Brett Kissel opens up about his new record ‘What Is Life’ out on April 9th, gratitude, life, family and his changing perspectives.
Hey, how are you doing?
I’m really good. Thank you. How are you today?
Not too bad, thanks. Are things a bit more normal over there now?
Well, I mean it’s still a crazy time, there’s so much to unpack and to get into. I wish you guys were open and proceeding business as usual. I wish the world was back to normal.
Honestly, it’s just been one thing after another, but we’re nearly getting there. How excited are you to release your new record in April?
I guess when it comes to a new record and everything that it represents, it’s obviously a very exciting time. It’s a nerve wracking time and I mean, I’m nervous to put out my heart and my soul in a project when you don’t really know what anybody’s gonna think about it. But that leads me perfectly into the people pleasing mentality that I really used to have, and the outside validation that I used to crave. For the first time ever, I’m putting out a record that is so uniquely me. These are things that I believe in, these are songs that I stand behind, and I’m not really chasing hits.
There’s so much heart in this record, I mean, you’re almost playing with the kind of form of music and creativity – the whole project is really about you and that holistic impression of what you believe and what you feel – was that really important to you?
It was and I appreciate you noticing that and feeling that. Energetically and obviously musically too, I think that there are a lot of people going through so much right now and there’s a lot of struggles, yet there’s a lot of moments to look at and celebrate, there’s a lot of things to be grateful for. Walking that line and reminiscing about the good old days or looking forward to the future or what our new future will be, it’s really brought a lot of things into perspective for me and that’s why this album is what it is.
That’s kind of what I took away from it. I feel like everyone in the past year has kind of sharpened their focus and their perspective on what’s important to them. It felt like that was what this record was primarily about.
I mean, it wasn’t that long ago, but I’ve lived a very materialistic life. Sometimes I was so focused on taking a photo in London, or Paris or in Rome, to post it on Instagram, as opposed to just enjoying the beauty for what it was – sitting having a coffee, or a wonderful dinner and just soaking in the sights and the sounds of travel. I was so focused on the next show or the next interview that I wasn’t really present. So I’m learning to do better.
I mean that’s the only thing we could do this year was just be present because we didn’t have all the outside distractions and everything. It’s been a learning curve.
It is, it’s a very odd juxtaposition because I try so hard to be so positive and to look for the silver linings and understand that because of the darkness that that we’re in, there are moments of light that are peeking in through the clouds that bring a lot of happiness to one’s life – if you choose to look at it that way or choose to have that elevated perspective. At the same time, a lot of this stuff has been forced on us, too. So how do you wrangle through this? Sometimes it’s easier for me to just shut up and play country music, playing with my kids and I can go out to the farm and lose myself in the wilderness or go chase cows. I’m lucky.
Obviously, What is Life is the overarching message and title of the record – has your perspective changed on that in the past year from the start of writing to the project to the final product?
Yes, it was truly an 180 degree turn from the old me to the new me. I’m really grateful for that journey and to recognize that this is a really good path to be on now. It’s an open invitation to invite anybody to join me on this journey and this adventure of laughter and love and life, and gratitude. It’s a very, very important thing to think about, but then when I started writing the record, I didn’t realise it was going to become this. I was just writing songs that were on my heart, and maybe mustering up more courage than I’ve ever had before, to really write and talk about the things I wanted to say and not be worried about whether or not it was going to be a hit song. I just wrote the songs because I was inspired to.
I guess that’s almost the way you want to be writing music and putting out songs in isolation. I know some of the tracks were written as co-writes, was that over Zoom or how did that look like?
I mean, I am so social and I realised what I love the most are social gatherings. I just love to be with people, I love to hug, I love to handshake. I teach my children that a handshake says a lot about a person and I don’t even know if they’re gonna come back now. But, writing in isolation, or in a lockdown actually brought one gift and that was focus, where I had no outside distractions, so I wasn’t worried about, ‘Oh, I’ve got to pick up my kids. I’ve got a flight to catch. I’ve got this to do or that to do.’ I got to focus on writing and focus on being present in the moment. I’m grateful I had that time.
Usually, you spend so much time on the road, so it must have been nice to focus on songwriting rather than cramming it in between tours?
It really is. Even at my level, you know, being able to travel internationally a bit in the past – splitting my time between both borders in the United States and obviously at home in Canada – my schedule is packed. I think about the the other artists like Brad Paisley or Luke Combs or Lady A and how they would find the time because, I felt that I was busy 365 days a year yet somehow they were three times as busy. How do they do it? It’s inspiring.
