading to Dublin to find some guy that he met back in the 60’s in search of some gunpowder.”
Could you see yourself recording with JR anytime in the future, you fronted The Bards for a brief period last year, is that something you would be interested in going back to?“It was a unique thing for me to get that chance to tour and front the band and although we finished up that period of time and The Bards have sort of indefinitely retired it’s something that will always interest me, they’re the type of band that doesn’t exist anymore and so if the opportunity came up then it would definitely be something that I’d have to consider. Working with JR in another capacity would be something that I’d definitely be open to doing because he’s the iconic figure in rock music.”
And finally, is there any likelihood of you releasing a full length album anytime soon?“There’s nothing quite planned yet, Like I said before, I tend to release music sporadically and so it’s never known what is next for me musically, right now I don’t see a full length album in the next few months, perhaps towards the end of the year then there could be something happening but right now there’s no real plans as such.”
