Pennan Brae
is a Vancouver based Singer-Songwriter whose music has a vintage 70s tinge, employing lush string arrangements, roaming pedal steel guitar and a rich, driving beat.
Pennan Brae kicks off 2021 with his new album, ‘Lit’, a 10-song album influenced by rock & roll of the 1970s & 80s. The lead singles off the album are ‘Passing Fad’, ‘El Camino’ & ‘Tearing My Heart In 2’.
Pennan was busy from 2018-20 releasing 2 feature length films which he wrote along with the corresponding soundtracks; ‘The Astronot’ & ‘2 Below 0’. These films participated in over 100 film festivals with ‘The Astronot’ now streaming on Amazon Prime.
‘The Astronot’ soundtrack provided Pennan the opportunity to work with 2 of his musical heroes. Legendary drummer Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Eric Clapton, Duran Duran) & bassist Garry Gary Beers (INXS) played on the 2 lead singles off the album, ‘Walk With Me’ & ‘Crashland’.
As of late, Pennan has worked remotely with filmmaker Tim Cash on a number of lyric music videos for his YouTube Channel. “These music videos have been really fun to make,” he exclaims. “It’s wonderful researching old film footage & we can create them safely in the current environment. I’ve fallen in love with the medium. It’s really fun to clearly share the lyrical content of the songs.”
Weed & Whisky Women
'Weed & Whisky Women' is the lead single from Pennan Brae's upcoming 9th album, 'Cinema'. The track is mixed by producer Kirk Kelsey (Smashing Pumpkins) & is influenced by the playful musical stylings of the 1980s & 90s. Underneath the pop-style mix are influences of 1970s Southern rock & roll (The Allman Brothers & Lynyrd Skynyrd). Lyrically it represents the musings of a man reflecting on wilder times in his past life & a desire to hit the straight & narrow.
Der Track ist, wie schon erwähnt, die Single zum Album "Cinema", und hat diese hypnotisierende Wirkung, man muss ihn einfach zu Ende hören. Ein bemerkenswerter Song, der auch von der Liebe zum Detail lebt, immer wieder tauchen überraschende Soundelemente auf die einen neugierig werden lassen. Pennans Vocals überzeugen und passen ideal zum Stil. Das Arrangement klingt sehr ausgeglichen, nichts wirkt schwer, alles scheint zu schweben. Auch der Einsatz der Peripherie im Mix zeigt sich von der besten Seite, es werden gekonnt verschiedene Dekaden der Musik verbunden. Southern Rock & Roll der 70er abgemischt in den virtuellen 80er/90er Jahren und einzigartig interpretiert durch Pennan Brae. Was will man mehr. Sicher ein weiteres großartiges Werk von Brae.
The Interview
Who inspired you to make music in general?
It’s more an internal need to express myself in this way. I’m a pretty emotional person and making music is a constructive outlet for that expression.
...and especially to "Weed and Whisky Women"?
‘Weed and Whisky Women’ is a party song. It’s part from memories of college and part from imagination and watching movies. I like the lyrical content of the track. There are 2 versions of ‘Weed and Whisky Women’ on the ‘Cinema’ album. One is the original cut, which is a Southern rock and roll recording. The other is the ‘Distilled Mix’ by producer Kirk Kelsey, which is a ‘90s club remix of the song.
The song is influenced by different decades of music (70's - 90's); do you have a favourite decade?
I don’t have one in particular; listening most often goes with what mood I’m in as every decade offers something different.
The 1950s were fresh as rock and roll was born; it’s a magical era to listen.
In the ‘60s, rock music developed and became sophisticated, especially lyrically.
In the ‘70s it further matured and Motown, Soul and Disco came to the forefront.
The 1970s are a pretty rich decade musically.
The 1980s were just plain fun. Big themes with wonderful melodies and the birth of the synthesizer in pop music.
And with the ‘90s you have Nirvana and grunge which blew everything away.
So every decade has wonderful offerings to delve into.
If you could create a "Supergroup", who would be the members?
Keith Richards would be on rhythm guitar,
Jimi Hendrix on lead guitar,
Little Walter on harmonica,
Paul McCartney on bass,
Marvin Gaye and
Tina Turner on vocals and
Elton John on keys.
With Ginger Baker on drums.
That’s a pretty good line-up, eh?
What is your creative process like?
I enjoy sitting down and playing the piano void of other instruments; sometimes an idea is worth chasing; other times not. On guitar I enjoy playing to a drum loop; it helps me get in the rhythm of things and play within.
What is the most useful talent you have?
I don’t know if it’s a talent but I just like to keep working and pursuing new things.
...and the most useless talent?
Too many to mention.
If you could change anything in the past, what would it be?
Nothing. It happened and here we are in the present. Time to move forward.
How do you feel the Internet (especially Social Media platforms) has impacted the music business?
Social media’s a double-edged sword. In one way, it’s helped musicians as they can be their own publicist and get the word out on their music. This is very motivating and it can be fun creatively as well. The flip side is everyone is doing it and so it can be difficult to be heard. Online streaming is great in that an independent musician can be empowered, upload and share their own music. The flip side are royalty rates are a pittance. So the internet has its pros and cons everyone must work within; I suppose like everything else.
Pennan Brae is...?
I’m a singer-songwriter with 9 albums and 2 films. My 9th album was released June 25th, 2021 and is called ‘Cinema’. Earlier this year I released ‘Lit’, which is a guitar-dominated album influenced by rock and roll of the 1970s. My songs stream on Spotify and Apple Music. My 2 independent films, ‘The Astronot’ and ‘2 Below 0’ stream on Prime Video. I do a lot of music videos which can be seen on YouTube at www.youtube.com/pennanbrae
What’s next for you?
I’d like to do a short film this Summer. I have more music videos set for release throughout July and August which have a vintage tinge to them. This Fall, I’d like to release a new album in September or October which would be a stripped down rock and roll album of guitars, bass and drums. Fingers crossed!
