Wednesday, August 20, 2014 10:54am ET by  
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Brave Williams on supporting Beyoncé, musical and literary inspirations, and her new EP 'Fearless'

Songstress Brave Williams recently chatted with Pressparty about her exciting new career as a solo artist, performing in support of global icon Beyoncé with her former group RichGirl, and what inspires her. 

You used to be in a girl group called RichGirl, so how is the transition from being in that setting to now working and releasing music as a solo artist?

The group was an awesome, awesome experience. I think that the group helped me tremendously in making the transition because I learned so much from just being around amazing vocalists. They taught me so much, and so going from that to this I feel like I was able to get my feet wet with the group - it was an awesome transition.

Are you finding that there's more creative control now that you're out on your own as an artist?

I do – it’s evolving. It’s different when you’re in a group and then when you’re solo because obviously in a group you have to make collective decisions on the songs and on the writing, but now I’m solo I have the freedom to really just be an honest Brave and give people an honest version of me. 

With the group you definitely have to be a team player. I have 16 brothers and sisters, so the whole idea of sharing and respecting other people’s ideas and opinions was really easy for me because I come from such a big family and you have to be like that. As a solo artist, it’s the same… I love hip-hop, I was the rapper in the group and now with my EP coming out, ‘Fearless’, I get to do both… sing and rap.

Your debut EP is called ‘Fearless’ and is due to be released next month in September. Why did you chose to call the record that?

I’m really excited. I just learned – even coming out of the group and music in itself, and the journey that artists go through – I learned that fear has never told me the truth, and if I listened to it, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I felt like in order to really take this by the horns and go full-throttle, you have to be completely fearless so the word was perfect.

How was the writing process for 'Fearless'? Did you take a very hands-on approach or did you work with co-writers?

One of the writers I worked very closely with - her name is Candy Shields - we’ve been co-writing as well as me completely writing the lyrics. Sometimes when you’re telling your own story you might add more detail than what’s needed because you want to get it all out there, so they come in and sometimes make it a bit simpler.

There’s no one way to write a song. I could be sitting at my kitchen table and just start writing – there’s no melody, no music and I could just come up with lyrics. Then if I do hear a track or a melody that I think is a perfect marriage, I’ll write to it. I like to let the music lead me to where it thinks I should go.

What kind of themes do you like to write about the most?

Relationships, love… the turmoil after the break-ups! It’s definitely just an honest view into my personal life and personal experiences. The fun side is just going out with my girls and just having fun. I feel like ‘Oooh (Luv Ya)’, the single that I just released, is the perfect first song for people to hear because it encompasses every part of my personality… the sassiness, the fun. We definitely did a good job on ‘Fearless’ to give you an honest version of each layer of me.

 

 

 

What were your musical inspirations growing up? 

I love Mary J. Blige. She definitely inspired me a lot – that hip-hop meets R&B, I just think she’s fabulous. Growing up, my dad would play a lot of Stevie Wonder… For me, I feel like I found my niche when I found Maya Angelou and fell in love with words. I’ll read something – and even with Maya Angelou’s poems – I’ll get re-inspired every time I open the book up. Books to me are timeless and they can match what I’m going through at each time in my life, or I’ll notice something I hadn’t before each time I read them.

I feel like pain and hurt and things that may normally drag or change a person’s feeling in that moment - those to me are the best moments and it sounds weird, but, regardless of what I’m going through I can come up with the best writing for me. It’s the most creative place to be in. We all go through highs and lows, but I can always transform those moments into something creating. Like, ‘I know I shouldn’t be enjoying feeling like this, but this song is sounding dope!’

The music video for 'Oooh (Luv Ya)' was recently released and looks like it was a lot of fun to make. Did you have a good time working on the visuals for the track? 

We shot it in LA. Chris Robinson did a great job – he understood my vision and the whole thing with this video was that I wanted to make sure I gave you effortless fun. I didn’t want it to be too much of anything – I just wanted it to be bright and make you want to smile when you watched it, and I think I accomplished that.

RichGirl opened for Beyoncé on her I Am… tour, which must have been incredible. Did you learn anything from supporting such an icon on the road?

Opening for Beyoncé was a for real highlight. I learned so much from being on that tour and to go from playing to 40 people to 60,000 on that tour… it was probably… there was just an excitement that I can’t even put into words. I can still remember that first night at Madison Square Garden, and it was this feeling of disbelief but being ready for the curtains to open so we could do what we love to do. I learned a lot about dancing and breathing, which might sound like ‘can I chew gum and think at the same time?’ but there’s a lot to that! There’s really an art to that. I learned a lot of technical things as a vocalist – how to execute properly. It was so cool (laughs).

When did you first realise you wanted to be a singer?

I had no idea I could sing, I was kind of a late bloomer as I was always rapping and doing spoken word. I was about 16 and turned one of my raps into a song, and was like, ‘hang on a minute, you kind of have a voice and it isn’t bad’. It’s so much more than just opening your mouth and allowing a sound to come out… there are a lot of technical things that unless you grow up singing and learn as you go, you might definitely need guidance along the way. I wanted to learn about pitch and what does flat and sharp with. I just knew I had a tone that I liked, but everything else, I had to really work on. 

Tell us about your involvement in spoken word performance as that's an art form that's known for being rhythmic. Did you write to a beat or just write in free form and then read it aloud in a particular way?

I never wrote a piece to music – that was strictly based on emotion and it’s crazy because those pieces are ones I hold very close to me because they’re so personal, but when I recite them I do it to a beat. I never intentionally set out to write them that way, it just organically happened. It did help me (with songwriting) as it gave me a sense of structure.

What’s next for you after the EP release? 

We’re looking at college tours right now and there have been a lot of acting roles coming in. I’ve been cast in an upcoming play and I’m getting more information about that. I just did the Reebok campaign, they recognised me as a tribe leader so that was really cool for them to hear the music and want to be a part of it. They want to know what about this particular shoe or what about your life is classic. It’s so cool to be recognised by them. But, I’m definitely continuing to write and record.

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Watch Brave's music video for 'Oooh (Luv Ya)' below: