If there is one way 21-year-old singer-songwriter Braden Bales would describe himself and his debut EP ‘Nomad’, is the idea that he is a nomad looking for a home.
Although Braden might call himself a bit psychotic for believing that solitude is better than a life without his main passion, music, he believes a nomadic lifestyle is crucial to his identity. The cities he found himself in, existentialism, and the communal nature of music-making helped give him a new insight into the creative process.
At what point did Braden acknowledge that the space he existed in was constantly changing? It all went way back to high school. Braden started his music career singing with a very musical family. “I used to do rap battles at lunch,” he said and began to write some songs, and put some on SoundCloud, which garnered a good reception. “I knew I wanted to chase my dream, so I didn’t go to business school,” he explained, and instead went to an audio engineering program. The hurdles of music were worth it, knowing that he would be pursuing music no matter what and would do whatever it took to accomplish what he wanted. There was no special trick to it.
Childhood from adulthood can come with all sorts of exciting changes, and growing up is a huge theme of ‘NOMAD’. According to himself, Braden had always been an empathetic, feeling person, but growing up did come with its challenges. He lost the prospect that just being himself was fully okay. He was worried about what he had to provide, needing to be somebody, and everything becoming transactional. Blowing up hadn’t helped in terms of defining himself with numbers.
When coming back from Canada after a visit, he didn’t feel like anything he created was great and suffered from writer’s block, but worked through it. “As soon as you give the music the power, you have to let the music go through you instead of for you,” he explained. The lyrics came from within his emotions and they just happened, which is why he put high importance on clearing his head. This means music has to flow and just come from all sources. He said that if he ever made a song he didn’t finish, he would consider a collaboration to continue that flow. But he wouldn’t collaborate just because they are famous or he admires them.
The snappy yet raw opening line of the chorus “So if I’m honest/I think I’m beginning to question/how much I want this” had millions of people lip-syncing on TikTok and revealing confusing situations somewhat humorously. Going viral can be both a blessing and a curse and if Braden’s honest, he’s beginning to question how much he wants this, as he admits to not being the most mentally healthy person. It can be stressful to constantly have to express yourself and share in order to keep attention when TikTok fame can be great but so fleeting. It’s stressful even though you may not be ready for it, according to Braden.
Blowing up on TikTok was a moment full of moments, according to Braden. It was a moment, big and exciting, but then it all became numb. The numbers were big, but soon it became a regular occurrence, and then it was like nothing had ever changed. It felt normal, even though it shouldn’t have.“Art is marketable and is a product, and the idea of promoting yourself is something you have to learn,” he explained.
It’s not all bad. Just like everything, Braden believes that everything is a muscle, and music-making and tapping into your vulnerability is no exception. For young artists starting out, the advice he gives is just the fact that work has to have more of an inner connection. “You really have to make sure it’s coming from a genuine place,” Braden advised. Interacting with fans helps him understand how he feels and how other people feel, which helped with his music making.
Despite it all, he underestimates the power “NOMAD” had as his first full body of work after putting so much value on a single. “Any single is an aspect of the mind, but a bigger piece has more of an angle to it. “Chronically Cautious” made him see there was more to it if he wanted to get his mind out there, and thus, the EP was born. Ultimately, ‘NOMAD’ is an emotional journey as the musical packaging is an incarnation of his own life.
Check out ‘NOMAD’ wherever you get your music!
ABOUT
Esosa Zuwa (she/her) is an author and poet whose work has been published in Altered Reality Magazine, The Violet Hour Magazine, and The Globe Review to name a few. She is currently a contributor to the fanworks blog Fanficable and for Zenith Review. and an editor for Sea Glass Literary. She lives in Alberta, Canada somewhat reluctantly, and when not writing, you can find her gushing over fictional men written by women, fangirling over 20+ k-pop groups, having world tours in her living room, and attempting to navigate the turbulent but fascinating waters of teenage life. Like Issa Rae, she is rooting for everybody Black. You can visit her website: https://esosazuwa.carrd.co/#
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