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WEHM All Access - EHM Breakfast Show w/ Harry - Artist Voices - Brett Dennen · WEHM All Access

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's the EHM Breakfast Show with Herrick.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Looking forward to a busy weekend and coming up tomorrow night at the West Have the Beach Performing Arts Center Saturday night and then Sunday at City Winery in New York City.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Coming back to New York area is Brett.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Brett join us.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm fabulous.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: How are you, my man?
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's just great.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's funny, we met a while ago.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a bit uh I feel like pre-pandemic.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: But you were always terrific live and just uh a lot of fun.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's good to see you back on the road.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, the new record was a couple years back now, and uh you're out and about for the art is life tour, and it's so cool to see you combining your passions uh together.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, music and painting.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh how did that come about for you?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And and I'm curious like what you've learned about your music by seeing it paired with with your own art.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I would I had just been thinking and thinking and thinking a lot.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um with uh I was I was just trying to come up with an idea to uh solve two problems.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Problem number one is I just, you know, I I want to be able to tour without like promoting music.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: I just kind I want to have the career where I can just tour whenever I want to tour.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: But um I don't want it to be just this thing where I just show up with a guitar and I don't bring a band because you know I'm not promoting a record, so I'm just showing up to play.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to just kind of show up and just play like the same set or the same songs that everybody hear all the time and and just oh, but here comes Brett again.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to see that show, he's just showing up with the guitar, that kind of thing.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to avoid that, but also at the same time, we're in this world where just every day we keep going in the same direction where, and this is not just with concerts, but it it's kind of like everything that we do and everything that we love and everything that we uh choose to support.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: It just is going in this high tech um direction where um whether it be art of you know, AI or um if it's a concert and it's like this big production of something, it's just like the individuality and the human connection and a lot of the things that we love and I think that are necessary for people keeps getting lost.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Whether or not you um buy everything on Amazon with one click or you just choose to not go to a concert altogether.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, just anything that we do used to have a human connection to it, and I know this is like a really big issue and a really big problem, and I'm not saying I'm trying to solve that, but it's just been on my mind for the past I don't know how many years, and I've just always been trying to think of a way with a concert to make it more and more about just the people in the room and not the performance, because I've been to amazing concerts where you walk away and you're like, that was great, and all the band did was just play songs and they didn't talk, you know.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: But the but I I I just wanted to see if I could come up with something different where like you walk away from the show thinking, well, that was cool, that'll never happen again.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like even if I go see Brett tomorrow night, that might never happen again.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I just thought that the only way to do that was to try to figure out a small show where it's interactive and it's you know, one part performance where people get to hear the songs that they want to hear and get the joy from that, but another part they actually get to feel like they're part of a community for an hour or so.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's an experience.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and so that was like that's always been in my mind for a while, and it didn't click until I had the idea, oh, if I oh well, like how can I do art?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how can I bring art like to a show?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then I had the idea, well, if I make a painting that's open for interpretation, I could play a song with it, and then then anybody could have their own experience, and then immediately the idea of like bringing everybody together clicked in and that fed into it.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, but I get feedback from people, and then I get like their request of like what songs they think actually fit these paintings, or what does that painting, what songs that painting make them think of?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: And can we try can we figure out a way to like bring a bunch of paintings and myself and a guitar and a bunch of people together and create a night where we you know it can just kind of go anywhere, but one part performance and it's one part just like a kind of a uh group group gathering.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: I love the fact too that no show, and you mentioned it's uh no two shows are the same, and it's a chance to really uh create a unique experience, not just an experience.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's I mean that's that's easy to say and and hard to believe, but it's really that's really it.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean the show's broken down into two acts.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: The first act, I've sort of set the tone by bringing the paintings out and playing songs with the different paintings, but that changes every night because I do whatever I'm kind of like in the mood for, and it's a chance for me to play a song I I've won I haven't played in a while, or maybe I've never played live, and I like to see if the song goes well with this painting or that painting.