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| Photo courtesy of Braden Barrie's Facebook. |
By: Xochitl Hansen
Braden Barrie or better known as SayWeCanFly is an acoustic pop punk musician who ended up gaining more than just a following through his YouTube, he gained a family. With meaningful lyrics and a smile that packs a punch, Braden exerts a confidence I’ve never seen before in a musician who takes the stage alone. Commonly acquainted with other famous YouTubers such as BryanStars and JohnnieGuilbert, Braden has carved his place in the music industry. This summer if you are going to the 2015 Vans Warped Tour, I’d make sure to catch him at the Full Sail Acoustic Stage.
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Hows tour going?
Tours been good.Its been probably the most extinguishing tour I've ever done.Its been amazing,this is like my first actual support tour, so its been a new experience.
So, Where did you play last night?
Little Rock, Arkansas. We drove until 7 am, then we stayed in a real sketchy motel. It was cool,got some sleep.
How did you get started?
I mean back in 2009 I started a YouTube channel called SayWeCanFly and I just posted videos on there and I just kind of started getting views on there. I just kept doing it and kept posting stuff and talking to people, also y'know playing shows in Ontario. Then eventually through meeting people I branched out and got to do my first US tour, its just like a lot of hard work everyday and like I quit my job and dropped out of high school just to work on music everyday. So,its been like five years of a slow build.
How did you get the name SayWeCanFly?
I don't know, I just wanted to name my YouTube channel something kind of ....Myspacey I guess. I knew it was dying, I just sat on my bed for the whole day trying to come up with a name and SayWeCanFly was the first on I could come up with.
What was your first instrument?
The first one I ever played actually was the violin, and I was like four or something. I was to pick it back up again. Then, it was piano and then it was guitar. Guitars my main thing, though I do some piano sometimes.
Is there anyone who influenced you musically?
Yea! Secondhand Serenade was the dude who got me into acoustic music, and Chase Coy as well. The singing was I guess from Aaron Gillespie from a band called Underoath, one of my favorite bands from all time. I mean he had the biggest influence on me vocally, it was a lot of those underground YouTube artists that inspired me to start posting stuff and showing me that it was possible.
What exactly are the workshops you'll be doing on Warped Tour?
Basically my workshops are just going to be about building a career as a independent artist, which is pretty much going to be everything I've learned about social media, marketing, and just how to run a business and how to treat it as a business. I'm kind of just sharing a lot of the secrets that I've discovered and some other stuff that worked for me. I know I have a lot of kids come up to me who are trying to start out as a musician, so I think its going to be cool just to have some one on one time. I know its tough to start out, I mean it took me a long time to figure it out. I'm really looking forward to it.
I'm glad you're doing that, most musicians once they get to a certain point they don't care anymore.
My favorite part is hanging out with people, I think its real amazing to me when people say that they play music or that they want start a band or something. Its just awesome, because I remember how badly I wanted that and y'know its tough.
How does it feel when people come up to you with your lyrics tattooed on them?
I never really expected people to care so much about my music, and it still blows me away. The more that it happens, the more blessed I feel that I was able to make it out of my bedroom and play shows. Its cool. Its just amazing to know something I wrote, because of something I went through means something to someone. It also makes me feel better about the stuff that I went through and what other people go through to which is really cool. I'm blessed
Any pros and cons of touring?
I love it, there's nothing bad about it other than sometimes you don't get to sleep a lot. I think, its mentally exhausting sometimes , because aside from the actual tour I have to think about what i'm doing after the tour, go on my social media, and there's always other stuff too. You just have to make sure to balance yourself and know how to handle it, which I'm still learning. I miss my friends back home sometimes, but i know I'll go home. There's nothing bad about it.
After Vans Warped Tour, whats next?
Definitely, were working on setting some stuff up right now. I don't really know exactly whats going on, but I'll be hitting the road right after. Most likely making some more new music, and new videos. There's going to be lots of stuff.
Make sure to check out music off his new album 'Between The Roses', also you can catch this summer at the Full Sail Acoustic tent the whole 2015 Vans Warped Tour!
Special thanks to Braden for doing the interview!
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