Mitch Bradford Captures the Magic of Radio in “More Than Life”
Born in Brownsville, TX. Where would you take a visitor around your hometown?
I’d take them to downtown Brownsville. It’s one of the oldest cities in TX and has a historic quarter downtown with French Quarter buildings. Afterward, we’d go to Ultimo Taco for lunch and maybe a trip out to SpaceX to end the day. Elon Musk now lives in town and is shooting rockets off the coast.
Quitting your job at Google, going from ‘gourmet chefs to making yourself a pastrami sandwich for lunch every day.’ Can you describe the point where you knew the right choice was to pursue a career in music?
Haha! I was having some fun with that quote.
I knew music was the right choice for me even back in my Google days, but things started to really take over after my 2019 release “Love is Kind.” I saw the very positive reception it got from fans and critics, and I knew I had to keep going.
Based in Los Angeles, CA. You want to capture the heart of California in your songs. What stands out about west coast country music for you?
The optimism. The west coast is the land of dreamers. It’s a frontier state and the frontier people moved out here in the 19th and 20th centuries looking for a better life. That hope and optimism is still present in the culture, still present in the air and soil, and we try to capture it in the music.
Your new album, Close, was influenced by 70s radio rock. Which seventies songs inspired you most?
The ones that have touched me the most are songs by Jackson Browne and Tom Petty. Songs like “Take It Easy,”“Before the Deluge,” “Ready or Not” by Jackson Browne, and “Free Fallin’” or “Runnin’ Down a Dream” by Tom Petty. Like them, we wanted to land in that genre of upbeat songs that had depth and that had core. That’s what we took from these 70s singer-songwriters.
“More Than Life” is about the magic of radio. You shared that the lyrics capture the spark of hearing a new song for the first time and knowing you’re going to love it forever. What was the first song you heard on the radio that made you feel this way?
There was a lot of great radio stations in my hometown. (Q94.5, 92.7) But the pop station B104 used to play a Top 10 countdown at night. I remember going to bed listening to Lil’ Troy’s “Wanna Be a Baller.” It’s a great 90s rap song. It imprinted on me. Still love that track to this day.
First country album fully funded by cryptocurrency. You took your own money from shows, invested it, then sold it to fund the latest album. What resources would you recommend for fellow artists looking to learn more about cryptocurrency?
Reddit is a great resource. Cointelegraph is a great resource. Coindesk.com, Youtube, too. I think it’ll be more and more common as musicians look for ways to finance their records and cut out the middlemen. With crypto, you can finance your music, still own it, and distribute it to fans. It’s a new world, and I’m here for it.
Your fourth studio album was recorded at historic Studio D at The Village in Santa Monica. The studio was custom built for Fleetwood Mac in the 1970s. Which song of theirs is your favorite to perform?
“Think About Me.” It’s off their album, Tusk, which was the album they recorded in Studio D. Its high vibe, has a powerful chorus, and a song about unrequited love. What’s not to like?
“The road to success is paved with massive rejection.” What are some of the best lessons you’ve learned from past rejections?
Not to get angry or take it personally. It’s a hard lesson to learn and something I still struggle with. But rejection is just part of the process. The people at the top are the ones that got rejected the most.
What can fans look forward to in ‘23?
We’re playing more live shows. We have a big run coming up in Paso Robles in October (Oct. 27 — Tooth & Nail Winery, Oct. 28 — Antigua Brewing Company & Oct. 29 — Four Lanterns Winery) and I imagine in 2023 we’ll expand out to doing more shows in Paso Robles, Wine Country up in Napa, and beyond. Come see us at a show or hit me up on TikTok or YouTube, as the crypto country movement is taking over. Join us!