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: But then the second set, it's everybody gets it everybody gets to just like chime in.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then they chime in on the first set too, but um it's a little bit more um group involv involvement in the second set.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: After doing this type of tour for a bit, what have you learned about yourself as an artist and a and a songwriter?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And imagine that because you're getting direct feedback on on both in a way.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I've learned and confirmed this thing about myself where I feel like as a performer I'm the best when I don't have any plan.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I always kind of knew this.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like I would I used to take a walk or something or be headed to a show and I'd think of something and be like, oh, that's really funny.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great story.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh, this is a good joke.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell this on stage.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And it never goes well because like I don't know what it is, something in my brain clicks and like it just kind of falls flat.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I I put too I I premeditated it too much.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I've found that if I go on stage open to whatever can happen, and like if someone says that song reminds me of this, or I love this song of yours because it reminds me of this, and it makes me think of something right there on the spot, and I say, Well, actually, here's a story about that song.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's always better than if I think, okay, I'm gonna play the song and I'm gonna tell this story.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: It just never is as good as if it's done in the moment.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I that's another thing I've been thinking about a lot, and I think this might be able to apply to everyone.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: I just think we're all at our best when we're when we're being present.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so now, like having that affirmation, now when I go back to write songs or I go back to paint paintings, I think I need to be more present and open to just like following the direction of whatever it feels right in that moment.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever been surprised by because it sounds like you're you're just kind of in a way uh telling stories up there that come come to mind, like you said, being being present.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever been more surprised at some of the things you've said or that you've allowed yourself to be really vulnerable on stage by telling those stories?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um wow.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I guess I have, I mean, in a way, because like I may end up talking about something and then afterward being like, wow, I never thought I'd talk about that.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Not that it's a bad thing or a shameful story or embarrassing or anything like that.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, like I found myself telling a story like not too long ago about a birthday party that I went to when I was a kid, and like it was hot, and I fainted and almost fell in the water, and it's like why like why did they what where does that story have that like what what's the relevance of that?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: But somebody was talking about bumper boats and because something looked like a bumper boat, and then I was like, Well, I have this funny story about bumping bumper boats, you know, and in that moment it worked, but like would that work at another concert?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like from what I was saying before, like I mean, would would that be relevant?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'd I'd have to force it to be relevant.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, in the moment.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, in the moment in the context of the night, it's totally relevant because that's what I'm trying to do.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to like create an atmosphere with the help of everybody else to where like we can really just make something for ourselves.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: It it is a challenge, uh, especially in in this time where you talk about high tech and there's a lot of a lot of it's just different for a songwriter and a musician these days, but you're done a really nice job.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was looking online uh about your Patreon, and I'm curious because I think I I read I think I heard the story where you talked about starting in a certain way and then you realized, and it just kind of goes into the theme of community, um, how how you needed to kind of pivot a little bit when you it changed for the original concept when you created your Patreon.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I've been thinking a lot more about that too.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I I've paused I've paused it.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still active on there, but I've paused like the the membership, like people don't have to pay right now so anybody can join because because I'm um I'm just kind of waiting till the end of this tour and I have some time at home to jump back in.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I'm gonna read when I when I when I unpause it, that's really all it's gonna be.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's all it's just gonna be about community.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna be like I went into it thinking that it was gonna be a place for me to say, like, oh, okay, you know, if you like this song here, listen to this demo that I made when I wrote the song, or you know, what kind of like a Netflix or something.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe no, that's not a but like a bo I don't know, like a virtual box set.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Everything brought in.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: But now I realize that's doesn't really interest me that much anyways.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like I I really like I really like the engagement when when it's more about when it feels more like just a like a place, like a like a gathering place.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then my contribution to it can be like these are the song this is what I'm working on, this is an idea I have, and people can say if they like it or not, and then I can open it up and say, well, why don't we like explore this idea?
