How do you stand out in the hectic world of commercial pop music? For Texan-born singer Brandon Beal the answer was obvious: trade New York for Copenhagen and write a song about Miley Cyrus.
He’s Very Big In Denmark
Brandon Beal’s story is pretty unique since most European artists try to “crack the States” and he went the opposite direction.
“I was born in Texas and moved to New York when I was 20 years old,” Brandon Beal tells us about his fascinating jetsetting career via a Skype call. “I met a Danish producer there and we did my first album together, almost 10 years ago. Through him I met a lot of Danish people including my girlfriend. I used to come to Denmark and just visit her.”
What made him finally settle in Denmark though? “My girlfriend decided to study at home since college is free there. I followed her there for what was supposed to be three months and in those three months I created a couple of Top 10 songs. The rest is history.”
But while he tops the charts in Denmark, you can also enjoy his tight pop/R’n’B tunes anywhere. “At this point my music is available worldwide digitally. I am in the process of pushing my song “Golden” in America properly. And my new single “Lay Down” is available everywhere right now.”
He Taught Himself to Be Open-Minded
Traveling is all about expanding your horizons. But moving to a whole new country means changing your skyline completely . It helped that Beal learned to never expect something long term before boarding a plane to Copenhagen.
“The industry is different over there. But it wasn’t necessarily hard. I come from a very small Texan city, Tyler, it has 60,000 people. I left it and went straight to New York. And whenever I’d come home, I’d have this bitter feeling: This isn’t New York, but then I can’t get what I want in New York. And I had to teach myself that you can’t go to places expecting somewhere else. So I became more open-minded. I came to Denmark with no expectations. I went, “How can I fit in?”
Speaking about fitting in, Beal still has a few classes to attend. “I’m terrible at Danish.” So don’t hold your breath for any Danish songs from him. “I can read Danish and starting to understand a lot more, but I don’t think I’ll ever speak it. These vowels..! Thank god it’s a country where everybody speaks English.”
He Loves His Food
“The thing that I miss the most about America is the choices when it comes to food. I’m a big foodie type of person. I miss In-N-Out Burger and IHOP. Whenever I go back home I usually gain ten pounds, ‘cause I just go crazy.”
So why not open the Copenhagen’s first IHOP? “Hey, I think about it all the time!”
He Hates the Politics of Music
“The most annoying thing about music industry is the politics of it. I really hate that. That’s the main reason why I felt so comfortable about leaving America after doing music for so long there. I was in the head space where I almost didn’t like music industry anymore, because it became so political and all about who you know and numbers and percentages. When you do it so much, you forget what it’s all about. And for me it’s all about creating. And I have it right now with my label and music.”
His Brother Worked With Michael Jackson
It never hurts when your sibling comes home to share stories of working with the likes of Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Pink. Brandon’s older brother, Teron Beal, is an accomplished songwriter and singer.
“He was a big inspiration for me growing up. I was very into Bobby Brown, New Edition, The Jackson 5. I have a twin sister, too, and I’m sure that to this day she has a hard copy of every single Michael Jackson album ever. She installed this into all of all to be die-hard Michael Jackson fans. And then my brother went to work with him, so it was meant to be.”
He’s Buddies With Lukas Graham
While Brandon is an American enjoying huge success in Denmark, his buddy Lukas Forchhammer from Lukas Graham of “7 Years” fame started in Denmark and reached the world with his powerful voice. The two met via mutual manager and got along right away.
“We are closer friends than the world might know. We used to live together before neither of us was doing anything big musically. We were all down to the same bars, having beers and drinking Jaeger Bombs. He was one of the first guys I met when I came to Denmark (because of our manager). We had this pure creative process with no agendas. We were writing songs for our albums all the time. We did a lot of songs together and then like a speed of light it got bigger and bigger.”
Last year the two released “Golden,” which went straight to the top of Danish national chart.
He’s a Family Man
His finest songs may be dedicated to the art of partying hard, but outside of the studio booth Beal enjoys exploring the art of being a #1 dad. “Now both me and Lukas have kids, so we don’t party like we used to. Denmark is a drinking country, I’ll tell you that. And when I say drinking, people GO. We definitely had some wild nights.”
As for now, we're obsessed with Beal's parenting Instagram posts like this one.
He’s Pro-Twerking
Beal’s breakthrough single came out in 2014 and was called “Twerk It Like Miley,” following the whole Miley Cyrus craze. Did he actually have a chance to experience her twerking? “I have never met her, but I do know a couple of people who know her. And they told me she thought my song was ‘dope.’ The process of writing this song was absolutely no process. At that point everyone was talking about her VMAs performance, making Vines and memes, the whole world revolved around that. And I wanted to make a twerking song, so it just came out during this little studio party like freestyle: “Start twerking like Miley.” So we put it down. And then I reached out to Christopher, who’s a huge popstar kid in Denmark and got him on the record, too.”
But don’t expect Beal to twerk himself. “Where I’m from, twerking is a thing for ladies. The guys sing the songs and encourage the girls to twerk, twerk, twerk. Miley made it a worldwide thing, but where I’m from, it’s been around since I was a baby.”
We Gave Him Some Pop Inspiration For the Future
So what’s next for Brandon Beal? “Work It Like Rihanna”? “Lip-sync It Like Britney”? “Haha, when you say it like that, I might have to take these little concepts and make it happen!”
He’s Got a Secret Collaboration Coming Up
“I work mostly with Danish people but these days I’m expanding a lot. I also work in LA a lot and have a single coming out with an amazing American singer, who’s a former Disney star. Sorry, I can’t reveal who she is.”
Maybe it’s Miley? That would make plenty of sense. And potentially plenty of twerk, too.
Learn more fun facts about your favorite up-and-coming artists by visiting our 10 Things page.
from Myspace - Editorial http://ift.tt/2mPe8fP
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