We were lucky to catch up with Brock Merrick recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brock, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
From my mother, from that small voice and pull in our hearts. Every season has its challenges and we ride the wave cause we are committed to it. At some point long ago we each bound ourselves to our instruments and chose to walk the earth each with that as a part of us. Our instruments are just our chosen form of communication however, its bigger than music, we all have something bursting within us that needs to flow out and our instruments found us over n over again as what broke the levy.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Haha so we are all very different but the same, Pete and I are both music teachers and Mikey and I were both maintenance men at the ski resort where we met and Dylan and I both liked to party downtown where we met on the street. We started there, busking and playing for the night’s party money. Met a lot of cool people and were always improving on the fly to the beat of our hearts that night.
Things are changing now that we have partners and committing to our community more than ourselves than at that earlier time. Learned a lot from our mistakes and coming back stronger, our roots are running deeper if that makes sense.
We have a raw album coming soon reflecting that realness and the wild spirit we carry. We are sitting on a lot of songs and coming up with new ones everyday, debating on releasing a lot of our demos the good ones that came from epic moments caught on tape from just letting the phone record and emotions pour some crazy nights.
It’s been a wild journey the last 5 years.
Haha recently we are recovering from a lot of stolen gear and stuff sold resulting of lost jobs and financial stuff but we are on the up n up and any help would be appreciated.
You can find us on BandCamp as Brandywine.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1) Be yourself. Trust your heart and trust your ear. Let the realness flow, if you’re sad tell everyone you’re sad and play sad don’t play what you aren’t- there may be a heavy purge phase for you guys and when that’s over have the courage to choose what inspires or makes you feel the most, whatever it is, rage, pain, hurt, excitement let it all flow and most importantly…
2) Mix it. Yin and Yang – balance, like the universe- if you are gunna make a heavy part pair it with lightness heavy chorus light verse or build it from light to heavy n let it explode. Try that see how it feels.
3) Be honest, if you don’t like something have the courage to tell your bandmates your family, your boss, haha but you better have better idea in mind, or else you’re just talkin’ mess. But seriously be courageous whatever it is and have the braveness to trust your vision, we all have magic, the universe is big, wild, limitless and beautiful- trust it.
Contact Info:
- Website: Brandywine.world
- Instagram: brandywine.world
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AeNCu7Wim/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/QLyUmw1v4Ik?si=RygME2_e8CMol-ar
- Other: Bandcamp: https://brandywine.bandcamp.com/album/mile-high-summer-demos
Image Credits
Alex Namchuk, Brock Merrick