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like here, I wrote this verse for a song that I'm writing about such and such.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Why don't you submit your ideas, what you think a verse should be, and then like you know, maybe I'll pick a few and and sing them back to you.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just it's like it's it's a little bit more um interesting to me and fun for me that way.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Do you find yourself writing uh on the on the road and how how does it work?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: What do you look?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because you mentioned m being able to tour, not promoting a record.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, do you want to create another record or how do you want to kind of move forward?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this is actually a really good time for me to be touring because I've written a record.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: I've written a lot of songs and gathered a lot of material for songs, and I would say that the songs aren't necessarily finished being right written.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like the words are there and the musical ideas are there, but I want to make them better, and it's fun because out here on the road when I have a sound time for sound check, or if I'm just sitting around in the hotel, I can pull up the lyrics to the song that I wrote and pull out a guitar and mess with it, and just like I'm not at home, so I have like I'm in a different frame of mind, and like it's really good.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's really good to do to have this opportunity because like I'll be on stage tomorrow night here in Pennsylvania and I'll play a song and maybe it's a song I haven't played in a while, maybe it's a song that I've played a million times, but I can feel the reaction that people have to it, and I can feel my I can pay attention to my own reaction.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh yeah, this is a good song.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I I like playing this song.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that kind of gives me perspective on the new songs I'm working on.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I don't want to make them sound exactly like that song, but like I can compare it to those songs that I'm playing on stage, and like how do these fit into that?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's is there, is there out of comparing this to that, is there something I can learn from that?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Is there can I make the song a little more different so it complements that song?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Or do it does it give me the same joy that that song gives me?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's a nice perspective.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: How do you do do you want to record because the last record you did, um forgive me if I'm wrong, it wasn't just a couple days you recorded it with uh with a live band.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to do something similar or can use a lot of things?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: I want to do something even more similar.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like like what I was saying before about like losing the human touch.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: I want to make a record like those really, really early Beatles records where they were just all in a room, there's no click track, and they're all just singing and playing in a room together.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's how I want to do it.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: I want to pick the right musicians, go over the songs with them, rehearse them in the studio, come and then as soon as we think we have a good way to run the song down, then I want to start recording and doing takes that way.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: And if it's not the best take, that's fine.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: But if it feels like it's got some kind of like group magic, then that's what I want to go for.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: What is it like recording in 2026?
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess writing in 26.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm curious because there's so much going on in the world.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: You open up the newspaper, there's so many stories uh in various directions, and you've always kind of woven social issues into your music.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious uh where you're at with that today in writing.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: It obviously it still shows up in your lyrics.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm on I'm I'm on I mean, I would say I probably think and feel uh about things politically and socially the same way I always have.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: But I think for me, like one thing that I've been really aiming for is making songs that um if I want to make a comment about something socially or politically, I want it to be about like the idea of don't forget everybody that we're all connected.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, it's um we need to recognize that we're all connected.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're if we're if if we're talking about genocide in the news right now, if we're talking about like genocide in Palestine, let's say, like, is there a way that I can like put out a message of like we're all connected to it?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if there's if there's if there's people talking about um, you know, how every day there's like anti-Semitism is growing, you know, is there a way that I can like I don't want to say get above or get beyond that, but is there a way that I can reflect a message or echo a message of love and like understanding that we're all connected and that we're all you know we're all human.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're we we're all in this together.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Has becoming a father, I'd imagine, changed your perspective on on songwriting too?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a bit now.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think I feel like it's uh I'm not sure how old they are now, but it has that I'd imagine that how to have an impact on your songwriting, your outlook on life.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um Yeah, I I think so.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I think indirectly, you know, becoming a parent changes the way uh you think about things a lot.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um it changes how you manage your time and it makes everything so um much more precious and you're also much more aware of um you know how finite and fleeting everything is and how temporary everything is, and so I think um indirectly it makes everything a little bit more special, but also at the same time, like more directly, like I want to make songs that he's gonna like.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: So what does that mean?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like they have there has to be some element of a fun melody in there that you know isn't gonna be boring to him and um you know, like and not just him, but young people appreciate because you know I want to make something that not only am I proud of, but I want to make something that he's proud of too.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: I know in the past you were heavily involved with with wine.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: I believe you had your own wine.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Are you still involved in that that hobby?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Or and then why No, no, no.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: I discovered really soon that that's a whole still funny passion that you need to put 100% into.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's not something that you can just do lightly.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's interesting.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I remember we did a session and we uh I believe we had uh bottles of your wine, which is very cool.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was a lot of fun.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: But I think in a way that kind of sparks the whole idea of community.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it wasn't about the wine, it was just about being together with people and connecting.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that you're certainly doing a really good job with that.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: That was really fun.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it was really I re I liked it because like, yeah, the the group, the gathering aspect of it all, the community was really fun, but it made me realize that like you can branch out, but just don't branch out too far.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm trying to find a ways to keep it closer, you know, to the music and create closer to like just being an artist.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you very much, Brett, for your time.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: Two shows this weekend.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh West Hampton Beach Performing Arts Center Saturday night, W H B P A C dot org for tickets and Sunday nights at the City Winery in New York City.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Brett.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great day.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for your time.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Bye bye.