Brooke Eden has returned to the country scene with her joyful new tracks ‘No Shade‘ and ‘Sunroof.’ Here, we talk to Brooke about coming out and living her relationship in the open, the effect of that journey on her music and why this music is her most authentic to date.
Hello!
Hi, how are you?
I’m not too bad. So to dive straight into it, these songs are full of so much joy – they’ve been getting me through the last few weeks. You can just tell how much how much has changed in your life, so how excited were you to put these tracks out?
So excited, I had taken four years off, and didn’t know if I’d ever get to put out music again. At so many points in the last few years, I just, I didn’t know if it would ever happen again. It’s just surreal in the best way and I’m so thankful that I’m putting out music again. I felt it was so important after the year that we all just had to put out happy music – I thought ‘This is what I need right now.’ I don’t need sad songs right now. I think we’re all kind of like sad enough, we don’t need that. Music. It’s gonna keep us healthy. I cannot listen to any more emo songs, I’ve cried enough.
You usually almost need sad songs to decompress and let emotions out, but I think all our emotions are already out at the moment.
They live out here at this point. Yes.
I know you released a video basically reintroducing Brooke Eden. How much has changed in the last few years to get to that point, obviously you’re now openly talking about your relationship – which is amazing – and so much has changed in Nashville to enable that to happen? How much do you feel has changed with you and your music?
It was so important this time around for me to put out music that felt 100% me – all about authenticity. The first time I put out music, I had none and it’s crazy. This time, I knew that the only way for me to be able to tell my story was to be able to tell my whole story, and not just a little part of me. I’m so thankful to my record label, who not only supported me, but encouraged me to 100% be myself and be myself as an artist. They didn’t give me any parameters on this music. They just told me to go out and create the music that I wanted and that’s why it took me a couple years to put out this new music, because I was just in this creative bubble where I got to go in with one of my favourite co writers, and my favourite producers – Jessie Frazure – and create this music that really felt like me. It was the first time that I’ve been able to do that without any boundaries.
I mean the word that shines through to me when talking about your new music is ‘joy’ – from the production to the video, it consistently comes through and I loved that in the video you presented your relationship in such a joyful way. That’s the way we should all be talking about all our relationships.
That was what was so important to us. I come from a very conservative family, and at the same time, they’ve seen me and Hillary together now for five years. They are so loving and supportive of us and they’re like ‘you know, the world needs to see that this is what love looks like.’
Love is love and that’s what came through in the video. Obviously, you guys have been together for five years, this is not new but it must feel strange to finally be talking to the world openly about your relationship.
Yeah definitely, it’s less strange and more… You know, I’m either a complete open book, or I’m a robot and getting to be able to tell our whole story is just so freeing. I just I don’t like rules and I don’t like boundaries. I don’t like being secretive and now we just get to be ourselves. That’s the best gift that you can give to anyone really.
It’s the best gift you can give to the world and to give to music and give to young girls who are looking up to you and thinking ‘I want to be that someday’ – it’s amazing. When you look back at your old music, do you feel a sense of distance because this music you’re putting out now is so authentically you? Do you think it will still be a big part of the story in the set that you take forward?
What’s so interesting about my old music is that was me at the time – that’s what I was going through at the time. For example, ‘Act Like You Don’t’ was a real relationship that I was really in. It was a very tumultuous, toxic situation, but that was all very real. I do feel like that is a completely different person. I just, I was just kind of clawing for air at that time back then and now I just feel like I’m all me.
It would be so fun to see you live now, because I feel like the energy and the joy would be incredible to recreate live.
Girl, I cannot wait to get back on stage.
I think we’ll all be so more than ready for live sets again. Working with Jessie on this project. I know you’ve talked about him being instrumental in your music, but can you explain what he’s brought to the project?
He’s such a creative brain and his vibe just exudes out of him – you kind of pick up that creativity. He was born in Detroit, so he’s got this like super soulful, Motown soul and he’s in Nashville, and has all these crazy number ones in country.
I mean, is there anyone on the list he hasn’t worked with?
100%, it would be easier to say the names that he hasn’t worked with. He’s such a great human and he’s been a good friend of mine for years. What I love so much about Jessie is that I don’t even think he knows how good he is – his talent is so immense, but his ego is non-existent. It makes it so great to create with someone who has so much talent, but there’s no ego that’s getting in the way, it allows you to really have just this free space of a blank canvas where he’s bringing in this soul and this Motown and also just knowing exactly what country radio wants right now. When I’m able to come in as an artist and be completely me, he knows how to translate what I’m hearing in my head into a track.
It’s almost like he’s a musical mind reader…
That’s such a good metaphor for him. He is 100%, a musical mind reader.
So far, you’ve released two songs, but you have one more to round up this storyline. So what can we sort of expect from that track and how did that storyline develop?
The next song is called ‘Got No Choice’ and it is a continuation of ‘Sunroof’. So ‘Sunroof’ is the beginning part of a relationship where it’s all bliss, and you’re just letting it fall and it’s all happiness, but you haven’t really seen the whole reality of the situation. Yeah, ‘Got No Choice’ is the reality of the situation, it’s seeing the struggles that we went through as a couple and, like, one of the lines is ‘no approval from my mama / Daddy’s got a problem’. It’s just the true story of the struggles that we went through and the beauty within those struggles. We were our little bubble that was just kind of surrounded by this chaos. There’s so much beauty in our bubble and honestly, there’s so much beauty in the struggle as well, because we wouldn’t be the couple that we are today – just so steadfast in who we are – if we hadn’t gone through all the struggles that we did so early on in our relationship. So ‘Got No Choice’ is about that time and that period of our relationship, but also just that feeling when you meet your person, where I have no choice but to love you. There was no turning around, my heart had chosen and you just got to go through it.
It’s an amazing like culmination to these three songs. Will the video continue the storyline too?
So it does, they all go together, but ‘Got No Choice’ was actually the first music video that we shot. We just shot this video one random weekend – my manager and his family have a house on a lake in Michigan and we were all just going for the weekend just to hang out and have a vacation away from Nashville. It was my manager and his girlfriend, who owns a hair salon in Nashville and does hair and makeup, my girlfriend, Hillary and my videographer, and director. He was like, ‘bro, what if we tried a music video.’ I thought ‘what I don’t have a bathing suit, I have not worked out to be in a bathing suit.’ I need to prep… but he said, ‘Listen, if it’s not something you’re comfortable with, we just don’t use it, but why not just show the label really what we’re trying to do here. Let’s just show them.’ We shot this video in a day and some really cool surprises happened while we were out on the lake – you’ll see that in the music video. Itreally was the catalyst that got all of this moving. The label was like ‘you know, we loved this video so much, could we do a video for the first two as well?’ So as much as the story goes into the next one, we did this video first.
I have to say the outfits… I think I aspire to own every single item of clothing that you both wore.
Thank you! This was the first time that we’ve really had a stylist come in. My stylist nailed it. I mean she really just got my style to a tee and elevated it. I mean, I’m wearing Dolce and Gabbana, I didn’t even know that I liked that brand…
A dangerous new discovery…
Yes.
Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today. I’m so excited to hear the next track.
Thanks girl. So appreciate it. Have a great day.
