Jay Brannan

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Jay Brannan (2009)

Jay Brannan (born March 29, 1982 in Houston , Texas , USA) is an American singer-songwriter and actor .

Life

Jay Brannan grew up in a middle-class family in Texas. He studied acting for a semester at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati . After dropping out of college, Brannan moved to California in the hope of performing as an actor. In Los Angeles he devoted himself to his second passion, music. He first picked up a guitar at the age of 20 and began writing songs without instruction or guidance. He got musical inspiration from listening to the music from " long-forgotten female singers ". After almost two years in California, he moved on to New York, where he still lives today.

In 2002 a friend brought him to the attention of a casting ad for the film " Shortbus " in " BackStage " Magazine and Brannan, who was currently working as a receptionist in Los Angeles, sent his application tape. In the 2006 directed by John Cameron Mitchell and internationally acclaimed independent film Shortbus , he played the role of Ceth. In Redirecting to Happiness , released in 2007, he played the main character's best friend.

Musical career

His screen debut earned praise in the media and helped Brannan achieve a musical breakthrough: The song Soda Shop , which he sings as an actor in the film, became the most downloaded title in film music. He started playing his songs at numerous events related to the film. This gave him an international platform for his music. The artist made numerous appearances and also worked as a proofreader in a translation agency.

As a singer-songwriter, Brannan quickly achieved considerable popularity with the help of the Internet . There he made many of his songs available for download or stream as soon as they were recorded . His self-recorded videos, which he published on the Internet, also became famous. These were seen by around 4 million fans on Myspace , Facebook and YouTube . Jay Brannan says about his affinity for DIY ethics: " If you are able to make your work available in a large geographic area and still be in control of your music, your sound, your image and your identity - why shouldn't you prefer this chance to the glorified and deceptive ideas of signing a record deal? ".

In 2007 Brannan released the EP Unmastered on his own label Great Depression Records . A limited edition of 1,000 CDs - each copy with a different Polaroid photo of Jay - sold in one day.

In summer 2008 the album Goddamned was released . Immediately afterwards, tours of the USA , Europe and Australia followed . The album was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Will Golden. The melodic folk songs in the classic singer-songwriter tradition are mainly arranged acoustically with the occasional use of strings. Thematically, the songs are pretty dark. With a directness that does not want to take any consideration for the faint of heart, Brannan tells about broken relationships, mendacity, religious hypocrisy and despair and musically does " a soul striptease ". In the summer of 2009, the mini-album In Living Cover was released. In addition to two original songs, it includes seven cover versions, including Blowing In The Wind by Bob Dylan and Zombie by The Cranberries .

Musical style

Musically, Jay Brannan moves in the typical singer-songwriter style with elements of pop . A very reduced sound with mostly acoustic arrangements , minimalist instrumentation and melancholy, longing singing style create an intimate atmosphere. This, however, contradicts his hard texts. Brannan orients himself to songwriters like Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell because he likes " the sound of the angry, sad women ". His musical sensitivity is more likely to find parallels with Ani DiFranco , Lisa Loeb , Sinéad O'Connor or Liz Phair .

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

  • Unmastered (2007)
  • In Living Cover (2009)
  • Around The World in 80 Jays (2013)

Filmography

Web links

Commons : Jay Brannan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/realestate/08habi.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=jay%20brannan&st=cse
  2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sydneyunleashed.com
  3. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/realestate/08habi.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=jay%20brannan&st=cse
  4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated November 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.trailerseite.de
  5. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003838410
  6. ↑ http://www.antimusic.com/news/09/may/19Jay_Brannan_In_Living_Cover.shtml
  7. ↑ http://www.antimusic.com/news/09/may/19Jay_Brannan_In_Living_Cover.shtml
  8. ↑ http://www.imeem.com/jaybrannan - Since imeem.com was taken off the market in December 2009 by myspace.com, this link is offline
  9. ↑ http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/07/11/off_the_bus/
  10. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/10/AR2008071000806.html
  11. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / sallys.net
  12. ↑ http://www.gaesteliste.de/review/show.html?id=1&_nr=9169
  13. ↑ http://www.szenpunkt.de/artikel_show.php?objid=11147&grpid=0  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.szenpunkt.de  
  14. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/realestate/08habi.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=jay%20brannan&st=cse
personal data
SURNAME Brannan, Jay
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer-songwriter and actor
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH Houston , Texas , USA