Following her successful debut album, Fresh Start, genre-bending songstress Bailey Bryan is following only her own rules and expectations with her vulnerable yet empowering "sensitive bad bitch" sound.
The Washington-born singer-songwriter is set to take on the new year by storm with upcoming plans and releases that she teased late last year, leaning towards an R&B-influenced sound as well as additional music and lyric videos, along with her upcoming project, Sensitive Bad Bitch Vol. 1.
To discuss more about her singles and plans, she chatted with Variance's Ethan Ijumba in an exclusive Q+A going over her transitions and pursuits. Be sure to stream Bryan’s latest singles, “Passion” and “Tragic,” on all platforms and stay up to date by following her on Instagram and Twitter, as well as scroll below to read their full conversation.
Ethan Ijumba:
As the founder of the Sensitive Bad Bitch music, your recent singles “Passion” and “Tragic” have accumulated thousands of streams on Spotify, and you've got lyrics and music videos to go with them. What's it like to release and work on new music independently?
Bailey Bryan:
It's been amazing and feels so good to have these songs out. I went through many transitions after I released my last single “MF,” I moved to L.A., and I got a new team around me, and of course, in a transitional time, it sometimes takes a little longer to release music. So even though both songs are out now, they’ve been in the works for a few months, so it's really good to have it out.
EI:
Further speaking on that, you went from living in Nashville as a songwriter to relocating to L.A. How's that transition been? We've seen you go from country to pop music to having that additive R&B influence. Overall, how have the changes been in your career?
BB:
It's been good; I'm uncomfortable when nothing changes. I've dreamt about moving to L.A. for a long time since I grew up in Washington State. Even though I’m more familiar with the west coast, living in Nashville was still a wonderful time. I got my start as a songwriter there when I used to make country music, but I've always loved pop and R&B. Ever since I started releasing that genre of music, it began to make more sense to be in L.A.; the move was a dream come true. At first, I felt intimidated once I got here cause there are so many talented people in one town, and everybody's just trying to make it. But those are the moments I have to remember; I'm not here to get famous. I'm just here to be in the best environment where I can be to make music and reach people, so it's been a good period of growth for sure.
EI:
That’s amazing for you; regarding the type of music you make, you call it sensitive bad bitch music, which embodies and emphasizes allowing yourself to feel vulnerable and empowered from the good and the bad and the highs and the lows in certain situations. When it comes down to your new music, was there any specific process you had when writing?
BB:
No, I am a mess in all facets. I started calling my music sensitive, bad bitch music when I came up with that idea just as a way of trying to escape from having to put myself in any sort of box genre-wise. I've touched on so many different genres with my music; what draws me to different sounds depends on the day, but what remains constant is the subject matter. There's almost always the catalyst for me writing a song is me realizing that I'm somewhere on the spectrum between sensitive and bad bitch, and I'm feeling an intense emotion that pours out of me. I'll go into the studio, and maybe one of my producers will pull up a track, and then I start hearing some melodies, but it always starts from some sort of feeling inside me that I'm pulling from, whether its lyrics or sometimes it'll be a melody.
EI:
To further speak on how you compose your music, we've all seen you range from your early days when you first released Fresh Start was more pop-based. Before that, it was primarily country music when you released your EP, Perspective. Do you feel that you might one day take a toll back on your earlier genres, whether it’s country or pop, or would you be open to experimenting more towards deeper R&B or pop sounds?
BB:
For sure, country music still influences me when I write to this day, just as far as the lyricism, and I'm so grateful that I got to start my career as a songwriter in Nashville. Working with country-based writers who are so concerned with the story we're telling, the song's metaphor, and what it means. It's also important to value the message behind the song, and every specific line means something in my music. I feel the most like myself when I'm just singing over a guitar, and that will never change. I start with the more minimal and acoustic approach whenever I'm getting over my head about the production of something or what should be next when I haven't written in a minute. They could come back at some point; I could also see myself diving deeper into R & B, which somehow intersects with country music in a very authentic way.
EI:
So another part of your process you take pride in is the DIY approach when it comes down to the art you compose from the aesthetics, your music, the visuals, the creative direction, and the production. So with that being said, how exactly does your approach come about? Do you normally have it all planned out in your head, or do you usually start to process as everything unfolds?
BB:
I'm very passionate about the DIY approach, mainly because I don't see everything in my head initially. I'll make a song or start talking about the creative side of a project, and I'll have vibes in my brain, but I don't know how to articulate it. So whether it's my merch for the last tour, some cover art, video concept, or whatever. I don't see everything, but I don't always know how to put it on paper or in words. For example, on my last tour, I just made the t-shirts that we would sell on tour, which weren't amazing. Still, I wanted people to have something personal, so I'm just going to do it myself, and when it comes to a music video or the creative behind the project in any way, I'll get on zoom with my team, and I'll just word vomit for an hour, and they’ll help me piece it together.
EI:
The raw material eventually gets seasoned and every bad idea will eventually lead to something good.
BB:
Exactly, it all comes from me, and I'm lucky to have a team around me that isn’t afraid to dig in with me and just figure out what this means, what we are trying to make, and what we are trying to say here. Cause it's the beautiful mess thing, every single process in my life and career could probably be described in that way.
EI:
So to go about that, speaking of your creative direction, with your newest song, “Passion,” and then you have Sensitive Bad Bitch Vol. 1 coming up. Is there anything people can expect to be on the lookout for?
BB:
I'm going to try to be consistent with putting out a new single every six to eight weeks until we have built a little project that people can listen to cohesively. I'm calling this next project Sensitive Bad Bitch Music Volume One because that's what I've been calling my music for a second. But every project I've put out always had this concept behind it, Fresh Start. I made this whole trailer for the project, where I chopped my hair off, and it's a fresh start where I'm moving on, seeing it as a fresh start again. Themes always come back around, but to me, it's sensitive bad bitch music. You wake up some days, and you hate yourself, but you wake up other days, and you think you're amazing. You want love, but you're also terrified of it. As human beings, we're also everything at once, and I wanted to ensure the project was manageable. I've spent so much time waiting to put out music and overthinking putting out music, and these songs just are like me at their core, and it's the next evolution of sensitive bad bitch music.
EI:
Is there a sense of clarity that you have in terms of being genreless and making the music that has a title to what you would consider your sound and not setting expectations for yourself and with fewer fears or regrets on releasing music?
BB:
There are still plenty of fears, regrets, and worries, but I have a sense of clarity and peace about the music I'm making, what I want it to mean to people, and what it means to me. I felt a lot of pressure, especially starting in country music and being told I wasn’t country enough thinking. Am I cool enough to do pop? Pop is a broad category; what does that look like to me? I felt a lot of pressure to over-explain myself a lot of the time, so it's been kind of a natural part of my creative process trying to justify myself and what I do.