HOW DID YOUR NAME ORIGINATE?
Well, my first name’s Brandon, my parents named me after Brandon Lee, an amazingly talented 90’s actor and also Bruce’s Lee’s son who was in an iconic movie called The Crow but was sadly killed during it’s making when a stunt man forgot to take the real bullets out of a gun and in a scene shot what was meant to be dummy bullets at him, but instead, real bullets flew and killed him almost instantly.
Rivers isn’t my real surname, I’m from the New Forest and my house had a scenic view of a nearby river, this was definitely an initial influence but the reason I chose Rivers as my surname was something much more personal, deeper and even vaguely spiritual, it will definitely come to light one day when I feel comfortable discussing it.
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WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST GIG AND HOW MANY WERE THERE
I spent the majority of my early teens playing in dreadful bands, desperately trying to keep them together long enough to play crap gigs at venues in Southampton like The Joiners or Lennons to crowds of about 3 which included an old man and his dog.
My first solo show was at Bestival in 2017 and there was about 30-40 people watching, the weather was awful and we managed to entice people out of the rain and into the tent, Rob Da Bank forever has a place in my heart as he gave me a slot on a brilliant stage when the only thing I had to show him was a terrible recording of one of my tracks called ‘Audrey Hepburn’, I’m performing at his festival ‘Camp Bestival’ later this month alongside Chic & Nile Rodgers, Jess Glynne and Lewis Capaldi, I definitely owe him a bottle of bubbly or two.
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WHEN WAS YOUR LAST DAY OFF AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IT?
Being a full-time artist, there is never a day off, at least not for me, I could be out with friends and get a melody in my head, and run to the bathrooms and spend the next half hour recording a vocal idea in a toilet cubicle. Any day that I don’t have recording or gigging commitments is spent recording demos at home or practicing and perfecting my art.
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WHAT IS SOMETHING - APART FROM YOUR PHONE OR WALLET - THAT HAS TO BE IN YOUR VICINITY AT ALL TIMES
I haven’t quite converted to Airpods yet, but a pair of earphones, in my opinion, are essential for anyone to keep close at all times. I live a pretty crazy life, if I’m walking out the door, most of the time I don’t know where i’ll end up. I could be stuck on a train back to the Forest or on an hour tube ride to Brixton, but earphones for me are an essential ingredient for killing time/creating moods/getting inspiration or just falling asleep.
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WHICH SONG BY ANOTHER ARTIST DO YOU WISH YOU’D WRITTEN?
My bank account probably cries I should have written Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, but it’s simplicity and ability to cross barriers, nationally and racially over the last couple years really appealed to me, plus it is has exactly the kind of melodies within it that I could have imagined myself writing, as an artist you can normally tell the kind of songs you know in another life you would have written.
In terms of sheer brilliance and something that made me fall in love from get go, it’d have to be These Walls by Kendrick Lamar, the poetic lyricism yet socially relevant themes within that song have always been a benchmark for me since the day I first heard it.
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WHAT’S BEEN THE MOST SURREAL FAN MOMENT?
I was featured on Logan Paul’s playlist the other week, that was definitely very surreal, I can’t say I’m a massive fan, but I’ve got nothing but love.