It really is. One of the tracks that stood out to me was ‘Die To Go Home’ which you wrote with Jesse Frasure, how did that come about and what has he brought to your music?
That’s a very exciting song to talk about. Jesse’s a long standing friend of mine – his wife Stevie and my wife, Celia are very, very close friends and Jesse and I have formed a great friendship for about a decade. When I first came to Nashville, he signed me to my first publishing deal on Music Row. So, I wrote for Jesse for about seven years, but we never wrote together. It was over a year ago now, when I was in Nashville right before the pandemic in February, and I said, ‘Jesse, I’ve had this song idea for 10 years.’ And he said, ‘Well, why haven’t you written it yet?’ and I said, ‘because I don’t think I had enough life and I don’t think I have the right collaborator and so the fact that you and I get a chance to write together for the first time, this is what I’d like to do.’ He said, ‘Well tell me what the idea is’. All I had was the end of the song, which is a very peculiar thing, because usually you have a title and a whole roadmap, I just had the end and the concept was. As a kid growing up on a cattle ranch in Alberta, we’re in a somewhat of a secluded area, and I never saw airplanes ever. So if I ever did, I would stop and I’d look up to the sky in wonder. I couldn’t believe that people would fly on airplanes, how lucky they were. So I’d be this kid wishing I could leave the farm and go fly on plane. Now as as an adult, now traveling 300 days a year and having elite status on United, American Airlines, Air Canada.. I would look out the airplane and I would look at these farms below in Texas, or Colorado, or Alberta, Canada and I would just wish I would die to go home. He said, ‘Well, that is a great concept.’ We took a long time, but we wrote that song and I’m really grateful that I did it with Jesse, one of my great friends to Nashville. It’s without question, the song I’m the most proud of on our record.
I love that whole concept, and it must have been special to write with someone who really knows your heart.
Exactly and that’s where the real heart comes into this record. Behind every song and every decision – from the font that was selected in the liner notes, to the photos that I took, which were on my cattle ranch with my dear friend and videographer and photographer, taking the photos with my wife who actually styled the shoot – it was all done with intention. So, I’m really grateful that that I think is really going to come through as people listen or hold the physical album.
I mean the music video that you released on Friday was absolutely stunning. There’s such a difference between a music video and one that’s a piece of art and yours was in the second category.
Well, thank you, and I just think it’s gonna be a great thing to look back on with my children. I think for a lot of families to watch as well and our production team out of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada – they’re called One Peak Creative. It was so funny because they had pitched this to me and I said, ‘well, who’s going to play me? Who’s going to act as my wife and we need to hire actors to be as cute as my kids if that’s even possible.’ I realised, ‘What am I thinking? Why am I not actually bringing my entire family to make this video more real?’ So we did and we’re getting great feedback so far.
That must definitely make it special. Obviously you did another music video with Kaitlyn Bristowe and Jason Tartick, can you talk about that video and how much fun it was to record with them?
It was so much fun. We just adore them. They’re some of our best friends. So, Kaitlyn and I are both from Alberta, Canada and Kaitlyn’s dad and I golf together and I’d yet to meet Kaitlyn, but Canadians stick together, so that’s what happened with Kaitlyn and I. Now when a male and a female form a great friendship, and we’re both in committed relationships, we knew and we joked about it on the podcast that we just need to get our spouses involved and then as couples we could form a friendship where we can really take it to the next level. When we had dinner together, Kaitlyn and Cecilia hit it off and Jason and I hit it off. During that first dinner, Celia kind of kicked me under the table and said, ‘you’re looking for actors to be in the music video for Drink About Me. Why not them?’ So, sure enough, I think we had just enough wine or vodka or whiskey or whatever and I said, ‘What do you say? Would you ever want to be in a music video’ They said, ‘Absolutely’. And we’re like, Okay, great. Two – how soon do you think you could come and act?’ ‘How soon are you talking?’ I said, ‘Well, next week.’ They said, ‘Well sure if it’s Thursday.’ So we flew them to the Bahamas, and we filmed for three days. It was a magical time.
That’s amazing. I just love that they’re free and so up for it?
Well, I’m so excited for this record to get out. The message of it is just so what we all need right now, so thank you for this beautiful piece of work.
Thank you for saying thank you, I appreciate it, but thank you for this opportunity to speak to a large grouping of country music fans overseas! I’m just lucky to be part of the mix.
Well we can’t wait to get you back to the UK soon and see you live! Thanks for your time.
Thank you.
