A Night With Singer Brittany Campbell: A Conversation with a Rising Star

Brittany Campbell

From within the highly underrated musical confines of Rough Trade Records in Williamsburg, the night belongs to Brittany Campbell. With her new single “Still In Love”(listen below) and her just released EP, Stay Gold, Pt. 1, along with producing, self-marketing and being literally a Jill of All Trades, she’s ready to take on the World.  (In case you missed her stellar EP, Heroes, peep it here.)

Let’s get to know a little more about Brittany Campbell.

soulhead: First and foremost, congratulations on the new single “Still In Love” which is avaliable right now and let’s start of with a random question

When did you know that you wanted to be an artist and who was that artist(s) inspired you or that song that made you say “You know what, I can do this?

Brittany Campbell: Okay, Well I started singing professionally like really, really young like at 7; I was singing opposite the Metropolitan Opera. I was thrown into that world but I do remember when I was 5 years old, my Mom was braiding my hair, and I was hearing Whitney Houston’s voice on the radio.  It is literally one of my first vivid memories of being attracted to the sound of singing.

So, in my childhood, I did like a bunch of opera and Broadway shows and that was cool but it wasn’t really until I was probably 20 years old when I (decided I) wanted to try to write my own stuff.   I think a lot of that was inspired by Amy Winehouse at the time.  I really felt where she was coming from and I think we had a lot of the same influences like jazz and things like that.

soulhead: Amy is definitely an inspiration not only to artists like yourself but just to music lovers in general.  She was a breath of fresh air.

BC:  It’s so clear.  The best thing about her music is just what you said.  It’s so clear how much she adored music and how she knows the history of music too.  She knows where she’s coming from.  She knows how she wants to interpet it within herself and I really appreciate that.  They are a lot of artists now that don’t know anything past 1990……WHICH MAKES ME CRAZY!!!!

soulhead: (Sigh) Don’t even get me started. That’s why we appreciate #1.  The answer you gave us is awesome because you love music.

BC: Yes……I love music

Brittany Campbell Live at Rough Tradesoulhead: When you love music, you appreciate it and you go back.  You’re hustling now with the new single and forthcoming album.  What’s a lazy day like for you?

BC: A lazy day when I have it.  It’s so hard to answer that right now because I’ve been going so hard for so long.  A lazy day for me would propbably be sleeping or skateboarding.  Either one of those things (would be great).   I like sleeping for insurmountable amount of hours, like clocking 16 hour marathon sleeping days….on a lazy day.

soulhead:  There’s nothing wrong with sleep.  Sleep is my drug.

BC: Who doesn’t love sleep? When I can get it, I go hard on sleeping.

soulhead:  You mentioned skateboarding.  What got you into it?

BC:  I always skated like aggressive skating (rollerblading), but four years ago, me and my friends were thinking about of what ways to show our art off in which I also do art.  I’m very into graffiti.

soulhead: As a former graffiti head, I love hearing this.

BC: “YAAAASSSSS” so where can show our stuff?  What can we do?  We just happened upon this skater party that was showing a bunch art on the wall and we we decided to build an event for female skaterboarders.  Through that, we ran into this non-profit organization called Girls Riders Organization(GRO).  They promote female skateboarders, helps them along and brings them together.  Through that, I developed a bi-monthly fundraiser called TOMBOI.

soulhead: That’s awesome!  Not too many people know there is a massive female skateboard community that is under wraps and it shouldn’t be.

BC:  It’s hard because when we go to the skate park in LES (Lower East Side), you have to have a thick skin because guys will act in a certain way like “they’re taking up my space” and it’s a different energy when guys are skateboarding versus when girls are skateboarding.

soulhead:  Other than your own music, what is your “go to” song?

BC:  I do lot of Janet Jackson. A little “If I was your Girl.”  I feel Janet hard.  Or some Aaliyah.  Those are some great tunes. I’m a sucker for some 90’s R&B.

soulhead:  What was the very first song that you actually performed?

BC:  I know this.  It’s kind of embarrassing.  Do you know “The Sound of Music?”  That’s the song. And it was actually, oddly enough, at Carnegie Hall.  It was a scary situation.  My music teacher threw me in this opera competition because she was like “oh this girl can sing.”  It was three songs and I chose that because that was one of my favorite movies at the time.

soulhead:  That’s a hell of a challenge. That was your first song?

BC:  Literally yes. I was seven years old.  My mom has to leave me backstage with everybody else.  The competition was for ages seven to eighteen.  I was feeling weird.

soulhead:  Time out.  You were seven and performed “The Sound of Music” at Carnegie Hall?

BC:  Yeah and right before I came out on stage I spilled bunch of tea on myself.  It was trauma but it was also amazing because that stage, the sound in there is just ridiculous.  It changed my life.  It made me so aware of the beauty of things, of sound and I think that’s why I’m so good at mixing.

soulhead:  What do you want your fans to know about you that they don’t know yet?

BC:  That’s a good question. I’m trying to think.

soulhead:  Okay I’ll help you out, let’s do some rapid fire. Name a guilty pleasure?

BC:  Ice cream. You don’t understand.  I want a tattoo because that’s how deeply I feel about ice cream.

soulhead:  So what’s your ice cream jam?

BC:  Cookie crush. And I know you haven’t had it because you can only get it at this one place in Teaneck, New Jersey called Bischoff’s and it’s the best ice cream ever.

soulhead:  PJs or a onesie?

BC:  Onesie all the way.  I have a skeleton one and a dinosaur one with a big ass tail.

soulhead:  What is one meal you can’t have but want on the regular?

BC:  In-N-Out Burger.  I think about it almost every day.  The first thing I’m doing when I go to L.A. in May is get In-N-Out.  No one can stop me.

soulhead:  The last rapid fire question because you have to go on stage and shock our pants off.  Are you a Netflix and chill person or do you just want to be out?

BC:  That’s a hard question because, sometimes, I have huge introverted days and I love movies but some other days I just want to be ratchet.  So, it’s hard.  I kind of have a split personality in that way. You just have to catch me on a good day.

soulhead:  Thank you for this interview.  Do you want to tell the fans how to find you via the ‘gram?

BC:  Find me on the ‘gram.  I’m obsessed with instagram. Brittanycampbellmusic (on IG) and @brittanysparty on Twitter.  (Note:  You can also connect with Brittany on Facebook)

 

Check out Brittany’s Stay Gold, Pt. 1 Project:

Related Articles

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap