Brida has an interesting musical background. She studied classical piano and voice since she was old enough to read; she went to university and got a degree in vocal and piano pedagogy. Over time, she performed in many bands, even securing a six-night residency performing jazz standards at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in South Florida, where she grew up. She moved to Tennessee to get closer to the Nashville music scene - this is where she met her twin flame.
In the piano lines of her songs, she cites classical influences as her earliest memory in which people will notice from her music. Often, she is compared to the dreamy style of Claude Debussy and the passionate runs of Chopin. Vocally, she is inspired by the agility and power of singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Nancy Wilson, as well as being compared to the likes of Adele and Hayley Williams. “I’ve always loved singers that can elicit such emotion with one note. I’m also a huge Twenty-One-Pilots and Galleux fan,” Brida mentions.
She goes on to discuss how she loved how her producer was able to weave in so many unexpected synths and cinematic builds into her piano-pop sound. “I love a song with surprise elements and I write specifically for each song to have a huge climax, so I am thrilled with how these were incorporated into each song on the album,” she continues.
With two singles out at the moment, the first one we discuss in this interview is Brida’s debut ‘In My Dreams’. Telling the story behind it being the metaphysical side of being a twin flame, “Across the board, anyone who has met their twin flame will tell you that their souls have a union that transcends anything physical,” she comments.
From states away she says she can feel her twin’s emotions in her body as if they were her own; and in meditative states and dreams their souls often interact with one another. “It is the single most awe-inspiring experience of my lifetime,” she continues. She often wakes up from these experiences wishing she could go back to sleep because they are so beautiful. In contrast, she does not get to see her twin in real life much anymore, But I still get to spend lots of time with him in my dreams.”
On the second single, ‘You Found Me’ this tells a story of when her twin flame walked into the room for the first time and she immediately recognised his soul. “It talks about how this fateful meeting taught my soul to sing again. And then he was gone,” she comments. This song was wrestling with her to try and understand why she would finally meet the most important soul connection of her lifetime, only for it to disappear.
Both tracks will feature on her forthcoming debut album, Down in Flames, which overall was a way for her to process this intense connection she was experiencing. “My twin flame and I never spoke about our connection while we were friends. Everyone saw it and asked us about it, but we just shoved it off because we were both in relationships,” she comments. She thought after he had moved on, she would too. . .but the metaphysical side of their connection grew stronger. She mentions the album is her version of the Chopin quote: “I tell my piano the things I used to tell you,” as she was unable to call him up to share everything she was feeling and thinking, instead she sat down at her piano and wrote about it.
Brida’s music is personal and born out of her crying over her piano keys and letting her emotions pour out in a musical form. “But even then, I typically start writing around a concept or situation that is on my mind,” she says when asked about her songwriting process. After an idea pops up, she begins to create a melody around what the concept feels emotionally. Then, once she has the melody in place, she sits at the piano and adds chords to it.
“But I often have entire songs just come out all at once, where the lyrics, melody, and chords just come out almost as if it was given to me. For instance, I woke up at 3am with a song I wrote in my dream. I immediately grabbed my phone off the nightstand and sang it into the voice memos and then went back to bed,” she continues.
“I want the listeners to have a catharsis as they listen to my music,” Brida mentions when asked what she wants listeners to take away from her music. Although her first album was inspired by her twin flame journey, it too is about love, loss, and the growth that happens from those places. “I think anyone who has experienced the loss of “the one” will be able to see themself in the lyrics,” she continues. With her music she also discusses personal challenges of facing trauma and being on a healing path, which many in-turn will resonate with. “I want others to cry along, sing along, and heal along as they listen, and I want them to feel less alone, knowing someone else has experienced what they are going through,” she says.
During the global pandemic of COVID-19, the world is certainly a different place for everyone, but definitely for artists - but for Brida, she says ironically she did not slow down at all during this time. “ My business was thriving. But what did change was that my husband, a teacher, was home for 9 months. He told me he would take care of all household duties so that I could finally focus solely on making this album,” she discloses. She notes her husband’s support towards her music and her twin flame journey is her biggest support system. Unfortunately, they had to cancel their 15-year anniversary trip to Iceland, but with her husband’s support, she took their travel funds and put it towards the album. “I am so grateful I was able to not only financially support my album, but to hire other creatives (directors, producers, photographers, etc) so that they could have more projects during a time when things had really slowed down,” she says.
Brida is inspired by the way life is full of so much pain and so much beauty, all at once, and how we all experience this contrast no matter what our backgrounds are. when questioned about what drives her forward as an artist. “I channel it all - the awe, the beauty, the fear, the grief- into music that I hope will help someone else process all that they are going through. One of the biggest motivations for,” she comments.
She goes on to discuss one of the biggest motivations for her in the past has been her Instagram DM’s as people reach out to thank her for her transparency with her story of how she met her twin flame when she was already married to her soulmate. “I genuinely thought this story might be too wild for most people, but it has had quite the opposite response,” she continues. On the hard days as an indie musician, those messages are what keep her moving forward.
Closing out the interview with one fun fact about herself, she finishes by telling, “My husband and I are currently working on buying our dream home and property that will be a community hub for creativity and connection. Plus, we are planning on raising Bactrian camels there as well.”
Brida’s debut album, Down in Flames, will be released on August 22, 2021.
Words by Danielle Holian