In this brief Q&A session Las Vegas independent house label executive Bruno Browning shares his story, his prospective on the music industry and helpful information for independent artists.
Achickwitbeatz: Who is Bruno Browning?
Bruno Browning: How much time do you have? I’m from Atlanta Georgia but I've called Las Vegas home since 2000. I've lived in some cool spots and they definitely influenced my music. I actually “discovered” electronic music during my year living in Europe in 1991 and it changed my life. My time in San Francisco’s scene was like attending graduate school for house music. My tastes, style, knowledge and views of the “scene” were not only refined but clearly defined.
As far as my musical views they’re pretty straight forward, if the music is real and it comes from a real place then I’ll support it, regardless of genre. I really dig seeing cats going nuts on the floor while listening to a genre that might not necessarily be my first choice. It just goes to show you that music is universal and just because you’re not feeling it doesn't make it any less powerful for those that are.
Achickwitbeatz: When did you discover that you needed music to be a part of your life?
Bruno Browning: Although I had been in the scene since 1990, I never thought about actually making music. I sang in school and could read music but that was as far as it went. In 2000 my brother and label co-founder Curtis Bledsoe offered to teach me how to mix. Shortly after I bought myself some 1200’s and a full set up and started playing every day. After a while it got to the point where I would be playing a record and think: “I love this track, but I wish it had some horns after the break down”. Eventually those thoughts evolved into my decision to start a label, teach myself how to play a couple of instruments, produce, engineer, and finally release my music. How dumb was I? It’s in my nature to take on big tasks and well this was a big one. I taught myself to play the piano, the bass and I even play the harmonica (just for fun). It’s taken us longer than some but it’s been on our own accord and I’m good with that.
Achickwitbeatz: What do you think the biggest challenge is facing independent artists?
Bruno Browning: One of the things I see happening today is labels putting out releases every week. I think in an already over saturated market it just makes it harder for the music to be heard. The turnover is so quick that if you blink you've missed a release. I might personally have more than one release out a month, however Soulsupplement Records will never release more than one release in a 30 day period. The one release a month policy is designed to allow each release time to simmer and be played. That way every artist gets a full shake, not just three days of support from the label. This was a conscious decision and I must admit that sometimes it’s tempting to try and “keep up” with other labels, fortunately caving doesn't come naturally to me.
There's about a million more but that's where my head's at today.
Achickwitbeatz: What are 5 qualities/skills that would place an artist in your top 10 list?
Bruno Browning:
-Love of music
-Walking their own path musically
-Hard working
-Consistency
-Not taking themselves too serious
Achickwitbeatz: Conversely, what are 5 attributes that would place an artist at the very bottom of your list?
Bruno Browning:
-Genre hopping (jumping on the genre of the month…every month)
-Laziness (musically and professionally)
-Taking themselves too serious (none of us are curing cancer)
-Always involved in “DJ Beef”
-General bad attitude
Achickwitbeatz: What would you say is the most rewarding thing about being an independent artist?
Bruno Browning: The ability to write and record what you’re feeling without too many people telling you to change something. Of course if you have a label you can do pretty much whatever you want and there’s a lot freedom that comes with that. Now with that being said I can still get all in my head when doing work for other labels. Sometimes I tend to over think what the label wants and that just causes all sorts of mental blocks. Because of this when I get asked to do a remix I never listen to the original and that tends to make my remixes sound completely different. Being an independent artist allows us to work with a lot of labels and a lot of artists and that is truly rewarding.
Achickwitbeatz: What's next on the horizon for Bruno Browning?
Bruno Browning: I’m teaming up with fellow Las Vegan DJ A la Mode for a monthly party in LA and I have gigs in New York beginning in 2015. I've got Ep’s and remixes coming out on many new labels and many that I've been on in the past. You’ll also see a lot more of me gigging the last part of 2014 and for the foreseeable future.
Achickwitbeatz: How can people connect with you to stay current with what you have in the works?
Bruno Browning: To stay up on any news you can always go to:
http://www.soulsupplementrecords.com/news.html
And people can always get me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/swampyfunk
or just email me at: bruno@soulsupplementrecords.
It's been a pleasure.
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