Brianna Knight

Describe your music for unfamiliar listeners

 

90’s R&B with a twang of Neo-Soul. It’s music for the folks who love hard and fall hard but try not to cry in public lol

 

How’d you get into making music?

 

My mom! She always sang around the house and then in high school I did musicals, plus a course with Berkeley online just to try songwriting. My freshman year of college, I joined a poetry collective that really transformed the way I looked at songwriting. I got invited to play at the Apollo and then I was like okay maybe we can start taking this seriously. I saw my name on the door and it clicked like okay how many more blessings do you need to truly try for this?  

 

Your latest single “Everything or Nothing” is a track that slaps on every listen. How was that song made? 

 

Last year I challenged myself to write a song everyday and a thing I focused on was using phrases. 1 day I heard the beat online and was like if I could make a song around this what would it be. Words started flowing, I could see the movie in my mind, black & white, raining, crying, genuinely one of the easier songs I’ve written and then I brought the demo to my producer but I told him let’s make this lean more 90s and switch up the chords. I had so much fun recording, finished the second verse in our final recording session and truly had to focus on telling the story. As a vocalist, you get caught up in making everything acrobatic but I genuinely wanted folks to hear my words. 

 

Where do you find the inspiration to create music? 

 

My imagination haha. I’ll hear a phrase and be like why hasn’t anybody used that or I’ll hear a melody or a poem and be like why isnt this a full song? It’s very much so a routine for me. If I don’t write at least once to twice a week I lose my mind. I need to explore out of reality sometimes or find a way to consolidate everything I’m hearing or seeing around me. 

 

Describe your creative process

 

Depending on the mood I may just dive right in and just write what’s coming to mind. No phrases or literary elements just write down my feelings or recall the day. Other times I’ll set a timer for 5 to 10mins to expand on a phrase I heard or an item around me. Then I’ll find a beat or play around with my guitar and try to fit in as many words from that list or journal entry as possible. It’s like organizing chaos. Sometimes I’ll freestyle it and then once I have the story I’ll chop which melodies I want to use. There are times it’s a free flow and other times I feel like I’m performing surgery. I’ll sit back and ask myself okay do I need to write this better? Do I need to sang this? Do I need to tell the story better, more emotion or less? Do I need to connect emotionally or detach? My favorite thing to ask my producer is should I pull back or eat the mic haha. 

 

What song/project would you recommend for unfamiliar listeners? 

 

For a story? Bad Decisions. To vibe? So Deep. To shake some booty? Link Up. To cry? Everything or Nothing. 

 

What’s next for Brianna Knight? Any new projects soon? 

 

An EP in the fall titled Movies in my Mind. It’s coming together so follow and join my newsletter to stay updated! 

 

Besides music, what else have you been up to recently? 

 

I’ve been focused on strength training. Hit a PR on the leg press of 300lbs. It’s fun having thick thighs made of muscle. If only my core strength could match

 

What music have you been listening to lately? 

 

Jae Stephen’s for sure and Flo but I was in a 2010’s pop mood for sure. I had Madonna Caught Up and Britney Spears Piece of Me on repeat for days!!