Rising Music Star Will Bradford of SeepeopleS On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Music Industry
An Interview With Elana Cohen
I’m still working on the ONE thing… have fun! After 26 years in the music biz, this sometimes proves the single hardest thing to do, but I still try!
As a part of our interview series with leaders, stars, and rising stars in the music industry, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Will Bradford of SeepeopleS.
Bradford is worried about the future. For 22 years, he’s toured the country as SeepeopleS’ bandleader, songwriter, and producer, bringing his defiant, politically-charged music to the masses, challenging audiences to question the world around them creating a community of misfits hellbent on speaking truth to power. Now, on SeepeopleS’ brilliant sixth LP, Field Guide For Survival In This Dying World, Bradford has created an empathetic, emotionally intelligent collection of songs that serve as both a documentation of personal struggle and a companion in a world that seems edging closer to collapse.
SeepeopleS’ music has always been characterized by Bradford’s staunch refusal to abide by genre conventions, and Field Guide For Survival In This Dying World continues in that spirit, though Bradford’s talent and decades of experience have allowed him to blend 90s inspired electro, expressive indie-folk, and avant-garde pop into something musically diverse yet wholly cohesive.
Bradford started working on Field Guide For Survival In This Dying World in 2017 and was set to release the album and embark on a 20th anniversary tour in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and suddenly the end of the world seemed closer than ever. With plans for the anniversary indefinitely sidelined, Bradford continued to work on the album and, in an effort to foster a sense of community in isolation, decided to make Field Guide For Survival In This Dying World a collaborative effort.
Teaming up with his longtime recording partner Will Holland (Pixies, Dead Can Dance, New Pornographers), Bradford performed more than a handful of instruments on the album, and pulled in a variety of collaborators including saxophonist and bass clarinetist Dana Colley (Morphine, Vapors Of Morphine), drummers Nikki Glaspie (Beyoncé, The Nth Power, Maceo Parker), Jerome Deupree (Morphine), and Dan Capaldi (Sea Level), bassists Ian Riley (Cadaverette) and Nate Edgar (The Nth Power, John Brown’s Body), guitarist Tim Reynolds (Dave Matthews Band), pedal steel guitarist “Cowboy” Eddie Long (Taylor Swift, ZZ Top, The Allman Brothers, Hank Williams Jr.), bassoonist Jason Ward (Rustic Overtones), upright bassist David Yearwood (Forêt Endormie, Snap! Thee Asparagus, HX Kitten), cellist Devon Colella (QUAD) and a murderers’ row of backing vocalists including Brooke Binion (theWorst), Courtney Peare, Griffin Sherry (The Ghost of Paul Revere) Sparxsea, who also performed flute to several tracks on Field Guide.
A highlight of the record is “Shame,” a bedroom-pop treatise on the fear and pain of living in a country under constant threat of violence, where safety can’t even be guaranteed in U.S. schools. The accompanying animated video depicts the harrowing magical journey of a child bullied and living in a world where school shootings are heartbreakingly commonplace. A labor of love, Pete List (Celebrity Death Match) spent a year creating the video. This marks the second collaboration between List and SeepeopleS, following 2018’s “New American Dream” which won a Pixie Award for “Best Video” but was eventually banned by Facebook for its outspoken politics.
Field Guide For Survival In This Dying World does not so much offer answers for the ills of modern life, as it provides reassurance that no one suffers alone. It is neither a bible nor a roadmap, but a present companion and a shoulder to lean on through trying times.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about your “origin story.” Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I was born in New York City and moved around a bunch when I was younger. I spent most of my youth in Maine before I was shipped away to several high schools (trouble kid) and ultimately Boston University, where I promptly dropped out to go play music.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I played in several bands in high school and began playing actual gigs then. I decided this career path then and have never looked back — albeit maybe I should have? — yikes….
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I suppose one of the most interesting stories of late would be the banning of our music video by Facebook and Instagram, and the censorship that followed. In 2017 we released a music video for “New American Dream.” The animated video was made by Pete List, who used to work on Celebrity Deathmatch. A year later, about a week after Mark Zuckergerg testified before congress on the Russian bot scandal, our video was removed from the platform and the band / label accounts were threatened with deletion. Ultimately, we were able to keep our accounts active but have been in FB / IG jail ever since, reclassified as a political organization, and have been unable to advertise on either platform — something that has proven to be a massive hinderance to promoting and operating a working / touring band in the modern world, or dare I say, brave new world. Also, the death threats the band received from far right-wingers after the video got some buzz, was as interesting as it was terrifying — but eye opening nonetheless.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote?” Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Always go with the love.” I can’t remember who said it to me, but it’s always stuck with me.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I’m always recording songs for SeepeopleS, but since 2016 I’ve also been in theWorst. Both bands are touring now and recording new albums. I’m also currently producing a Sparxsea album. I recently co-produced the last album by The Nth Power, and co-produced the new Whitney Walker album with Will Holland (Chillhouse Studios).
We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in music, film, and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
The Media serves as a cultural mirror. As a multi-racial human being, my mother is Thai, I’ve always understood the paramount importance of this cultural mirror being as humane and inclusive as possible. Every society has had its day and its tragic mistakes, it’s through using this cultural mirror that we can better ourselves as a society and progress — by being the change we want to see or better yet, actually see.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
I’m still working on the ONE thing… have fun! After 26 years in the music biz, this sometimes proves the single hardest thing to do, but I still try!
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out?”
Like I just said, have fun, but also to be present. If you can stay present as much as possible, time will work with you and you’ll find a flow, and can stay in it. The moment that matters the most is the one you or we are living through right now.
You’re a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
You never know what your idea can trigger. :-). Since 2000, when SeepeopleS started, it was always aligned with the ambition of contributing to a cultural movement or awakening. Over the years we’ve ranted in song about capitalism, greed, social ignorance, racism, facism, the world ending, and fucking the man, etc… Now that I’m older, I realize that I was just trying to tell people to love each other. So, the only real movement I think that would truly bring the most good, is simply to inspire love, but not a shallow love. The kind of love earned through compassion and understanding. A kind of love that requires real engagement and work. I suppose we could even call it the Labor of Love movement — it does have a nice ring to it.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
Can I have a time machine too? I’d go back and hit up Leo Tolstoy, and then I’d let him know the future. I feel like lunch would just be a hoot after that! I don’t think he has instagram though…
How can our readers follow you online?
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
