Nothing quite like the magic of some cool solo piano pieces with that rich, cinematic feel and a touch of vintage flair. While the music world constantly pushes the boundaries with technology, there’s something refreshing about hitting pause and return to the basics—where every note feels like a story unfolding, stripped of the digital rush, yet packed with emotion and nostalgia.
Read our discussion with the talented pianist below!
Describe your Sound in 3 words.
Honest, Emotive, Varied
Tell us a few things about The Circus Behind Us; what is the story behind it?
I wrote much of the material for this album over the course of 2020, which as we all know was a tough year for many people around the world. My friends, family, and extended family all endured their share of hardship during that time as well, and many of the themes of the album speak to the emotions felt by so many of us that year. In many ways it felt like a circus, and not in a positive light. My way of coping after weeks of quarantining was to work on writing songs every day, as a ‘musical journal’ of sorts. The songs came slowly at first but soon the process felt like a faucet ever-flowing. By year’s end I had over 100 songs completed, and they mostly stayed in a binder until early 2023 when I was prompted by a good friend and fellow musician to record some of the material. The experience was surprisingly cathartic for me; I hadn’t thought of it initially, but by releasing this music, I was also releasing some of the leftover emotion from that experience. The album’s title “The Circus Behind Us” refers to that, the act of putting that experience in the past, reflecting on it, and moving forward positively.
You explore themes such as isolation, loneliness, regret, love, and hope. Was there a particular experience or event in your life that influenced the composition of this album?
To piggyback off my answer to your last question, it was primarily my own experience during those first few months of the pandemic that informed the creative process. Isolation and loneliness of course in the sense of being cut off from real social interaction, but also in the sense of the loneliness felt by individuals that were not necessarily living alone, but quarantined at home with their families as they each navigated the mental and emotional challenges in their own unique and often conflicting ways. The theme of regret refers to a multitude of possibilities, from things left unsaid to loved ones that were lost, or hurtful things said during an argument with a loved one…things left undone, opportunities not taken before the pandemic hit. Love and hope appear out of utter necessity, as they are the two emotions that helped carry many of us through. Of course, there were bright spots and breaks in the clouds over the course of that year, which are reflected on the album as well.
What do you hope to achieve through this album, both artistically and emotionally?
To be honest, in many ways I feel that I have already achieved what I wanted to. The process of creating, documenting, and releasing this music feels like a metaphor for coping with and moving forward from the trauma of that year. The music became a manifestation of the emotions I was feeling at the time, and to get them down, make them tangible, and then release them to the world felt a lot like finally letting go of the negative parts. So, from an emotional and artistic standpoint, I feel pretty fulfilled.
Your album features 19 solo piano pieces and ends with a vocal track. Was the inclusion of vocals a deliberate attempt to convey a specific message, or did it happen organically during the creative process?
I mentioned earlier that a good friend and fellow musician prompted me to record this music. That is Phillip Henderson, who is the lyricist and vocalist on that particular song (“For No Other [Here I Am]”)
He was at my studio managing the recording process and had been taking the rough tracks home to listen to; he felt inspired by that particular melody and came back for one of the last recording sessions with a demo of a vocal part he added. I fell in love with the lyrics and felt that they perfectly conveyed the specific sentiment I had felt when composing it. It is not an easy melody to sing, with some interesting intervals and a larger then usual range. It struck me as special, so I decided to include it as the final track.
If the music of Brett Cline was a film, which film would that be?
This is a great question! I have been in this business for 30 years now and in that time have performed in so many different bands and genres. For much of my adult life my heart has been in jazz or more original instrumental music, but I was having to play mostly more modern and popular music and request-driven piano bar gigs. For this reason I think the movie “La La Land” comes to mind, as I can see some parallels between the arc of the character Sebastian and myself. In the end he opens his own Jazz club and realizes his dream of making the music he wanted to make, much like I have found success in the last several years making the music I want to make. This album presents the most honest reflection of myself at the time, and it feels good to release material that represents me in the truest sense.
A song you would pay to hear for the first time again?
One of the first beautiful songs I recall hearing as a child was Dave Brubeck’s “Strange Meadowlark”, off the iconic “Time Out” album from 1959. My father loved that album and played it often. It was years before I began playing piano, but that intro and melody moved me in a deep way even though I was unaware of the workings of a piano, or the music theory behind it. I would love to be able to hear that song again for the first time with my current understanding of piano and music theory, that would be a very cool experience.
Thank you!
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