The Spotlight: BRELAND & Lily Rose

Country artists BRELAND and Lily Rose sat down to interview each other via Zoom,
catching up on life and reminiscing on the journey that got them where they are today.

LILY ROSE: This is really fun, because I get to find out so many things about you as a friend but also as a peer that I didn’t know about you. We’ve only written together one time, and I’ve cut a song of yours, but what do you consider to be your songwriting process? Are you lyric? Melody?  

BRELAND: I think a little bit of everything, but my main skill is melody. I can do a traditional Country melody, I can do an R&B melody, I can do a more Hip-Hop melody, or a Gospel melody. I think being able to fuse all of that together gives me a new angle and perspective when I’m writing. There are so many great lyrical writers in Nashville, too, who have just incredible concepts in their phones. I can have some of those ready, but I tend to find that my advantage in the studio and the thing that I bring that other people might not always have is unique melodies.   

LILY ROSE: That’s sick. I couldn’t agree with you more there, but don’t downplay yourself. You’re one hell of a lyricist. I remember that one day we wrote. I was like, “We’ve got two melody people in here, let’s see how this goes.” Knocked it out of the park.  

BRELAND: [Laughing] No, it was a bop! So, Lily, you have obviously had a lot of success on social media with “Villain” and it seems like everything you post on TikTok goes crazy. How do you feel social media has continued to impact your career [since] that first song, especially now that you have a project out? And why do you think “Villain,” specifically, resonated so strongly with the fans?   

LILY ROSE: It was cool to have something like TikTok when we didn’t have a year of meeting fans on the road. The fan engagement is next level. I think the reason some of these songs are hitting and why “Villain” did, specifically, is because I’m writing about new stuff. I don’t know if anyone has touched on a topic like “Villain” and falling on the sword, saying, “Hey, I’m going to take the high road and I’m going to do me,” in Country Music in a long time. It’s cool to always try to write new stuff that resonates because I think it works.   

BRELAND: Definitely.   

LILY ROSE: Something I am so envious of when it comes to you is the number of collaborations you have already had as a “new artist” on the scene. Does your approach within the Country genre and across different genres impact how you’re writing songs and how you collaborate?   

BRELAND: With Country Music, it doesn’t really feel all that different from R&B or Pop or Hip-Hop or Gospel; it’s just a matter of saying things that that artist would want to say. Or, when I’m writing something that could go for anyone or even for myself, writing something that feels authentic to me and something that I would want to say. Once you get that, how it’s dressed up depends on what they want to do and who I am creating with. You and me, especially, can get away with a lot of stuff within the format that I don’t know if someone else would ever say. Our lingo is different, so I think just being focused on the artist and what they want out of a co-write and out of a song, and trying to provide that, is more my north star than anything else. What would you say, in the last year, has been your most memorable moment?   

LILY ROSE: Oh, man, it’s tough because it’s gone from zero to 500 so quickly, but we got to do a headlining run in June, and we closed out the run in Rome, GA, which is an hour north of Atlanta, my hometown. We hit capacity, sold it out. Hearing 800 people sing my songs back to me, more than just “Villain” for the first time, that close yet far away from my hometown — I’ll never feel anything like it, until it happens again on a bigger stage, I hope. I’ll remember that forever. Incredible.   

I am such a BRELAND fan. That first EP you put out, I remember thinking, “I have not been inspired inside of our genre in a long time, in the way that I was the first time I heard ‘My Truck.’” Talk to me a little bit about the blowup on TikTok and the help of social media, and also your expectations of the reaction and of the, essentially, new genre you created.   

BRELAND: Thank you! I feel like, with “My Truck,” it was the perfect storm. TikTok was becoming popular at the time the song started to catch on, so there were a lot of new eyes on the app. Now every artist in the world is trying to get their song to blow up on TikTok. There are all types of strategies and things people are doing to make that happen. I didn’t have any of that; it was completely organic. I didn’t even have a TikTok account until a few months after the song had already started to go viral. I knew it was the type of song that was sort of an earworm. I knew it was catchy, I knew it would appeal to a younger audience and a diverse audience. I thought there was a chance of it going viral, but I didn’t really predict that it was going to go viral on TikTok, necessarily. In terms of the remix, I think that helped cement me in this space because that song could have gone completely the urban route or gone the Country route. I think having someone on the song like Sam [Hunt], who is respected outside of Country Music and inside of Country Music, kind of helped people frame their understanding of what it is I might be able to bring to the table. I think I would describe my sound now as “Cross-Country” — anything that has roots in Country but is playing with other sounds and other genres. Being able to exist both in and outside of the format is, I think, a really powerful [way of] bringing people in and bringing people together. That actually sets me up for my question. How would you describe your music and your sound and what do you think it has the potential to do?   

LILY ROSE: You know, I have the same goal with that: to hopefully convert some folks to 1.) just enjoying the Country genre in general, and 2.) to also open up some hearts and minds so there’s not so much fear of gay people or Black people being in this genre. There’s enough room for all of us. We’re all fans of it, so why can’t we have a couple of people that can write killer songs and change some hearts? 

BRELAND: I love that. I love that.   

LILY ROSE: One of the best quotes that I heard, especially with TikTok and “Villain” blowing up — and I’m sure you can feel this with “My Truck” — was, “Let’s be a movement, not a moment.” Let’s not just have this little explosion, let’s climb. What are some of the best pieces of advice you’ve been given [about] this freaking hell of a job? 

BRELAND: I think one of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten is from Keith [Urban]. I had the chance to work with him on a few songs before I moved out here and he told me, “We don’t do this for us, we do this for them.” The “them” is anyone who listens to the music, anyone who feels inspired by it, anyone who needs anything. Music is medicine and it is also the great unifier. Remembering that it’s not about me and that it’s about the people who are going to engage with the music helps inform how I create it and also, most importantly, why I create it. We’re simply a vessel for a necessary thing that the world needs. Having that guide what I’m doing has been really important.   

LILY ROSE: That’s awesome advice. 

BRELAND: Both of us have had a wild progression. What would you say to yourself five years ago now that you’ve gotten to this point?   

LILY ROSE: Five years ago [I was] gearing up to decide to move to Nashville. I would continue to tell myself, “Hey, you’re going to hear ‘No’ even after the big break. Just be ready for the noes and see them as little speed bumps and just keep stepping over them because even when you get the biggest yeses of your life, you’re still going to hit some noes.” The resilience, you know? I think I would have told her that.   

BRELAND: That’s a good piece of advice to yourself and hopefully to anyone who sees or reads this. They’ll be able to feel that and keep going. The people who make it aren’t necessarily the most talented or the most connected, they’re just the most resilient. I think that’s part of why both of us are here and I’m excited to see what we both do next.